FTB - Walked away

Taiko

I had a 2nd viewing on a property yesterday evening, having had the first on Friday afternoon.

The property was a one bed first floor flat, on the market at £75,000. The location was brilliant, but I came across a few problems that I hadn't noticed before.

- Extractor fan switch was taped over, which indicated to me that there was a problem. Having asked for information on Friday, I was told they would contact the seller. They hadn't.

- I'm not sure on maintenance charges, but this flat was at £1000 per year which seemed high. It may not be, but for what there was to maintain it seemed it.

- It had a balcony, Romeo & Juliet style, with wooden doors. These would not open without force, as they were pretty much stuck to each other.

- The security door was also wooden, and did not close properly.

- Estate agent used the line "I have a lot of other viewings on this property, so I need an offer by tomorrow".

My callback today, which I was assured would be at 9:30, materialised at 11:45 with no apology of any kind. In that call, I said I would call back by the end of today, having looked at the information I now had and comparing to income.

2:20pm, I get a call from her office phone asking me pretty much to make an offer. It was at this point I withdrew interest, citing the above.

This housebuying stuff isn't fun at all...

poppysarah

Do not be forced into making an offer.

GO and have another visit if you're interested still.

If it sells then so be it.

Taiko

That's the attitude I've taken with the agent, and they seemed taken aback when I told them I was no longer interested. Admittedly, I did add shouldn't be a problem selling with the amount of interest generated, but ah well.

I was in a good position too. Deposit of £30,000 and agreement in principle, solicitors quotes obtained etc.

SnowyOwl_2

Some of the things you mention seem quite minor, eg the extractor fan being taped over. If there is a problem with it it would be relatively simple to have repaired, and of course it is not structural, nor in the league of say rising damp or a hole in the roof. The £1,000 pa charge might include a contribution to a sinking fund and annual building insurance. Your solicitor should get a break down of what exactly the £1k per annum is for, and also list of other outgoings over and above the £1k in the past few years - for things like repainting of communal areas, repair to roof, rewiring of communal areas etc. The issues about the doors to the balcony sticking, and also the security door not closing properly would be covered by a survey - not a valuation report, but a proper survey. Again IMO the balcony doors perhaps have suffered weather damage and weren't properly painted in the past. This could be a bargaining tool to get the overall price of the property down as you'd have to make repairs or possibly replace the doors and/or frame right away. The security door would worry me most of all since repairs to it would be outside individual flat owners power to have arranged. The management company might be useless and not bother having essential works like this arranged unless pressured into it by flat owners. Some freeholders/management companies are only too happy to take their annual fee and then do nothing with it, but your solicitor should be onto that.

Overall though, if you have any doubts or concerns that you can't see being resolved then you did the right thing - buying a house/flat is too big a commitment to be going into it with second thoughts. Keep looking, you will still be in a good position when a place you are happy with turns up.

Taiko

I agree with the comments. The security door was a major issue actually for myself, as I've recently been a victim of assault by a relative, hence the need to actually move now. I was hoping to obtain a higher deposit.

The agent really got to me, and in the end I lost trust with them. I was told last night that she was showing two people around the flat today, one at 2pm and one at 2:15pm. This seemed quite close together for me, but it may well be the norm.

What made me suspicious though was that, having had her call me today at work, I said to her that I wanted to do some figurework quickly now I had the information about maintenance and council tax bands. I said I would call her back by the end of today with instructions. Calling me at 2:20 when you're supposingly showing someone around does trigger alarm bells.

There was a bit when we first walked into the flat, where she moved to stand over what turned out to be some sort of dent in the wall. She wasn't aware what it was or what caused it, but she managed to get into the flat in front of me and position herself so I wouldn't have seen it.

bristol_pilot

You were right to walk away purely for the £1,000 pa maintenance charge - this is ridiculous on a one-bedroom flat. Chances are most of this will be a fee to a management company. Such a fee makes your property unattractive to future buyers. The other stuff is minor and par for the course.

DVardysShadow

Taiko wrote: »

I agree with the comments. The security door was a major issue actually for myself, as I've recently been a victim of assault by a relative, hence the need to actually move now. I was hoping to obtain a higher deposit.

OK, perhaps I am reading too much into this, but you appear too keen to move. If you must move now, then rent - buying is too slow and uncertain. When you buy, you need to focus on what you are moving to, not on what you are moving from.

The agent really got to me, and in the end I lost trust with them. I was told last night that she was showing two people around the flat today, one at 2pm and one at 2:15pm. This seemed quite close together for me, but it may well be the norm.

What made me suspicious though was that, having had her call me today at work, I said to her that I wanted to do some figurework quickly now I had the information about maintenance and council tax bands. I said I would call her back by the end of today with instructions. Calling me at 2:20 when you're supposingly showing someone around does trigger alarm bells.

There was a bit when we first walked into the flat, where she moved to stand over what turned out to be some sort of dent in the wall. She wasn't aware what it was or what caused it, but she managed to get into the flat in front of me and position herself so I wouldn't have seen it.

There you go. Agent has picked up on your desperation to move and is playing you.

shark_DB

I have to agree with DVardysShadow above, rent somewhere for a while and keep your eyes open for the right place to buy

Doozergirl

Owning a property involves maintenance. Even a new build will come with some issues and all houses have bits and bobs which need dealing with from time to time. These things you mention are maintenance issues which may be the sign of a bit of neglect, but then may not. Don't think you are going to be able to buy into something perfect because you will be walking from 99% of houses. You should be concentrating on the quality of the roof, windows, walls, floor levels, guttering if it is raining etc. before things like tape on extractors (they will have done that because they haven't appreciated what it is for and it was letting cold air into the house!) Small maintenance issues can be raised with a vendor or accounted into the price. If wooden doors and extractors bother you, then don't bother looking at any house that hasn't been completely overhauled or built within the last 10 years (less than that really)

I think your suspicion stretching to an agent standing in front of a dent in the wall is stretching way too far. Agents don't really care about this stuff - if it was a vendor I'd be more inclined to believe they'd want to hide something like that, but I've never ever viewed a property where the agent was physically trying to hide something. They are just not that involved!

Most people gloss over things when viewing - I can try and take in as much as I can but H and I will always have "did you notice" conversations where one has not picked up on something like the existance of a door, let alone a bit of a dent in a wall! The EA will probably not even have noticed it themselves.

dfh

You have a choice.Dont let the agent bully you into buying anything.

tomstickland

bristol_pilot wrote: »

You were right to walk away purely for the £1,000 pa maintenance charge - this is ridiculous on a one-bedroom flat. Chances are most of this will be a fee to a management company. Such a fee makes your property unattractive to future buyers. The other stuff is minor and par for the course.

£1K pa is £83 per month which isn't too unreasonable.
I put together a budget for our block of 9 flats and reckoned that £60 per month is where we'd end up if we did the management ourselves.

That included cutting grass, cleaning internals weekl;y, exterior and internal communal area redecoration every 5 years, fire alarm certification, buildings insurance and a sinking fund.