Is it compulsary?

kiwi07

Do you know how I can check - Are there any unpaid service charge bills? How I can check that?

Richard_Webster

discovered a covenant on the plot and other restrictions on the garden area

Searches don't show covenants - an inspection by the buyer's solicitor of the Land Registry entries and filed documents for the property being purchased will do this. estate agents rarely see these.

oki1875 Do you know how I can check - Are there any unpaid service charge bills? How I can check that?

Buyer's solicitor asks seller's solicitor to obtain this information from the landlord/managing agent. Managing agent usually charges seller £50-£250 for this and other info that is requested, so best let seller pay for this info! If there are any outstanding charges then seller is expected to pay these out of the sale proceeds.

kiwi07

Thanks, Richard. Do I have to instruct my solicitor to request this info? What would you do?

Geenie

I can't imagine making one of the biggest investments during my life and not getting everything searched, surveyed and reported back to me in full!

To not do so would be madness, and equivalent to buying a car, not even starting it up, handing over the dosh, then finding it had no engine under the bonnet!

My SIL was a cash buyer 2 years ago. Rushed into things, and didn't have a full survey done. Once in the place, she had to spend £40,000 correcting all the bodged jobs that had been papered over on viewing. The extension had to be rebuilt.

She is now in debt, can't sell the place as it has lost value and is suffering health wise from the stress. And all because she was in a rush to get this so called dream place and cut corners. The sellers must have been delighted by her stupidity.

kunekune

Um, geenie, while I do understand the point, and anything that gets OP to be sensible is a good idea, I don't get how a cash buyer can now be unable to sell the place. OK, they might not get what they paid, but surely there's nothing to stop them selling?

Geenie

What is stopping her selling is the fact that she paid £200,000, then spent another £40,000, so invested £240,000, but it is now valued at £170,000. This was an inheritance, a one off, so I think she feels she has to stay there until she has at least recouped what she put into the place.....whenever that will be!

She is a single mum, and I think feels bad about the fact that she didn't do all the correct searches and surveys, but got swept away from being able to move quickly at the time. I agree about she could sell, and I wish she would, as she hates the place now and it is all moans when speaking to her. But she has in her mind securing her 4 year old sons future financially, and doesn't want to sell until she can regain more money.

kunekune

I do understand how she feels. But sometimes, it might be better for everyone's future to take the loss and move on. We had to do that once - paid $295,000 for a house in 1997, and eventually sold in 2002 for $245,000. We had to borrow money to pay the estate agent. But although it hurt, it was the right thing to do. It was in another city, so we couldn't live there, we had another house by that time - the rent on the expensive house paid the mortgage on the cheaper house - and the longer we left it tenanted the more it was likely to deterioriate. Of course, a month after we sold it prices started to rocket ... but that's 'what might have been', and pursuing that is where h*ll lies.

Richard_Webster

Quote:
oki1875 Do you know how I can check - Are there any unpaid service charge bills? How I can check that?

Buyer's solicitor asks seller's solicitor to obtain this information from the landlord/managing agent. Managing agent usually charges seller £50-£250 for this and other info that is requested, so best let seller pay for this info! If there are any outstanding charges then seller is expected to pay these out of the sale proceeds.

Thanks, Richard. Do I have to instruct my solicitor to request this info? What would you do?

It should be standard for a solicitor acting on the purchase of a proeprty with service charges to ask this. To be on the safe side, ask him if he has requested that information.