Buying a house with parking on Separate Title

eddddy

MRKJ said:

I am mostly concerned about future sale prospects, will I be able to sell this house when there is no parking at all and no access to parking nearby. 

As you know the house and the area, you're in a better position to judge than anyone here.  Do other houses nearby without parking sell?  What kind of price do they go for?

And/or are there any freehold/leasehold parking spaces (or garages) for sale nearby?

If a nearby parking space would cost, for example, £25k - maybe you'd want to reduce your offer for the house by £25k and buy the parking space separately.

(But it's unlikely that you could add the garage to your mortgage - so you'd need to have enough savings to pay for it separately.)

MRKJ

@eddddy

Thanks for your response, there are about 10 houses in the street with no parking access, and no garages for sale anywhere nearby at least now. 

few examples 

1) The house opposite is a mid-terrace with a very small east-facing garden and only 590 square feet sold for £345,000 last year May. again no parking or permit parking. 

2) The house we are looking to buy is an end-terrace has a very large south west facing garden and is 915 square feet and is not in a chain, sale agreed 4 months ago, close to exchanging, we can finish probably in a couple of weeks.   

3) Another mid-terrace house is for sale right now on the market for £425,000 on the next street which has permit parking which is about £850 square feet, this has a very very small north-facing garden. this is in a chain, the vendors haven't even started looking for house. 

All the houses are in good condition, with a mainline Hounslow railway station within 100 meters. And Picadilly line tube station is about 300 meters. We are first-time buyers chain free is better obviously for us. 

I am looking for some help on how to decide whether it is okay to pay £430,000 and also will I be able to sell it in future?

if you can offer advice it is very much appreciated

bolwin1

Whilst I have no idea on the house price, I would not trust the vendor at all . They've strung you along with excuses / delays on the parking situation, possibly even hoping you wouldn't notice it wasn't included on the deeds in the first place. I suspect this won't be the last stunt they play in this sale. 
n.b a large garden with the only access through the house is very, very inconvenient whenever you want to do anything to it.

MRKJ

@bolwin1

Thank you for your response and advice, I am somewhat stuck with this house. Back in February, I got a 5-year fix for 2.3% now the same lender wants 3.7%. If I walk out I will not a good deal on the interest rate and also lose the conveyancer fees and not to mention another few months' rent. Despite all this, we actually really like the house and it is fully freehold apart from the parking issue.
my wife is also pregnant and not sure if we can take another 6 months of stress. We even got a school place nearby for September for our first child. 
The house is super convenient for excellent schools, high street and trains and in a good area.  
Having said that, the only thing that will stop me going forward is, if the house is overpriced or if it is not easy to sell in the future as there is no parking or even parking. I am terrified of buying a house which is not worth waht we paid for when it comes to remortgaging/ selling. 
This is the single biggest thing that worries me, will I be able to sell in 5 years' time for at least as much as I paid for?
Any advice is deeply appreciated. 

NameUnavailable

They are offering a £20K price reduction for the fact that they aren't after all including 3 parking spaces in the sale? In an area where parking is from what you say, very hard to come by?

Do you need the parking space/s? Where can you or visitors park?

Whatever, I'd be looking for a larger reduction in price from the vendors.

user1977

In an area with plentiful public transport, and parking available nearby (how near? Even parking permits don't guarantee you get a space on your road), I wouldn't expect there to be a problem in finding buyers. It's hardly that unusual in urban areas. So you just need to get the price right.

MRKJ

@NameUnavailable and @user1977

Thank you for your advice, currently, the parking is available just two streets away for free, as permit parking ends next street. 

@NameUnavailable and @bolwin1

to cut long story short the vendor is a company whose director lives nowadays in Barbados, he bought the house which was adjacent to his land in 2006. His stepdaughter works as the company's secretary, she was unaware the parking land doesn't belong to the house, she allocated 3 parking spaces for the house and gave it for rent (presumably to get higher rent). When the company director wanted to sell, the agents put the house and parking as one until and advertised. When it came to legal documents, the director became aware of parking land being included and he was not happy and he refused to originally reduce any money for not giving for parking, according to him it was worth £450,000 without parking. The valuer who mortgage company approved the valuation of £450,000 without mentioning any parking in the valuation report, he was also unaware of the parking as per my conveyancer. 
So I had to accept £430,000 as they threatened to pull out and readvertise. There is no way they will reduce more.

We signed our documents and sent them to our conveyancer and waiting for the vendor's signatures from Barbados for exchange. I am obviously getting anxious as we get closer to the day, I have had to make the decision on reduction quickly and that's why I was worried if it's good value and if it will sell in future. Worried if i am making the right purchase. 


 

user1977

MRKJ said:

@NameUnavailable and @user1977

Thank you for your advice, currently, the parking is available just two streets away for free, as permit parking ends next street.  

In practice that sounds much the same as many properties which do qualify for permits - it's permit parking around me, but if it's busy (or full of badly-parked vehicles...) often I'll end up parking a few streets away and hoping I can shuffle the car a bit closer when a space appears.

Depends how much you're using a car really - obviously more of a nuisance if you're making trips every day, less so if it's just for weekend stuff.

NameUnavailable

MRKJ said:

@NameUnavailable and @user1977

Thank you for your advice, currently, the parking is available just two streets away for free, as permit parking ends next street. 

Worried if i am making the right purchase. 


 

Only you can make that decision. I think it's very shoddy that they 'sold' one thing at first and now are taking a fairly significant part of the deal away.

I was buying a shared freehold property only to find out after my offer was accepted that it wasn't shared freehold at all - I really liked the property but (having had nightmares with my last place) decided that was a red line and pulled out.

If the house is ideal for you and you don't mind parking a couple of streets away then go for it. Presumably you can still pull up outside/nearby to load and unload but it will be a pain going to/from your car in pouring rain on dark cold winter nights!

FWIW the place I ended up buying has a shared freehold but no parking - permit parking only. As there was always empty spaces nearby the other benefits took priority and I don't regret buying.

MRKJ

Thank you for the advice, I would have not done the deal if it was leasehold or shared freehold or anything that I will have to deal with them in future, as there is not much trust anymore.