AIBU to feel limited sympathy over a hard-to-sell inherited retirement bungalow?

[nomas]

AIBU have limited sympathy for these grandchildren about their inheritance? I get it's disappointing but the main takeaway for me is their grandmother had a lovely life in the bungalow and they will still inherit a nice amount.

https://archive.ph/eVPQ2

TL;DR: A woman inherited a £450k retirement bungalow from her grandmother expecting it to help her and her brother onto the property ladder, but strict age restrictions (55+ buyers only), rising service charges, council tax, and slow sales have turned it into a costly burden. Nearly two years later, they've spent over £14,000 keeping the empty property, accepted offers far below its valuation, and are still waiting for a sale to complete, highlighting a wider problem of retirement homes being difficult to sell and draining inheritances.

YANBU: Agree, the grandma had a nice life and the DGC will still inherit
YABU: Disagree, they've lost thousands in potential inheritance

Well, as it doesn't affect you, I can't see why you're so pleased they're struggling selling it. 🤷‍♀️

I actually disagree ... because if the original buyer had needed to sell it (instead of died) for whatever reason, they would also be facing the same problem. These age restricted properties with ridiculous rules and charges need to be regulated more firmly.

They have sold it. And I'm pleased for them. But I was pleased for the grandmother having a life she loved in the bungalow. The issue isn't limited to these people in the article. If you read the thread, others are affected by it too.

Interesting, thanks. This approach makes sense.

It in what line of work can you make 300k for a few months of stress?

I mean, you can be glad that the grandmother was very happy and settled and had a nice life there, and also feel sorry for the stress and hassle that the inheritors have had to deal with since her death both at the same time.

Of course, I sympathise with them. It's been dropped in their laps, and it's costing them a lot of money. I'm sure they'd rather have their grandmother hale and hearty.

Of course you can. But if it came to choosing happiness for the grandmother or less hassle for the grandchildren, I would choose happiness for the grandmother, simply because it was her property.

I thought you didn't pay for the service charges and that they came from the sale of the property?

If the company agree to defer.

If not I think you are liable as soon as probate is through and it becomes yours.

it's stressful and expensive for them, added to the sadness of losing their dear grandparent, so yep, being a bit unreasonable ...

So did I? If that’s the case then I can buy one. Sometimes these articles are full of shit so I won’t know unless I have a meeting with one, which is five years away….

So long as there will still be some money left over once it's all sorted, it's ungracious and entitled to moan. Their inheritance is whatever is left over after all this is done. They do not have the right to expect more.

“hard to sell” 🤔

Almost anything will sell at the right price.

If an inherited property is turning out to be a headache and a financial burden then surely you simply drop the price until it sells.

yes that may mean selling well below its supposed “market value” (though IMO the real market value of a property is what you can sell it for, not what an agent or prior sales tells you it “should” be worth).

You will still end up with more money than you had before, that you never had to work for. A windfall in other words, albeit a smaller one than you might initially have hoped.

If they’d been literally unable to sell due to eg Covid or say a cladding issue, and stuck with the bills in the meantime, I’d have sympathy. But not just because they couldn’t sell at the price they wanted.

I think you're being unfair. My friend and her DH bought one of these apartments and both died in their early seventies within a year. They paid £125,000 and it sold after over a year for £80,000. Her DD had to pay charges and council tax, but the worst thing was the stress. The leaseholders insisted on interviewing potential buyers to see if they were suitable which made selling much harder. All older people should avoid these homes however nice they seem initially.

Why's it your business?

(I got bored reading).

You sound nice. Not.

OP is commenting on a newpaper article. How is that no one's business?

I'd be happy my elderly relative has lived out the end of her life safe and happy you can always sell at the right price or choose to just give it back

Retirement properties can be an absolute scam. The area of construction I work in can cross paths with this sector and we have heard horrendous stuff.

Marketed new at insane prices, vast service fees still payable after the properties are vacated and near on impossible to shift. I've also heard of several occurrences of people being essentially 'evicted' as their care needs could no longer be met within the setting, with owners/their families then needing to find higher tier care options AND continue paying service fees for months and sometimes years.

Apparently the best way is to rent one if you want to live in this setting, but lots of mainstream providers do not like this. I'm sure they serve some benefit to the owner at some stage but can become a wider headache in the fullness of time..

The answer depending on your age and circumstances may be to rent not buy. It’s not the service charges which are the problem it’s the massive depreciation because they are overpriced compared to general housing when first sold for two reasons. The cost of all the communal space has to be apportioned across all the dwellings and the price is less market sensitive because people are trading down. If you’re selling a £700k house and buying a £400k flat it doesn’t seem expensive.

She's not stuck with anything. She could refuse it.

I used to work for an estate agents, retirement properties were really hard to sell, even at much reduced prices. The best people could do was rent them out but even then the rental market was very limited because of the age restrictions. Since many people who inherit these properties live miles away they were a major headache. You almost couldn’t give them away.