Flat buying - seller turning nasty

carpetbelly

When I bought, the vendors I bought from had outstanding service charges. Their solicitor basically kept a load of the money back I paid to cover the costs of that and I was given written assurances I would not be liable and they would be. I wouldnt worry about that tbh.

ghekkomanic

Van1971 wrote: »

Why to the EA? Letters should be addressed to your Vendor's solicitor, isn't your GF in touch with him/her?

This was one day my GF had off work, so I sent it just for the EA to convey it to the vendor through her solicitor.

Yes everything else is through solicitors only. My GF is in touch with the vendor's solicitors.

carpetbelly wrote: »

When I bought, the vendors I bought from had outstanding service charges. Their solicitor basically kept a load of the money back I paid to cover the costs of that and I was given written assurances I would not be liable and they would be. I wouldnt worry about that tbh.

Thanks carpetbelly that's good to know.

silvercar

carpetbelly wrote: »

When I bought, the vendors I bought from had outstanding service charges. Their solicitor basically kept a load of the money back I paid to cover the costs of that and I was given written assurances I would not be liable and they would be. I wouldnt worry about that tbh.

So there are £3,000 service charge arrears and no-one else is interested in the property as far as you know and Lynzpower reckons it is over priced.

Do you still want the property?

Yes, then say you are prepared to pay £150,000 for exchange and completion before Xmas or you are walking away.

Enough messing, apart from the book rights to this thread, you are going nowhere with this flat. Rent for another 6 months and find a bargain in the new year.

seven-day-weekend

drc wrote: »

It looks almost like an Ikea showroom to me. The chairs, bedside tables, bed, curtains, office swivel chair are all suspiciously Ikeaesque. Some of the kitchenware looks John Lewisy.

I think the seller would actually be making a profit if she got what she wanted for the furniture. I doubt it costs that much new in Ikea :eek:

I know this is a few pages ago and I haven't read the rest of the thread, but as soon as I saw this furniture I said IKEA. How do I know? Because my Spanish house looks like an IKEA showroom too!

And I doubt if we spent more than £2k on the entire houseful brand new from IKEA.

We have also said that if we ever sell, we will sell WITH the furniture....but the furniture would be free! Second-hand IKEA furniture is not worth anything.

Going back to read the rest.......

rjm2k1

Pull out! Have a good christmas with the weight off your shoulders and start the new year looking afresh. The seller is a lier and won't even talk to the estate agent, you can't trust them. The flat is overpriced from what other people have said. As for the service charge arrears, is there a reason that they haven't been paying? A dispute with the freeholder/management company maybe?? It looks nice, but a tin of magnolia doesn't cost much and the kitchen etc are all available from IKEA. All the alarm bells are ringing, IMHO pull out.

seven-day-weekend

As soon as I saw it was above a shop, I thought 'walk away'.

I personally would not want a flat above a shop at ANY price.

That estate agents could become a massage parlour without even a formal application for change of use.

If the OP really wants it, he ought to offer some really stupid price, otherwise leave it.

IMHO of course.

reformedEffortMaker_2

SortItOutGhekko wrote: »

am I the only one here to have NO sympathy with Ghekkomanic? if I was selling my house to such a BRAINDEAD I would try it on. Especially if I was in such debt as this vendor obviously is?

Jesus man - SORT IT OUT.

SortItOutGhekko- I wouldnt say I have no sympathy for ghekko, but I'll be completely honest and say this is wearing a bit thin for me. Ghekko, as I have said before, posters on this forum rarely agree so strongly about things...and here the large majority told you to pull out even before they saw the pictures of the property or knew of the location.

What else is there really to think about?

barnaby-bear

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If the OP really wants it, he ought to offer some really stupid price, otherwise leave it.

IMHO of course.

But that's why this thread is so popular - all the signs are there, the alarm bells ringing, there are so many reasons and people saying don't do it.... and yet he presses on - it's like car crash TV, like when in the Apprentice they press on and you're shouting NOOOOOO....

clutton_2

i have a horrible feeling that you may be liable to pay the management charges if she does not -

like everyone else

pull out - relax - have a good crim o -ask if you can stay in your currentn flat for a while longer and start house hunting again in 2008

Mad?

barnaby-bear wrote: »

But that's why this thread is so popular - all the signs are there, the alarm bells ringing, there are so many reasons and people saying don't do it.... and yet he presses on - it's like car crash TV, like when in the Apprentice they press on and you're shouting NOOOOOO....

Quite....

I had to register for the sole reason of replying to this thread. I was pointed to it from another forum.

I am astounded that this thread made it past page 2, never mind page 14 (and that was before I saw the property in question). From what I have seen, this is a very "right on" forum with lots of ever-so-nice people on it, but sometimes you just have to tell people that they're being an idiot.

Ghekko, my summary of the situation is as follows. The vendor has been watching too many Sarah Beaney shows. The flat looks like it has been done up by a would-be developer trying to make a quick buck at your expense. It has what at first glance seems to be a really nice finish, but look under the gloss and you'll find cheap stuff from IKEA. The whole decor will start looking tired in no-time because its only IKEA/B&Q stuff at the end of the day.

Alarm bells should have been ringing very early on, but when the EA told you that the vendor wanted to buy another property in the UK to develop you should have just thrown in the towel. If she's really moving abroad then how is she supposed to be developing another place ? As far as I can see, she's trying to shaft you because the market is tight and she's going to lose money on this "development" if she doesn't. And she's booked flights for a nice holiday which will be at your expense if you buy this place, not to move abroad. The whole deal was stinking from post number 1.

Look around you, read the newspapers or their websites. The property market right now is dead in the water. It may drop, it may just stagnate but its definitely not going to be going upwards for the foreseeable future.

If investment banks (people with a vested interest in property) have said its likely to drop 10% in value next year then you should probably assume its going to be dropping more than that. Look at land registry price data, and sales volumes data. You'll see that prices are already dropping, and this data is for deals agreed months ago, not weeks ago. The figure takes a while to filter through. Also, ask yourself why no-one else is interested in this flat.

Walk away and be grateful you didn't fund someone else more comfortable lifestyle. If I lived in London I'd even offer to buy you a beer :beer: to talk you out of it.

Above all, if an estate agent from the area you're buying in is telling you not to, then listen. They don't give negative advice often, so when they do you should take note.