What would you do?

SMR710

rachelheels said:

SMR710 said:

Flipping heck!! I have a 4 bedroom detached, with a footprint basement kitchen/lounge/dining, a home bar with pool table room, a separate lounge, a full width balcony terrace with countryside views, 4 bed, 3 bathrooms, garage, front & back garden, driveway... countryside on the doorstep... £346k!! Sometimes I love West Yorkshire!!
I hope you get sorted. The house prices are so ridiculous in some parts of the country. Hope you get sorted.

Yea the reason for that value is that your in West Yorkshire lol

Not the nicest part of the country let’s face it 

Its lovely thank you  
Who wouldnt want countryside hills, farming, farm shops, country walks, views for miles... and decent house prices! You'd never get me in a city!!

johnsof75

Thank you. We would love to be out of London (I know its stupidly expensive)  -  have been here for family and work reasons but unfortunately family circumstances have changed so could now move if needed. We dont have anywhere else to move to at the moment but could rent. Even in my current block the same flats are renting at £400 a month less. -  as its SO we are not allowed to rent out. 

I am sorry for still being unclear - in 2008 I 'bought' 50% of a flat valued at £340k -  paid £170k. The flats are now on Rightmove for between £430-490k. None seem to be selling. 

Grumpy_chap

£340k to £430k in 12 years is not much increase.  Only £90k equity, of which you get £45k.  Harsh!
£400k doesn't get you much in London, still prefer it to Yorkshire, none of those farming smells, noisy tractors, shops closed after work

johnsof75

No the flats havent risen in price much at all. We bought in the middle of the 2008 recession as well - but think they were probably overpriced to start with? Given past performance I can't see the prices increasing  much more in the future so it seems mad to be stretching ourselves to pay the rent/service charge/mortgage each month just in case the market gets better? Why do you think? Given the advice of others I am tempted to get it painted and then advertise but am a little worried that the old kitchen may put SO buyers off? 

CookieMonster

johnsof75 said:

 I am tempted to get it painted and then advertise but am a little worried that the old kitchen may put SO buyers off? 

Seems like a good idea; just drop your asking price to allow for the cost of a new kitchen.

numbercruncher8

johnsof75 said:

No the flats havent risen in price much at all. We bought in the middle of the 2008 recession as well - but think they were probably overpriced to start with? Given past performance I can't see the prices increasing  much more in the future so it seems mad to be stretching ourselves to pay the rent/service charge/mortgage each month just in case the market gets better? Why do you think? Given the advice of others I am tempted to get it painted and then advertise but am a little worried that the old kitchen may put SO buyers off? 

TBH I think I would only do the kitchen if it has the potential to be a differentiating factor from the competition.

Doing it on the cheap I think has a negligible effect unless it is a real disaster at the moment, as the new owner would most likely fit whatever they want instead. On its own I don't think it puts off all buyers, although many people buying nearly new would want to move without doing anything.

If the other flat is on at £430k and has been on for ages then it is likely to not be worth £430k; putting yours on at close to this is going to see the same fate as it would be worth less unless there is some other factor such as better view.

Past performance doesn't necessarily say what the future is, I think you would have to delve a little closer into the local market; even within London there may be different prospects for different areas. In the same vein, past paid prices are not that relevant either.

For instance, why are the flats in your block not selling? Where are buyers going instead? In most cases it is likely to be the price; either comparable 1-beds nearby are cheaper, the jump to a 2-bed nearby is not large, or the jump to a house a bit further away is not large either. Or the service charge has become so large it becomes an issue for affordability for a typical buyer.

May not give you all the answers but it may suggest a price at which the market will bite.

TBagpuss

Double check the rules regarding selling. I think the ones I have come across the requirement is to offer them first via the HA and at their valuation, but if they don't sell within a set period of time you can then market them more widely.
It may help also to look at getting a proper valuation from a surveyor so you are in a position to argue with the HA if they overvalue it.

I would not install a new kitchen as this is expensive and you won't get the value back - only do it if you want it for you. Do repaint though - it can make a huge difference to how appealing the property looks, is relatively inexpensive and will be pleasanter for you to live with in the mean time! 

In terms of whether to try to sell, or to stay put, look at where you would go and what it would cost if you do sell. Would renting be significantly cheaper? Would you be able to move out of London and buy? 

The other option is to look at whether staircasing to have a higher proportion of the flat would be worth doing, if you think it would be easier to sell if you owned it rather than only having part ownership. Are any in the block wholly owned, and if so, do they sell any better than  the shared ownership ones? 

Talk to one of the agents involved in marketing the others and ask them for an honest option about value and what it would take to sell yours (talk to an agent whose already trying to sell one as they will know what level if interest there is and what is putting people off) 

Crashy_Time

rachelheels said:

SMR710 said:

Flipping heck!! I have a 4 bedroom detached, with a footprint basement kitchen/lounge/dining, a home bar with pool table room, a separate lounge, a full width balcony terrace with countryside views, 4 bed, 3 bathrooms, garage, front & back garden, driveway... countryside on the doorstep... £346k!! Sometimes I love West Yorkshire!!
I hope you get sorted. The house prices are so ridiculous in some parts of the country. Hope you get sorted.

Yea the reason for that value is that your in West Yorkshire lol

Not the nicest part of the country let’s face it 

And London is? LOL.

Crashy_Time

Grumpy_chap said:

£340k to £430k in 12 years is not much increase.  Only £90k equity, of which you get £45k.  Harsh!
£400k doesn't get you much in London, still prefer it to Yorkshire, none of those farming smells, noisy tractors, shops closed after work

As the flats won`t sell that "increase" isn`t really there though is it?