Apartment not selling - any suggestions?

Heidi_Jane

After 4 weeks with not one viewing I dropped the price by £4000 & still have not had a viewing. The apartment is immaculate with brand new central heating, thermostatic shower & kitchen.

Does anyone know the area? Maybe tell me how to get buyers through the door.....

Constructive criticism is welcome.

barnaby-bear

Heidi_Jane wrote: »

After 4 weeks with not one viewing I dropped the price by £4000 & still have not had a viewing. The apartment is immaculate with brand new central heating, thermostatic shower & kitchen.

Does anyone know the area? Maybe tell me how to get buyers through the door.....

Constructive criticism is welcome.

£4k sounds a lot but new builds seem to have dropped an awful lot so I imagine it drags all apartments down. £4k on a flat of £40k is 10% but on one at £160k is only 2.5% so it's all relative. If people aren't viewing it suggests either your marketing makes it look so horrid noone wants to see your particular flat or there simply aren't many buyers looking for a flat of your size/spec. at the current price.

Try www.houseprices.co.uk to see what the competition is like. Have a look at your price range and area on rightmove see what your competition is.

Fen1

1. Look carefully at what similar apartments are going for. There are several sites out there which will give the 'sold' price. Look up the COUNCIL TAX links on this site to get the addresses.

2. Research properties for sale in your area, both your-type apartments and other types of property to get a feel for the market. This can be done with 'rightmove' type websites.

3. Talk to your estate agent. ASk them why it isn't budging.

4. Get a friend to fake interest in buying a property of your type and see what your estate agent does.


5. Are you tied into a sole agency contract? If not, you could advertise yourself on sites such as http://www.thelittlehousecompany.co.uk/. The more your property is marketed, the better.

Heidi_Jane

Here is the property as advertised on Rightmove

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-19001099.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

barnaby-bear

Heidi_Jane wrote: »

Here is the property as advertised on Rightmove

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-19001099.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

I haven't worked around that area for a while but I think it's near what used to the Dome nightclub - there's a big tower block on an island near Smallbrook Queensway; there's a lot of council housing from the 1960s clearances and it wasn't the best area, although it's central - I'd have regarded it as a bit 'edgy' which cuts your market. It does seem quite high but don't know the area now days and I know the centre of Brum has gentrified.

Prices for the postcode historically (I think apartment 240 must be haunted it sells so often):

131/05/2007£116,000FlatLNoMap240, Flat 24, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS230/08/2006£105,000FlatLNoMapAvon House, Flat 31, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS329/04/2005£108,950FlatLNoMap240, Flat 24, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS416/07/2004£83,500FlatLNoMap240, Flat 24, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS511/09/2003£72,000FlatLNoMapAvon House, Flat 16, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS607/05/2003£36,000FlatLNoMapAvon House, Flat 4, Great Colmore Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2AS

lynnexxxo

I know nothing of the area but would say that the first two photos of the interior are terrible - they are far too dark. I notice in the description a sun room - how about adding a photo of that too?

Doozergirl

You're really up against it. My immediate gut instinct is that it's quite heavily overpriced. My worst nightmare would be to sell a flat in Brimingham city centre. I was at an auction 2 weeks ago where flats in Beetham Tower and the Mailbox were selling for less than yours and they are the 'prestigious' buildings.

Park Central is the Crest Nicholson development with a lot of social housing too isn't it? It wouldn't be my prime choice of area

Yours does look lovely inside but how you can compete with the vast array of developers still selling properties, brand spanking new, for the same price, I have no idea. There are brand new shared ownership properties just along the Bristol Road with market values of £128-131,000 and people are in a position where they can barter really hard - the developers must be desperate as there just isn't demand.

I've never heard of 'Arkade Properties' - where on earth are they? Surely you have a better choice than them? Are they in Hockley? If I were goingt otry anything, I would try using a Harborne agent and try to lure people out to something that *might* provide a bit better value for money or at least put you up against less apartments if someone walks in the door of the agent. When we sold flats in the wrong part of Edgbaston (a few years ago now!) we used a Harborne agent because we could demonstrate exactly how much more a buyer can get for their money if you compromise slightly on location. We didn't have anywhere near the amount of competition that you do though.

sarah_elton

lynnexxxo wrote: »

I know nothing of the area but would say that the first two photos of the interior are terrible - they are far too dark. I notice in the description a sun room - how about adding a photo of that too?

Add a pic of the lounge area too - the first photo is a nice one of the dining area but makes it look like the lounge could be titchy.

Very good and detailed listing. Get them to list all rooms near the top, with dimensions in both feet and metres (I'm young I can still only do feet when looking at room sizes!). Then have a full description of each room further down.

Jonbvn

Doozergirl wrote: »

You're really up against it. My immediate gut instinct is that it's quite heavily overpriced. My worst nightmare would be to sell a flat in Brimingham city centre. I was at an auction 2 weeks ago where flats in Beetham Tower and the Mailbox were selling for less than yours and they are the 'prestigious' buildings.

Park Central is the Crest Nicholson development with a lot of social housing too isn't it? It wouldn't be my prime choice of area

Yours does look lovely inside but how you can compete with the vast array of developers still selling properties, brand spanking new, for the same price, I have no idea. There are brand new shared ownership properties just along the Bristol Road with market values of £128-131,000 and people are in a position where they can barter really hard - the developers must be desperate as there just isn't demand.

I've never heard of 'Arkade Properties' - where on earth are they? Surely you have a better choice than them? Are they in Hockley? If I were goingt otry anything, I would try using a Harborne agent and try to lure people out to something that *might* provide a bit better value for money or at least put you up against less apartments if someone walks in the door of the agent. When we sold flats in the wrong part of Edgbaston (a few years ago now!) we used a Harborne agent because we could demonstrate exactly how much more a buyer can get for their money if you compromise slightly on location. We didn't have anywhere near the amount of competition that you do though.

DG,

Harsh but fair. My immediate reaction was 140k for a flat in Brum - you're kidding!

Heidi_Jane

Thanks for all the comments.

When we bought the flat we thought that we were not making a bad move as the area is being regenerated and most of the old buildings have been torn down. We are set among new builds, parks, schools and walking distance to the city centre. I realize that our building in old but it is in a good condition - however I am aware that the market is now a buyers market and people like us who have to sell quick are going to struggle. As for the price .... we are willing to drop it again by another £4k or £5k. As for the agent - what can I say except that this is our first time on the property merry go round! So we are learning!

We are considering letting it out but will just break even on the mortgage & service charges, but then again who wants the nightmare that comes with tenants.....

barnaby-bear

Heidi_Jane wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments.

When we bought the flat we thought that we were not making a bad move as the area is being regenerated and most of the old buildings have been torn down. We are set among new builds, parks, schools and walking distance to the city centre. I realize that our building in old but it is in a good condition - however I am aware that the market is now a buyers market and people like us who have to sell quick are going to struggle. As for the price .... we are willing to drop it again by another £4k or £5k. As for the agent - what can I say except that this is our first time on the property merry go round! So we are learning!

We are considering letting it out but will just break even on the mortgage & service charges, but then again who wants the nightmare that comes with tenants.....

When did you buy it and what did you pay - it seems very odd for such a big block so few sales and also some of the prices look low - is it a council block with only a few sold off?