Btl - Brightons Troubled Landlords

[adibrown]

Went to hand in my notice on my flat in Brighton yesterday. Walked into the Letting Agents and handed in my letter. Agents face went grey, asked me to sit down for a minute as he was just making a call and he headed into the backroom. Came out 5 minutes later and asked me if I would reconsider if he could get a reduction in the rent. I had made my mind up and it wasn't for financial reasons but I decided to listen to what he had to say. Agent told me LL was willing to drop the rent to £1000 a month as I was a good tenant (Have only been there 5 months - currently paying £1200pcm on a £300k flat). I told the agent that it was a generous offer but that I had already made my mind up and I was moving. Agent told me that LL was worried because it had taken 4 months to let beforehand and things now were so much worse. The agent went on to tell me that the recent major new developments in Brighton had flooded the market with rental properties. Told me that City Point alone he had 20+ flats standing empty, Avalon Development phase one 15+ still remained and phase 2 was just coming to completion so anticipated another 20+ from that. There are 5 now with my one coming back on now available in my development of 20. So that means 25% of the building just lying empty. The agent told me that his personal problems stemmed from the numbers of LL's ringing him every day frustrated at the lack of interest. It was common place now for LL's to put their property on with 5 or 6 agents in frustration and this was making things confusing and causing conflicts.

For those wanting evidence of the problems in Brighton I can point you to my old flat. It is the penthouse in Argus Lofts, Robert Street. 2 Bedrooms 2 bathrooms with a massive 1500 square metre roof terrace (yes metres not feet). The terrace has views over the city past the pavillion and to the sea. It is by all means a highly desirable property (It even has a 7 foot cinema screen included in the price). I rented this for 7 months at £1300 a month. The property was supposedly valued at £400k+ so not bad rent.

Anyway this amazing flat was advertised a month before I moved out so started being marketed in August 2006. It is still lying available 6 months down the line and for the same rent it was being marketed for when I came along last January. This is a flat that would have been snapped up a few years ago but now just lies abandoned for half a year possibly longer.

So basically these are my thoughts:

Brighton has a vast oversupply of rental properties

Brighton has an ever growing number of property for sale (Rightmove now shows 1500+ properties for sale between 225k and 250k)

Brighton New Build Developments are struggling (Clock Tower - All remain unsold/Avalon Phase one -40% properties still remain unsold - marketed in 2005/City Point Phase 3 - Sales say 50%+ still up for grabs)

If we have a problem with Supply and Demand as we have been led to believe then how come hundreds of properties lie empty across Brighton. Surely the rental market would be flooded with tenants and property would be in short supply.

The BTL market in Brighton must be purely driven by Capital Gains because voids and low yields are common place. That means any sign of HPC will create almost instant havoc.

One final point that makes me chuckle. I was in the Avalon showroom(researching and baiting the sales staff) when in walked a middle aged couple. He was obviously brimming with self importance and so much so that the sales woman asked to be excused from what she obviously realised was our dead end conversation and go and fawn all over him. He immediately announced that he was a "Property Investor" all the way from London and his wife beamed with pride. I would have put money on him having a 4x4 parked outside. Anyway he got into this conversation about how the BTL market was all about picking location and how he was special because he researched the locations and how easy it would be to resell etc. How other Investors would fail because they had bought into bad developments etc. He then went on to say that he was interested in Avalon because his research had shown that Brighton was a Rental Mecca and the shortage of good rental property meant that he would never be short of tenants.......I didnt have the heart to tell him that I had been following about 10 properties in Avalon still untouched from June 2006. I am sure the sales woman didnt tell him about the trouble they are having in trying to get rid of the first phase still.

This made me think about how blind these "Property Investors" must be and how many other "Dead Certs" this guy had already bought into. His research was obviously taken from VI Spin. What he really needed to do was talk to my landlord or my neighbour or even my ex landlord and see how much of a rental mecca Brighton actually is before he invested his £300k. Of course had he walked into my Letting Agent yesterday he would have been greeted with a broad smile and an assurance that everything was just fantastic.

