Buying a city centre apartment- a big no no?

Bil2

Hi-

We're currently looking into buying a city centre apartment to live in. We're particularly after a renovated property (converted warehouses etc) and have little interest in lego-style new builds.

Is buying a city centre apartment a major mistake? Whenever I mention it to someone, they express concern! We're not out to make a profit (although we would at least like to break even!) and I prefer living in flats to houses.

Does luck with buying a city centre place depend on the city?

Bil2

huglebear

I've no firsthand experience but my boyfriend has. He bought from Urban Splash who focus on renovating apartments and houses in city centres. They have a relatively good reputation - which makes me think the whole market must be terrible! He bought a renovation apartment from them in Liverpool. The problems were both initial - flooring hadn't been laid, fittings looked great but fell apart - and long-term - Urban Splash told buyers that the ground floor would be used for offices but then sold it to a nightclub without soundproofing the apartments. There was also going to be a carport and some gardens on the roof - all came to nothing. My boyfriend was an experienced buyer with a great solicitor, but in the end he moved after only 2 years because of the noise and problems with the apartment. Our solicitor said there was nothing to be done, because the developers won't write into a contract that other space in the building won't be sold to nightclub owners etc - and can always claim after the event that they'd 'discovered' that a carport/garden would be inconvenient at a later stage. We have many friends who have had exactly the same experience in Manchester.
The 2 lessons my boyf says he learned are: don't buy offplan, and also think carefully about who the other occupiers will be. It probably does depend on the city centre. In Liverpool for eg the market is swamped and consequently a lot of buy to let landlords have moved in and have no scruples about letting a 2 bed flat to 5 barmen, or some drug dealers. Also be aware that any views your apartment currently has may be compromised - in our experience any guarantees about this from the Council or elsewhere are worth nothing. When my boyf moved in his apartment had a view down to the river, about 1.5 miles away - 3 years on it faces a five storey nightclub/bar complex.
Having said all that I totally sympathise because those apartments can look fabulous, but if you do buy do as a barrister friend of ours did and pay as much as you possibly can to get into a fairly small and exclusive complex; also find out if your city centre has 'zones' where nightclub development is concentrated and avoid them.

rosysparkle

I have experience of teh rental market in city centre apartments and while they are quite popular (if slightly oversupplied) when they are new, few people are so keen on them five-seven years later when they begin to look second hand, particularly when there is still new building going on. Re-rental values have gone down and new rental is a very competitive so prices are dropping slightly, particularly in apartments with no allocated car parking space.

Bil2

Ta for the advice so far-

The apartments that we're looking at have already been built (refurbished about 3 yrs ago- originally built around 100 years ago!) and are purely residential. In addition, we're looking at converted properties (e.g. warehouses etc). Does this make a difference to re-sale potential? We thought that if we went for an apartment with period features or historical significance, this would be better than buying a brand-spanking new-build. This seems to be the general rule for buying houses and we thought that it would work for apartments too. Is this true?

Bil2

hazeyj

I think you will be fine. Ive always lived in City Centre places (Manchester) and made profits on each one. Incidentially Urban splash do not have the best reputation with any aparts they have refubs or new build. I would never buy one a Urban Splash property, although to be fair the same problems occur in both new build and conversations due to the poor workmanship etc

You obviously have to take into consideration; location, bars nightclubs nearto etc but you dont have to worry about that.

Its always a good idea to speak to other residents in the building (maybe post a letter or look around on other forums etc) to gain an insight into history of the property. There are general house price websites for free on the web.

You should easily be able to find out how much the prev /current ownerm paid for the flat (an all the others in the block too) to give you an idea on how prices have changed over a couple of years.

Incidentially, where are you looking at buying?

I think if you have a good conversion with nice features etc then you wouldnt have a problem selling on. Its always worth knowing that an apt with a balcony will almost certainly sell before one without one..parking makes a massive difference too.

Bil2

That's really reassuring to hear! I've just had a look at the prices and sales of apartments in the areas that we're looking at and the sales activity looks very active!

Bil2

Anyone else with thoughts on period/converted city centre apartments?

Alexl_2

What city are you looking at?
I too am in Manchester. Would recommend def. get one with parking, even if you don't need now this is always an asset when you sell on. Bear in mind there are lots of people who like the modern boxes so you are buying into a niche, but as long as there is nothing too quirky that makes it difficult to fit furniture etc it will always appeal to someone. As with any flats, the biggest thing is who the management company are that deal with the building as a whole as any issues once you're in will go through them, including problems with other tenants/owners so make sure they're on the ball.

BobProperty

I would seriously recommend you look on Rightmove or one of the other websites that give sold prices. There is a lot of over-development in Manchester and other cities in my opinion and newspapers were writing articles about developments where people had sold at a loss. I would be very, very fussy about where I lived if I wanted to live in city centre Manchester.

hazeyj

BobProperty wrote:

I would seriously recommend you look on Rightmove or one of the other websites that give sold prices. There is a lot of over-development in Manchester and other cities in my opinion and newspapers were writing articles about developments where people had sold at a loss. I would be very, very fussy about where I lived if I wanted to live in city centre Manchester.

Out of interest Bob where would your good and bad places be in Manc CC? Added. I only say as age and location go hand in hand with city life.

I lived off Oxford Road close opposite Oxford Road Train station in a lovely quirky littlre conversation for three years and ended up hating it due to the noise levels from bars etc, which was the one thing that initally drew me to the location.

Now ive grown up a bit I am living in the lovely northern quarter but in a new build. I could still sell my current flat for more than what I bought it for last October.

BobProperty

Out of the places I've been in, there are some quality conversions in Princess Street which I liked the look of. No parking but straight out of the front door into the city centre. Around St John's Street, Byrom Street used to be "Pied a terre" territory for the legal profession, don't know if it still is. It's not an area I'm really into as I'd never live anywhere like that, and I wouldn't invest in an area like that either.

edited to say I've just had a look on Rightmove and I can't believe the prices. I think this is overpriced by a factor of 10 :eek:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-3786069.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Bil2

I'm looking to buy in Manchester. I'm viewing over 10 apartments in the city tomorrow. At the moment I'm leaning towards the Northern Quarter because it's within waking distance to mine and my partner's work places and I've heard that it is one of the best city centre areas to invest in at the moment. Out of all the apartments that I'm viewing, my favourite is this one:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-8760623.rsp?pa_n=7&tr_t=buy

followed by this one:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7278001.rsp?pa_n=7&tr_t=buy

Does anyone who lives in Manchester have any thoughts/advice on either of these properties?