Feeling a bit stressed about buying and selling

puddy

Well this is where we are so far:

I have a buyer, my flat is leasehold

After some knock backs on other properties we finally found something, had an offer accepted, the house is 1930s and freehold.

So, solicitors instructed for selling and buying.

problem one - I paid £340 over a month ago to the solicitors for them to paythe managing agents for my flat (agents wont take the money direct from me, only from solicitors...) in order that they answer 33 standard queries about the leasehold from the buyers solicitor. This week, those queries have still not been answered, so I ring the agents ready to have a go, and they inform me that my socliitors have not paid them any money therefore no queries returned. Arrrgghhh

problem two - survey returned on property which on the face of it looks in perfect condition, some minor problems we were not expecting:
- double glazed windows have broken handles and are not capable of locking
- loft has 'wood beetle infestation' (woodworm???)
- broken drains cover in front drive
- no evidence of air bricks at rear of property
- chimney stack needs re pointing, new fluanchings (?) and some tiles are missing and broken from roof
- no evidence of damp proof course, but may have been rendered over
- patio level is too high and needs to be lowered as per above (he thinks)
- cavity wall ties have been replaced in the past due to cracking in walls...

I am going to phone the surveyor to go over some of the above because it sounds frightening to me but Im not sure if this is just because I havent needed to be responsible for a property before, having been in leasehold.

What do you lot think? Sometimes I wonder if a full structural survey just makes things worse!!!

problem three - HIP for purchase property appears incomplete to me, in that the LA search just says all the way through 'the records were unavailable or not made accessible' and that this is covered by indemnity insurance by the HIP provider.
Well Im not happy with that, how can I judge whether I want to buy somewhere or whether there is something major going to put me off if it just says that the lack of information is covered by insurance?? I have written to the solicitor to ask if they can redo this search properly but not sure if this is the 'done thing'.

What do you lot think. I am buying with a partner but he leaves it all to me to deal with because 'you know how do deal with all that stuff' :rolleyes:

pawpurrs

All sounds pretty standard stuff to me, dont panic.

problem one - I paid £340 over a month ago to the solicitors for them to paythe managing agents for my flat (agents wont take the money direct from me, only from solicitors...) in order that they answer 33 standard queries about the leasehold from the buyers solicitor. This week, those queries have still not been answered, so I ring the agents ready to have a go, and they inform me that my socliitors have not paid them any money therefore no queries returned. Arrrgghhh
Just keep harrasing them, to pay it.

problem two - survey returned on property which on the face of it looks in perfect condition, some minor problems we were not expecting:
- double glazed windows have broken handles and are not capable of locking New handles wont cost much
- loft has 'wood beetle infestation' (woodworm???) Nearly allways says that, check to see if its been sprayed if not, thats not that expensive, if its not live its not a problem any way, this comes up on nearly all surveys.
- broken drains cover in front drive Very minor
- no evidence of air bricks at rear of property
- chimney stack needs re pointing, new fluanchings (?) and some tiles are missing and broken from roof Nearly every roof o a certain age will have a few broken tiles, repointing chimney stack, pretty standard too, not that expensive a job.
- no evidence of damp proof course, but may have been rendered over !930s property again pretty standard.
- patio level is too high and needs to be lowered as per above (he thinks)
The most concerning thing, is it causing damage to the property?

Sounds like a good Survey to me!

puddy

actually, the patio level is probably the only thing that i wasnt concerned about because i wanted to re do it, so would just lower it. i think what he is saying is that if there are air bricks, they may be below the level of the patio (although patio is probably only about 4 inches or so above the rest of the garden, not huge), and that the damp proof course if there is one, could be below the level of the patio too, fair enough.

he has done various testings for damp, none detected so i dont think the lack of bricks, high patio etc, has done any damage

wasnt sure if we could get new handles and locks for double glazing, i thought it would have to be put in when they're installed. i had a nightmare about installing new double glazing for thousands because of the handles and lack of locks/??

my dad said that years ago, he was doing our old loft and just bought tons of sprayable wood worm treatment and sprayed it all over, i suppose we could do that, im trying desparately to save money where i can

Doozergirl

Agree with pawpurrs. Couple of points to add:

Flaunching is a posh name for the mortar that sticks the chimney pots to the chimney stack!

The patio isn't too much of a big deal either. You need to take the nearest slabs back away from the wall, dig a little trench to bring the ground level below any damp proof course (I know you can't see it but say 10 inches below the ground level inside) and then to neaten it off you put gravel in your trench. You'll see it on new builds all the time.

Lack of a visible damp proof course isn't necessarily an issue. It's always worth living there to see if there is a problem at all as most of the time there just isn't although any damp proof specialist will always tell you there is.

If that is all the full survey comes up with then you are laughing.

Replacement glazing handles is not an issue.

puddy

thanks you two, you're the most informative people on here

what do you make of the useless LA search in the HIP?

pawpurrs

I dont quite understand what you mean Jenner what is wrong with the search?

Doozergirl

I think that I'd carry on with my own searches - taking the risk but I've never had a house that I couldn't purchase due to the search results. It's always going to be better to have your own search anyway even if theirs was complete and clear of problems.

puddy

pawpurrs wrote: »

I dont quite understand what you mean Jenner what is wrong with the search?

its only the LA search, Im getting the environmental search done separately (as they're not in the HIP), the LA search is about whether theres planning permission for develoopments, roads, whether theres been building regs etc granted,

all the way through the search on their HIP is saying 'records not available or made accessible'

so because they havent got the information, the HIP company have covered themselves by saying that the (lack of) information is covered by an indemnity insurance.

however, insurance isnt the answer if i move in and then discover that they are planning a road through my house or that theres permission for a nightclub at the end of the road
so im not happy about it. if the worse comes to the worse and they do re do it, i will get my own search as suggested above

these HIPs are a right load of rubbish

Doozergirl

That search won't show any nightclub plans for the end of the road anyway. Only the road being built through your house

If you want a wider search than your house then you'd have to specify that even to your solicitor - most searches are carried out just on the house. We couldn't even rely on a search carried out for one of our houses for one across the road!