Is this a bargain or a completely no-no?

[littlecrystal]

Here

Pros: convenient location, good schools, cheap price and I could be mortgage free!
Cons: above pizza outlet - potential rats & smell? Limited resell even with the lease extended?

Or should I go back to looking for a normal flat/house with £800+/month mortgage?

Looks a lovely flat & always pizza on hand if you run out of food - seems a win/win. Seriously though, go & see how much litter & noisde & disturbance there is on a fri/sat night

Is expressmart a grocery shop btw?

Oh & just think what you could do with a spare £800 a month. Another thought. maybe resell might be more limited but surely it would be rentable?

Yeah, check out the area on a weekend evening to see what sort noise level and disturbance you could expect.

Think in London 99years is decent. Who is the freeholder? How many leaseholders are there?

I think the pizza place could be an issue for me? What are its opening hours? Drunk people hanging round at 1am ?

It might be harder to get a mortgage and buildings insurance due to increased fire risk. Probably not impossible, but if it's hard for you it will be hard for potential buyers when it comes to sell.

Sounds an excellent price for a nice area in London!

Thanks, gives me food for thought, though I feel like I am being brave to even consider this having always lived on quiet roads. Yes need to find out why it is unmortgageable.

Also they seem to have an extractor hand into the back garden, which might cause noise / food smell issues.

Just found a story on internet how someone bought a flat above a lovely restaurant, which later closed down and an open stall fishmongers opened instead.. so probably a BIG no-no then.

My brother has a flat above a shop that they've turned into a Papa Johns.... It's been a complete nightmare to deal with them, I'd run a mile.

The lease is making it unmortgageable. Even if assignment of the right to extend is included in the contract, lenders will not lend until the lease is lengthened and you can't do that until the flat is bought so the seller ends up in a Catch 22 situation.