[nest]

Went to hand in my notice on my flat in Brighton yesterday. Walked into the Letting Agents and handed in my letter. Agents face went grey, asked me to sit down for a minute as he was just making a call and he headed into the backroom. Came out 5 minutes later and asked me if I would reconsider if he could get a reduction in the rent. I had made my mind up and it wasn't for financial reasons but I decided to listen to what he had to say. Agent told me LL was willing to drop the rent to £1000 a month as I was a good tenant (Have only been there 5 months - currently paying £1200pcm on a £300k flat). I told the agent that it was a generous offer but that I had already made my mind up and I was moving. Agent told me that LL was worried because it had taken 4 months to let beforehand and things now were so much worse. The agent went on to tell me that the recent major new developments in Brighton had flooded the market with rental properties. Told me that City Point alone he had 20+ flats standing empty, Avalon Development phase one 15+ still remained and phase 2 was just coming to completion so anticipated another 20+ from that. There are 5 now with my one coming back on now available in my development of 20. So that means 25% of the building just lying empty. The agent told me that his personal problems stemmed from the numbers of LL's ringing him every day frustrated at the lack of interest. It was common place now for LL's to put their property on with 5 or 6 agents in frustration and this was making things confusing and causing conflicts.

For those wanting evidence of the problems in Brighton I can point you to my old flat. It is the penthouse in Argus Lofts, Robert Street. 2 Bedrooms 2 bathrooms with a massive 1500 square metre roof terrace (yes metres not feet). The terrace has views over the city past the pavillion and to the sea. It is by all means a highly desirable property (It even has a 7 foot cinema screen included in the price). I rented this for 7 months at £1300 a month. The property was supposedly valued at £400k+ so not bad rent.

Anyway this amazing flat was advertised a month before I moved out so started being marketed in August 2006. It is still lying available 6 months down the line and for the same rent it was being marketed for when I came along last January. This is a flat that would have been snapped up a few years ago but now just lies abandoned for half a year possibly longer.

Great Post - how interesting. Can you imagine the girl in the Sales Centre, some of these girls know more about whats going on than people give them credit for. She has no doubt seen loads of these types , full of their own importance. I wonder how long it will be before the mass panic starts.

So basically these are my thoughts:

Brighton has a vast oversupply of rental properties

Brighton has an ever growing number of property for sale (Rightmove now shows 1500+ properties for sale between 225k and 250k)

Brighton New Build Developments are struggling (Clock Tower - All remain unsold/Avalon Phase one -40% properties still remain unsold - marketed in 2005/City Point Phase 3 - Sales say 50%+ still up for grabs)

If we have a problem with Supply and Demand as we have been led to believe then how come hundreds of properties lie empty across Brighton. Surely the rental market would be flooded with tenants and property would be in short supply.

The BTL market in Brighton must be purely driven by Capital Gains because voids and low yields are common place. That means any sign of HPC will create almost instant havoc.

One final point that makes me chuckle. I was in the Avalon showroom(researching and baiting the sales staff) when in walked a middle aged couple. He was obviously brimming with self importance and so much so that the sales woman asked to be excused from what she obviously realised was our dead end conversation and go and fawn all over him. He immediately announced that he was a "Property Investor" all the way from London and his wife beamed with pride. I would have put money on him having a 4x4 parked outside. Anyway he got into this conversation about how the BTL market was all about picking location and how he was special because he researched the locations and how easy it would be to resell etc. How other Investors would fail because they had bought into bad developments etc. He then went on to say that he was interested in Avalon because his research had shown that Brighton was a Rental Mecca and the shortage of good rental property meant that he would never be short of tenants.......I didnt have the heart to tell him that I had been following about 10 properties in Avalon still untouched from June 2006. I am sure the sales woman didnt tell him about the trouble they are having in trying to get rid of the first phase still.

This made me think about how blind these "Property Investors" must be and how many other "Dead Certs" this guy had already bought into. His research was obviously taken from VI Spin. What he really needed to do was talk to my landlord or my neighbour or even my ex landlord and see how much of a rental mecca Brighton actually is before he invested his £300k. Of course had he walked into my Letting Agent yesterday he would have been greeted with a broad smile and an assurance that everything was just fantastic.

[nest]

Sorry cocked up earlier - just got up !

Great Post - how interesting. Can you imagine the girl in the Sales Centre, some of these girls know more about whats going on than people give them credit for. She has no doubt seen loads of these types , full of their own importance. I wonder how long it will be before the mass panic starts.

[JBeau]

After reading that I'm beginning to think investing ina BTL , even when prices have bottomed, is a bad idea.

[bearbullfence]

After reading that I'm beginning to think investing ina BTL , even when prices have bottomed, is a bad idea.

