Shared ownership vs renting

papercut1982

Hi - Can I suggest something?
How long has this property been up for? I know that they are struggling in Hampshire to get rid of the ones they built local to us (houses included).
Look at this link : http://www.homesinhants.co.uk/viewdetails.asp?ID=443&IDbed=3&IDtype=2&LA=2&Bed=3&Type=0&Tenure=0
These were complete and ready for tennants Sept 2007. We viewed in Jan 2008 thinking we might 'upgrade'. At that point NONE were reserved or taken. Now 17mths later 1 out of 6 is left and 3 of those have gone since xmas.
Nothing wrong with the houses at all, garden pokey and north facing but built well - part of a Charles Church development.
The only way they have shifted them is by reducing the initial % share to what it is now, they have not lowered the value!!! (think how much house prices have gone down in 17mths)
What I am saying as they are seriously struggling to get rid down here and most H/A are offering to let you RENT full time until banks start moving money, how about seeing if this is an option first? after all, a S/O is never going to be a quick stepping stone onto something better, we found that out....Just be careful.

papercut1982

These are the ones next to us that they cannot get rid of : http://www.kingfisher-homes.com/propertySearch.php?county=8&bedrooms=&minprice=&maxprice=&salerent=&x=48&y=6

papercut1982

look at this link about the rent scheme they are offering : http://www.kingfisher-homes.com/shared-ownership-i-4.html

MasterBell_2

this is a resale not a new property, the house has been on for a few months and has been dropped from 63k to 57500
i think my offer would be around 55 with there 5% deposit and my 5%
meaning i would need a mortgage for around 49500

papercut1982

Is that for 50% ownership?
Can you make an offer? I know my brother in law wasn't allowed when he bought a resale S/O house. Please make sure that you check the boiler/heating system - he didnt - assumed the survey would and the boiler was leaking and had to be replaced the week they moved in at their cost even though a plumber said it had been 'leaking for sometime'
Would you intend on buying more in the future, if so, do you know what increments this is in?
And finally a word of caution, when we looked at buying more after turning down the 3 bed house above we were charged £95+VAT for a 'independent surveyor' (chosen by the H/A - haha) to come out and give a valuation.
First valuation was nearly 10k LESS than paid for it, I pointed out that the mirror image flat across the hall was up for more than they paid for it (moved in 2mths before us), then they amended the valuation to what we paid for it, I still argued the above point and they amended it again. Plus, when we wish to sell, 1% of the sale price goes back to the H/A to fund the finding of new tennants.
Watch out for hidden costs...
Other than that, I love our flat, I love the building plus we dont live on an estate, just wish it wasn't S/O....

MasterBell_2

yeap thats for 50% viewing
my dad is coming with me for a second viewing so witll look at it all

if you wanted to buy more of it surely you wanted it to be valued as low as possible??

I appreciate everyones input, the only thing that im confused about is this classed as a leasehold until we own the 100%

pootle55_2

My sister has a shared ownership property, she is a teacher and could not afford to buy a decent house on her wages. She now part owns a lovely 3 bed house, for the same money each month as I am buying my 1 bed flat! How is that so wrong! It has worked out brilliantly for her!

robin_banks

If she ever needs to sell, she is going to have one hell of a job doing so, over a year is not uncommon atm, it she wants to buy additional percentages (only 3% do so) she will have all manner of hoops to jump through and extra costs to incur.

S/O is a bit of a mugs game tbh. Either rent outright or buy outright, not this strange hybrid where you own it but you dont, where you rent it but are responsible for majore repairs etc.

virgo149

MasterBell wrote: »

I appreciate everyones input, the only thing that im confused about is this classed as a leasehold until we own the 100%

That's absolutely correct. The property will remain leasehold until you staircase up to buying 100%. As long as there are no restrictions on the property, on buying the 100% you then essentially buy the freehold. We are doing some new build SO where you can only ever buy up to 80% so will never own the freehold. This is to ensure they remain shared ownership as they are in a small, very expensive village.

In relation to offers. The valuation would have been done by a RICS surveyor, not an estate agent so the valuation should be roughly correct. Ours have to be redone every 3 months to ensure it is priced correctly - worth checking that. You can offer below what the asking price is but the seller cannot accept amounts over this valuation. Just bear in mind, that even in today's market, most SO sellers have very little room for manouvre price wise due to the value of their equity now.

As for those who don't like the SO schemes - horses for courses. All I can say is that we have many, many happy customers who would not be in their own home without these schemes.

geoffky

share ownership is magic.....it tricks you into buying a overpriced house and all the risks.......it is for fools and fools only..