Why hasn't it sold?

[TooManyAnimals94]

Been on the market 2 years! Shared ownership available. Had a cash buyer but unfortunately the HA who own the other half made admin so awful and slow she pulled out. That was 8 months ago, no bites since.

On my third estate agent. Viewings are few and far between (a lot of no shows) and often feedback is they like it but there is a large office building opposite in need of new ownership and it puts people off.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/163116008?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

I am absolutely desperate to sell. The mortgage and service charge have gone up significantly this year and I'm really struggling every month, even claiming what I'm entitled to as a low earner.

Moved in with ex husband 7 years ago. He left 3 years ago and we can't get divorced until it sells because neither of us can afford to buy the other out and I can't afford solicitors fees until it's sold.

Any advice please.

I fully admit I was naive but I had never bought a property before, I have never sold one before and unfortunately, I'm dealing with issues as they land, which is thick and fast.

These companies rely on the fact that people like me don't have time to form 'action groups', nor do I have the money for legal action.

I will try researching some advisory bodies and see where that gets me.

I am currently on my third estate agent and none of them seem to want to make an issue out of the lease.

It is physically and mentally draining to fill out the same forms over and over, have the same conversation over and over, have a load of pictures done, continuously tidy for viewers who don't show up...or they show up but they haven't passed affordability checks.

Once I have an offer (and I've had 2), the battle with the HA and solicitors starts and every spare minute I have is on the phone or email to people who are completely disinterested and incompetent.

Perhaps you didn't mean to be accusing and patronising in your post but how bloody dare you.

I've taken on board what people have said and I'm doing my best to make the changes I can.

"You should have known better." Is no fucking use to me and makes me think you have no idea what dealing with these faceless institutions is like and how it grinds you down to a point where you don't have the energy anymore.

Maybe you could sell back to the HA. One of the big problems is the service charges and the lease being less than 80 years, you need to pay marriage value ( hopefully the law will change soon and it will be cheaper to increase it).
My friend paid 10000 to increase the lease, ( she did not pay for marriage value because it was more than 80 years left)

I have to agree with you OP. There’s constructive criticism e.g mentioning your service charge being far too high, then there’s being incredibly patronising which is unacceptable. Seems to be a lot of narcissistic people on this forum that take joy in people’s misfortunes. There’s no need to sit there and berate her for decisions she’s made

I’d walk away just because of the lease.

we recently sold our flat in London. Like most flats it was a leasehold. The lease was down to around 72 years. Below 80 it’s expensive to extend but we knew we had to in order to sell. The price was an eye watering 54k +legal fees. We were fortunate in that we owned a holiday let which we sold to raise the funds. But we swore blind we were going to only go for freehold unless it was a 999 year lease or something.

I know you can’t afford to extend the lease but that’s the main reason I’d walk away.

The sooner leases are reformed the better. They’re a feudal and outdated system

Good luck OP. I think shared ownership properties are just difficult to sell. It took ages for us to sell MIL’s after she died but it did get there in the end.

This.
I have the same problem with my service charge in my flat.
You need to make the lease issue very clear ie 'it will cost the new buyer 10,000 to extend the lease and this is not being done now so as to save the new buyer stamp duty'

If there's any way you can rent it out instead you'd do very well.

The most interesting post on this thread IMHO was from the lady whose son lives in your building. If I was you, I would be sitting your EA down and making them read it, and then incorporate the good points at the top of the blurb : quiet building, lots of storage, very near station etc. Those are things which will appeal to potential buyers and which are not the case in many flats.

Update...viewing today with a couple who want to buy the whole property, not SO.
They liked it but are wary of the lease.

Had a long chat with the EA to discuss options. I said I'm open to extending it or at least getting the ball rolling.

The other thing I forgot to mention is a lease extension involves a RICS valuation. I need one of these to sell as well under terms of SO but I've been putting it off as forked out for two now as they expire after 3 months. I was hoping to secure an offer THEN do it.

However, as this really seems to be an issue, I'll have to fund £260 again from somewhere.

That's great news OP. Please keep us updated.

How annoying. So you keep having to
pay the £260 and it expires? When you say extend lease, do you mean you have to fork out a few thousand for this?