I've a new name for Buy-To-Let.... Try-To-Let.

[kenclarkesshoes]

i know wormington-on-sea well (shit.hole btw) and the rental situation is desperate - for tenants , not for LLs.

brighton LLs are without doubt the lowest form of humanity and will

stand outside a tenants door literally weeping because the tenant owes them a week's rent.

ive seen this with my own eyes,

Edited February 6, 2007 by kenclarkesshoes

[Guest muttley]

Top post, adibrown. The situation here on the Fylde coast is pretty much the same. I think part of the problem is that builders have been building for "investors", rather than trying to build decent family homes. I wonder how many BTL LLs factor in a 4 month void (or a 14 month void and counting, in the case of my last LL)

[eric pebble]

Went to hand in my notice on my flat in Brighton yesterday. Walked into the Letting Agents and handed in my letter. Agents face went grey, asked me to sit down for a minute as he was just making a call and he headed into the backroom. Came out 5 minutes later and asked me if I would reconsider if he could get a reduction in the rent. I had made my mind up and it wasn't for financial reasons but I decided to listen to what he had to say. Agent told me LL was willing to drop the rent to £1000 a month as I was a good tenant (Have only been there 5 months - currently paying £1200pcm on a £300k flat). I told the agent that it was a generous offer but that I had already made my mind up and I was moving. Agent told me that LL was worried because it had taken 4 months to let beforehand and things now were so much worse. The agent went on to tell me that the recent major new developments in Brighton had flooded the market with rental properties. Told me that City Point alone he had 20+ flats standing empty, Avalon Development phase one 15+ still remained and phase 2 was just coming to completion so anticipated another 20+ from that. There are 5 now with my one coming back on now available in my development of 20. So that means 25% of the building just lying empty. The agent told me that his personal problems stemmed from the numbers of LL's ringing him every day frustrated at the lack of interest. It was common place now for LL's to put their property on with 5 or 6 agents in frustration and this was making things confusing and causing conflicts.

For those wanting evidence of the problems in Brighton I can point you to my old flat. It is the penthouse in Argus Lofts, Robert Street. 2 Bedrooms 2 bathrooms with a massive 1500 square metre roof terrace (yes metres not feet). The terrace has views over the city past the pavillion and to the sea. It is by all means a highly desirable property (It even has a 7 foot cinema screen included in the price). I rented this for 7 months at £1300 a month. The property was supposedly valued at £400k+ so not bad rent.

Anyway this amazing flat was advertised a month before I moved out so started being marketed in August 2006. It is still lying available 6 months down the line and for the same rent it was being marketed for when I came along last January. This is a flat that would have been snapped up a few years ago but now just lies abandoned for half a year possibly longer.

So basically these are my thoughts:

Brighton has a vast oversupply of rental properties

Brighton has an ever growing number of property for sale (Rightmove now shows 1500+ properties for sale between 225k and 250k)

Brighton New Build Developments are struggling (Clock Tower - All remain unsold/Avalon Phase one -40% properties still remain unsold - marketed in 2005/City Point Phase 3 - Sales say 50%+ still up for grabs)

If we have a problem with Supply and Demand as we have been led to believe then how come hundreds of properties lie empty across Brighton. Surely the rental market would be flooded with tenants and property would be in short supply.

The BTL market in Brighton must be purely driven by Capital Gains because voids and low yields are common place. That means any sign of HPC will create almost instant havoc.

One final point that makes me chuckle. I was in the Avalon showroom(researching and baiting the sales staff) when in walked a middle aged couple. He was obviously brimming with self importance and so much so that the sales woman asked to be excused from what she obviously realised was our dead end conversation and go and fawn all over him. He immediately announced that he was a "Property Investor" all the way from London and his wife beamed with pride. I would have put money on him having a 4x4 parked outside. Anyway he got into this conversation about how the BTL market was all about picking location and how he was special because he researched the locations and how easy it would be to resell etc. How other Investors would fail because they had bought into bad developments etc. He then went on to say that he was interested in Avalon because his research had shown that Brighton was a Rental Mecca and the shortage of good rental property meant that he would never be short of tenants.......I didnt have the heart to tell him that I had been following about 10 properties in Avalon still untouched from June 2006. I am sure the sales woman didnt tell him about the trouble they are having in trying to get rid of the first phase still.

