Owning your own home

Cripes what a ballache. sorry to hear that sparky.

It's becoming apparent that our solicitor is hopeless too. They keep telling the vendor that we haven't done various things (sign contract for example) whereas the last thing we heard from them was that we were awaiting the results of some outstanding searches. Their reply to that is "just sign the contract anyway". My response to that would be "what the fuck am i paying you for again?". Their contribution to providing legal support has been to mail us a contract and about half the documents we need with no explanation of what is needed and what's missing and then telling everyone else that they're waiting on us. And they only told us that when we ask them what they were doing?

Useless.

Dammit - it's a bit of a stupid thing but the management company have changed the entry system and are charging for additional fobs beyond the three they think we should have. We need five. I'm not so worried about the money, I'm just a little confused as to how they think they can charge us for something that we already have when it hasn't been declared as major works and our service charge is supposed to cover this kind of thing. Communication was also really poor.

Nothing serious then, but I'm a bit concerned that the way they've done this will set the tone for further work ahead.

How many fobs were you issued with previously without being charged?

How many fobs were you issued with previously without being charged?

Five came with the place.

One nice thing is that I've had about 5-6 people on here offer me a sofa/room/hug.

I recommend getting all of the above post codes, and then deciding what distance you fancy riding in to work before picking one :)

Seriously though, we really do always have room for one more, and can accommodate some storage space in the garage.

I've just talked this over with my dad (always handy). It seems that there are two problems:

1) The paperwork isn't finalised and I'd need to stay somewhere temporarily.

2) My solicitor warns that this management company will be a faff, and that if someone doesn't pull their weight it could deteriorate, the paperwork will be a mess, and it could be unsellable.

The first one is sortable, the second unpredictable. My solicitor says the second is a big problem, but I'm not sure how big. He says walk away.

I went to the flat tonight and spoke to the person who bought the ground floor. She didn't even know she was getting the freehold, she thought it was leasehold only. I told her that once all three were sold she'd have to form a company, buy insurance etc, and she just looked at me blankly.

Clearly she's not going to be doing all the paperwork, but her solicitor obviously didn't see any reason to warn her off.

I can't help but think that if mine hadn't put the frighteners on me - possibly with valid reason - that I'd be happily moving in as she's done.

Am I being overly cautious, because my solicitor is? Or is the woman already there not worried, but should be?

The other thought is that even if it's a bad move, is it less bad than being homeless? Or renting another shit place for more money than the mortgage would cost?

I think living there is fine and there wouldn't be a problem but should you or one of your neighbours come yto sell it could be a pricey affair.

It probably would be fine but a solicitor has to advise of the worse case scenarion. If he didn't and it happened, he's be wide open for a claim against him.

Did you discuss likely maintenance costs with the GF owner? I guess you should be looking at £1,200 - £1,500 pa to cover maintenance and build up a fund for repairs.

I said we'd probably have to pay £50-100 a month each, just as a figure out of thin air. She had no idea she'd have to do all that. She looked at me like she didn't really believe it. She thought it was leasehold with no service charge.

Scary! Is she actually the owner or is she a tenant renting it off the new owner?

Some sollicitors pick up and raise concerns over items that others don't worry about in the slightest. I recently bought some flats in a block with 2 other friends also buying others in the same building and off the same seller. My solicitor raised so many concerns that the other two's didn't that I wondered if they had the same contracts as I did.

She was the owner. Odd, isn't it?

I part own a maisonette which was leasehold but we bought the freehold together with the owner of the other maisonette (it's basically like a semi detached house with one flat up and one down). There's no maintenance agreement in place and each maisonette takes care of their own repairs. From memory, in the contract somewhere, there's a section stating who is responsible for certain repairs such as the roof. We did have a problem when a shared fence needed repairs as we carried out the repairs but have so far failed to get the other owner to contribute. We could probably go through the small claims court but it's more trouble than it's worth for the small cost. If it were the roof however things could be different.
The difference with this property as opposed to most flats is that there are no common areas that need regular maintenance.

Sorry to hear about this Sparky. Bit of a nightmare.

Can you clarify something: You're being told to set up a management company? How many flats are there in the building again?

We have a shared freehold with no management company, and we do have a (albeit small) communal area. If there are a small number of flats in the building I don't see why you can't go down this route.

Top one doesn't look like it's worth worrying about is it?
I live 100 yards from the Thames, and don't worry about it. Just make sure that it's covered in the insurance.

