Purchasing a flat in West Bridgeford, Nottingham

Vampgirl

mcdelarich wrote: »

Maybe West Bridgeford is "sought after" but it isn't far away from the trouble near the city centre. The only reason it is sought after is due to the amount of re-development it has had and due to it being near the city.

West Bridgford has always been one of the most desirable parts of Nottingham to live and as part of Rushcliffe borough regularly scores very well on quality of life with good shopping, transport links and excellent schools, plus plenty of green areas. It is also one of the most expensive areas around the city (without going rural). I also believe that there is considerably less "re-development" in WB than many other areas in the vicinity. Certainly if I was thinking about moving back to the Nottingham area Rushcliffe would be the only borough I would consider, with WB being my ideal location.

dmg24

Agree with Vampgirl ... and why would you get an irregular train that takes over half an hour, when you can get a bus that runs every ten mins and only takes ten mins! x

Again, the schools and leisure facilities cannot be compared to other areas of Nottingham. I grew up north of Nottingham, but my parents chose to send me to a school much further south because of the difference in education standards.

When I was buying, I looked at an apartment in WB. In the end I bought in another area of Nottingham, the apartment was identical but £20K cheaper. Had I been able to afford the extra £20K, I still believe that the WB apartment would have been a good long term investment.

Phirefly

Vampgirl wrote: »

Rushcliffe borough regularly scores very well on quality of life with good shopping, transport links and excellent schools, plus plenty of green areas.

One of the main reasons Ruschcliffe scored so highly on that survey was down to the environmental score - they are despotic about recycling. Mother's had FOUR different coloured recycling wheelie bins thrust upon her. All adorned with 'glamorous' gold RBC logo :rolleyes:

Vampgirl

Phirefly wrote: »

One of the main reasons Ruschcliffe scored so highly on that survey was down to the environmental score - they are despotic about recycling. Mother's had FOUR different coloured recycling wheelie bins thrust upon her. All adorned with 'glamorous' gold RBC logo :rolleyes:

Yep my mother too and I think its a great idea, in fact I personally think we should go even further and follow the example in Germany and Austria that requires rubbish separation by law (because thats about the only way most people will ever bother to recycle).

Anyway, back to the OP's original questions....

My concerns are:
1) The lease has 67 years left.
2) People appear to be deserting flats and looking to buy houses to have children at the moment.

I'm no expert on leasehold issues so I'm going to ignore that and leave that to others who know more than me. But regarding the people buying houses not flats now...well there will always be people looking to upgrade to more space, but there are usually also some more people coming along who are wanting to get a foot on the ladder so this shouldn't be too much of an issue, particularly in a desirable area with good transport options.

What I want to ask is:
a) Should I tell my sis to get a valuation on the property anyway. I think that she's reluctant to do so as its a friend's boyfriend's place, but I would prefer she got this done for reassurance of the flat's value.

I assume that you're talking about an estate agent's valuation here rather than a mortgage valuation? I can understand that she maybe feels a bit uncomfortable given its a friend of a friend, but its too much money to be spending without checking everything first. Its not relevant to her how much he bought it for - that's between the vendor and himself and she's not responsible for mitigating his loss (don't forget that if she buys it she's saving him his estate agents fees).

If she really doesn't want a to approach the seller directly about it she should look for similar properties in the same area and see what the asking prices for them are. It also may be worth finding out why he's selling...is there some major maintenance coming up soon that the owner would need to pay for (with a short lease I'm thinking that maybe this is a conversion flat)?

AMO

Vampgirl wrote: »

I assume that you're talking about an estate agent's valuation here rather than a mortgage valuation? I can understand that she maybe feels a bit uncomfortable given its a friend of a friend, but its too much money to be spending without checking everything first. Its not relevant to her how much he bought it for - that's between the vendor and himself and she's not responsible for mitigating his loss (don't forget that if she buys it she's saving him his estate agents fees).

If she really doesn't want a to approach the seller directly about it she should look for similar properties in the same area and see what the asking prices for them are. It also may be worth finding out why he's selling...is there some major maintenance coming up soon that the owner would need to pay for (with a short lease I'm thinking that maybe this is a conversion flat)?

Thanks everyone for the replies!

Yes, I am talking about an estate agent valuation. You're absolutely right - at the moment there is some renovation work going on and so for the coming year, the maintenance costs are going sky high. I am not sure how much, but they're expensive. Not sure if that's the reason for selling.

Also, with 67 years left on the property, I think my sis would end up keeping it for around 5 years and I don't know how sellable the flat is once it hits 62 years. I would also be concerned over the flat's value.

Given that flats in this area aren't really selling at the moment, that is my other concern.

Also, I have found out that its a 2 bedroom flat. I still need to get hold of the other details.

My sis did say that she looked at other flats that were similarly priced and of the same size and needed more work done to them so she thinks she's getting a fair deal though.

Any viewpoints greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

AMO

AMO

Also, the main reason my sis wants a flat in West Bridgeford, other than its quite a nice area, is that she works locally and doesn't currently have a car.

I have suggested that maybe getting the car should come first, but what do other people think and are there other fairly close areas that are better considerations if she got a car first?

Thanx

AMO

sunshine_shell

there must be other nice flats in WB that she can afford with a decent lease? I've lived in Nottinghamshire all my life and WB is a lovely area!

peb

The flat is currently mortgagable with most lenders requiring either 60 years or 30 years longer than the term of the mortgage. However when she comes to sell it will be more problamatic. It is possible to get a longer lease (either by a Deed of Surender and Regrant whereby you rescind the existing lease and take out a new one or a Deed of Variation whereby you vary the terms of the lease). Accordingly she needs to enquire of the freeholder the costs for this - many freeholders are used to it now (the act came in in 2002) and have a process for dealing with it. There is a calculation for cost based on the term left in the lease and the rent payable but you will also have to add on legal fees for the freeholder which can be expensive. If it is a block most leases will be on a simlilar timescale and the freeholder has probably been approached recently.

HTH