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Estate Agent Con Trick

jamesbrown457
jamesbrown457 Posts: 6 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
I am currently in the process of purchasing a lease hold flat, management company- living city asset management. i am slightly confused as the estate agent has advertised the service charge for the flat at 900 per annum. however, my solicitor has noted the current owner pays £150 A MONTH. is it normal for estate agents to use con tactics on adverts?
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Comments

  • marksoton
    marksoton Posts: 17,516 Forumite
    It doesn't matter.

    Disregard what the EA say and trust the information coming from your own legal representation. They are the one's working for you.
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,078 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Why is it a con?

    Estate agents work with the information given to them by the vendor. They don't contact the freeholder to confirm.

    It could be that the vendor is ignorant, it could be that the service charge is £900 but there are extra charges recently, or that the ground rent is expensive and additional, or that £900 is the ground rent or that they are simply lying.

    I've had a very similar conversation with a vendor when helping friends buy their home and the vendor straight out lied to my face! Nothing the EA could do about it.

    You pay your solicitor to do that work accurately. It is their job, no one else's.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • happylucky
    happylucky Posts: 117 Forumite
    100 Posts
    Service charge invoices are generally issued every 6 months. It's probably just an extremely annoying human error. 1800 per annul sounds quite cheap to me...does it include ground rent?
  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,879 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    happylucky wrote: »
    Service charge invoices are generally issued every 6 months. It's probably just an extremely annoying human error. 1800 per annul sounds quite cheap to me...does it include ground rent?

    I own several flats and many of the service charge bills are actually three monthly, this is written into the property leases.

    I think £1800 is a lot but of course it depends on the age of he property and the length of lease ad if ground rent is included though I prefer flats with no ground rent and if negotiating a new lease will never accept leases with escalating ground rents.

    Believe the lawyer!
  • marksoton
    marksoton Posts: 17,516 Forumite
    happylucky wrote: »
    1800 per annul sounds quite cheap to me...does it include ground rent?

    Really? Sounds a lot to me....
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Depends how big the flat is and the state of the sinking fund.
  • AnotherJoe
    AnotherJoe Posts: 19,622 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    jamesbrown457 wrote: »
    I am currently in the process of purchasing a lease hold flat, management company- living city asset management. i am slightly confused as the estate agent has advertised the service charge for the flat at 900 per annum. however, my solicitor has noted the current owner pays £150 A MONTH. is it normal for estate agents to use con tactics on adverts?

    It's as normal as people completely overreacting and making a conspiracy out of a mistake.
  • ognum
    ognum Posts: 4,879 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    missbiggles1 wrote: »
    Depends how big the flat is and the state of the sinking fund.

    An annual service charge of 1.5% of the cost of the flat is big!
  • missbiggles1
    missbiggles1 Posts: 17,481 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ognum wrote: »
    An annual service charge of 1.5% of the cost of the flat is big!

    Where does s/he mention the cost of the flat?
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    missbiggles1 wrote: »
    Where does s/he mention the cost of the flat?

    In their other thread:

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5433156
This discussion has been closed.
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