Selling a McCarthy and Stone Apartment

mljdamvp

Hello,
I have been trying to sell my deceased aunties 1 bedroom McCarthy and Stone retirement apartment for nearly a year now, I've had 1 viewing and 0 offers, the price has been dropped by £15,000 over the time its been on the market and i'm having to pay the service charge, council tax and ground rent for the property.
Its for sale through two estate agents at the moment, does anyone with experience of selling a McCarthy & Stone property have any advice for getting it sold asap?
Thanks in advance
Mike

SallyDucati

I had to sell my Mums retirement apartment in 2014/2015. It did take about 9 months as the pool of buyers is small. I hated Mum paying £'000s in service charge when she wasn't living there any more.

Is there a House Manager? I found keeping in touch with the one at Mums helped, as she would also tell me about feedback and any other flats for sale (she showed viewers the flats marketed through Retirement Home Search).

One thing that I did think would be an issue was the lease - it was only 68 years but in the end the buyers weren't concerned about that. If the one on your Aunts flat is shorter that could be an issue?

mljdamvp

Thank you for your reply i'm not entirely sure what the length of the lease is on the flat, but i will certainly find out. My mum is friendly with the house manager so hopefully were already getting the benefit of his knowledge, just want it sold asap.

Larac

We have had my late Mum's one on the market for six months - taken £20K off of it. Had some viewings - all time wasters unfortunately. You have to sit it out, I gather as limited 'audience' In our situation there are 4 others for sale in the block and is the 'top end' for these sort of places. I suspect we will end up taking another £10K off it. Meanwhile, the estate continues to pay the service charges and ground rent on an empty flat.

mljdamvp

Is is possible to sell a McCarthy and Stone property at auction?

Larac

mljdamvp wrote: »

Is is possible to sell a McCarthy and Stone property at auction?

As part of the buying process, MC have to 'vet' the people intending to purchase the flat - not sure how that would work in an auction?. They don't seem to be 'normal' flat sales as you have to spend a couple grand getting a buyers pack done, which MC insist on being done. According to our solicitor, MC seem to add a load of charges on as part of the conveyancing. (Be interested to see if anyone has sold through an auction though) - right PIA to sell IMHO!

lincroft1710

Just drop the price until it becomes an extremely attractive proposition. In my hometown one block of retirement apartments always has several for sale. The idea of a new ret apt in a brand new block tends to be far more appealing than a secondhand one in an existing block, hence the difficulty in selling.

AnotherJoe

I am also selling a retirement flat same situation they are slow to move because there’s a limited pool of buyers. There’s always 3 or 4 for sale as residents move on in one way or another.
I am sure we will take an offer when the time comes but the issue isn’t price at present its waiting for people wanting to move into this area at this sort of price.

eddddy

I guess it must vary by area. I know of a retirement apartment block in a London surburb with a waiting list. They sell within days.


Regarding auctions - these types of apartments often seem to be bought by genteel 60 to 70+ year old widows.

I really can't see them going to a high-stress, faced-paced environment like an auction room to buy their home. (And I can't really see them being sufficiently comfortable with technology to bid for their home on an online auction either.)

I see them much preferring to deal with an old-fashioned, calm, polite estate agent. So that's the type of EA I would look for, to sell a retirement apartment.


Edit to add...

I suspect that this type of buyer may not search Rightmove either - but prefer to phone or visit local EAs instead. So choosing a local, long-established, traditional EA might help.

AdrianC

ANYTHING will sell... at the right price. If there's no interest, then it's too expensive.


These properties have massive new-build premiums.

Alter_ego

Completion on ours on Friday after 17 months. It only sold (against others) because the aunt retained the bath when others converted to a shower.
Bought by the aunt 12 years ago £210k, advertised by us at £173k, rejected an early offer of £150k, dropped to £165k after 6 months. Accepted £160k completion as said this Friday.
We have spent approx £3k on service charges, £1.5k council tax, 1.25% to sinking fund. 1.25% RHS. £680 to solicitors.
Good luck!!

Edit. PS MC are currently selling new apartments in the same town for around £300k!!