Worried I’ve made a mistake in buying my flat

[elsewhereelsie1]

I’ve been in my flat for about a month now - I bought it for 105k because I literally couldn’t afford any more & it’s very easy to get into Manchester city centre so perfect for me. Most flats this close to town are a lot more than that so I did wonder if it was too good to be true and there were massive issues. Only issue I’ve had so far is that the hot water tank wasn’t wired up properly but a plumber has now fixed that. However I’ve just bumped into one of the neighbours downstairs (different building but share the same bins), he seemed surprised I’d bought and told me most of the flats in my block rented and that there were all sorts of issues and nothing worked, that the developer had gone bankrupt three times and that none of the tradesmen had been paid. It’s made me nervous and worried that I won’t be able to sell it when the time comes - ideally I’d like to stay here for about 2 years and hopefully save a bit in that time to buy somewhere bigger

Did you have a survey done? Did anything come up in the leasehold pack? The seller would have been obliged to tell you about outstanding maintenance costs/jobs that were out to tender. The developer going bust and the trades not being paid is absolutely not your problem.

I wouldn't change how you feel about your flat on one neighbour's say so, it could be total BS. Plus, what's done is done. You own the flat. Enjoy.

@thrashingbo just the basic mortgage survey and nothing bad came back - but when my hot water tank wouldn’t work the plumber who fixed it told me it had all been wired up wrong. That said, all the plugs and lights etc work so part of me thinks (not to jinx it) how bad can it be?

This is a tough one
when I bought in my block years ago, things were lovely and well organised

now it's sort of similar to what you describe, plus a new mgmt company who are dodgy as fuck.

I think you might find a lot of places like this at the mo. Like everything, it will pass, and there'll be a buyer who will overlook it. But if you're not looking to sell soon, don't worry.

You could always have a homebuyers survey now, but they don't pick up everything and can be a bit alarming for first time buyers - they always come back with potential issues, you need to be able to take a step back and look at it very rationally.

Try not to worry. As a homeowner there are always unexpected costs. Make sure you have an annual boiler service, you can also have an electrical safety check (I don't bother) and make sure you build up your rainy day fund. Unless your boiler, electrics or plumbing go awry there's unlikely to be anything major that comes up.

It can be the same with any house /flat,you never know until you get in and live there. Our boiler was fine and then stopped working and needed replacing a month after moving! People like to moan and tradespeople always like to tell you what's wrong too 😉

I wouldn't worry too much. There will always be another you looking for a way onto the ladder.

At the bottom end of the market particularly there are always compromises to be made.

I bought my first flat with an entrance that was practically falling down but if it had been in a better state the flat was out of my price range. It was also custard yellow (including woodwork! And pink inside!

I sold it for 10k more than I paid but probably spent more on it than that. However mortgage rates were 5.75 when I bought (2007) and I was on a tracker. Because they came down so much I carried on paying the same and had nearly 60k equity when I moved.

What I'm trying to say is, even if it has faults, they can be sorted and you are paying your own mortgage presumably on a good interest rate compared to what you'd likely be looking at a year down the line (and probably a lot less than renting) so even if the flat doesn't go up in value, it doesn't make it a bad choice

Okay thanks everyone - you’ve reassured me a bit! Just gonna focus on making it look nice aesthetically and hopefully it’ll make a little profit 🥰

Next time do get a basic survey done.