Glasgow Harbour Flat Purchase

[amccan10]

Morning all,

rather than constantly paying out money for rent and having nothing in return I've been considering purchasing a property with one of my mates:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope...

We can see this as around a 1-2 year solution before getting our own places.

The two things bothering me are:
What will be our chances of selling it on after?
Is the value likely to decrease by much in that period?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Again

Andy

[FamilyDub]

I wouldn't - I looked at one overlooking BAE/Clydeside Exp a couple of years ago and IIRC, it was rather a lot of £££.

Buy a proper West-end/Merchant City flat, live it up and you will get your money back/a modest profit in a couple of years.

All opinion, not fact, mind.

Edited by FamilyDub on Tuesday 8th March 20:49

[Goa'uld]

I have a few pals spread out over the different buildings, some are better than others but none are what I would want my money in. There is also alot of bad blood in that set of developments, things like parking that was supposed to be extended but the developers just walk and leave the place overcrowded AND THEN fine people for parking. Cars being vandalised by other irate residents is pretty common too. We looked there when things were still off plan and are so glad we didn't go for it, quite a few of the guys are stuck with those flats as there is a ceiling for that kind of living in the West End and now all those buildings are up I would say that they've oversaturated the market. It's also a bit of a pain in the backside location wise, doesn't seem that far away but there are alot of angry girlfriends that don't like walking there in the evenings.

I would look at the more solid flats in the West End, if you buy a traditional flat then the place you'll never have an issue getting rid of it with the Uni in such a great position, and closer staggering distance to Ashton Lane is always a plus!

[powwerr]

Hi, i work on the street the flats are situated. It is a very industrial area, wouldnt class it as anything spectacular for the £ that is asked for them. The flats are quite nice inside (ones ive been in) Quite large aswell. But can understand why certain Gf's wouldnt be happy walking about.

I drive past them every day and while i quite like the look of them and if i had plenty of moolah i would rent one out all day long. Dont know if i would live in it though.
A few builders/joiners i know that have worked on the development say that they were all built to a price, and a low one at that. There is already talk of subsidisation, although i have never read any proof on this.

Bit of a jumbled post but HTH.

[Ali2202]

Sorry. They are a very bad buy down there. Avoid. As has been said, buy Victorian tenement in The Park Area or West End. Avoid new builds, they're largely sttily made and will not be a good investment.

Al

[amccan10]

Thanks for the replies, I've experienced the parking issues myself.
It is a bit of joke that there's so few parking bays cars littered up and down the street

[amccan10]

Ali2202 said:

Sorry. They are a very bad buy down there. Avoid. As has been said, buy Victorian tenement in The Park Area or West End. Avoid new builds, they're largely sttily made and will not be a good investment.

Al

Cheers, I've been looking about a bit recently and would probably go for an older building myself.
I'm currently renting a flat in York Street, its handy for the town but a complete dive and shoddily constructed and maintained on the inside.
Think a lot of the problem there is that the majority are rented out to students and the factor is useless too

[Ali2202]

amccan10 said:

Cheers, I've been looking about a bit recently and would probably go for an older building myself.
I'm currently renting a flat in York Street, its handy for the town but a complete dive and shoddily constructed and maintained on the inside.
Think a lot of the problem there is that the majority are rented out to students and the factor is useless too

I have a few properties in Glasgow so know a bit about what works and what doesn't. The older 'classic' stuff around The Kelvingrove Park Area is good as there is no need to drive or take Public Transport to get into Town.....this makes it coveted from a Corporate rental viewpoint. If you do have/need a car there are now plenty of Residents parking spaces there. A lot less pesky/noisy Students up there too (in comparison to Byers Rd area). If you don't mind me asking, what's your budget? Happy to advise a little if it helps Fella.

Al

[slickchange]

Unless you want to live there in that specific flat I think its a bad buy if you only want to be there for 1-2years.
At the start of a mortage you only pay a fraction of the monthly payments as capital repayment. i.e you may pay off £1000 total in the 1st year £1400 in the second year.
Add up stamp duty, soliciters fees and one-off mortage setup fee you have a fair amount of cash up front.
Then on the other end you have home report, ESPC and soliciters costs to sell.
Thats 5k+ in costs and the flats may or maynot stay the same value. Aswell as selling time and stress.
Depends on your deposit size as the mortgage maybe so low that its worth it.

