What’s wrong with this property

Herzlos

Ybe said:

Herzlos said:

Off plan is tricky, does the time for it to be built matter? It sounds like you're not in any rush to move which is good. 

Viewing is definitely the best way to go though; places can seem good on paper, with the estate agent trying to present it as well as possible, but you hate as soon as you walk in. 

The 2 bed seems good but I’m still suspicious. Why has it not sold for too long. Could it be the electric storage heaters, electric mega flow for hot water and electric hob? 

You'd need to look and see, it could be all sorts of reasons like people not liking the shape of one of the rooms. Electric storage heaters are a bit of a concern to people because they cost more to run than gas, though if you don't use it much it also means you're not paying a standing charge for a gas supply. 

With the new build, it’s the fact it’s new that appeals to me. 

I'm not sure it's necessarily a good thing, new build houses can have some pretty bad defects though you've at least got an avenue to get the builders to fix anything found. If buying a new build I'd definitely pay someone to give it a thorough inspection first and report on stuff that needs fixed. 

GDB2222

I keep getting feelings of Deja vu on these threads with Ybe. The same points get made repeatedly, but they’re ignored, and the threads go on, round and round, at enormous length. 

I do wonder whether these are actually genuine questions, or there’s some other motive. 

Ybe

GDB2222 said:

I keep getting feelings of Deja vu on these threads with Ybe. The same points get made repeatedly, but they’re ignored, and the threads go on, round and round, at enormous length. 

I do wonder whether these are actually genuine questions, or there’s some other motive. 

What’s the other motive? And they’re not being ignored. They’re being taken on board. 

Emmia

Ybe said:

GDB2222 said:

I keep getting feelings of Deja vu on these threads with Ybe. The same points get made repeatedly, but they’re ignored, and the threads go on, round and round, at enormous length. 

I do wonder whether these are actually genuine questions, or there’s some other motive. 

What’s the other motive? And they’re not being ignored. They’re being taken on board. 

@Ybe you could stop starting these threads? Since you're clearly not going to buy, as you can't decide what you want - we fellow MSE members aren't you, what we might want will not necessarily be what you want. 

If there's another motive perhaps you could advise?

I wouldn't for what it's worth buy "off plan" I like to see the actual physical space, etc. I saw a flat by the sea with a friend who had bought it off plan, but the balcony was almost unusable as the sun basically shone directly onto it. This effect was magnified by the reflection of the water - what should have been a lovely sea view was in fact almost blindingly bright, even with very dark sunglasses.

RHemmings

Before I bought my house, I was also accused of asking endless questions and never buying. I remember one such post that was posted right after (maybe an hour after) I made my offer for the house I bought. (Which caused me to LOL - I hadn't announced my offer online, but the timing was funny to me). 

Buying a house is a major life event, and personally I have no problem with people asking a lot of questions over an extended time. It's best to understand the market, what is on offer, what is likely to turn up in the future, etc. And, to know all the due dilligence. I still remember the post here by someone who bought a property at (traditional) auction, and after contracts exchanging as the gavel falls they found out that the garden wasn't included in the purchase. It seems mind-bogglingly obvious to 'us' on the forum that someone should check the title plan before bidding, but there are a lot of traps for young players when buying a house. 

I've been put off flats in new buildings because I've seen what has happened in some buildings near me. (My long-term plan is to buy a starter property for my son). Some of them are selling for prices less than the initial purchase price, often a lot less, over a decade after they were built. Others seem to maintain value better. There's a new building near to me and I know that local estate agents are very keen for people to buy flats there for BTL. But, there seem to be a lot of those flats for sale, and the prices are very high compared to similar properties. If someone buys one for BTL, and rents it out through the local EA, then it won't be the EA who suffers if the value of the flat decreases. 

Tabieth

There’s nothing wrong with posting and asking questions but, and I’m repeating myself here, you really have to physically view the properties. They’ll look very different in real life than they do online. (I viewed a flat that looks beautiful on Rightmove and is described in glowing terms. In reality it is rundown, smelly, and badly neglected. Worse yet, so were the communal areas meaning the flat owner would be stuck living in a dump or stuck with high service charges to pay for the structural work that’s badly needed.  None of that was evident online, it had to be viewed.)

