Hello...am trying to buy an apartment in West One...obviously like the place...does anyone living there have anything too say about it - good or bad??! Also, does anyone know of a parking space I can rent? Cheers!

Read this (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36620) and decide for yourself :thumbsup:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-5744036.rsp/svr/1003;jsessionid=4333BD291936B34AD933E0F01A13052F?p a_n=3&tr_t=buy&chnl=buy

You could buy this 1 bedder for 120k ish.
That would cost about for 768 repayment or 580 for a scary interest only mortgage, both at competitive market rates, dont forget any discounts are temporary


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-4754114.rsp/svr/1003;jsessionid=4333BD291936B34AD933E0F01A13052F?p a_n=4&tr_t=rent&chnl=rent

Or you can rent this similar one for 495 a month.

Why exactly, if you dont mind me asking, do you want to buy?
Have you done the maths?

Property is overvalued up here.
Im happy to be told otherwise but if anyones going to rise to it then please explain away my sums?
And before you say "capital appreciation" then which investors exactly are going to buy with returns as poor as they are currently?

cheers

d

Renting is essentially wasted money. In buying a house, you're gradually buying yourself the biggest asset you'll have. At the end of 25 years or however long the period of the mortgage is, you will completely own the property and not have to pay any monthly rent or repayments. It is also likely that the value of the house will have increased above the rate of inflation over the 25 years.

Originally posted by t020
Renting is essentially wasted money. In buying a house, you're gradually buying yourself the biggest asset you'll have. At the end of 25 years or however long the period of the mortgage is, you will completely own the property and not have to pay any monthly rent or repayments. It is also likely that the value of the house will have increased above the rate of inflation over the 25 years.

renting is a good short term thing, especially if you are going for an interest only mortgage, however in the long term you will not see any capital gain of course. long term renting is dead money, although I appreciate not everyone can afford to buy.

Hi xbecx
Me and my boyfriend live in West One, we moved in just over a month ago. We currently rent a Ucube, which is smaller than the property you're looking at, and we pay £450 pcm. Parking is on top, which costs us £75pcm. (I think there are a few left, you just have to pop into the lettings office and ask.)
I absolutely love the place, I am very happy here. I appreciate all the security features we benefit from (24hr concierge, 24hr cctv, video intercom, key fob into all buildings) and I really do believe that you get what you pay for.
The lifestyle you buy into from living here is not a cheap one! Your local is the Dev. Cat and you've got vodka revolution and many bars/restaurants surrounding you. There are also 3 supermarkets close by, Sainsbury's on the moor is just 5 minutes walk away and Budgen's is part of the west one complex. Tesco's is on west street and is useful for bits and bobs.

What I don't like about living here is that whenever I pop out to the shop, I get hounded by tramps and beggars, who seem to frequent the area as they know people come out to have a good time and spend lots of £££. But as long as you're polite but firm, you should be fine.

We've got a 12 month contract here, so we'll be here until next March. I've got every intention of staying here until I finish uni, but after that my intentions will be to get myself onto the property ladder. At the present state this is not possible at all. If I were to get a mortgage with my BF, we wouldn't be living in the kind of quality and luxuary we live in now. Our lifestyles would be very different and no doubt I'd be incredibly miserable!

What I'd reccommend you do is get a good look around the place, pop back in the evening to see how you could manage the night life (We don't experience any noise, only the rain tapping on the window!) and just generally to see if its what you are looking for. If you arent sure, perhaps consider taking on a short term let? I know someone on the forum is always trying to let out Apartment 701 and they've got a web page for it... Anyways, best of luck!

Cheers for the replies and viewpoints! Have made an offer - so am just entering bidding warfare...but worth it cos after a long time renting properties - I know I like Sheffield city centre and (yes!) Ive done the maths and spent enough time with an adviser to know that its the best option!

You sound well happy there caprice....all being well I may be a neighbour soon!

Cheers...Bec

As people have said why would anybody want to rent long term ? what do you gain out of renting ,nothing your just making somebody else a profit or paying for there mortage.
Im just buying my 1st property at 20 taking out a mortgage yes its going to be a bit tough but i have a friend moving in having the spare room to help me out.
Plus with this big boom on flats(not appartments there just small flats) give it 10 years and everybody will be sick of them and realise that theyre not worth the money and will want to move back to a normal house ,with a garden and a drive/on street parking and more than about 3 rooms in total

Plus with this big boom on flats(not appartments there just small flats) give it 10 years and everybody will be sick of them and realise that theyre not worth the money and will want to move back to a normal house ,with a garden and a drive/on street parking and more than about 3 rooms in total

So you're saying that renting is dead money but in 10 years people will be sick of flats. To me that means there will be a glut of flats on the market pushing prices down.

My view is that the market wills soon be saturated with flats in Sheffield and not enough people to want to live in them, I think it would be completly foolish to buy a flat now when the housing market is about to fall. Even renting for a year and seeing what happens would cost you less than buying something now. Prices have fallen a couple of percent in the last 6 months.

Plus with renting you don't have all the other expenses involved (Decorating, etc.etc)... you can move when you want etc.etc.

Final advise, don't listen to Estate Agents. After all they are just doing their job and will want you to buy for as much as possible so they get even more commission.

It's weird how renting is seen as a bad thing in this country when it's very popular abroad.
The best reason I can think of for renting is that it enables you to be more mobile, you can just up-sticks and move to another part of the country with a months notice if a good opertunity arrises.
I realise not everyone wants to live like that but if you do the last thing you need is to be tied to a mortgage.

If you've got your heart set on West One I think you're better renting there and enjoying the lifestyle but if you want to buy I think you're far better with a house. For that money you could buy in S10 / S11. There will always be demand for houses in these areas, sure in the short term prices may take a hit but houses are individual and you can extend etc but with a flat you are stuck with what you've got and paying a new build premium, but in a few years there will be a glut of apartments as people try to sell up to buy a nice little house in the suburbs...

