Owning your own home

Just a quickie.... I have bought and sold a few times, and there is always something like this. The time when it starts moving again, as commented above is when you (A) phone everyone and tell them to get a move on (including the seller) and (B) make sure that they understand that the usual solicitor thing of writing letters is not going to work here - they need to get on the phone.

I have usually followed this up with ringing every other day and checking they have done the things they said they would do on the last call.

And finally, one hold up revolved around something that the managing agent could not find - it had been misfiled. I offered to come up to his office and help him find it, quoted his own address to him and said I would be there in the afternoon. He found it pretty quickly after that.

You have to be the one pushing everyone's buttons.

maybe it would be worth proposing to your solicitors that they draw up the contract that the seller's solicitors are supposed to produce, with the amendments as everyone wants them. it could save everyone some time The mere suggestion is likely to horrify both sets of solicitors, possibly enough for them to be a little more proactive.

the problem with one flat not being a shareholder in the management company could be circumvented by the managementcompany that owns the freehold charging them a monthly fee for common area maintenance, and an additional rental for the share of the ground they are taking up until such time as they 'purchase' their share of the management company. I'm assuming how much they pay in management fees and how much they pay for a share of the freehold is not yet determined as per the original contracts you were looking at before amendments.

making suggestions to the solicitors of things that are perfectly feasible, but just aren't the way things are 'done' sends shivers up their spines, and somehow leads to things getting done in the traditional manner quite quickly ... you would not believe how quickly we had a set of searches come back after I said 'give me the forms and i will go to the council offices and take care of it'

ooh Andrew, didn't see your post until after posting mine. Much the same thing :) Suggest breaking protocol and the wheels start spinning overtime :)

Yup.

Received our environmental survey through - 2 things to worry about,

Natural Hazards – The following information has been provided by the Environmental Report in relation to natural hazards. Please note that any of the issues referred to below would not have resulted in the Report failing as they are not contaminative issues.]

Flood Risk – the search has revealed a negligible risk of tidal/fluvial flooding and a negligible risk of surface water (pluvial) flooding within 25m of the property.

Natural Ground Subsidence – The study site is located in an area where some properties may be affected by natural ground subsidence. Please refer to the Environmental overview and section 5.10 for further information. - It says in the notes that it's currently OK but could be affected should we have an extension or move drains around - just normal things really.

Top one doesn't look like it's worth worrying about is it?

*neg·li·gi·ble*/ˈneglijəbəl/

Adjective:So small or unimportant as to be not worth considering; insignificant.

Have hads loads of paperwork delivered at home too from the solicitors.

Late night tonight with tea and lots of reading.

The environmental report is a 45 page behemoth.

Flood Risk – the search has revealed a negligible risk of tidal/fluvial flooding and a negligible risk of surface water (pluvial) flooding within 25m of the property.

Maybe worth checking with an insurance company about the wording of this before you jump in. Too many places been flooded recently and premiums are sure to rise in areas of (negligible) risk.

Only an opinion - I don't know how insurance companies assess risk etc and the statement may be a standard one to cover someones arse.

I'm being told now that things are looking up - contracts are looking better. Seller is also willing to rent to me in the short term if needed, and agent says I'll "definitely" be moving in on Sunday. But I haven't been able to talk to my solicitor on the phone yet about how he's gone from "walk away" to "it'll be OK" as I've been rushed off my feet at work. Just called and he's off in a meeting now and won't be back until the morning.

Frustrating.

But better news. Did you have fun liveblogging?

negotiate rent and rental agreement now, not just before moving date. make sure the rent is in your favour as you wouldn't be needing to rent if the seller's solicitors did their bit timeously.

I'm sure the solicitor will use a whole host of different terms, but the basic reason will be that you've now sorted out the things they couldn't be assed to, so its not as much work as at was starting to look like it would be.

Better news Sparky. If it does come down to renting I would aim for getting your rent back on completion, particularly if the delays can be atributed to the seller.

In other news, I've just sorted out a remortgage and am now chasing down all sorts of paperwork to satisfy the new lender. Luckily it is on a recent purchase and I still know where most of the stuff is.

Received our environmental survey

Flood Risk – the search has revealed a negligible risk of tidal/fluvial flooding and a negligible risk of surface water (pluvial) flooding within 25m of the property.

doesn't look like it's worth worrying about is it?

The only flood I know of in Norwich celebrated it's centenary this year. I wouldn't start gathering 2 of every animal just yet ;-)

Cheers all.

I'm going to call the agent and solicitor tomorrow morning as they weren't around today. If everyone's happy then I'll be happier. There's still the problem of having to run this bloody management company, but that seems to be unavoidable.

I just need to hear my solicitor say that he no longer thinks I should be running away from the whole thing, as he said last time I spoke to him on the phone, and understand exactly what's changed since then.

Oh, and MrDrem, yep - was a lively day today.

Have a chat with these guys regarding the management of the building. I'm sure they can offer advice on the best way to deal with the issue. It's probably easier to let someone who knows about property managemment deal with it rather than struggle with it yourselves.
http://www.houstonlawrence.com/

I've just spoken to my solicitor and he said he'd advise me to walk away. If the other two flats are sold to people who don't pull their weight with the company, file reports, collect service charges, arrange maintenance, buy insurance, keep good records etc, then the flats will be literally unsellable in the future.

I've just had to head back to my desk now because it's a busy day. Not really sure how I'm going to find somewhere to live on Saturday, and get the keys the same day.

You are welcome to stay in our spare room if push comes to shove.

I would think that if your solicitor is advising you to walk away then he has good reason to do so- don't feel trapped into having to enter into a bad situation.

If you don't want to stay in Forest Hill I am positive that many other people here (Soul, for example) will put you up.

Have you spoken directly to the vendor about your solicitors concerns?

If it were me at this point I would be very direct - tell them exactly what your concerns are.

It looks like the flat already sold is the problem due to the lack of provisions for maintenance. This is easily remedied on the unsold flats but a potential minefield on the sold one.
Probably best to take the solicitors advice.

Question - we are leaseholders. We pay a service charge. As I understand it, unless a cost is major works, the management company cannot invoice us for costs related to building upkeep / maintenance etc.

Appreciate a truly definitive answer would require a review of our lease, but this is typically how it works, no?

This is truly annoying. Not only have I lost ~£1k on various fees and searches, but I've spent weeks chasing various nonsense, withdrawn all my savings from my ISA so now have nowhere sensible to keep it and also have nowhere to stay. I'm pretty gutted. A friend of mine says he has a room to rent in Plumstead so I'll call him tonight.

One nice thing is that I've had about 5-6 people on here offer me a sofa/room/hug. Whether or not they were real offers or just reassurances doesn't matter - it's very much appreciated. Cheers all.

:)

Or maybe :(

Not sure.

Sorry to hear about all that - sounds like you've been quite unlucky :(

What a crock of shit Sparky.

Still every cloud has a silver lining, in a few years you'll be glad you didn't go through with it.

Howard- that is my understanding, the management company have to announce any additional works that are planned that they need to make a charge above and beyond the service charge for. I think.

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.