Quarter of a Million Pounds Flat

[MaloryJones]

I often look here and have a look at the Right Move links people post.

Well, I am proud to say I have found this corker on Facebook

The price is eye watering BUT ... well , check out the photos.

Enjoy (as I have often enjoyed others links)

https://www.manncountrywide.co.uk/properties/20329157/sales/LWM250002#/

They’re mean spirited, when about properties like this. It’s one thing to poke a bit of fun at the decor of somebody with more money than sense, or somebody who has painted the entire inside of their house with gold sparkly metallic paint; quite another to mock somebody like this, living in a cheap flat, who probably doesn’t have very much money, is doing their best to get by, but is a bit untidy. I’d guess this flat is probably tenanted, and why on earth would the tenant be motivated to go to any effort make their home look more sellable?

At first my initial thought was "Wow a QUARTER of a MILLION? This will be interesting!" and then as I clicked into the thread I realised that's only £250k. Then when I saw that the flat was in Camberwell, I was like "actually that's quite low for a 2 bed for zone 2, it's just ex council and needs a tidy up". Nothing exciting here tbh. Yes it is a sad state of affairs when a 2 bed ex council flat is wildly expensive compared to a 3 bed freehold semi in other parts of the country, but when you know that a 2 bed flat in a "prettier" area in zone 5 can be closer to £500k (looking at you, High Barnet), this is actually shockingly cheap.

@MaloryJones minky dirty!!

Train from Denmark Hill into Victoria. No, no tube in that area

I'm genuinely confused by this post. There are very few places where a quarter of a million pounds is a lot for property, and London is knowing for being the most expensive out of everywhere.

If someone quizzed me on what you could get for a quarter of a million in London a small flat in poor condition is exactly what I would imagine.

You've got it wrong sadly.

People do make fun of houses that are super bizarre like 5 million quid and a dragon in the garden as a sculpture or something "quirky".

This is just a cheap inner city London flat, cheap as chips for London, cluttered and messy and probably occupied by someone neither cash rich nor time rich.

You've misunderstood these sorts of threads - this is lot the property to mock

It's down the road from me. It's a council estate, but a small ish and quiet one. 5 mins from fancy bars and bakeries in Camberwell Church St.

It takes me 20 mins to get to work in the City, so it's all young professionals on City salaries round here.

But do carry on laughing at council estates, everyone....

I got on property ladder in London at 26 with husband. We earned 75k combined (in 2019) and saved 60k in 3 years in our first jobs after uni living with his mum. Bought a 2 bed flat for 392k. We now have 40% equity in our flat 5 years on.

Tbh everyone was amazed we could get a 2 bed for that kind of price in our area- leafy London suburb. It is very small but we went for it cos it is in a good catchment for primary plus the block is residents managed (freehold owned by residents). Our local jewish primary (we are jewish) is ranked no 14 in the whole country according to the times. I am pregnant and we plan to live here until our son gets into primary then we can move to a bigger flat (though tbh the catchment widened a lot last year due to falling birth rates like many London schools)..

I'd have said (length of lease or pending big repair bills aside) it was pretty good value - although it is a bit of a transport deadspot it is quite a lively area and there are plenty of people prepared to drop £2m for a house in the nearby Georgian streets. Quite a lot of the other flats at this pricepoint are studios so a flat with a bedroom and a separate kitchen is pretty good value IMO.

That flat is a 2 minute walk from the first flat we bought in 1990 for £54k which was last sold for over £500k. There's got to be a reason why it's so cheap, I suspect it's the lease or pending external works.

You sound a bit unhinged.

Yes it’s a great location. Ex council properties are much sought after nowadays. I don’t get the casual snobbery. People need to get their heads out of their arses

It’s extremely cheap for London so I think at this point to laugh at that flat is just mocking poor people.

Literally only OP is the one laughing. Everyone else (not just those of us who grew up in council houses) told her she’s missed the mark.

@MaloryJones I enjoyed it, particularly the description

“Bright, airy and thoughtfully designed, this spacious residence is the definition of modern urban living.”

I mean, yeah, modern urban living probably is bleak as that flat looks, but I don’t think that’s what the agent was intending to say 😂

@MaloryJones
You've misjudged badly. It's one thing to poke fun at rich but tasteless or be fascinated by truly unique interiors but to poke fun at something modest and crowded is just below the belt and nasty

Enough people have told you this now so I hope you now understand

Well it's certainly bigger than my £250k flat which isn't even in London, although mine was a bit more up to date when I bought it (not much though, just fresh paint and new cupboard doors etc). Seems like quite a good buy for London.

This seems ok to me. Just needs a bit of decorating. Don't be such a snob OP

Keeping a dwelling tidy costs nothing.

An old rag and water, and you can rinse it out to your hearts content. Organising and putting stuff away is easy too.

It annoys me when people jump in with defences like it could be an old/disabled person... true, but it might not be. The only real fact we have is that it's messy.

Unless it's for sale with contents presumably the mess will be gone by the time the buyer gets the keys though? It's not the mess that's
for sale so it's immaterial. The fact remains that the bricks and mortar seem a decent buy for London.

I often see this kind of presentation from estate agents round my way. I tend to assume that someone has had to sell up in a hurry because of an illness or death, but sometimes it turns out that there is a sitting tenant once you read the particulars.

I prefer a separate kitchen if it’s spacious and can easily accommodate a good sized table, but it’s not so given I’d be living in that flat in my parallel existence as a single woman 🤣, I’d prefer open plan to that layout, or even make the kitchen smaller and then enlarge the living space. Just feel that current kitchen is neither here nor there.

Yes... I can totally see past clutter, but I'd assume either the vendor wasn't committed to selling or it's tenanted and they may not want to leave.

If it IS tenanted, they should have evicted prior to marketing.

We need properties like this to come up for sale as it is the only way young people can get on the property ladder. Hopefully someone will lots of energy will buy it, tidy it up, and give it a new lease of life.

What’s your point though? That we should all judge because it’s untidy?