viewings and leasehold question

readytofly

Good morning! My fiance and I took some advice from an independent mortgage advisor who is going to get an agreement in principle from Natwest to us by monday We have also had a chat with an estate agent and he has given us paperwork on about 8 properties in our price range in our preferred area and will be going to view some this week.

Is there another thread about questions that we should be asking the estate agent/vendor? Or maybe a website we could use. Im sure there are hundreds of sensible questions but the excitement is getting the better of me!

Also, one property we both are keen on is priced at £159,995 for a one bedroom flat right next to the town, train links and bus routes in North london. It has a low lease but the estate agent said the vendor is willing to extend the lease to 99 years if the offer is right. Do you supposed this means the vendor wants the asking price or MORE than the asking price?
The mortgage advisor thinks we could borrow upto £162,000 with a 10% deposit which means the upper end of our budget is £180,000 so this property is well within it!

Thanks in advance

evoke

Here are a few things to find out to get you started:

1. How long is the lease? Should be more than 100 years ideally.

2. What is the annual service charge?

3. Who is the landlord? Google the name to see if they are landlords from hell.

4. Who is the management company. Google the name...

5. How much is the ground rent and does it escalate?

6. What are the household waste disposal facilities?

7. Check the water pressure from all the taps.

8. Check for leaks from flat above (if applicable).

9. What is the noise in the flat like from neighbouring flats (particularly from the flat above).

10. What facilities are there for Sky or cable TV? Flats often have shared satellite dishes with only a single LNB point on the wall if they're older properties.

11. What are the parking facilities like? Do you have an allocated bay? How many visitor's bays are there?

12. What is the traffic like through the road? Is it a cul-de-sac?

13. Is there an affordable housing section on the development? If so, you are going to hate living on that road.

14. What is access like to your property if it is on floor 1 or above? Is there a lift?

15. Where are all the utility meters located?

16. What are the walls made of? Chances are that they will be paper thin plasterboard walls if it's a modern property.

17. How much noise will YOU make into the flat below when walking normally on your floor? Florrs are likely to be made of cheap chipboard if it's a modern property so off no noise insulation whatsoever.

18. Is the property a timber-frame construction or brick?

19. What are transport facilities like nearby?

20. Has the central heating been serviced regularly?

Richard_Webster

Here are a few things to find out to get you started:

1. How long is the lease? Should be more than 100 years ideally.

2. What is the annual service charge?

3. Who is the landlord? Google the name to see if they are landlords from hell.

4. Who is the management company. Google the name...

5. How much is the ground rent and does it escalate?

6. What are the household waste disposal facilities?

7. Check the water pressure from all the taps.

8. Check for leaks from flat above (if applicable).

9. What is the noise in the flat like from neighbouring flats (particularly from the flat above).

10. What facilities are there for Sky or cable TV? Flats often have shared satellite dishes with only a single LNB point on the wall if they're older properties.

11. What are the parking facilities like? Do you have an allocated bay? How many visitor's bays are there?

12. What is the traffic like through the road? Is it a cul-de-sac?

13. Is there an affordable housing section on the development? If so, you are going to hate living on that road.

14. What is access like to your property if it is on floor 1 or above? Is there a lift?

15. Where are all the utility meters located?

16. What are the walls made of? Chances are that they will be paper thin plasterboard walls if it's a modern property.

17. How much noise will YOU make into the flat below when walking normally on your floor? Florrs are likely to be made of cheap chipboard if it's a modern property so off no noise insulation whatsoever.

18. Is the property a timber-frame construction or brick?

19. What are transport facilities like nearby?

20. Has the central heating been serviced regularly?

Exactly - you need to check all that stuff.

If there are only a few flats in the building it is worth talking to the other flat owners as well - to get their views about the management of the building and the area. They may be great mates of the seller and will be careful what they say, but they might let slip something that the seller doesn't want you to know. Also, their attitude might be such that you are not sure you want to live near them anyway!

Marvel1

As there is two of you, is a one bedroom suitable for you both? What happens if you have a baby?

readytofly

Thanks for those pointers, have written them down. Can anyone help with my second question?

Cjdavies we would LOVE a 2 bed property, but we just cant afford it in the area we want. Yes we could go just outside of Enfield but then we would be unhappy with the area and my commute to work would be hellish. Beleive me we have considered LONG and HARD about this and at this moment in time, and for at least the next 5/6 years children are not on the cards.

Im a bit shy *eek* so may find it uncomfortable knocking on strangers doors asking about the flat/building! Is this a normal thing to do?

There is another flat we are looking at - a bit more expensive at £164995, but it has private garden and loft access. A converted upstairs flat. There is a double drive so the upstairs and downstairs flat have an off street parking space. HOWEVER my friend who is a lettings agent used to let this property out, and she said its a lovely property with a new boiler BUT there has been a history of leaks into the ground floor flat! eek! And the access to the garden is through the downstairs property. What do you make of that?

The flat i mentioned first of all (159995) is in a gate development of i would say 8-10 flats, directly next to a primary school. It looks fairly new. HMMMM a sign of things to come, lots of stress!

G_M

It has a low lease but the estate agent said the vendor is willing to extend the lease to 99 years if the offer is right.

make your offer for the amount you think it is worth WITH a decent lease, and make clear you expect the lease o be extended.

Never reveal to the estate agent how much your mortgage approval is for or your savings are. When it comes to price negotiation, they act for themselves (their commission is % based) and the vendors (who pay them), NOT for you. If they know exactly how much you have available, they'll push you up to that price!