My first offer

DaveS23

Hi !
FTB here. I have just had a second viewing of a ground floor 1bed flat in a good location in Canterbury. Good condition , been on the market for a couple of weeks, newly decorated with no apparent problems and includes a parking space. The asking price £210,000 and the estate agent has told me that one buyer has already put in an offer which was rejected and has put in another (apparently just below the asking price) and they think that someone else who viewed yesterday will put in offer. The estate agent did not elaborate on why the offer was rejected but did mention the buyer lived abroad and was only coming to view the property in a week or so. So, what do you think would be a reasonable first offer ? 
Thankyou

NameUnavailable

What's the lease? How much is the ground rent and when does it increase and what by? What's the service charge?

Lots to consider with flats!

DaveS23

100+ years , service charge for 2022 £800 , ground rent under £100 but vendor unsure if there is one , vendor knows of no planned increases. Thanks 

RAS

For the sake of a few quid, go to the Land Registry site and download the details. I think the lease costs £7, so avoid the rip-off companies at the top of the search engine results.

GDB2222

RAS said:

For the sake of a few quid, go to the Land Registry site and download the details. I think the lease costs £7, so avoid the rip-off companies at the top of the search engine results.

For the lease, you'll need to make a paper application.

RAS

Thanks, still worth doing so rather than risking Chinese whispers.

How many times on here has the promised parking space proved to be the right to park in a restricted area, first come first serve, or worse. And the buyers has already spent £xK on fees before they find out.

canaldumidi

I'd never make an offer without checking th LR Title (and lease if leasehold).

In fact I usually download the title before even viewing a property I really like the look of.

Kace2022

Remember that the banks will value the property at what they deem to be market value.  So whatever your offer is, don't go crazy with it otherwise you'll need to raise the difference between your offer and the valuation

DaveS23

Thankyou everyone so far , very helpful . I will attempt to get hold of the lease and apply for the LR documents.

diystarter7

OP
I don't trust EA's at all but there are things that well/long-established EA's will be honest about.

Make the offer you feel is right and even if the other offer is accepted you can always up it.  Indeed there is nothing stoping the
first potential buyer of beating you again with their offer but they could just as easily pull out the next day or on the day of the exchange.

We paid more than the market value according to lenders but we knew we wanted the house and saw the potential plus it was the location we wanted so the market value can be subjective bt you need a heft deposit as its the risk lenders look at.


With car parking especially multi-storey it can be owned be a different freeholder and your paperwork won't help you a lot as there is often problems with that type of sale ad takes a bit longer.

Note - check the history of ground rent/service charges to give you an indication of possible rises but its only an indication.

Also visit the place night, day, and other times when kids are about inc weekends and morning weekdays to get the feel. If tress around the flat and tress not ever green consider what you will see once tress shed their leaves.

NameUnavailable

DaveS23 said:

100+ years , service charge for 2022 £800 , ground rent under £100 but vendor unsure if there is one , vendor knows of no planned increases. Thanks 

Seems very vague! You want to know exactly what the lease is (that's what you're buying) and ground rent (many lenders won't lend if there are onerous terms).

The LR title info you can get for £3 instantly will confirm lease length and ground rent. You need the lease to check the finer details.

As long as the above checks out then offer what YOU think it's worth based on your local market and what else you're seeing. If this one doesn't fly another place will be along soon!