deleted thread

Fire_Fox

Kuztardd wrote: »

Ok, the lease.
Doozer girl (hi there ) has it basically. We were given a ball park figure of £3,000. Which now upon serving notice has been increased tremendously.
This is no ones error, I guess. But this is why we are in negotiations with the buyer over the price.

I’m tempted to not drop it further and remarket the property (with a new EA) if the buyer is not willing to have the now minus £4,000. But my partner (ok, ex partner, hence the sale:() is unsure.

It might be nobody's error that you thought extending the lease would cost £3K and it's actually going to be £10K, but it is your problem as leaseholders not the buyers, as they can walk away any time up to exchange. Have you used the lease extension calculator on the LEASE website and/ or have you paid for a professional valuation? Have you looked at sold prices (NOT for sale prices) for your block or adjacent ones to see what is a realistic sale price?

kinglewis

I can see why the OP might be upset with the EA but I don't think that £3000 was ever going to be enough - why should they go halves when the property in effect isn't worth as much as they are trying to get for it?

Completely agree... £3k reduction when the cost is £10k plus is no where near enough. You both agreed one price.. then the buyer then will have to find £10k! I bet they will be expecting you to reduce by £10k.. or at least close to this figure.

The EA probably knew this and should have explained that to you rather than just firing an e-mail to the buyer.

Doozergirl

What sort of price did you accept Kuztardd and on what asking price? I'm delving a bit, so feel free not to answer, but whether you want to remarket would depend on how big this £10k looks on the asking price.

How long did it take you to find this buyer?

brit1234

Your going to have to be quick, prices have started going down again, so the longer it goes on the more money you will lose.

Prices went down 0.4% in december the first selling price drop in months. When people realise this they will want to haggle down more especially when the lease needs £10,000 to renew.


Nationwide's Real House Price Index ends year with a 0.4% fall
http://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/nationwides-real-house-price-index-ends-year-with-a-04-fall/1004410.article

Doozergirl

Kuztardd wrote: »

Although this topic seems to have veered away from my original question, you guys are right, he is under no obligation to buy, and likewise we are under no obligation to sell, hence the reason we are trying to come to some middle ground.. (now unaided by our EA).

We have had offers before at £230k (without them knowing any lease pricing). on a sale price of £239k.
But we don't really want to remarket, as it's time consuming, so hopefully we can come to some agreement. but as I personally am not buying another property, every £ is precious to me.

Everyone wants a discount. If it's sensibly priced at £239k then frankly, sticking it up for another £5k or so will probably see slightly higher offers - that's if you've had a volume of viewings and more than one offer at £230k. It's a risk of course but my experience of the market over the last few months has been that people aren't actually being particularly savvy if you're marketing in the right kind of ball park, they just want money off whatever it is you're asking. :rolleyes:

For a bit more money, you can offer people a newly extended lease on completion - at least then you don't have the wangling over whether it needs doing or not. It needs doing sooner rather than later and people don't generally want the hassle of dealing with it themselves.

Perhaps offering your current buyer the option of buying it with the lease extended will be a sweetener. Don't forget you are paying solicitor fees for yourself and the freeholder. Was it Fire Fox that has suggested looking at the lease-advice website for a calculator - see if it's a fair sort of price that they are asking now? Because it's a good idea.

You can still haggle as well for the lease extension - it's much like buying the flat itself!

Richard_Webster

Unless you are prepared to go all through the statutory procedure - at some cost and time if the freeholder wants to be awkward, they see you coming when you are selling - so it is always best to try to get a extended lease when, as far as the freeholder is concerned, you are not desperate to sell, you are just being prudent and getting your lease extended.

If then, the offer made by the freeholder is too high - you suggest a lower figure to him and walk away if he doesn't agree.

Savvy sellers of flats with leases that perhaps should have extended leases (and their estate agents) will maintain that they are not extending the lease - it isn't necessary because a 78 year lease is perfectly mortgageable and it shouldn't be a problem getting an extension. The important thing from a seller's point of view is to refuse to ask the freeholder what the lease extension will cost at any point. Some buyers will fall for this line, particularly in a strong seller's market.

If acting for a buyer I would of course ask the seller to find out on what terms a lease extension might be obtained - for precisely the reason that has emerged in this case. Then we go back to the point that it is better as a seller to get the lease extended when, as far as the freeholder is concerned, you are not selling.

Obviously the estate agent was wrong not to follow your instructions - the normal argument from the agent's point of view would be that the property was priced to take into account the short lease (they always are - regardless of how long the lease is! - hindsight is wonderful as the agent probably didn't even think about lease length when suggesting an asking price!) and therefore there isn't much room to manoeuvre.

However, as I have said, I doubt whether any sensible buyer would be taken in by that and the agent should have told you that.

poppysarah

Luckily you'll find lots more houses on the market - without the complications of this one.

Doozergirl

poppysarah wrote: »

Luckily you'll find lots more houses on the market - without the complications of this one.

They're selling and not buying again

poppysarah

Doozergirl wrote: »

They're selling and not buying again

dohg. I haven't read anything write all day ;-) At least my seppling is ok ;-)