This made me think about how blind these "Property Investors" must be and how many other "Dead Certs" this guy had already bought into. His research was obviously taken from VI Spin. What he really needed to do was talk to my landlord or my neighbour or even my ex landlord and see how much of a rental mecca Brighton actually is before he invested his £300k. Of course had he walked into my Letting Agent yesterday he would have been greeted with a broad smile and an assurance that everything was just fantastic.

FABULOUS!!!! Everyone should see this. To me, it's amazing how all this didn't happen ages ago. I know for a fact that, in 2004-5, many people were really struggling to rent out and sell properties; then something was tweaked by the VESTED INTERESTS - I've never quite worked out how they did it ; the great property crash was put on hold for a couple of years - and so things went mad again.... But, it's a bit like trying to stem the Tsunami with a plastic bucket.....

This just goes back to the point I have banged on about for YEARS now: The UK "Property Market": The World's Biggest Ever Pyramid Selling Scam.

Edited February 6, 2007 by eric pebble

[jp1]

Great post adibrown. By the way, what happened to the property featured on C4's 'Property Ladder' that I watched a few weeks ago?.... the property developer guy - late 30's with the silver Mercedes-Benz convertible, who bought that big property on Brighton seafront for over a Million?. Think it had 9 flats which were to be renovated and his plan was to build a penthouse apartment on top that he hoped to sell for something like £600/700K.

Sarah Beeney said anyome paying that sort of money was going to want a lift to the top as it was several flights and the existing stairways were very narrow but he chose to ignore her advice as it meant loosing one of the recently renovated flats to accomodate the lift. He had obviously borrowed huge amounts from the bank - when SB went back a few weeks later he had gone and bought another slightly smaller seafront property!!.

I think there were problems with the old back wall crumberling that meant a time delay and extra expense in building the penthouse but the final time SB went back the whole thing was maybe 85/90% complete but the poor guy had by now run out of money and said to SB that he was down to using credit cards. That was the last we saw, they cut back to the other guys property featured in the programme (the record producer who bought a small run-down house for a modest £85k in the country with access problems) and that was the last we heard before the programme ended.

So what has happened to this property?

They're still not finished. I go past there evey now and then. The place looks like bedsit-ville, with a minging front door/entrance

[dredwerker]

You might be right about the top end of the market. The average earnings are p*ss poor in East Sussex. I am not so sure about the ones within mere mortals ranges. £600-700 People have to live somewhere.

I just moved away from Hangleton(North Hove) a bit to Southwick and things are moving / not a lot of supply(rental).

Then again the prices that place go up for sale

£195,950 for a two bed flat in Hangleton

Hangleton Way

The one below was £35k 7 years ago and no-one would buy it.

The other one I was banging on about being absurd in Hangleton Lane 3 bed house. Lovely if it was £160k @ 4.5% but £415k

Feck off

Hangleton Lane

Its been on the market for a while now maybe november I cant quite remember and is losing £1k in interest every month which is different to going up £1k a month

[Killer Bunny]

Truly a great post.

Great info and insight.

I am so looking forward to seeing the numbers For Sale go through the roof.

fp

[Fancypants]

Great post adibrown. By the way, what happened to the property featured on C4's 'Property Ladder' that I watched a few weeks ago?

this has got me thinking - surely there must be some milage in a programme concerning "property investment disasters", in fact, it must only be a matter of time before something so utterly sensationalist does hit our screens... there'll be bears aplenty writhing in joy when that happens!

[BrickingIt]

The other one I was banging on about being absurd in Hangleton Lane 3 bed house. Lovely if it was £160k @ 4.5% but £415k

Its not lovely full stop. Why do you drag up all the crap properties and the oversupply in this particular Hi Rise?.

[dogbox]

Truly a great post.

Great info and insight.

I am so looking forward to seeing the numbers For Sale go through the roof.

fp

Me too but somehow the party rages on.

I got burned on a newbuild B2L in 2004. Even now the prices are still lower than I paid. The problem as usual was an oversupply of newbuild all at once, yet at the same time academics on R4 keep spouting we have a shortage - how, where?

[LargelyIgnorant]

Great post, Adi. Insightful on the ground reality.

An acquaintance of mine bought one of those Argus flats when they were first built a couple of years ago. The buyers were fighting amongst themselves, desparately vyinng with each other to be first in the queue to buy. The change in sentiment towards property has started, but is going to take 5-10 years to fully run its course.