Subsidence, on the other hand >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Ah ok, so I think I've gathered there's three flats. If this is the case, have you asked your solicitor why a management company is needed? Three is a perfectly manageable number to not bother with a management company and just meet up over a glass of vino every so often. I used to rent a place in Muswell Hill which was three flats in an old Edwardian house and that was how they did it, they never had any problems.

As you said yourself, you want a flat, you don't want to run a management company. The question I would be asking your solicitor is do you really have to? And if yes, why? Who says?

I live 100 yards from the Thames, and don't worry about it. Just make sure that it's covered in the insurance.

Subsidence, on the other hand >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Not worth worrying about it in it's current state just says if extension work is carried out make sure measures are put in place for drains but you'd have someone check all that first anyway.

Extensions are a while off yet anyway!!

Ah ok, so I think I've gathered there's three flats. If this is the case, have you asked your solicitor why a management company is needed? Three is a perfectly manageable number to not bother with a management company and just meet up over a glass of vino every so often. I used to rent a place in Muswell Hill which was three flats in an old Edwardian house and that was how they did it, they never had any problems.

As you said yourself, you want a flat, you don't want to run a management company. The question I would be asking your solicitor is do you really have to? And if yes, why? Who says?

I don't know why a management company is needed. The seller doesn't seem to want to budge on that. I don't want the hassle of running it. But I think that my solicitor's main concern is people not pulling their weight and the flat becoming unsellable. I don't kow if I'm working myself into a stress over nothing over that - others seem to have been in this situation without problem. Although I suspect there are horror stories.

I need to tell people one way or the other today.

Is the concern the lack of a management compant or a lack of detail in the lease for the apportionment of repair costs. If the former then it's probably not the end of the world as it should be possible to force all owners to contribute. If the latter then it is more likely to be a problem.
A good example may be a future problem with the roof which all owners would usually contribute towards. The lady on the ground floor could refuse to pay a share as in her eyes it's not her problem but the owner of the top flat only.
The real problems with leaseholds probably arise when owners are asked to dig deep for expensive repairs and improvements. Without a rock solid contract to force payment there are always likely to be individuals who will try to avoid contributing.
^ All IMO and without any legal training caveat, etc....

I've not got time to read it now but this looks interesting
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=21

I found it whilst looking quickly for 'leasehold nightmares'.

I was up all night worrying about this and I think I've come to a realisation: buying your first home shouldn't feel like a terrifying risk. If you're scared that future legal issues will leave it worthless, don't buy it. I'd only end up sitting in it worrying.

I realised that I was pretty sure that I wanted to walk away, but just didn't have anywhere to go if it fell through, so kept plugging away even though I wasn't happy. Hopefully I have arranged something short-medium term now, so I'm going to email the agent and say "thanks, but no thanks" and keep my eye out for something more betterer.

And in the meantime maybe my other half will move to London and we can do this together.

Live to fight another day, and all that.

Now I know it's the seller who is demanding the management company (why, being the obvious question, how is it any skin off their nose?), I think you should tell the seller "budge on the management company, or I'll walk". I don't think they should be calling the shots on whether there's a management company or not.

This is assuming the legal issues aside you still want it.

One thing that confuses me here is that this is a new build, correct?

So presumably the seller is the same for all three flats, in which case why did they make so little mention of the lease/freehold/management company situation with the lady who bought the other flat that she (laughably) believes that there is no service charge?

What you probably need is some breathing space and now you appear to have sorted somewhere temporary to live, you now have that luxury. It may be that your proposal to walk away will spur people into action and all the problems can be overcome.

If it is indeed the seller wanting to set up the management company, that likely does not need to be a major problem. Far better there's some form of management than none at all. There seems to be plenty of protection safeguarding your money from being frittered away on unecessary and over priced works.

Otherwise, plenty more fish in the sea, etc...

Yes I think now that the stresses of finding a place to live are gone you can look at it with more of a clear head.

Also if Mrs. Sparky is moving to London surely that means you've got more money to put down on a property? AKA Bike room AKA eternal bliss.

Sparky, I've been following this thread with interest. I'm sorry about how it all played out for you, the stress must have nearly killed you.
Has your experience changed your view at all about the renting vs owning debate? Surely your experience above, all things considered, must go a little way toward redressing the balance of the pros/cons of renting vs buying in your mind.

The way I see it buying a house is a necessary stress if you want to own a property.