URGENT - Brighton - Advice from anyone in Lewes Rd area

EagerLearner

Dear all,

We are FTB and really need local advice - please can anyone who knows the Lewed road area of Brighton help - we are all set to do a survey on a property on Coombe Terrace but have been advised by the surveyor (in advance of survey) that there is a brothel on that stretch of road. We asked the police and they are aware it is there.

Further to this we also checked real sale values there (bn2 4ad) and it seems the last sale was 49k in September 2005 for 1 bed flat. We offered 118.5k on our one because the flat looked great but are now panicking that in 2 years we may not be able to sell for anywhere near that. The property is not close to the brothel according to the police but they would not tell us what number it was. The surveyor told us he has rejected properties in that area due to their condition, but we said this one looks very nice - could he have been hinting that he won't approve due to the brothel?

Please can anyone help - we have to decide this weekend if we are to instruct the surveyor to go in on wednedsay 26th and really can't afford to spend that £440 on survey if it's definately a bad place to buy.

Thank you

EagerLearner

Doozergirl

Your surveyor won't downvalue a property because there's a brothel in the street. Also, £49k is a very low price for a flat in most areas of the country. If there are a lot of run down properties then it must have been one of those that sold or it's a remortgage amount, which sometimes seem to appear on these websites - there's no way that's a regular selling price in Brighton, brothel or not!

I wouldn't panic. If you've viewed enough properties then you'll have an idea if it's worth the pruice you've offered or not.

EagerLearner

Thanks Doozergirl - you always seem to come to our rescue ;o)

We figured that the flat that sold at 49k must have been a real bomb of a place but it did send us a-panicking! There have been no recent sales there also, which worries us but we dooooo like it and had gotten so excited... This is our third time buying a place that happens to have a cloud over it, I guess FTB in Brighton have to get used to that!

It was on for 123k and we got it for 118,5k due to last buyer pulling out at last minute (we now think this could be due to the brothel) so for us it's ok price, but wish I could see current selling prices on that road. Any sites you;d recommend?

Thanks!

EagerLearner

Stompa

EagerLearner, a bit of Googling turned up some info that may be useful to you, I've sent you a PM.

Stompa

lestamunda

To be honest, if I was to be spending over £100,000 on anything I would not be comfortable proceeding on any terms if I had even the smallest of doubts.

I would do your homework/research and be 100% sure before instructing the surveyor.

Otherwise, it will always be on your mind, forever!

Pls pls pls be 1,000% sure before proceeding...............

EagerLearner

Stompa - thanks for the PM - at least now I know location rather than thinking it's 2 doors down or something. It's unbelievable that it's legally operating and the police wouldn't comment on if they're trying to shut it down. Such an obvious main road, crazy.

Jaghir - thanks for the message, I know what you mean and believe me we've had 24 hours of fear, panic and stress. But the problem is, we're FTB and can'f find anything in Brighton that's affordable. We have considered leaving it for a year, but prices will have gone up locally and we'll then have given away another 6k to our current landlady.... We don't know what to do, but at least now I know where it is thanks to Stompa. Main thing for us is that the value wouldn't be affected by it, but of course that's hoping these people get shut down in 2 years.

This is our third time where a problem's come up and we're at the last straw with this weekend being the deadline to let the surveyors know.

Thanks all, it's going to be a long weekend, think of us!

Eagerlearner

Doozergirl

Just a look on rightmove shows that your offer is totally in the right ballpark and that compared to a lot of the flats in the price range there, I can see why you picked yours!

Fingers crossed that your survey is passed with flying colours! Let us know how you get on.

keithscott1

EagerLearner

Here's a free site that can give you info on previous property sale prices by post code or address.

http://www.nethouseprices.com/index.php

I've been having a look at the list of properties in the street that you have an interest in and there appears to be quite a variance in property prices. I wouldn't look too deeply into it but I'd ask the local Estate Agencies (to which there are loads in Brighton) what the heads-up's like in that street.

The best of luck whether you decide to purchase or not. You've picked a great City to move into (and I don't live there either!).

Doozergirl

https://www.housepricemaps.co.uk

Put in your postcode and choose your year - there's quite a few sales and one last year for £123,000 - that'll be where your asking price from then!

EagerLearner

Doozer - thanks, it is a lovely flat and our last chance saloon too as we have to move out of here (rented) 5th June no matter what... Just have to wait and see what the surveyor says and if he approved the amount we'd offered. 6 days till we know!

Keith - thanks for the link, now you can see why we panicked at the values...! We rang an EA earlier who was non-comital and just said 'it depends what you feel that property is worth on that street' and the surveyor said the main problem was if the interior was grotty, this one is fully re-done and modernised. I guess it's a waiting game til Wednesday and we have to risk that £440 to find out what he thinks Nationwide should give us...

Thanks guys, I feel a teensy bit better ;o)

EagerLearner

EagerLearner

Thanks Doozer - that site is interesting and *our* one does show up a few years ago - sickening to see how much the vendors bought the flat for then though! The £123k you saw was for freehold, whereas ours is leasehold so prob reasonable price I guess.

Ah, to have bought back then eh - then there's the worry of the petrol/national debt problems that could influence property prices - I tell you, before this mortgage I cared little for politics or economy and now we see how much it all has a domino effect...!

Sleep tight ;o)

Eagerlearner