Selling old flat - repair, refurbishment & lease extension issues

Robofw9

Hello folks, hope I'm not duplicating an existing thread.

Bereavement leaves me dealing with two empty properties. I'm looking for advice on the flat in SW London.

It's structurally OK, but has lots of repair issues. The electrics work, but I suspect needs rewiring. The boiler is knackered. Some windows are cracked & have collapsing frames, so need replacing.

I want to sell: should I tackle these pretty basic issues or try to sell unimproved & take a hit on the sales price?

Also, the lease only has 72 (I think) years to run. Is it worth seeking to extend this, or again leave it as something for any buyer to sort out?

I don't want to lose money, but I'm not sure I'm in a state to manage any big refurbishment projects!

TIA

Rob

pinksleepybear

I think you might be better off getting an estate agent round to ask them - without seeing the flat, no-one can judge the cost of repairs or know the possible values (both improved and unimproved) of your flat.

Murdina

I would try and sell it. Unless you are in the building trade or an avid DIYer, the hassle of organising the work will probably outweigh any financial gain.

A 72 year lease is always going to be of relatively limited value.

dander

It's not really a cse of taking a "hit" on the price, it's just that the value of a property in need of refurbishment is less than one that's done up. If you want to get a higher price, you've got to invest in it and IMO there's no point doing it up if you're not interested in developing it. There are plenty of people out there looking for refurbishment projects. (well if not 'plenty' in the current market, certainly a fair proportion)

Fire_Fox

Robofw9 wrote: »

Hello folks, hope I'm not duplicating an existing thread.

Bereavement leaves me dealing with two empty properties. I'm looking for advice on the flat in SW London.

It's structurally OK, but has lots of repair issues. The electrics work, but I suspect needs rewiring. The boiler is knackered. Some windows are cracked & have collapsing frames, so need replacing.

I want to sell: should I tackle these pretty basic issues or try to sell unimproved & take a hit on the sales price?

Also, the lease only has 72 (I think) years to run. Is it worth seeking to extend this, or again leave it as something for any buyer to sort out?

I don't want to lose money, but I'm not sure I'm in a state to manage any big refurbishment projects!

TIA

Rob

You need to establish how many of the structural issues make the property un-mortgageable: certainly the length of the lease being under 80 years is a major issue. IMO you should at least attempt to address as - once you have served notice on the freeholder and agreed a price - this can be finalised at the same time as the conveyancing. Once purchased the buyer will have to wait two years to earn the right to extend the lease which will make it much less attractive to a developer.

Note that the cost of extending the lease is partly based on the market value of the property so it is cheaper to do so now while the place is very run down! An explanation of how to go about extending the lease is here:
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/