Factor charges for house on new housing estate??

Lady-g-

Hello all

I’m moving to a new house soon which is 6 years old and I was advised last night by my solicitor that there is a factor in place for the upkeep common grounds, roads etc. This is the first time this has been mentioned; despite there being a property questionnaire completed by the current owners (they said No when it asked “Is there a factor or property manager for your property?” hhhmm.

Does anyone know how much this factor is likely to be? I know what all factor charge different amounts though!
Im moving from a flat where there were no factors purely because I think *most* factors are rip offs!

Thanks
Lady-g-

theartfullodger

When you say "factor" do you mean the property is in Scotland and a factor is managing it as in...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_(Scotland)
..

???
(If one of those...)
What has your solicitor advise the factor's charges are??

What did the current owners tell you the charges are when you asked them (when you found out about the factor)??

What did the factor tell you his charges are when you 'phoned them??

Cheers!

Lodger

theartfullodger

When you say "factor" do you mean the property is in Scotland and a factor is managing it as in...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_(Scotland)
..

???
(If one of those...)
What has your solicitor advised the factor's charges are??

What did the current owners tell you the charges are when you asked them (after when you found out about the factor)??

What did the factor tell you his charges are when you 'phoned them??

Cheers

Lodger

Lady-g-

hi artfullodger

Yes, the house is in Scotland.
My solicitor hasn’t told me what the charges are, the title deeds didnt mention an amount per month/quearter onlythat the sink fund will be £175 per year ( I think he said per year but not sure if that would be payable every year?! if so i suppose i would only be liable for about half of it since in moving in July?) but at the same time he thinks that as the title deeds are 6 years old, the £175 may have risen over time.

When i viewed the property i had already seen the property questionnaire and because that said there was no factor or property maintenance charges, I didn’t think to ask about it now that i know about the factors, do you thnk its reasonable to call the estate agent, get them to call the current owners and ask about the factors?

I don’t think my solicitor knows who the factor is yet, he is going to try and find out this week.

I was really just hoping that someone could tell me that im not going to get hit with a £300 bill every quarter for maintenance! this new house is expensive enough without yet more bills!

Jowo_2

Yes, I think its very reasonable for the agent to provide this information to you. If your solicitor or agent is a bit slow, why not pop back and ask the neighbours the name of the factor and the types of charges they've levied.

I've seen on property adverts before the name of Factors and I think its a courtesy for them to say if it is self-factored or provide the name of the factor so its a shame it wasn't present.

googler

Ask the selling agent, or selling solicitor.

If they don't know, they should. If they don't know, get them to find out.