Honesty pays: £15,000 over asking price for flat that comes "with fleas"

A two bedroom apartment with an asking price of £125,000 has sold for £140,000 despite - or perhaps because - its details admitting to would-be buyers that it had mouldy walls, mounds of rubbish and had "fleas to keep you company." 

Leigh-on-Sea agency Scott & Stapleton admitted that the flat in Westcliff-on-Sea was in poor condition and the candour of the details for the property, which went on sale on Friday, created a media whirlwind around the sale. 

But a buyer was found on Monday at £15,000 above the asking price.

Branch manager Rob Kahl told the Daily Mail the property may have fetched £170,000 if it had been in prime condition. "I just thought it was being sold as seen so people needed to be warned. We could have had twice as many people view it but it would have been a waste of time if they’d seen the normal estate agent blurb" he told the paper.

The vendors say they discovered the property in poor condition when tenants moved out; they apparently didn't want to sort it out themselves. 

This is what the details said:

"Wipe your feet on the way out! Not for the faint-hearted this first-floor flat is being sold as seen, rubbish and all! Having recently just had to evict some charming (not) tenants the vendors of this property have had enough and can't even face setting foot in what used to be their sweet and charming home.

“I can't flower this one up or use my normal estate agent jargon to make this sound any better. The property is full of rubbish, there is mould on the walls and I think there may even be some fleas there to keep me company when I carry out the viewings.

“If you are interested in this property as a buy to let investment please rest assured that this is not even close to being a true reflection of a Scott & Stapleton tenant and your investment would be managed efficiently and professionally.”