Advice Please

hethmar

Please can you give your serious thought out opinions (genuine ones:T)

Son saw a repo flat early September, by the thames south of river between Greenwich/Woolwich. 2 beds, 2 baths and secure parking. On sale for £170k, last sold as a new build at £300k in Jan 2007. He made a final offer of £162k and was accepted.

The next week the world fell into chaos. :eek:

Though they had given 28 days to exchange, in fact the vendors side has been slow because they didnt have paperwork from the managing agents. Son has become very nervous about the current market and also the fact his solicitor has mentioned that the flats lifts (and remember the development is only about 3 years old) have needed modifying at a cost of £500 per flat. He is currently asking for assurance the previous owner will have settled that. Even so, its a concern that such a new building should require such large input from owners and why wasnt the lift system covered by the installers warranties.

SO, yesterday son received the contract from his solicitor but he has emailed solicitor to say he is thinking of reducing the price or withdrawing from the purchase. Solicitor has in fact said he also feels in the current market son should renegotiate.

With the above in mind and what should he offer? He has said that he may offer £10k less and tell them if they accept he will exchange the next day. He has already paid an arrangment fee of £999 for his 2 year 6.19% mortgage deal, which is another concern as the rates have now fallen so dramatically.

Opinions please - but genuine ones.

Many thanks.

ad9898_3

Phew, honestly I would either offer 60k or pull out completely, probably the latter

There is a fairly good chance these places are going to be the rat infested tower blocks of the 60's in a few years.

fc123

hethmar wrote: »

Please can you give your serious thought out opinions (genuine ones:T)

Son saw a repo flat early September, by the thames south of river between Greenwich/Woolwich. 2 beds, 2 baths and secure parking. On sale for £170k, last sold as a new build at £300k in Jan 2007. He made a final offer of £162k and was accepted.

The next week the world fell into chaos. :eek:

Though they had given 28 days to exchange, in fact the vendors side has been slow because they didnt have paperwork from the managing agents. Son has become very nervous about the current market and also the fact his solicitor has mentioned that the flats lifts (and remember the development is only about 3 years old) have needed modifying at a cost of £500 per flat. He is currently asking for assurance the previous owner will have settled that. Even so, its a concern that such a new building should require such large input from owners and why wasnt the lift system covered by the installers warranties.

SO, yesterday son received the contract from his solicitor but he has emailed solicitor to say he is thinking of reducing the price or withdrawing from the purchase. Solicitor has in fact said he also feels in the current market son should renegotiate.

With the above in mind and what should he offer? He has said that he may offer £10k less and tell them if they accept he will exchange the next day. He has already paid an arrangment fee of £999 for his 2 year 6.19% mortgage deal, which is another concern as the rates have now fallen so dramatically.

Opinions please - but genuine ones.

Many thanks.

I know the area well (all my life from age 8) PM me the exact location/flat if you like.
Between G'Wich and Woolwich (which is a real gap socially BTW) lies Charlton.

I am going to send you a PM.

For the thread...a whole Viccy house can be had for that sum not too far away.
Mortgage rate seems way too high..can he get an old fashioned repayment that tracks base rate + a bit?

hethmar

Thanks fc. Its not the most salubrious area but one where he could afford what looks like a really nice flat and of course he felt with the DLR coming early next year it would be a reasonably good bet. The Arsenal development is along the way and that is certainly attractive so with that and the regeneration plans for the Olympics ..............

slummymummyof3

Is it necessary for your son to purchase a property now? Prices are likely to continue to fall and as such he may end up in negative equity if he pursues a purchase now. If he pulls out now he will lose his arrangement fee and legal fees but stands to lose considerably more if he goes ahead with said purchase which may end up in a negative equity trap.

I would personally wait several months but keep a close eye on what is happening with the market before committing to a purchase. He has everything to gain in waiting.

hethmar

Well, he had been looking for about 18 months as he has been commuting to work and some days this has been 5 or 6 hours a day and has been really tiring him.

silvercar

Would he be buying this flat because he is in love with it/ really wants to live in that location/ property style etc or because it seems a bargain?

Its a flat so he needs to find out the likely maintenance charges.

3 years old so the development should be occupied and established. Find out the proportion of owner occupiers/ rentals. Any social housing on the development. If necessary phone some local rental agents and ask how often rental properties come up.

Use the house price websites to see how often flats in that block have changed hands and recent prices.

fc123

I would strongly advise renting in the area first...pls trust me on this. Woolwich and a bit further along may SEEM to have changed, but the same people live there...I lived alongside them for many years.

Woolwich was no go area when my son was teenager, Greenwich/Blackheath fine.

If he rents, he can get a feel for the area first. Greenwich centre has chi chi bits.....how much are they?
Charlton/Woolwich is deffo NOT greenwich..never has been...no matter how hard they try to spread it.

I have heard that there will be a lot of HA let in the new builds in the future.
I heard this from someone connected to local govt.

VfM4meplse

Agree with slummymummyof3 about prices, if he really wants the flat he should make a silly offer but I'm not sure £60k will get him far!

ad9898 wrote: »

There is a fairly good chance these places are going to be the rat infested tower blocks of the 60's in a few years.

Don't even joke about it. DS lives in a "luxury" tower block which did what it said on the tin until speculative BTL investors descended on the site. The next thing he knew the cockroach inspector was round to give him a certificate in exchange for £40 but hey it's better than cockroaches I guess.

hethmar

My head tells me to tell him to pull out but yes, he likes the flat because its quite stylish, marble kitchen work tops and all that and a wrap round balcony with a view of the river. The others he has viewed over the last 18 months have all be ex council in pretty dire situations.

I have noticed from my trawlings that a large percentage of the flats are rented out. Also when I checked on land registry for prices sold I noted 33 sold in May this year all at £250k - in another block on the development, so I am assuming housing association? In the lease details it states no letting to HA until 2011.

PasturesNew

hethmar wrote: »

Well, he had been looking for about 18 months as he has been commuting to work and some days this has been 5 or 6 hours a day and has been really tiring him.

Why has he not rented? I used to work just 200 miles from home and would commute weekly. Mon-Thu I stayed in the cheapest B&B I could find - mouldy shower, no coffee making, light switch half off the wall, no bedside lamp - and I was the only female there, everybody else were road digger crews. But it was cheap and I was saving my pennies (good job I did as it turned out!).