By viewing you’ll see what these properties are really like, not how the EA are presenting them as. And you’ll start to refine your priorities in the process. It would make sense to go and view and few and then post asking for options on properties you’ve seen and you like. But until you view several you’re not going to get anywhere. 

GDB2222

Ybe said:

GDB2222 said:

I keep getting feelings of Deja vu on these threads with Ybe. The same points get made repeatedly, but they’re ignored, and the threads go on, round and round, at enormous length. 

I do wonder whether these are actually genuine questions, or there’s some other motive. 

What’s the other motive? And they’re not being ignored. They’re being taken on board. 

I’m delighted to hear that you are taking on board the answers to your questions. It had occurred to me that you are doing research into social media, and we are part of an experiment, for example.

You must have been told many times already that new build properties generally lose value compared to older properties in the first few years. So, there’s a fundamental disconnect between your stated aim of not losing money and your looking at new builds. So, we seem to be going round in circles. 

ReadySteadyPop

Ybe said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Be wary of advice that says interest rates don`t matter, if say you bought the 400k flat (the one that has had to reduce by 75k so far) and you used a mortgage to do so, that is a LOT of debt to be stuck with if interest rates start gong up again (or even at present interest rates)

RSP will bang on about rates going up causing problems, whilst in the real world rates have just dropped again. Since I bought my mortgage rates have varied between 5.7% and 1.9%.The jump for 1.9% to 5.5% (now) hurt, but it's not the end of the world unless you're overextended. Still a better long term bet than renting and waiting. 

Buying any property is going to involve some risk, and you don't want to overpay, but you need to be rational about it. Automatically assuming against all evidence that everything is overpaid, rates are going to fly up and the markets going to crash is just going to leave you renting a teiny bedsit whilst the rest of the country gets on with their life.

You don't want to overextend yourself though, so whilst a 2 bed may be a better long term option a 1 bed may be more affordable, but it all depends on the flat. You could easily find a 1  bed that's bigger than a 2 bed , etc. So the best thing to do is go and view a few and see if there's any that you feel you could happily live in. 

How much do you think the 400k flat cost in 2008?

It’s been 17 years since 2008. There’s been inflation since then. 

Inflation causes interest rates to rise meaning that a price paid when rates were low or falling might not be a good benchmark of value.

ReadySteadyPop

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

How much do you think the 400k flat cost in 2008?

Somewhere about £250k. Someone will have made a tidy profit on it after holding it for 17 years. 

Assuming you mean 5 Inkwell close, which was the first link I found in here to a 400k flat, we can see the price history:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/d8ae29fe-8eb9-4059-8799-fe0bd097fa67

It was first sold for £138k in 1999, then for £405k in 2018. It failed to sell in 2023 and I don't see an asking price for it. 

Why it sold for £405k in 2018 and is now for sale for £400k in 2025 I don't know. Maybe it was wildly overpriced back then, maybe it's a market correction. 

What do you reckon it'll be worth in 2050? More or less than £400k?

Not someone buying now though?

It depends when they sell it. It could be worth £800k in another 20 years. 

Maybe the current seller bought at the wrong time, or overpaid for whatever reason. It doesn't matter. How does it compare to what else is available?

Or like this seller they could be struggling to get back what they borrowed ten years ago?

Herzlos

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

How much do you think the 400k flat cost in 2008?

Somewhere about £250k. Someone will have made a tidy profit on it after holding it for 17 years. 

Assuming you mean 5 Inkwell close, which was the first link I found in here to a 400k flat, we can see the price history:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/d8ae29fe-8eb9-4059-8799-fe0bd097fa67

It was first sold for £138k in 1999, then for £405k in 2018. It failed to sell in 2023 and I don't see an asking price for it. 

Why it sold for £405k in 2018 and is now for sale for £400k in 2025 I don't know. Maybe it was wildly overpriced back then, maybe it's a market correction. 

What do you reckon it'll be worth in 2050? More or less than £400k?

Not someone buying now though?

It depends when they sell it. It could be worth £800k in another 20 years. 

Maybe the current seller bought at the wrong time, or overpaid for whatever reason. It doesn't matter. How does it compare to what else is available?

Or like this seller they could be struggling to get back what they borrowed ten years ago?

After 10 years of payments they'll owe significantly less than the asking price even with a minimal deposit. You can't really infer anything.