The joys of (potential) home ownership
Nov. 5th, 2007 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dennyJust sent this to someone to let them know what was happening with my ongoing flat purchase, figured it was worth sticking it on here too...
Short version (no, really, this is the short version):
The building belongs to the council. It has fucked windows. The council have a work order on it to replace all the windows. This is generally quite expensive for everyone living there.
However...
The flat I'm interested in has already had its windows replaced. So, no problem.
Or is it?
Turns out, the owner didn't get planning permission, or council approval, or anything useful like that. So, the council might come look at the windows, go 'these are shit', and replace them again. And charge me a lot of money (not to mention the hassle involved).
So...
I tell the seller they have to get retrospective council approval for the windows before I'll buy the place.
They come back and say they don't have time, but they'll give me a couple of grand off the price in case I end up getting stitched by the council.
I phone the council this morning, to try to find out exactly how bad the cost implications are. After an hour of ringing around half a dozen different offices, I get a bloke who knows exactly what he's talking about. He tells me how much the bill for the building repairs (it's not just the windows apparently) is going to be per flat:
"25 grand mate."
Once I've got my jaw off the floor, I thank him and phone the estate agent, to tell them I'm pulling out. They say they understand.
Estate agent phones back 20 minutes later, says the seller has offered to knock the 25 grand off the price. I say 'make it 30' because I'm annoyed now (and 30 grand off the price takes me from 3% to 1% stamp duty, which saves me another 5 grand). They double-check and say 'okay'.
I instruct solicitor to make revised offer at new lower price, and mortgage broker to get mortgage offer altered.
Estate agent phones back again to say the seller wants me to get a breakdown of what the 25 grand is paying for before they'll sign anything. I say "Get it yourself, you cheeky fuckers!"
So yeah, dunno what's happening really. Fun eh?
Update:
Estate agent just rang again, to say that 30 grand is a lot of money to knock off the price, and would I consider "splitting the difference". He pointed out that the building would be nicer once the work was done and the flat would then be worth more. In reply, I pointed out that the flat is currently in a state of disrepair, and is therefore worth less - the repairs will get it back to square one. He started talking about property values and I pointed out to him that I was trying to buy a home, not make an investment. There was some other bluster and obstinance (guess who was offering which), but the short version is that I've refused to adjust my offer.
*waits*
Short version (no, really, this is the short version):
The building belongs to the council. It has fucked windows. The council have a work order on it to replace all the windows. This is generally quite expensive for everyone living there.
However...
The flat I'm interested in has already had its windows replaced. So, no problem.
Or is it?
Turns out, the owner didn't get planning permission, or council approval, or anything useful like that. So, the council might come look at the windows, go 'these are shit', and replace them again. And charge me a lot of money (not to mention the hassle involved).
So...
I tell the seller they have to get retrospective council approval for the windows before I'll buy the place.
They come back and say they don't have time, but they'll give me a couple of grand off the price in case I end up getting stitched by the council.
I phone the council this morning, to try to find out exactly how bad the cost implications are. After an hour of ringing around half a dozen different offices, I get a bloke who knows exactly what he's talking about. He tells me how much the bill for the building repairs (it's not just the windows apparently) is going to be per flat:
"25 grand mate."
Once I've got my jaw off the floor, I thank him and phone the estate agent, to tell them I'm pulling out. They say they understand.
Estate agent phones back 20 minutes later, says the seller has offered to knock the 25 grand off the price. I say 'make it 30' because I'm annoyed now (and 30 grand off the price takes me from 3% to 1% stamp duty, which saves me another 5 grand). They double-check and say 'okay'.
I instruct solicitor to make revised offer at new lower price, and mortgage broker to get mortgage offer altered.
Estate agent phones back again to say the seller wants me to get a breakdown of what the 25 grand is paying for before they'll sign anything. I say "Get it yourself, you cheeky fuckers!"
So yeah, dunno what's happening really. Fun eh?
Update:
Estate agent just rang again, to say that 30 grand is a lot of money to knock off the price, and would I consider "splitting the difference". He pointed out that the building would be nicer once the work was done and the flat would then be worth more. In reply, I pointed out that the flat is currently in a state of disrepair, and is therefore worth less - the repairs will get it back to square one. He started talking about property values and I pointed out to him that I was trying to buy a home, not make an investment. There was some other bluster and obstinance (guess who was offering which), but the short version is that I've refused to adjust my offer.
*waits*