[shambolic]

Don't buy one!
It will be a ghetto down there in a couple of years. Loads not sold(some still empty after 4 years)
Lots bought by investors to sell on but couldn't and now rented ou to all and sundry.
Other problems with parking, vandalism and other things.

[OlberFKWJ]

I can see them going the same way as the flats on Scotland Street. Definitely avoid.

[Mattymouse33]

shambolic said:

Don't buy one!
It will be a ghetto down there in a couple of years. Loads not sold(some still empty after 4 years)
Lots bought by investors to sell on but couldn't and now rented ou to all and sundry.
Other problems with parking, vandalism and other things.

It wont turn into a ghetto at all. Ive lived there for 5 years and purchased off plan the 2nd best pad in the development so I do have a feel for what its like and what itll end up like.

The cost of living is quite high in that yes, like most places, not a lot of care and attention to detail was put into the build to make it economic. The various committees which took some years to create have been addressing these issues for the last few years and numerous improvements made. Factors fees are quite high but hey ho, it takes time for a community to get things together in order to address these things. The views are lovely, I use to wake up every morning and just open up that balcony door and watch the boats and sea plane go by daily.

The people are all very friendly, absolutely no signs of illegal immigrints and all that nonsense that was mentioned years ago. Yes the odd party, Ive had the odd one or two myself!!! Safety and security is actually quite good. The CCTV has been greatly improved about 3 years ago, various concierges. Some break ins have happened but the culprits caught (i could tell you a few stories) but not a lot as far as im aware. I had a Cobra, Plymouth and Lambo etc there and not once did any of them get vandalised. Left numerous personal belongings lying around and in the communal hall (only me on the floor) and not one thing taken over the space of 5 years.

Parking is a pain for people yes i do admit. I had five cars there at one point so you can see where the problem lies. They simply didnt do enough but there was always a space further down the road if you really needed it.

Its all about the figures. I didnt buy to sell in the space of a decade. I bought for the long term and I have probably taken a hit but i dont care, its a risk you take and the fun i had in that place was immense. The place is now rented out at £2k/month and took one week to secure a tenant which more than makes up for it.

Would i rather live in the West End or Glasgow Harbour?? Well thats an easy one, the latter because what i experienced there I couldnt get in the busyness of Byres Road etc etc. Its river living and totally different.

Fact - It aint that bad after all.

[SB10]

shambolic said:

Don't buy one!
It will be a ghetto down there in a couple of years. Loads not sold(some still empty after 4 years)
Lots bought by investors to sell on but couldn't and now rented ou to all and sundry.
Other problems with parking, vandalism and other things.

I can see them going the same way as the flats on Wallace Street. The first block (closest to the Saab garage) has numerous prossies and dealers working from them aswell as a lot of immigrants.

[shambolic]

Was there today again and Concierge has signs up saying stuff like please dont use "comunal gardens as ashtrays" and "anyone caught damaging fences and plants by crossing into neighbouring development will be prosecuted"
Just not my thing living like ants ina colony.

[6C4GTS]

SB10 said:

has numerous prossies and dealers working from them

Not gonna ask how you know that!!

[Sy1441]

Lancefield quay and the flats on finnieston st are decent, the closer to tradeston you get the worse they get. Ive got a flat on argyle st, flats mint and so is the view but the areas a stehole. Would defo go merchant city or west end but it all depends on budget.

[powwerr]

6C4GTS said:

Not gonna ask how you know that!!

tbh its pretty well known round these parts.

[SB10]

powwerr said:

tbh its pretty well known round these parts.

Exactly!

I believe a newspaper had an investigation into it a year or two ago.

[amccan10]

SB10 said:

Exactly!

I believe a newspaper had an investigation into it a year or two ago.

Can't be any worse than down Anderston way, police don't seem to do much about it

[Mattymouse33]

As far as I gather, there are no hookers in Glasgow Harbour which i cant say the same about the rest of Glasgow. As for dealers, tell me a place where there arnt any dealers.

Shame some folk say all this stuff about Glasgow Harbour without having even lived there.