Anyone else selling a London flat?

sturgeon

Mines only been on a week and with an online only agent. I had two viewings requested on day one (last Monday) for later in the week but both cancelled for separate reasons. It’s priced right in line with the local market and is larger and better maintained than others, there are several for sale in the block. 

With no viewings booked since the few the day it went live, whilst it’s only been a week I am a bit concerned. I went to visit some on a big development on the weekend and the estate agent was saying they’d all accept £15-20k less than asking price generally (but these were for up to £650-660k, mine in north west London is listed for £450). 

With news on interest rates likely rising, I’m concerned if this is scaring buyers off for now. However, the rates haven’t fed through properly so if wanting to buy then now is the time before the next BOE meeting to get a mortgage offer sorted. I’m certainly thinking that way for my potential purchase. 

So is anyone else selling a London flat and how many viewings are you getting? What’s the general feedback and market like?

MultiFuelBurner

Just one bit of advice.

The London market is one where I would consider a well established estate agent and not online only. 

silvercar

MultiFuelBurner said:

Just one bit of advice.

The London market is one where I would consider a well established estate agent and not online only. 

Not sure I agree. Everything is on Rightmove these days, so I doubt the agent is that important if you are confident with viewings etc. 

Getting the price right is important and a difference of only a few streets can make a big difference to pricing. I’m near NW London and there are blocks near me that look nearly identical, but the prices are very different. Parking can also be a big issue.

sturgeon

Thanks, why is that? I’m on the outskirts of London (selling at £450k) rather than this being a premium central London property. Most properties in my area and block are listed with high street agents but can’t see they’re getting much success. 

silvercar

A week isn’t very long.

have you looked at sold prices?

MultiFuelBurner

sturgeon said:

Thanks, why is that? I’m on the outskirts of London (selling at £450k) rather than this being a premium central London property. Most properties in my area and block are listed with high street agents but can’t see they’re getting much success. 

Just through two flat sales east London in the past.

We are advocates of online estate agents having sold properties this way cheap as chips but in certain "hot" areas of the country(yours may not be hot) we found EA really did earn their money and achieve above asking price (one we thought was pushing it to say the least) and more than paid for their own commission in the process.

It is true the market is random at the moment some areas and price brackets selling and some seemingly stagnant.

Are you desperate to sell?

gwynlas

Are you prepared to provide a link for constructive feedback? High St agents should be able to word descriptions to influence viewers to visit your flat as opposed to others, Buyers might see all properties on Rightmove but are not yet convinced that on line platforms offer the reassurance of dealing with a High St agent despite their dodgy reputations. Property is a huge investment and few people as yet would purchase a vehicle from an on line buyer rather than a dealers forecourt.

user1977

gwynlas said:

Buyers might see all properties on Rightmove but are not yet convinced that on line platforms offer the reassurance of dealing with a High St agent despite their dodgy reputations. Property is a huge investment and few people as yet would purchase a vehicle from an on line buyer rather than a dealers forecourt.

Rather different scenario from second hand cars though - no matter how reputable or not an estate agent is, you're buying from their client, not the agent (and will be doing the same amount of due diligence via your solicitors/surveyors before committing yourself).

If anything I'd expect the more expensive agents to be more adept at bending the truth to the disadvantage of buyers...

Nath4n

Yes, we are in the process of selling our London flat at exactly that price point (£450k). 2-bed, non ex-council, Zone 2. Happy to PM with more details, but it took 5/6 months in total including 2 aggressive price cuts. £450k is a sweet spot, as it's just within the LISA price-limit. Based on our limited experience and those of friends, the flat market in London does seem very saturated at the moment, with a large proportion of properties taking quite a while to sell, and requiring aggressive (and potentially painful) price cutting to realistic levels. Depending on how quickly you wish to sell, my recommendation would be to cut to below comparable properties rather than in-line with them, and try to achieve some realistic offers, rather than pricing high but prepared to accept under-asking, if that makes sense? If useful, we used a joint (double) local agent approach.

sturgeon

gwynlas said:

Are you prepared to provide a link for constructive feedback? High St agents should be able to word descriptions to influence viewers to visit your flat as opposed to others, Buyers might see all properties on Rightmove but are not yet convinced that on line platforms offer the reassurance of dealing with a High St agent despite their dodgy reputations. Property is a huge investment and few people as yet would purchase a vehicle from an on line buyer rather than a dealers forecourt.

Sure, the link is here:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135075116

sturgeon

Nath4n said:

Yes, we are in the process of selling our London flat at exactly that price point (£450k). 2-bed, non ex-council, Zone 2. Happy to PM with more details, but it took 5/6 months in total including 2 aggressive price cuts. £450k is a sweet spot, as it's just within the LISA price-limit. Based on our limited experience and those of friends, the flat market in London does seem very saturated at the moment, with a large proportion of properties taking quite a while to sell, and requiring aggressive (and potentially painful) price cutting to realistic levels. Depending on how quickly you wish to sell, my recommendation would be to cut to below comparable properties rather than in-line with them, and try to achieve some realistic offers, rather than pricing high but prepared to accept under-asking, if that makes sense? If useful, we used a joint (double) local agent approach.

Thanks, very useful. Didn’t realise about the LISA price point. Please do PM me with more details. I’ve set the asking price ‘realistically’ but any aggressive cuts take it to a level that’s significantly below market value and it’s just not worth it. 

I think I’m largely being impatient, it has been a week and I’ve had two viewings book and cancel (both for good reason). I’ve sold online before with a good number of viewings and offers hence that route I was familiar and comfortable with. I had several high st agents visit and give the big sell, Foxtons included but they’re listing a few in the building and have just dropped the price by £10k. They thought mine is better than the 2 they’re listing for various reasons but a £14kish fee was quite an issue for me.