Struggling to sell London flat

74jax

Do we have a link to the property (the one for the op)? 

Crashy_Time

Yes there is a link.

MrsBrush

The reality is that many fairly recently built flats were overpriced to start with, particularly in London, and schemes such as help to buy coupled with really low interest rates have helped to push prices up further. When you also start looking at maintenance charges, ground rents and now things like cladding, they now look an unattractive option for many people who would previously have bought a flat.

When you also factor in a pandemic where people were trapped in their homes for months on end, which was a challenge for everyone, particularly with no additional room to work and no outside space, it is no wonder that suddenly larger homes with gardens that are further outside cities are now at a premium and very difficult to find. 

Unfortunately, roll back to the 1990's (for those of us old enough to remember that) and the largest price drops and negative equity were seen where people had bought flats - sometimes losing 50-60% of the original purchase price. If i rightly recall, I think it was 7 or 8 years before prices really started to recover again. I know the economics of the time were very different, but the effects are similar now. I sadly think that many flat owners are going to run into trouble with reduced prices and possible negative equity in the next couple of years.

OP - sorry to say this but there are only a couple of solutions; wait it out for as long as it takes until things improve, rent the place out, or sell at whatever price you can get for it and accept it may be substantially less that you bought it for.

grumiofoundation

eurostar2002 said:

[DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Even apart from the fact you sound lovely out of interest do you also wish misfortune on the ~1/3 of labour voters (dolts) who voted leave and does your ill feeling extend to the ~40% of Tory voters (are they dolts?) who voted remain? 

Best wishes (bleeding heart labour remain voter). 

74jax

Crashy_Time said:

Yes there is a link.

Do you have it please (or the post number it is in) ? I've looked through the thread again and missed it again 🙈 (head must be in weekend mode). I've found Eurostars property but not the op.  Thank you

NameUnavailable

The latest news about flats and the fire safety bill, FOS and PAS9980 means that buying (or trying to buy) any flat is now very much a lottery.

Of course for many people who want to buy a home, rather than renting, a flat is the only viable option. But if your flat is at a price level where a house a possible alternative option, then I think it is going to be harder to sell.

AFF8879

eurostar2002 said:

Gosh I didn't realise they hadn't put that on the listing on Rightmove. It was in the draft details I approved so I assumed they'd put it in. I think I will let the minimum term expire and sack these agents and use Purple Bricks. If I am going to lose tens of thousands on this disastrous purchase I may as well save on the fee. 

Why do you want to sell after barely living there 1 year?

AdrianC

grumiofoundation said:

...and does your ill feeling extend to the ~40% of Tory voters (are they dolts?) who voted remain? 

Anybody who voted Tory in 2017 and, especially, 2019 is absolutely complicit in this mess, no matter what they voted in 2016.

grumiofoundation

AdrianC said:

grumiofoundation said:

...and does your ill feeling extend to the ~40% of Tory voters (are they dolts?) who voted remain? 

Anybody who voted Tory in 2017 and, especially, 2019 is absolutely complicit in this mess, no matter what they voted in 2016.

That’s very true. (Think the 40% was from time of ref in 2015 anyway).

gwynlas

ThirdGuitar has not responded or posted since 16 August so they might well have moved on by now.