FTB - first offer

missaitch

Hi again!
If you read my previous thread sorry for the repeat, if not here's the situation:

My partner and I have found an apartment in Leeds that we love and have reserved. We are going down the HomeBuy direct route with Barrat. The price is £136,495 and £15,000 for the parking space we have to have. They immediately dropped £5,000 on the parking space today but I still think it's over priced.

I've compared the price with other asking prices in the centre of Leeds, similar properties and were looking at between £95,000 and £115,000. Some of these are smaller or do not have parking but have extras like a balcony or white goods.

What do I do now? They know we can't buy on the open market, without the homebuy, but I do think that the apartment is overpriced. We love it and want to buy, but not for the wrong price. I can;t find what the other apartments in the build sold for so feeling a bit stuck!

Any advice would be great... :rolleyes:

cardsharps

That sounds very expensive for a flat in Leeds. I thought there was a massive glut of flats in Leeds city centre and they were practically giving them away.

ciano125

Several flats in Leeds have gone through the auctions over the past few months for £80k or so. Dont throw your money away on one of these, there are hundreds available. If you cant afford to buy now, save up for a bit, there's no rush.

ray123

You could try the mychoice home buy scheme:
http://www.mychoice-homebuy.info/

I heard that some councils have run out of money for this, but is worth a look. Depending on when the apartments have been sold, you might be able to find the prices out on:
https://www.nethouseprices.net.

ad44downey

missaitch wrote: »

Hi again!
If you read my previous thread sorry for the repeat, if not here's the situation:

My partner and I have found an apartment in Leeds that we love and have reserved. We are going down the HomeBuy direct route with Barrat. The price is £136,495 and £15,000 for the parking space we have to have. They immediately dropped £5,000 on the parking space today but I still think it's over priced.

I've compared the price with other asking prices in the centre of Leeds, similar properties and were looking at between £95,000 and £115,000. Some of these are smaller or do not have parking but have extras like a balcony or white goods.

What do I do now? They know we can't buy on the open market, without the homebuy, but I do think that the apartment is overpriced. We love it and want to buy, but not for the wrong price. I can;t find what the other apartments in the build sold for so feeling a bit stuck!

I think your post perfectly illustrates the fact that these schemes are merely a way of keeping house prices artificially high. If they didn't exist you'd be able to snap one of these flats up for £80K or alot less.

ciano125

Or you could not throw your money away!!!!!! Don't buy it!!!!!! Honestly, please do some research - why do you want to pay £150k for a flat when you can get one for half the price??

ciano125

ad44downey wrote: »

If they didn't exist you'd be able to snap one of these flats up for £80K or alot less.

You can. I think it was Allsops Auctions, but I'd have to double check. They come up pretty often though.

missaitch

I've searched all the house prices sites I can find and none list prices. They were sold earliest Nov 2008.
The reason we want to move now is that we are living in a 'not so nice' area of leeds with noisy neighbours and don't have enough space. We're saving as much as possible but not getting anywhere near enough for a deposit on the open market.

Own choice homebuy isn't available as far as I know, could recheck with my4walls.

How would I negotiate the price? Tell them that I think it's too much and offer less or is it better to tell them what other similar properties are selling for?

ciano125

Yes, it was Allsops. Lot 915 in the November Auction, two bed flat at Clarence Dock sold for £83k.

missaitch

There's no way we could buy at auction!

ciano125

missaitch wrote: »

I've searched all the house prices sites I can find and none list prices. They were sold earliest Nov 2008.
The reason we want to move now is that we are living in a 'not so nice' area of leeds with noisy neighbours and don't have enough space. We're saving as much as possible but not getting anywhere near enough for a deposit on the open market.

Own choice homebuy isn't available as far as I know, could recheck with my4walls.

How would I negotiate the price? Tell them that I think it's too much and offer less or is it better to tell them what other similar properties are selling for?

I know its not nice to live somewhere you dont want to, but would it really be much better to pay twice as much as you need to to live in a flat? Nethouseprices gives the prices for the flats, I've seen them before on there.

Do what ever it takes to save as much as you can, get a second job, eat rice and bread even, but please DO NOT make a rash decision and regret it for the next 25 years.