FABULOUS!!!! Everyone should see this. To me, it's amazing how all this didn't happen ages ago. I know for a fact that, in 2004-5, many people were really struggling to rent out and sell properties; then something was tweaked by the VESTED INTERESTS - I've never quite worked out how they did it ; the great property crash was put on hold for a couple of years - and so things went mad again.... But, it's a bit like trying to stem the Tsunami with a plastic bucket.....

IMO, it was the BoE's quarter percent drop. This caused everyone to believe that the BoE would ultimately protect asset prices, removing any perceived risk and allowing a HPInflationary spiral to further develop. By creating a bloated private sector, Brown has created a huge number of public sector workers who are immune to the globalised private sector wage deflation and can demand RPI increases, or strike. Ultimately, the BoE will protect their paper currency over house prices, no matter how high they will need to raise IRs to do so.

edit: speling

Edited February 6, 2007 by LargelyIgnorant

[since the beginning]

This made me think about how blind these "Property Investors" must be and how many other "Dead Certs" this guy had already bought into. His research was obviously taken from VI Spin. What he really needed to do was talk to my landlord or my neighbour or even my ex landlord and see how much of a rental mecca Brighton actually is before he invested his £300k. Of course had he walked into my Letting Agent yesterday he would have been greeted with a broad smile and an assurance that everything was just fantastic.

The thing is there is a certain amount of pride when you reap the success of a good investment. Investing in shares or gold and watching them rise in value makes you not only richer but makes you feel clever. Property has been a one way bet for years. 99.9% of investors have probably made money and massive gains at that.

The crash is inevitable I just hope these clueless cretins are made to pay every penny back (which of course they won't) They have inflicted misery on an entire generation and deserve a bit of suffering.

[dude wheres my house]

Truly a great post.

Great info and insight.

I am so looking forward to seeing the numbers For Sale go through the roof.

fp

I think if you go for a drive you will see that this is already the case. In particular around new builds.. Another fun thing for us bears to do is drive past the new luxury flats at night and look for signs of life (i.e. lights) either these places are empty, they are filled with vampires or they have incredible social lives!!!

[Leonard Hatred]

I think if you go for a drive you will see that this is already the case. In particular around new builds.. Another fun thing for us bears to do is drive past the new luxury flats at night and look for signs of life (i.e. lights) either these places are empty, they are filled with vampires or they have incredible social lives!!!

Ah... I go past this Rightmove-dominating gin palace every night, and have never actually thought to look for lights on:

(Me and the missus have nicknamed it "Filthy Towers", because it's already coated with traffic film)

[dunnsdale]

Good post.......I've been looking to rent in Brighton after selling my house and banking the cash.Property is so overpriced I've decided to look in Haywards Heath......been checking out a few houses in Bolnore Village,seems to be lots of new build there bought by BTL's who are struggling to let them.I did notice in Brighton around November time a bit of a second wind in the property market with a penthouse on the marina (copenhagen court) selling at 550k that had been up for sale for about 18 months,and another penthouse 4 bedroom flat in marine gate shifting after a similar period on sale.......I reckon that was the last throw of the dice and it should be steadily downhill from here.

[adibrown]

Can you imagine the girl in the Sales Centre, some of these girls know more about whats going on than people give them credit for. She has no doubt seen loads of these types , full of their own importance. I wonder how long it will be before the mass panic starts.

Its interesting watching these people in action. I often wonder about flats that have been "reserved". Phase One still has lots of flats available but they have now moved on to marketing Phase Two. Of course as always Phase One is fully reserved and phase two flats are about 5% more expensive. Surprise Surprise all of a sudden a flick of papers and yes...wait....lo and behold a phase one flat has become available just this morning.....buyer didn't get a mortgage. Its a great opportunity but you need to move quick.

The Avalon Development on West Street in Brighton is a funny one because it had to have a certain percentage of social housing in it. Unfortunately for the developers they all moved in before they sold all of their units. When I went to look around a Duplex up for rent there (£1400 pcm - they were having a laugh-although it was £400k to buy) the communal corridor stank of smoke and I had to laugh as the agent stumbled on and got a Union Jack flag caught on her stilleto that had been hung on one of teh front doors. Hilarious!!!

