Purchase dilemma with neighbour

shnitzelsteve

Hi Experts,

Just seeking some confident advice from anybody who might have been in this situation. I have been going through the stages of buying a 2 bed ex-local flat in Borough over the past 6 months. I am about to exchange and complete the sale in four weeks at an amount of £276,000.

But I have just recently discovered that a flat has just sold on the same floor in the building for £249,950. It was completely off my radar! I've had a look at the other flat online and its identical along with an almost new kitchen and bathroom; whilst mine would need some refreshing.

The rub for me is how to continue with my purchase? I am really concerned that there may be some reason for the incredibly low price that I don't know about. As far as I can see its not possible to find a good 2 bed in this particular part of borough for £250,000.

Has anybody been in this situation or what would you do in this case? I am thinking about going back to the vendor to renegotiate as it just seems like madness to pay so much over the odds. On the other hand its also outrageously cheap at that price.

thanks so much!

poppysarah

Offer the same (or less) along with the fact the other one sold for that and this one needs work.

mynameisdave

Do you have the links out of interest. Even something as simple as the view could alter the price difference. Granted 10% premium is a lot, but the other seller might have reduced low to get a buyer ASAP with no messing about. Could have been a repo or an auction property

shnitzelsteve

I cant post links but go to...

Reedsrains dot co dot uk and search for post code SE1. The property is in Brenley House.

Cannon_Fodder

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-15832518.html

Cannon_Fodder

Looking at sold prices; http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=brenley+house&n=50

And average price movements in Southwark;

[IMG]http://www1.landregistry.gov.uk/houseprices/housepriceindex/report/default.asp?g=1&gt=1&a=Southwark&s=01 June 2007&e=01 May 2010&t=1[/IMG]


The £236,500 sale in 2007, plus 4.6% for the market since then, equals £247,379. So, the flat on at £249k does seem very reasonable - but then, they would know the stamp duty threshold would inhibit many people from offering more, so why hang around and fail to sell...

Unless seriously disadvantaged by view/road noise or somesuch, it does appear decent value compared to £276k.

shnitzelsteve

Thanks for the response everyone. I think I am going to call round the other flat and just make an offer to see where it goes. I seriously doubt my vendor would drop her offer as I believe she has already planned how to spend the money. Failing that I will present the situation to her to see what is the outcome - I just can't see her lowering the price as negotiations were tough. I think her only reason for the price has been blown out of the water now with this next door sale. My only gripe is that I have been searching in that area for over six months now and was unable to find anything in that particular area at the price range. It seems the further down long lane you go towards bermondsey the more the price drops.

Lance

Can you wait? Can she wait? Most buyers will offer below stamp duty for a place valued at her price and expect to get it. Ex Council flats are generally not as valuable as a private block across the road so looking at price rises in the whole of Southwark does not really help with the 26000 difference. This is a very big step for you and house prices in my view are on the way back down so how much do you want the flat? It is worth what you will pay. If you buy and later try and sell then the other flats sold price may affect your flats valuation if it is still recent.