Mccarthy Stone Rules

Among other cheap apartments in Folkestone, many are located in Pleydell Court – another McCarthy & Stone development. The last sale cost £80,000, a £15,000 drop from the price at which it had been sold 11 years earlier. The council tax has become a nightmare for Cross. He showed Guardian Money his latest bill of Folkestone and Hythe`s board. Although the one-bed apartment is only a B property – a strip above the lowest valuation – this year`s bill is £2,969.44. Next year, it will grow to nearly 4,500 pounds. When Tony Cross` father was the first buyer of a McCarthy & Stone retirement plan in Folkestone, Kent, he thought he was going to get a good deal. The sales representative offered him an «early bird discount» which took £3,000 from the cost of a one-bed apartment and sold it to him in 2007 for £161,950. But since the inheritance four years ago, Cross has been unable to find a buyer and is considering selling it to a «buy it now» company — for just £28,000. How could a relatively newly built apartment in good condition, with more than 100 years remaining, collapse so dramatically? The average apartment in Folkestone has risen from £137,000 to £162,000 since 2007 – so why could the McCarthy & Stone apartment cost less than the price of a garage in the coastal city? «These are really beautiful, spotless apartments with a lovely shared lounge,» a Folkestone estate agent told Guardian Money.

«But people are very cautious with the service charge, which is around £7,500 a year on the Zweibettern.» This is no consolation to many of those who bought Cross` development, Laurel Court. An apartment bought for £150,000 in April 2010 was sold for £75,000 last year. Another, bought for £151,000 in November 2009, sold for £105,000 in April this year. A two-bed apartment is currently listed on Rightmove at £45,000 and is the cheapest property for sale in all of Folkestone. The agent says he is in «perfect condition,» but warns that service charges apply. When Guardian Money checked this week, there were 18 ads on Rightmove for apartments in Laurel Court, many with «reduced» stickers. McCarthy & Stone is the UK`s largest builder of retirement housing, with 1,200 developments across the country and a turnover of around £700 million a year, but has repeatedly been accused of poor resale values. If you wish to receive information from us, please indicate this by ticking the appropriate boxes below: Our privacy policy and statement describe how we use your information, with whom we may share it, and what rights you have. You must be at least 18 years of age to register for our real estate matching service («Service») through this website.

From time to time, we may send you information about properties that we think may be of interest to you. As research conducted by the Elder Accommodation Counsel shows, new developments in retirement generally gain value. Our in-house resale operations support our customers and have achieved an average price improvement of around 4% or around £7,000 on resale. We strongly encourage our clients to use our expert resale service, rather than real estate agents who do not always fully understand or properly value retirement properties. It`s also important to remember that the value of old age life isn`t just price. Our communities are creating healthier, happier lives for our residents, reducing the challenges they face as they age, and nine in 10 say we are improving their quality of life. Our apartments also save people money on the high costs of nursing homes and are usually much cheaper to manage than their previous home. For more information, please contact our friendly resale team who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about selling your property. If Cross finds a buyer, there is one last sting in the queue — he must give the freeholder a 2% share of the product. He says he was also asked for £324 for a «seller`s package». While the apartment was on the market, Cross was responsible for the service charge, base rent and council tax and has paid £18,000 so far. «I`m going to go bankrupt at this rate,» he says.

«Overall, it costs me £900 a month to keep it. I have to pay for my own house, and you can`t manage two houses for a normal salary. It was a huge financial sinkhole. One of the Buy-it-Now companies only offered me £15,000 for it. The stress was so, and to be honest, it made me so perplexed and moody, it also cost me my relationship. Cross says that while searching for figures from the land registry, he discovered that other apartments in development had been sold for £99,000 when they were new. So much for the early bird discount,» he says. Why not? Cross blames the one-bed apartment for what he calls a «penalty fee.» Last year the fee was £562 per month, or £6,744 per year, although this year it has fallen to £519 per month. In addition, the base rent is an additional £415 per annum. In other words, a pensioner could pay almost all of his State pension in service and his basic pensions. We do not charge an exit fee that accrues to the promoter as a profit. We charge a 1% cash fund contribution (known as a contingency fee) which is paid upon resale.

This is managed in trust for the long-term benefit of this development and its inhabitants. McCarthy & Stone Resales is here to help you sell your property managed by McCarthy & Stone. To learn more, check out our Director of Resales, David Gabriel, who answered some of your frequently asked questions: It is difficult to estimate exactly how long it will take to sell a property, as it depends on a variety of factors including: the condition of the property, location, price, market conditions, etc. However, compared to the sale of a regular residential property, the sale period may be longer because the property has an age restriction. The vulnerability of our older buyers must also be taken into account. The decision to move into a seniors` housing complex is life-changing and may take some time to decide if it`s the right decision for them. McCarthy & Stone Resales is fortunate to have built a prestigious reputation and is usually the first port of call for anyone looking for a second-hand retirement home in the UK.