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Urgent Help Needed - Difficult Dilemma

Dave2018
Posts: 19 Forumite

Hi, a flat I bought is almost through to completion but I've seen another one that may be better and have put in offer on it. I actually turned down flat 1 by e-mailing the solicitor then immediately regretted pressing 'Send' but the solicitor has very kindly given me the weekend to think about this. Obviously this is a dilemma. Here are the considerations for each flat. Only I can decide but opinions appreciated:
FLAT 1:
* Almost through to completion - don't want to upset the seller
* I offered fifty pounds over the asking price, this was accepted
* High service charge due to lift, security, etc.
* Wasn't on the market for a long time
* Flat on the seventh floor, which isn't ideal but I don't mind this too much
* Close enough to family and work to walk there (I don't drive)
* Very desirable area
* Shops and bus stops a tolerable distance away but still not too bad
* Flat beautiful inside
* Beautiful grounds
* Top band council tax
* 91 years on lease - will have to find the money to extend in ten years and when I look up how much to put aside for this, all I get is "There's no simple answer." Lease extension calculators ask how much the flat will be worth after lease extension, but unfortunately I have no crystal ball. If I don't meet the love of my life in the next couple of years, I can't see myself wanting to move
FLAT 2:
* I offered five percent below the asking price, my hand was snapped off and the Estate Agent is now being pushy
* Lower service charge
* Was on the market for six months, which puts me off slightly - but this could be to do with tenant complications and flats for mental health patients being nearby, but I don't mind this
* Flat on first floor, which is slightly better than having a lift
* A little further away from family and work but still walkable
* Area not quite so nice but family say they've never seen any trouble
* Slightly better access to shops and bus stops
* Flat could be better inside but it's certainly better than sleeping in my childhood bedroom at my age
* Lower band council tax
* Nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine years on lease
FLAT 1:
* Almost through to completion - don't want to upset the seller
* I offered fifty pounds over the asking price, this was accepted
* High service charge due to lift, security, etc.
* Wasn't on the market for a long time
* Flat on the seventh floor, which isn't ideal but I don't mind this too much
* Close enough to family and work to walk there (I don't drive)
* Very desirable area
* Shops and bus stops a tolerable distance away but still not too bad
* Flat beautiful inside
* Beautiful grounds
* Top band council tax
* 91 years on lease - will have to find the money to extend in ten years and when I look up how much to put aside for this, all I get is "There's no simple answer." Lease extension calculators ask how much the flat will be worth after lease extension, but unfortunately I have no crystal ball. If I don't meet the love of my life in the next couple of years, I can't see myself wanting to move
FLAT 2:
* I offered five percent below the asking price, my hand was snapped off and the Estate Agent is now being pushy
* Lower service charge
* Was on the market for six months, which puts me off slightly - but this could be to do with tenant complications and flats for mental health patients being nearby, but I don't mind this
* Flat on first floor, which is slightly better than having a lift
* A little further away from family and work but still walkable
* Area not quite so nice but family say they've never seen any trouble
* Slightly better access to shops and bus stops
* Flat could be better inside but it's certainly better than sleeping in my childhood bedroom at my age
* Lower band council tax
* Nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine years on lease
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Comments
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* Lower service charge
* Flat on first floor, which is slightly better than having a lift
* A little further away from family and work but still walkable
* Area not quite so nice but family say they've never seen any trouble
* Slightly better access to shops and bus stops
* Flat could be better inside but it's certainly better than sleeping in my childhood bedroom at my age
* Lower band council tax
* Nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine years on lease
These would push me towards flat 2, but do you think the not quite so nice area might become nicer, or less nice?
The flat being better inside is something you can do when you're ready and can afford to, and to your taste rather than someone else's.
I assume from the 7th floor, security, and top band council tax, that neither is in a council high-rise and we're probably talking London or another major city here?
The one thing that flat 1 has is security - is that important - and gardens. If you work, having a concierge to take in parcels may be very useful - but it'll cost compared to walking to an Amazon Locker nearby.A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.0 -
How can you have a 999 year lease on a first floor flat?
I've only seen that with houses (and the 999 years started about 100 years ago).
I've seen flat leases at about 125 years maximum.0 -
Personally, I would go with Flat 1.0
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Where are you buying? When you say'almost through to completion' have you exchanged contracts (assuming Eng / Wales) because if you have you are now legally bound to complete the purchase of face some heavy financial penalties. Since you say you've 'bought' flat 1 I think you need to be clearer on the actual position.
Have you 'just' had offers accepted on both flats? In which case you are not bound to either.
What is your motivation to buy? Are you looking for something to perhaps do up a bit and add value or something you don't need to do anything to?
Service charges, like most things in life, are only ever going to go up so you need to decide if you really want the additional benefits of a concierge service? That said, I would prefer a 7th floor flat for safety vs a ground floor, on the other hand have you checked evacuation routes in case of Fire or other emergency. And considered how much of an inconvenience it may be using the stairs if/when the lift breaks (a friend rented a flat with concierge and do not be under any illusion this means things get rapaired any sooner...their lift was forever breaking and took weeks to repair)Feb 2015 NSD Challenge 8/12JAN NSD 11/16
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David_Evans wrote: »How can you have a 999 year lease on a first floor flat?
I've only seen that with houses (and the 999 years started about 100 years ago).
I've seen flat leases at about 125 years maximum.
Why would you assume it can't be done just because you personally haven't seen it? When extended under the statutory process, residential leases are commonly extended to 999 years, regardless of the type of property.0 -
Bossypants wrote: »Why would you assume it can't be done just because you personally haven't seen it? When extended under the statutory process, residential leases are commonly extended to 999 years, regardless of the type of property.
But it's unlikely the block of flats will last 999 years.
A house won't either - but the land will.
So which flat leaseholder is leasing the ground the building is built on?0 -
David_Evans wrote: »But it's unlikely the block of flats will last 999 years.
A house won't either - but the land will.
So which flat leaseholder is leasing the ground the building is built on?
The point of a 999 year lease is that it's so far in the future that none of that actually matters in practice, because none of us will be alive or have recognisable heirs anywhere near that long anyway (999 years ago was 46 year before William the Conqueror, well, conquered, and nearly 200 year before Magna Carta). It's a way of circumventing the restrictions and inconveniences of leasehold which don't make sense in the modern world, without actually getting rid of the practice altogether.0 -
David_Evans wrote: »How can you have a 999 year lease on a first floor flat?
I've only seen that with houses (and the 999 years started about 100 years ago).
I've seen flat leases at about 125 years maximum.
I have several flats which had 999 year leases when first sold now around 970!
Even brand new flats can have 999 year leases0 -
In Scotland, flats are freehold. That doesn't mean anybody thinks the building will last indefinitely.0
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In Scotland, flats are freehold. That doesn't mean anybody thinks the building will last indefinitely.
How can a flat be freehold?
Which one of these ''freeholders'' owns the ground the building is on?
If the building is burnt down or destroyed, who owns the patch of land? Is it shares in a company, like a REIT?
You can't a patch of space in the air, can you?0
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