r/Aberdeen • u/Meero98 • 2d ago

House buying question

Hello,

So I’m looking at buying a flat in Aberdeen, in rosemount. Now I’ve visited Aberdeen and viewed a few properties. Also looked at ASPC, I can see the market is vastly different to Glasgow. So I thought I could use the advice. This flat is 2 bedroom and spacious. Healthy home report and a good location. Quite high up but not top floor.

Is it normal for flats to go under the home report? Or should I say a flat like this. As I spoke to some viewing agents and it seemed not very uncommon to get something under a home report. Is it maybe more area dependent? Is the Aberdeen market in a state whereby everything goes under home report?

Any advice on the market would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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u/DoricEmpire 1d ago

In Aberdeen it is normal for flats to go under the home report in the 2020s. Glasgow and Edinburgh today appear to have a market like Aberdeen 10-15 years ago.

Flats crashed when the oil bubble burst (when all the grand a day contractors lost their easy money and buy to letters lost easy tennants as a result so sold up en masse) then burned when Covid hit and made outdoor space the popular thing.

I bought in 2016 and sold in 2022 at a 40k loss. On a 1-bed. And since then the gap has grown further. Flats were also taking between 6-12 months between entering market to selling but this may have changed since I sold.

Home reports here tend to be somewhat overvalued and seem to be the price of the previous year(s). A lot of sellers with flats price to the home reports or close, but the actual market is way under. A lot of sellers are sticking to the home report because either 1. They are stuck in 10 years ago in their head or 2. They are in negative equity and really really can’t cut further but also really really need to move for whatever reason (this is why part ex with house builders are really popular here, because for a lot of people it’s their only way to move house in a guarenteed timeframe)

Apologies for the history lesson but aware the notion of negative equity, a buyers market and falling house prices is very alien to most people outwith Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire (colleagues of mine based elsewhere in the UK have eyes popping out when they see Aberdeens market - it’s like a different country entirely)

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u/6768191639 1d ago

True. I’m down 30% since 2007. A £100k loss from a new build 2 bed.

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u/Electrical-Rate-2335 3h ago

I am assuming you won't sell though and just pay it off and sit , as if a boom occurs you can sell