Persist and proceed or pull out and preserve

[Deleted User]

OP if you want to edit your post there is a little cog in the top right hand corner. Tap that and you can change the wording / date to make it clearer. 

Im of the school of thought that Id prefer to pay £152k for the flat in 6 months time ( or buy something not above commercial premises as prices more affordable ) than go ahead, but as this is unprecedented, its results of the housing market are really unknown, and what will be the fallout of all this 

numbercruncher8

You should add which town in Essex. 
If there are to be falls it won't be linear, if you overpay for something now it just will take longer to come back. But if you have negotiated a good price, then that might be a good protection.
At the moment there is a lot of uncertainty and risk in the markets. I would want a bigger discount than normal times to be taking a position, or until there is a bit more clarity.
No different from any other investments really.

smuj03

pinkteapot said:

Your post still doesn't make sense - you had an offer accepted on 7th April (two weeks ago)? Yet your solicitor queried the lease on 14th January?

I assume 7th April is a typo. When was your offer actually accepted, so how long has this actually been going on?

Sorry, corrected typo now. Offer accepted 7th January 2020, so it's been going on for 14 weeks and 2 days now.

smuj03

eddddy said:

smuj03 said:

That's the thing. The seller does own the freehold. They are 2 elderly gentlemen, who own the shop below. They are selling 2 flats above the shop, which I can only assume for their retirement pot. This is why I can't understand why they won't just change it?

Thanks for you opinion, I appreciate it. I have a question for you. Say I bought the flat for £190k. 6 months later it drops in value by 20% to £152k. But 2 years after that it's back at £190k. Am I really loosing out in the long run? Would you still not buy it?

So just to be clear - you're buying a leasehold flat from the freeholder. So you mean it's a brand new lease.

If that's the case, it's very strange to create a brand new lease with terms that make it unmortgageable.

If things aren't progressing, it's more likely to be the sellers that are holding things up, not the sellers' solicitor.

Either way, it will be much faster and more efficient to chase this up via the Estate Agent, than via your solicitor.

• Tell the EA that the property is unmortgageable with the current lease terms
• Since the sellers are the freeholders, tell the EA to ask the sellers if they are prepared to change those terms
• If the sellers are prepared to change those terms, tell the EA to ask the sellers for a time scale
• If the sellers are not prepared to change those terms, tell the EA that you'll have to walk away 

Hopefully, the EA will then get on the phone to the sellers and get things moving.

FWIW, assuming the EA gets paid on completion, the EA will put pressure on the sellers to change the Lease terms, so that the sale proceeds and the EA gets paid.

Thanks Edddy. I have chased my estate agent in the past posing those same questions, and they said they would get back to me quicker and they did on that occasion. But still resulted in getting everything resolved, but the main sticking point. 

Anyway.. another dagger to the heart. My personal situation has just changed!

I've just been told my company is going to place us on full pay furlough for the next 6 months. After 6 months we may have to take a pay cut, and after that there is no guarantee of anyones jobs. So there you have it. I can no longer guarantee a source of income in 6 months time. 

What are your thoughts now ladies and gentlemen? You'd be mad to proceed or he who dares rodders? Comment down below. What a fine day it is. 

FrugalCat

It's probably unlikely that you'll get a mortgage offer in this case. It's not easy to be daring with a banks money, they like to protect themselves from risk.

smuj03

FrugalCat said:

It's probably unlikely that you'll get a mortgage offer in this case. It's not easy to be daring with a banks money, they like to protect themselves from risk.

I've already got a mortgage offer agreed and accepted. 

Slithery

smuj03 said:

I've already got a mortgage offer agreed and accepted. 

But that was before a material change in your circumstance. Once you let the lender know (which you are legally obliged to do) they may well pull their offer.

steampowered

Being told that there is "no guarantee" of a job in 6 months time doesn't sound like a change of circumstances to me. It sounds like you are still receiving full pay so the suggestion of your employer going bust is speculative?

Nobody is guaranteed that they will still be in a job in 6 months time. Even before coronavirus. Though obviously insolvencies are more likely now given the economic environment.

numbercruncher8

Also depends on your level of savings doesn't it?
If you have good job opportunities and a couple of years of salary saved, it doesn't matter.

Crashy_Time

Couple of years + salary saved is always helpful, but the OP obviously can`t proceed with this at the moment IMO.