Case Studies

The founding vision for Short Lease Property Sales came not only from our founder Josh's professional experience (see - About Us), but also from his background investing in property. This background included the knowledge that he could solve problems other estate agents simply didn't know how to. Here are two case studies from his personal life, most importantly showcasing the alternative solution those sellers could have had if Short Lease Property Sales had been around at the time.

Brettenham Road, London

A tired landlord was looking to sell their investment flat, but was struggling as it only had 71 years left on the lease. At this level they could still sell to a mortgage buyer and after a short while on the market agreed a sale just under £350,000 to a first-time buyer. So far so good...until the buyer got cold feet and pulled out. Why did they pull out? The 'short lease' of course!

The seller was now months down the line, money down the drain with lost legal fees and no further forward than where they started.

Putting the flat back on the market with the same agent they now received several new offers - mostly from first-time buyers, and one from an investor with experience in buying flats with short leases. Having lost confidence in first time buyers the landlord accepted the investor offer at £325,000, even though it was lower than others on the table. This was the best outcome for the seller based on the options they thought they had, and they were ultimately very happy when the sale proceeded smoothly to completion.

Was this the best outcome they could have got? What did the investor do with the property?

Josh was that investor, and sold the flat for £430,000 with an extended lease. Why couldn't the seller have done this?

The Short Lease Property Sales Solution - £105,000 more for our clients

If this seller had been our client, we would have advised them on how to market the property with an extended lease in the first place (without needing the £37,650 to pay for the lease extension premium themselves). This would have meant:

  1. They would have been able to market at Offers Over £425,000 and sell for £105,000 more themselves.
  2. They could have kept their original buyer and sold sooner without lost legal fees

Fyfield Road, London

This gorgeous Edwardian conversion flat was sold using the Short Lease Property Sales method, but because the original estate agent didn't know how to market the flat the seller only got half the benefit.

After a while on the market and not selling with various price reductions, the flat came across Josh's radar when it was finally marketed to 'Cash buyers' for Offers Over £310,000 with a 58 year lease.

A sucker for period features (and wanting a great sized garden so he and his wife could get a dog) Josh wanted to buy this flat to live in. The only problem? He wasn't a cash buyer...

The solution - Josh and his wife offered to buy the flat and extend the lease simultaneously so they could buy it with a mortgage. A price was agreed for the flat at £308,000 with the lease extension costs being added on top. This was less than the seller wanted, but given that they were struggling to find a buyer at all with the current marketing, they were happy to get anything agreed. They'd managed to find a buyer sooner (the first half of the Short Lease Property Sales method), but could they have had a better outcome? What did Josh do with the property?

Josh and his wife did move in (and yes they got the dog). Plus, with the new lease, they also managed to get the property re-valued at over £400,000.

The Short Lease Property Sales Solution - Selling for £90k more

If this seller had been our client, we would have advised them on how to market the property with an extended lease in the first place (without needing to sit stagnant on the market and reducing the price). This would have meant:

  1. They would have been able to market at £400,000 and sell for £90K+ more themselves.
  2. They could have found a buyer much sooner without leaving the property on the market a long time and reducing the price while hunting for a cash buyer.

Could Short Lease Property Sales be the right option for you?

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