Belarmine - Fire safety issues

Homer

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We are currently looking at the possibility of buying an apartment in Parkview, Belarmine. There is a fire safety issue there that means it may be difficult for potential purchasers to obtain financing.

We are cash buyers, so it looks as if it might be an opportunity to pick something up at a good price. It’s for a relative, so we’re not planning to rent it. And the apartment ticks many boxes for us in terms of price, location, etc. We would welcome any thoughts on the advisability or otherwise of putting in an offer.

Our assessment of the pluses and minuses is as follows:

Pluses:

1. Difficulty in getting finance will reduce the number of potential buyers and may present an opportunity to pick up the apartment at a good price.
2. Because of the uncertainly about the cost of rectifying the issue, the reduction in purchase price may be greater than the actual cost.

Minuses:

1. Is there a danger we might be putting our relative at risk?
2. What if the actual cost of rectifying the issue is higher than expected?

Thoughts from anyone with knowledge of this particular development would be exceptionally welcome. But we would also be grateful for general thoughts on the issues I have raised above and any other issues I have overlooked that we should also consider.

Thanks
Homer
 
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Price lower for reasons stated but who would opt to buy a flat with such an issue hanging over it when there are other properties available.
 
Run a mile from it. Your relative could be forced to move out of the property if the fire services decide it is too dangerous to live in and the cost of fixing fire issues is huge. There are other developments where individual apartments have ended up with large 5 figure sums to bring it up to standard. I would also wonder how the development is obtaining block insurance and what the cost of it is. You will then have the stress of getting everyone to agree to fix the issue or be left with an apartment that you will never be able to sell. Remember you might have no problem paying to fix the issues but other people might. And that is to ignore the dangers of a living in a property that doesn't meet fire standards. It just sounds like stress
 
Thanks folks. I think we’ll take your advice.

As you say, there’s a reason it’s priced so competitively.

We had factored in the likely cost of fixing the issue, but had not allowed for the potential difficulty in getting everyone to agree to having it done.
 
Most people will be put off by this, which is why it could be a very good bargain.

These issues were identified some time ago. Find out where they are at. If they are near resolution, it could well be worth going for.

Brendan
 
As I recently advised a family member who was looking to purchase a property which was tenanted "under terms unknown". Work out a figure of what it might cost to remediate the issue; add it on to the purchase price and see if the figures still look good.
 
Most people will be put off by this, which is why it could be a very good bargain.

These issues were identified some time ago. Find out where they are at. If they are near resolution, it could well be worth going for.

Brendan

Thanks Brendan

That was the logic behind the first point I was making under the pluses. However, it sounds as if the issue is nowhere near resolution and could drag on for years. And I don’t fully understand the extent of the problem or the potential consequences of a fire breaking out in someone’s apartment.
 
As I recently advised a family member who was looking to purchase a property which was tenanted "under terms unknown". Work out a figure of what it might cost to remediate the issue; add it on to the purchase price and see if the figures still look good.

Thanks Thirsty

That’s how I was viewing the matter until Sunny pointed out the difficulty that there might be in getting everyone to agree to contribute their share of the cost of fixing the problem. What do you do in that situation? Can you force them to contribute against their will? And, if so, might you need to take them to court in order to compel compliance? And what would be the legal costs associated with doing this? Or would the other owners just have to just ‘suck it up’ and give the non compliant owners a ‘free ride’.

That all sounds like a potential nightmare that could result in years of stress.
 
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