Another funny story is Palmeira Yard in Holland Road, Hove. It was once a prison and then a storage facility which has been converted, May 2006 in to 20 flats by some amateur developers. Anyway the first thing you notice when looking around them is the cheap fittings and springy laminate floors. This didn't put me off renting but I would never have bought one at £270k+. Once moved in the cracks started appearing (literally) and not just in our flat but in all the others. The woman in number one had an awful damp problem, I mean so much so that all of her clothes were wringing wet in her wardrobe and mould was growing on the ceiling. This was happening in all of the lower floor flats. Little problems like the kitchen units had been fitted so that you couldnt get to the sockets to switch off the fridge/freezer without ripping out the units. Anyway the list of problems was given to the developer and they have turned around and basically said "Feck off". The residents are getting together to sue the developer but it doesnt look good. Anyway to make matters worse the woman at number one had S**t literally coming up from the sewers and flooding her bathroom floors. Everybodys shower doors have fallen off, paint started peeling in the bathrooms(poor ventilation) etc etc.

Hasten to say that all of them are talking about a lick of paint and off loading them on some other poor unsuspecting fool. The thing is that these flats have been marketed as "Luxury Apartments". Personally I cant wait to move out of mine ASAP and would be suicidal now if I had bought one a few months ago. Oh yeah to add insult to injury the service charges are double what they were originally told (as a renter these fees dont concern me), in some cases as much as £240 a month!!!!! - oh yeah includes water rates though.

[adibrown]

You might be right about the top end of the market. The average earnings are p*ss poor in East Sussex. I am not so sure about the ones within mere mortals ranges. £600-700 People have to live somewhere.

Unfortunately because most new build flats now start from £250,000+ the lowest rent a new LL can charge to just break even is £1200 pcm. Even old 1 bed flats in Brighton are selling for £180,000+ now so have to be rented out at £900+ to cover LLcosts.

I agree that 5 years ago the average rent was £500 - £600pcm and anything £1000+ was rare.

It may be that the demand for property is at the £400 - £750pcm range but recent BTL simply cannot afford to rent at this level. This may be where the cracks will start to appear. I agree wages in Brighton are poor and students arent getting any richer so these new BTL landlords buying new build flats are trying to supply a non existant demand.

To rent to the majority looking for £400-£600pcm rents I suppose you would have to pay £100k. I havent seen any flats for that price in todays market. May be this is the crunch.

[Guest Yeahbutnocrash]

Top post, adibrown. The situation here on the Fylde coast is pretty much the same. I think part of the problem is that builders have been building for "investors", rather than trying to build decent family homes. I wonder how many BTL LLs factor in a 4 month void (or a 14 month void and counting, in the case of my last LL)

I think this is a good post

Obviously a lot of overpriced new builds have come on at the same time so people who bought them will be struggling if they can't let them out. I don't see how this would necessarily cause prices to drop by much in the overall market though

These are obviously not the type of property in demand

Looking on rightmove it amazes me how many expensive 1-bed conversions are on the market in Brighton - Anyone got any idea who can afford to buy them?

It'll be interesting to see if they sell at their asking prices or get reduced

It seems student letting in Brighton may still be strong. I know of some students sharing a 6 bed house having only moved in there in September. They are now being given only a couple of weeks to decide if they want the house next year for an extra £30pm on the rent each!!

They think the property may have sold to a new LL recently as people were in there measuring the room sizes a few weeks ago

Seems the LL feels he can easily pass on his extra costs of higher IR's directly to the tennants...

Edited February 6, 2007 by Yeahbutnocrash

[Leonard Hatred]

To rent to the majority looking for £400-£600pcm rents I suppose you would have to pay £100k. I havent seen any flats for that price in todays market. May be this is the crunch.

This is my logic, but I wonder how many LLs are actually willing to take the hit in order to bet on future capital growth.

Stranger things have happened!

[jp1]

I used to rent in Brighton - 2001/04 and kep an occasional eye on rental flats in latest Homes

IMO there are 2-3x the number of rental properties to let now [admittedly there may be more would-be tennants ie priced-out FTBs] but I notice the rent for an average 2 bed flat in 'fashionable' Kemptown seafront is still £800-850 - no change on 2001/2 levels

[234SALE]

I am just about to buy a house in Central Brighton to live in. Guess where.....

Its was on the market for 359,000

I had offered 330,000 which they accepted. It took me a long time to get my mortgage together.

3 months later I have the mortgage offer,

When I first offered I think the rate was 4.75%

I want another .25%

How much should I offer now.. 320,000

: ) adi please email me with advice

After reading this £250,000