Good article on rental against buying (in the current market). Its london based but what happens there normally happens here a few months later...

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c29d409c-adbc-11d9-9c30-00000e2511c8.html

Hi there Bec,

Abit late on this thread,

I was also looking at a apartment in west one but ended up buying one out of the city centre, just up the Sheffield Parkway so not that far away.

Looked at the penthouse but for the price it didnt come with much room etc

I didnt need to have a place in the city centre and the prices are somewhat inflated because of the "city" location.

I ended up buying a duplex apartment.

There is one two bed single floor apartment left. £115,000 if i recall correctly, one is up for rent for approx £500pm.

Just another option to consider.

Riz ;)

Nice development m good location what more can you want.

Hi xbecx

On the same track as the two messages above, check out the following two new-build apartments on the Bellway's Parklands development, just off City Rd in Manor (S2). The development is a 5-10 min walk away from the blue route tram stops (Manor Top/ Elm Tree or Spring Lane
) and is about a 10 min tram ride to the city centre.

http://www.martinco.com/property/lettings/sheffieldsouth/mcp366

http://www.martinco.com/property/lettings/sheffieldsouth/mcp3014 (Pic taken when block was still being built, it looks a lot better now!)

Lib1

Originally posted by Rizvan
Hi there Bec,


There is one two bed single floor apartment left. £115,000 if i recall correctly, one is up for rent for approx £500pm.



Or on the other hand ive just bought a 2 bed mid terrace in heeley green ,1.5 miles from town with a garden ,parking infron of the house with potential to extend for 86,000. To me why would anybody want to pay 29'000 more when you get far less ?

Originally posted by Lib1
Hi xbecx

On the same track as the two messages above, check out the following two new-build apartments on the Bellway's Parklands development, just off City Rd in Manor (S2). The development is a 5-10 min walk away from the blue route tram stops (Manor Top/ Elm Tree or Spring Lane
) and is about a 10 min tram ride to the city centre.

http://www.martinco.com/property/lettings/sheffieldsouth/mcp366

http://www.martinco.com/property/lettings/sheffieldsouth/mcp3014 (Pic taken when block was still being built, it looks a lot better now!)

Lib1

A slightly different lifestyle to buy into though - trendy wine bars and shops Vs boarded up council houses.

true, and if you do live in the centre and think you are missing out on the seedier part of the city, you can always look out of your balcony and watch people vomiting, p*ss*ng and fighting everywhere.

To t020:

"A slightly different lifestyle to buy into though - trendy wine bars and shops Vs boarded up council houses."

'Boarded up council houses'- what are you on about? Have you actually been to the Parklands development? Obviously not!

Lib1

Originally posted by t020
A slightly different lifestyle to buy into though - trendy wine bars and shops Vs boarded up council houses.

You forgot the evil little chav yobs who run riot destroying everything in their path...

Originally posted by Lib1
To t020:

"A slightly different lifestyle to buy into though - trendy wine bars and shops Vs boarded up council houses."

'Boarded up council houses'- what are you on about? Have you actually been to the Parklands development? Obviously not!

Lib1

Boarded up council houses are as near to the development as trendy wine bars are to West One. A fair comparison I think.

I still can't figure out the maths on this one.

Renting: total cost per month: £495. But you've kept hold of the deposit of 10k, which pays interest of £40 a month, so nets out at £455.

Buying: Interest only mortgage, best I could find would be 5.2% with a 10k deposit. Mortgage is £520 on £120,000, plus life insurance which is about £20 month. Plus the service charge - maybe somebody knows this? must be at least £70/month. Total of £610/month.

Cost to buy is £155/mth more than renting.

This cost is effectively a bet on a rising market. Flat prices rise more than 1.5% in a year - you're ahead, less than that you lose.

Market in Sheffield is still rising for flats (apparently), but anybody who buys now is assuming that flats prices will rise, which they are, but only becuase everyone assumes that flat prices will rise! Anyone investing in a flat to rent out will be losing money unless prices rise.

Therefore: It's a bubble.

Please feel free to pick this to pieces.

But what are you left with after renting? Nothing. After buying a house you only lose the interest payments - the rest is your own equity and can be used against other purchases or if the mortgage has come to the end of its term then you OWN a huge asset.

to20 - In my figures above i compare an interest only mortgage to renting. it would of course be possible take a repayment mortgage, which would involve repayments of about £655. £520 to cover the interest and £135/month paying down the amount borrowed.

I look at it this way to try and make a case against the "renting is just money down the drain" argument" My point is that buying is money down the drain as you end up paying more in interest than you would in rent, and paying interest is not money you get back.

put another way, instead of buying on a 25 year repayment mortgage, i could rent, have my landlord pay the service charge and still have £260/mth to invest in another asset, say shares or bonds or whatever.

I agree that you own the asset afetr paying a mortgage off but it costs you, in this instance, £260/mth for 25 years.

Still looks like a bubble to me.

Ah, although I haven't done any research on housing demand.

In the short term, you're probably right. Thinking ahead into the long term though, it's much better to start paying a mortgage off asap so when you reach your 40s/50s you will have no monthly accommodation costs, be it interest or rent.

Interesting debates...and thanks for views etc! I want to own somewhere because Im fed up of giving my hard earned cash to someone else and am fortunate enough that paying a mortgage will equate to the rent. Will also give me a better place to live in....and will OWN somewhere!

I am now set to become a fully fledge resident at West One as my offer was accepted and I'm really looking forward to living next to some trendy wine bars and shops... ;o) and also to making friends with the beggars around there...lol

Congratulations becx.

Get to a meet on sunday ;)

Riz