FTB been misled i think

mercury1_2

Hi everyone,
Hope you can give me some advise. I put an offer in on a flat two weeks ago which was accepted. It is a one bedroom flat.One of five in a converted edwardian building. I was under the immpression that it was share of free hold. The assistant manager of the EA said this and even told me the company name that runs the freehold although i dont think i wrote it down and dont remember there name because i didnt think any issue would arise..
I went to view the flat again two days ago to check a few things with a friend and it was then that i found out from a different staff member of that EA that was with us that it IS'NT actually Freehold yet and that ' Its meant to be going through'. etc.
My main query is, where do i stand, as being share of free hold was one of my main attractions to the property.I have already paid £450 for the valuation. I also know from the Assistant manager that there is only 76 years left on the lease.
The EA staff who told me this bad news said that it would only cost legal fees to buy the freehold but this is only if you already own the leashold which i dont. Am i right in saying that i could buy this place as leashold then the rest of the freeholders could sting me thousands of pounds to buy my share.

Any advise at all would be soo great. I really like this place and now this has come up. I cant afford thousands to buy a share of free hold if thats going to be the only way.

Take Care...................

Bun

They say on all their paperwork that everything should be subject to checks, but if this was used to entice you to offer then I would say you have been misled, only you know how it was put across. I'm sure they don't want you to pull out, so you could possibly reduce your offer to cover the costs and inconvenience of doing the legal work involved if you still wish to go ahead. This would not be unreasonable as you are not offering now on a freehold property, and the previous amount was.

If they won't accept this then you need to work out how important it is to you, and where you wish to lose money, pulling out now, or legal fees later. Personally all the flats I have bought have leases this length, and I have had no problems selling. Also as an aside freehold means you all have to chip in for maintenance. With this amount of flats, IMHO I wouldn't touch freehold with a bargepole, I would rather have a management company in charge of accounts, problems and disputes. The freeholders would have to set themselves up and you have no history of how this is, which you will have with the leasehold records and accounts your solicitor will obtain for you.

PS How do you know all the others are freehold? My guess is that they may all be leasehold too.

Tiger_greeneyes

I'd personally make sure my solicitor checked everything out with a fine toothed comb - and then make a more informed decision when you've got more of the facts to hand. Get prices, too, if there's any costs involved.

Remember though, you're spending money with the solicitor, so if you're on a tight budget, keep an eye on it. The situation could become expensive.

Keep your options open... I know you've spent money on it but be prepared to walk away if the figures start to worry you when you've got all the facts.

I hope it all works out well

mercury1_2

thanks guys for your advise,
still havent heard from the EA who said they will speak to the vendor to find out what the situation is with the freehold. Funny how they can get hold of the vendor straight away when i put an offer in or want to view the place. LOL. EA said they left a message on the vendors ans machine and will get back to me. I did ring the EA yesterday and they said the staff dealing with my property were not in or out of the office. ummm?

To BUN firstly thanx for reply. when th EA initially told me it WAS share of freehold he even gave me the company name that runs the share of freehold so i assume if it is SOFH then there is a ' management company in place. But thats if there is any SOFH. Like i said i only just found out from another staff member on a more recent viewing, vendor wasnt in, that SOFH was only just going thru she wasnt even sure, hence im waiting for info from them. Im just wondering

1-should she(vendor) pay for the SOFH before i go on any further

2- if not what are the potential cost of buy SOFH with the 4 other flats?

To TIGER thanx for reply. from what your saying it sounds like i will get charged extra for my solicitor to check these things out.Is this correct? My solicitors fees are laid out as per them.

£450=fees
£150=HM Land registary fee
£220=search fees
£35= telegraphic transfer fee

and a couple of little bits. Are these checks into freehold etc not included when it comes to solicitor charges?

Thanks again

olly300

Check- with flats solicitors can charge extra to check the lease.

Bun

Hi there,

Sounds as if you have been misled. Basically your solicitor should check whether it is freehold, leasehold or if there's anything else in the pipeline I would have thought. Dealing with obtaining SOFH I'm sure they'll charge for but it may not be much.

I'd have a chat with your solicitor, but the site below (I hope it's the right one) may be of help. If not then do a search for Doozergirl as I know she's given advice out on this front.

http://www.lease-advice.org

I think until he/she comes up with answers or you can get a sensible answer from the estate agent as to where everything is then there isn't much you can do.

By the way, the other freeholders (and yourself if you so wish) would be the management company so all the money (buildings insurance etc) is held somewhere independent etc, so I may have misled you earlier as I got the impression that it would be new for all of you. You could still request accounts etc I would have thought.

mercury1_2

Thanks BUN for your advice again. Rang EA again to day. managed to collar the assistant manager who told me it was SOFH in the very beginning. He sounded very nervous when i asked him very sternly whats going on. he put me on hold for ages then came back and said he wasnt sure what the situation is, and that some one is looking into it and will get back to me. Before he could put the phone down i asked why at the beginning he was able to give a company name that looks after the SOFH. he hesitated and stuttered and said that was probably the maintainence company name that looks after the leaseholds that he told me. thts a load of bull if you ask me. I remember distinctively him telling me it was SOFH. anyway he reassured me that someone will get back to me so we will see what happens.

Many thanx again BUN......

Tiger_greeneyes

mercury1 wrote: »

To TIGER thanx for reply. from what your saying it sounds like i will get charged extra for my solicitor to check these things out.Is this correct? My solicitors fees are laid out as per them.

£450=fees
£150=HM Land registary fee
£220=search fees
£35= telegraphic transfer fee

and a couple of little bits. Are these checks into freehold etc not included when it comes to solicitor charges?

Thanks again

Hi Mercury

It seems your solicitor has given you a fixed fee of £450 for your conveyancing works. I'd say there's a pretty good chance your enquiries will be included in that fee

If you want them to do extra, then they'll charge you. It's always a good idea to ask them if you're bumping up the costs before they do the work for you.

I hope it's all going well

mercury1_2

thanks again tiger, did ring up solicitor and she said things like looking into freehold and stuff is included. Still waiting for advice from EA.

Thanx TIGER take care

Bun

That's ok! I've been to flats on viewings where the estate agent didn't know any details or where anything was, so sounds like their !!!!-up. Let us know how you get on.

Tiger_greeneyes

mercury1 wrote: »

thanks again tiger, did ring up solicitor and she said things like looking into freehold and stuff is included. Still waiting for advice from EA.

Thanx TIGER take care

Hi Mercury, I thought that would likely be the case Thanks for letting us all know, not everyone does

Good luck with it all!