Great news on the viewing OP, I have everything crossed for you!! Please keep us posted

The service charge alone is enough to put buyers off. Who can afford that on top of their mortgage.

Good luck OP!! I hope those buyers come good for you.

So under the terms of SO, you have to sell at market rate because they want their money back basically so they tell you to get a RICS valuation before you start the process. I did that over two years ago, then another one about 6months after that. Haven't bothered since because no serious interest but in order to calculate the cost of extending the lease, I need another one.

They have valued it at £275k each time! Which means the HA want their 65% of that back, not whatever it actually sells for. So I already know I'm making a loss if they come back with that again.

This time I will be going prepared with printouts of what has sold and what hasn't for what price.

Want to know the best part?

If, by some miracle I sold for anything above 275, they would take 65% of the profits!

It sounds so frustrating and disheartening OP. I think you’re doing really well with it all and I hope it works out with these buyers, I am sure once you and your little one start renting somewhere cheaper you’ll have some time to recover and gradually rethink options without all these complications hanging over you. I am trying to flee to a much cheaper area myself. I hope it works out and sorry not to have any actual actionable advice, but wish you luck…keep going!

Sorry that should say you, your little one and 🐶

Don’t know about the price, but you need to put a bit of effort into staging.

You don’t have to get rid of the dog, just remove the crate from the photos and any dog related items when you have viewings. We have a large moulting dog. When we sold our house we put his bed, toys, bowls etc. in the car. Hoovered and opened the windows, dh took the dog for a walk. You really couldn’t tell there was a dog living there.

Remove the clutter from the kitchen island shelves. Can you refit the cabinet door on the washing machine? Make the beds like it’s a show home (I got my inspiration from some new built show homes we viewed and made the beds the same way, just bought some cushions and a bead spread from homesense).

Then get the estate agent to take better photos of the actual rooms, not filler photos of random wall decor and flowers.

When you have viewings you again have to stage the flat. I know it’s a pain, but it works. People want to be able to imagine themselves living there and seeing the owner’s clutter doesn’t help.

You need to catch people’s eye straight away on Rightmove.

very short lease
absolutely massive service charge

nothing to do with the property itself

'staging' 🙄

I love it how someone would point to a bunch of clutter in the corner, for the reason someone's house with a sink hole in the garden hasn't sold 🤣

Have you ever tried to hold crap freeholders/ management to account?

I have and a group of leaseholders where I live are still trying to. I had to step away from it as it was causing me too much stress!

As the law stands, they hold pretty much all the power and can get away with murder. If you haven't actually tried it then you just won't be able to understand how near impossible it is!

I agree with any clutter. We have 2 young children so obviously we have lots of toys etc. We don’t empty the place completely as that would be impossible, but we put away the main bulky toys and put everything away neatly on viewings. Beds done nicely. Windows open to air place out. Just gives a nice atmosphere and looks like you can move straight in. We’re currently just went on market with our 2nd estate agents so hoping this does the trick

I agree. The flat is lovely, but people will be put off by the short lease and that crazy high service charge. I’m looking for a property in a different part of the country and yours is a bit of a cautionary tale about the perils of shared ownership. I think taking out a loan to extend the lease is your best option.

Quick update. I haven't been back before because there wasn't much news.
I have an offer from someone who is not bothered by the lease and service charge BUT the offer is 15k below the asking price and therefore probably well below what the HA consider 'market value' as it was valued at 270 just under a year ago.

I have started building a case against the HA and I've written them a long email detailing how I'm struggling to afford to live there and asking them.to consider reverse staircasing.

I was told on the phone by a customer service person that this was not possible bla bla but she did agree to pass my details onto a manager ...

Had a long heart to heart with the EA who admitted there are too many flats on the market and progress is really slow. Not so much with getting offers but trying to get through the whole process with new legislation and paperwork.

I am becoming more and more convinced I'm going to end up walking away.

Find a cheap rental, cancel all direct debits and weather the storm of nasty letters from.the bank and management company.

At this point, I'm more likely to walk away with debt rather than profit so why not do it on my own terms.

Il be transparent with ex husband. If he wants to move in and foot the bills, he can, or he can just accept the same fate as me

I really feel for you.

Out of interest does the service charge include the ground rent?