Help Advice needed. Luxery apartment dropped 25K in price, in just over a year!

Phil1k

pinkshoes wrote: »

How many flats are in the block, or within about 1km radius?

The price of newbuild flats in huge developments have been hit quite badly, as a couple of my friends have found out, although they've rented theirs out instead of selling.

Also, newbuild developments with more than 15 properties have 1/3 belonging to housing associations (some to be sold for % share, some rented out) which can often put off buyers. A friend of mine is selling his 1 bed flat in a similar development (he owns a % share), but has found it even more difficult than usual to sell as it's restricted to housing association buyers (i.e. key workers etc...). I think it's been 10 months since it went on the market, and although I'm sure he had a buyer, still no sign of completion!

Hi Pinkshoes,

There are still a number of apartments within the complex but I dont think any of these are owned by the housing association. I completely agree with you that it is a pain to sell these types of properties (joy of hindsight) before the other parties mortgage lender pulled out of the deal my girlfriend had constant calls from the estate agents and solicitors asking if they needed to pay stamp duty etc etc. The housing association seems to be very badly run IMO.

airhostess

Is there any way your girlfriend can stay put? Commute? Find another job closer to home? As long as she can afford the payments it may be best to try and stay (if the flat suits your needs for the forseeable future), if you can't take the hit of losing the money...

mpsavuk

Phil1k wrote: »

Hi mpsav,

The thought process is that seeing Halifax did the original valuation if we find a buyer who is getting the mortgage through them they might be inclined to lend closer to the original price. Another long shot I know but she is desperate.

For sure it's a long shot. I still think the appraisal will be based on the current market value not a retrospective one. Halifax will feel no obligation to lend as near to the original price as they can. They'll assess the value against the risk of lending money on the basis of whether there is a chance of it being paid back bearing in mind the current market sentiment and an analysis of which way the markets going in the near future. Any willing buyer will probably need a tip top credit score as well.

bulltraderpt

Hello Phil 1K, (To the OP)

Welcome to the real world!

This is called life experience. It is invaluable!

Years from now, you'll look back on this, hopefully with your eyes wide open and from that point on be more 'market aware'.

Good Luck, I'd take the hit now, because in the short term its highly lkely that your stake will fall.

In other words SELL NOW.

Generali

bryanb wrote: »

Property is worth what a buyer will pay -Exactly!!

And what a seller will sell for. It takes 2 to make a market.

adr0ck

i agree with what pasturesnew has to say

except for the 30% drop in house prices (i believe a 5% -10% is likley for houses but a 20 + % fall in flats)

unfortuantly for you there has been a huge oversupply of flats in most areas over the past few years and lots and lots are still being built.......so unfortuantly your flat will now be competing against new flats at a similar price (and obvioulsy yours isnt new anymore)

if you need to move then it might be best to cut your losses

otherwise you may need to hang onto it for 5-10 yrs to recoup any losses (so in real terms you will still have made the same kinda loss ....make sense?)

maninthestreet

Welcome to the world of negative equity - it's the early 90s all over again.
I bought a shoebox in Milton Keynes in autumn 1989 for £54,000, when I was working in Aylesbury. Two months later, I was made redundant. Found a new job straight away, but 50 miles from MK, and I couldnt afford to move as I'd spent all my savings buying the shoebox. Tried to save money up over the next 2 to 3 years to finance a move closer to where I worked, but negative equity had reduced the value of the shoebox, so that I was always chasing my own tail. It wasnt until spring 1997 that I managed to finance a house move by taking advantage of my mortgage lender's negative equity scheme. I sold the shoebox for £37,500 , paid off all but £3,500 of the negative equity and my lender allowed to me take out over a 100% loan on my new property to cover the outstanding negative equity. I'm not aware of any lenders offering negative equity schemes currently.

lynnexxxo

maninthestreet wrote: »

I'm not aware of any lenders offering negative equity schemes currently.

Not yet, but give it couple of years and Ocean finance/first plus/anyone who advertises on daytime tv will be!

Gillibobs

adr0ck wrote: »

unfortuantly for you there has been a huge oversupply of flats in most areas over the past few years and lots and lots are still being built.......so unfortuantly your flat will now be competing against new flats at a similar price (and obvioulsy yours isnt new anymore) quote]

Oversupply is an understatement in my area. We've just sold our flat (bought as a new build 4 years ago) for a price we were happy with and boy was I glad we have. The amount of new build flats and apartment complexes that have gone up in that 4 years is unbelievable. Even before the credit crunch etc I really struggled to see there being that amount of demand to cover the supply. Thing is there are even more being built as we speak, lots of huge multi-storey blocks and smaller blocks in every available nook and cranny available, and the prices are ridiculous, up to £300k for what is essentially a high rise, poky flat situated above Asda on a busy main road bang overlooking a concrete car park and the town centre. Insane

Richard_Webster

Have a look at this thread where the point came up for someone who was thinking of buying a 40% share but felt that the "market value" on which the percentage share was based was too high:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=723297

People who buy these "apartments" are put in a difficult position because there is not that much SO property about so normally they are not in a position to argue about the so called "market value". I suspect that the builders selling private flats on the same development might well have been offering discounts by way of allowances against the price...