Apartment not selling - any suggestions?

airhostess

Hi Heidi Jane,

I think you've got a lovely flat, don't think the agents have done it much justice though! Strange why they didn't put pics of the kitchen & sun room - they sound like big selling points, esp if the kitchen is new!
No information on there on the length of the lease or management company...

I guess your apt is marketed at first time buyers - they won't want to pay stamp duty at 1% - if you really want to sell, could you consider putting it on at £124,995, to avoid stamp duty?

Offer to throw in some of the furniture - FTBs will have enough costs when buying their home and will appreciate furniture included, so if you are willing to do this get the agent to mention it. I guess this isn't a problem for you if you are moving abroad?

If you are considering changing agents, I can recommend www.housenetwork.co.uk who sold my flat for the full asking price in November for me, it cost me under £500 to sell with them and sale price was £124,995. I did throw in the fridge & freezer and they also negotiated my sofa also, so everyone was happy!

Good luck with your sale & move back home!

AH

jamesd

airhostess had a good thought about furniture but you can do more if you're after first time buyers. Instead of dropping the price you could make buying easier by offering to pay mortgage fees, survey and legal costs up to say 1k or 2k to eliminate expenses that first time buyers may not have the cash for. Maybe even moving fees. Anything else you can think of that would have made your life easier when you bought it?

gallygirl

TBH unless you drop the price back to probably below what you paid for it I don't think you stand a chance of selling. Even then, I would probably try to stretch myself to buy in a private block rather than ex council.

Did you just have 1 valuation? If the EA had said put it on at 120k would you have accepted his word?

Personally I'd let it, keep it for the long term. Hope to cover your costs and reassess in 5 years.

Good luck, not a good time to try to sell

macaque_2

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.

Despite rumours to the contrary there is a lot of property on the market and flats like yours sit in the middle of the bell curve. On the demand side, the credit crunch has wiped out a swathe of potential buyers.

If your property was bought for £116k in mid 2007, you would be very lucky to get more than that today (and more likely you may have to consider a hefty reduction). The Estate Agent however was faced with a serious dilema. If they suggested 110K, you would probably attacked them with a broom handle. In the event, they quoted the price you wanted to hear (and you almost certainly would have hinted at). Although they would have said nothing, they would have known that £140K is a fantasy price in current market conditions.

I can hear you saying, what's the point of an agent taking on a property at an unrealistic price. There are two reasons:
1. There is occassionally an odd mug who pays over the odds (especially BTLs). These are very rare now however as lenders are much less inclined to sponsor reckless purchases.
2. The other reason is that the agent can sit and wait for you to drop the price. If they take on enough properties like yours, a few sellers will cooperate in the fullness of time. This way the agents end up with sellable properties without the risk of having broom handles shoved where the sun never shines.

Trollfever

Birmingham is different to Manchester and Leeds.

"The urban flats market appears most in line for a full scale crash – a view we have held consistently since late 1995, when we observed the rise of 'investor clubs' and what struck us as sharp practice through much of the wider property market."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/02/21/cmbtl21.xml&DCMP=ILC-traffdrv07053100

mr.broderick

Just put it on for offers around £119500 and get rid while you still have half a chance.

jaype

Agree - if you 'get the tenants in', are you sure you will be able to find any, and get enough money to cover your outgoings? I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but I'd take a good look at what you REALLY spent on upgrading the flat, add that to what you paid for it, then slash your asking price to a few k above this figure to give yourself room for negotiation by any buyer. I've noticed a huge jump in the number of places either both for sale and for rent (who would rent them, knowing they will probably have to move in 6 months? Not me!), or which go off the market as no-one will pay what the owner believes they deserve, then magically resurface for rent. I bet this will soon be a huge problem in Brum as there are so many flats being built there. Not quite on the scale of Manchester but there are still too many places IMHO for the number of people who'd rent there happily. Worst case, you may find yourself chasing the market for both sale and rental prices down. I may sound like a pessimist but I couldn't believe that Alliance and Leicester closed off all new mortgages today - world is definitely going mad...

Doozergirl

I'm going to stop after this because I feel like I'm laying into the OP a bit, but am just going to add that the market for rental flats is just as saturated as the sale market you will face the same problem with regard to location and competition. It's no quick fix and BTL for the reason of not being able to sell, is the wrong reason altogether.

I don't understand why you'd feel it's better to rent it out than reduce the price to a level more in keeping with what you paid.

tomstickland

The flat looks pretty good though it's had a property TV makeover - laminate floor etc. The price appears to be too high. Reduce to a reasonable level.