Hi there, this is my first post!

I have recently bought an off-plan property in a development in Leicester. This development is actually a conversion of a textile factory into many luxury apartments. There are I think 3 phases and the third phase is likely to completed by March/April 2009.

I have a lot of questions that I really should have asked prior to purchasing the property, I have been very naïve I guess. However, I would be very grateful if you can help me with the following questions:

Property details: 3 bedroom duplex ‘luxury’ high spec apartment in LE3 (1 mile from centre of Leicester). This also includes a parking slot in the private car park. The also specs include communal cinema room, communal gym. Apparently the fixtures and fittings are going to be of a high standard too. I purchased this through a ‘property investment firm’ and I had to only pay a finders fee, and instead of a deposit, I had to pay for a deposit insurance policy (exchange bond). Overall I had to shell out £10k for the finders fee and deposit insurance.

Questions:

1) When I purchased this development, the market value was considered to be around £350,000 (the investment firm suggested that was the market value). I researched if this was an accurate valuation on the internet, and on the Rightmove website there were a couple of other new developments which showed similar selling prices (unsold). However, there were no records of any sold comparable apartments for that price. However, in order to entice me into this deal, the investment company told me that I can receive a £98,000 discount on the market price. So in effect I would be paying only £252,000. I thought (maybe foolishly) that this was a good deal and hence I went ahead. So the question is are these ‘incentive’ deals a scam or are they actually discounts on the market value?
2) Secondly I wanted to find out if I can sell on my assignable contract to another person (not to profit myself- but to offload a risk). I have only exchanged contracts (without deposit), and apparently I can sell my contract on before completion (as a right to purchase at the ‘discounted’ price). The question was, if I were to do this, what would be the implications for me? And would this be difficult to do? Does anyone have any experience of this?
3) Finally, if the worst comes to the worst, and I have to complete and hence apply for a mortgage (which I have no chance of getting given my circumstances and the credit tightening), what would happen if I cant secure finance? Will I be forced to complete? Will I get a CCJ? Or bankruptcy? I am becoming increasingly worried about this.


Many thanks for reading this post and I hope you may be able to help me, and offer advice.

Cheers

Nawabshah

Hi there,I am no expert,however,it may pay you to seek advice from a solicitor..many do a half hour free session,just to put your mind at rest...you say you have paid 10k in fees already,so I guess you have started the ball rolling so to speak,but in your third question you kind of imply you couldnt/wouldnt be able to get a mortgage,so I am thinking you havent got too far regards getting the finance arranged to buy the property.Take a look in your local yellow pages and seek legal advice.Good luck and Hope things work out for you.
regards
Stu

If you do a search on the web you will find a number of topics on properties such as Westbridge Wharf in Leicester, which sounds similar to yours.

Rightmove shows an apartment at £360,000 and a number of serviced apartment sites show rental rates of £300 to £400 per week, so you really need to find out what teh value is now, is is completed yet?

It may be possible to get a buy-to-let mortgage of 85% of current value, if the value has fallen to £300,000 you could still borrow £255,000 and put it straight back onto the market at £300K.

As previous post says, get legal advice.