General flat questions

Soldato
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Again, because we picked out RICS valuer, and he was working for us, he gave us the top end of what he thought it was worth as we were selling, were we buying the rest of the share he would have valued it to the lower end, but he told me to never tell anyone that!

That's something I need to consider actually. In theory we could save up the amount needed to pay the 12.5% share we don't own in just over a year. Might be worth it just to save some hassle but it would limit the amount we could put into my partners Help to Buy ISA (as I originally bought the property on my own).
 
Man of Honour
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well got help to buy approval, they also seem to do equity loan, not sure which would be better. So I suppose its time to book a viewing and have a chat and see what all the options are.
 
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It's always seemed to be the worst of both methods of occupying a home, with little of the benefits of either to me.

OK, as long as you pay the mortgage on the % you purchase, and the rent on the remainder, you have a secure tenure. But you are liable for 100% of the maintenance, unlike a rental, and if the value increases it makes it more difficult to buy the remaining percentage. It's also a lot more difficult to sell if you ever need to move, say for work.

A family friend bought 50% of a two bed semi in Oxford at roughly the same time I did the mid 90s. I think it was £62k, so he took out a £31k mortgage. Prices soon rose to £200k, so now he has to find an additional £69k to purchase the other 50%. Probably even more than that now?.
 
Soldato
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I'm still curious as to what is going to happen when the first big batch of shared ownership individuals/couples reach retirement age, still not owning a significant portion of the property, thereby needing to find more money than their pension income to cover the monthly rent and ground maintenance fees. I suspect a lot of people choosing shared ownership bought into them because their lower wages and deposit meant that a "normal" full mortgage was an impossible option, so their pensions are not going to be great either.

Are local councils going to cover the rent shortfall in such circumstances through Housing Benefit until these individuals/couples die, or are they going to be forced to sell the home and use their proceeds from the sale to find alternative accommodation, more than likely back in the rental market?
 
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I don't think there are many of those people. People either sell up and use the profit and savings to move on to a normal mortgage, or buy out and stay there.

Assuming I went with 150k at 75% (depends on exact figures)
that would leave 37500 to buy at a latter day
assuming 11% per year rise in house prices
in 5 years that would be 63k to purchase.
So to get 10% deposit for that amount, I would need to save around £90 per month for those 5 years and get 5% interest, which at the moment I am well exceeding that with funds.

or 50% would be 127k to purchase the other 50% in 5 years and would mean saving about £180 per month. That's assuming prices continue the 11% per year rise but i don't think it will carry raising that much.

the equity loan seems to be similar but you are only left with 20% to buy out in 5 years (you can wait longer but you start paying interest n the 20%)

although two more have come on the market, although no one seems to want to return my calls( I might just go in person tomorrow), one in perfect location for 145k can walk to all my mates, and one similar area to the one I saw initially but only 130k and not built yet, which seems like you can get a better deal, not so much money off but get free upgrades to the decoration etc.
 
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How much is the rent/service charge etc on the remainder?
it varies. the one I was talking about in the op the service charge is expensive seems to be 70-110 depending on which flat I assume its based on size, as it includes gym, 10 acres of land, fishing lakes, allotments etc.

the one in perfect location is (but no where near as nice)
£145k

£585.44 5 year fixed 4.69% £108,750 @ 75% or cheapest appears to be £544.75 on 2 year fixed at 3.99%
£79.87 rent
£4.55 service charge
£90 into savings account

total £759.86

compared to 130k property outright of
699.83 5year fixed 4.69%
658.03 2 year fixed 3.79%

both 5% deposit.
 
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anyone know much about leasehold? there's a couple with 120years left and seem to have started with 125years. Google seem to be mixed messages and seem to suggest anything with more than 80years is fine, while others suggest you want 100s of years(which was the impression I had, but I didn't realise some came with 125years to start with). 132k 1 bed flat with private garden, in amazing location, 300 for service/ground rent, but 120years left.
 
Associate
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Anything over 100 years is fine, anything less than 80 Mortgage companies get a bit itchy about.

Between the two is where it starts to effect the value.
 
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I'm still looking, anyone with shared ownership, what is considered minor decoration and can be done without permission and what is considered more and needs written consent. Things like in wall/ceiling speakers and whole in outside wall for mechanical ventilation, any idea what these would fall under. All I can find is vague terms.
 
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We are on our second home and have used shared ownership both times. First house we did directly via the building company, so we had 80% ownership. This time around we still couldn't afford the house we wanted so used the government Help to Buy scheme. It was actually an advantage in the end because when we came to get our mortgage.

A) Halifax classed the HtB as equity in thew house which meant we got a lower rate
B) As the HtB counted as equity we only needed a 5% deposit instead of 10%

In terms of modifications, in both cases we have put TV's on the walls, added electrical sockets, added electric into the garage and had a bathroom completely re-done. No one checks and no one cares.
 
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Saw another flat today, but this one's freehold, initially I thought this was good. But after googling it seems it may not be.but Google also has conflicting info. Someday mortgage is a no-no but others say it fine. Others say repairing shared parts Kirk roof is just pot luck and sort it between the two freehold flats, while others see contracts can be in the deeds and also insurance policies etc.

Anyone know anything about freehold flats?
 
Soldato
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Anyone know anything about freehold flats?
Yes, I see a fair few of them as there are a lot of older properties in my area that have been converted back in the days when it would be acceptable.

Generally my advice would be stay away.

Can they be ok? Yes. But it's rare. After all if whoever conveyed it originally was good enough to put in all the required rights etc, they'd have done a lease :p

I can't be bothered to load the CML Handbook on my phone to see which of the main lenders will lend on freehold flats but it's not all of them.

The reason Google gives conflicting information is because it's a case by case decision.
 
Man of Honour
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Yes, I see a fair few of them as there are a lot of older properties in my area that have been converted back in the days when it would be acceptable.

Generally my advice would be stay away.

Can they be ok? Yes. But it's rare. After all if whoever conveyed it originally was good enough to put in all the required rights etc, they'd have done a lease :p

I can't be bothered to load the CML Handbook on my phone to see which of the main lenders will lend on freehold flats but it's not all of them.

The reason Google gives conflicting information is because it's a case by case decision.
thanks, probably why its cheap, is it possible to push the lease hold through whilst buying, and making it part of the offer? Although obviously, this means getting a third party to accept it. or at least some formal contract on how repairs will be dealt with, this seems to be the biggest issue?
 
Soldato
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thanks, probably why its cheap, is it possible to push the lease hold through whilst buying, and making it part of the offer? Although obviously, this means getting a third party to accept it. or at least some formal contract on how repairs will be dealt with, this seems to be the biggest issue?
It depends how the properties are set up.

One I'm dealing with at the moment for example, old lady owns the freehold of the entire building (big Victorian property, now a semi detached) and lives in the ground floor flat. There is no separate title documentation for the ground floor flat so it is an unregistered, and technically freehold, flat.

The upstairs flat is a registered leasehold title with a 999 year lease granted in the 80s.

The ground floor flat got marketed (without my knowledge) as a freehold flat when in fact what is actually being sold is the flat plus the remainder of the building i.e structure, gardens, shared entrances etc... So to solve it we will be granting a new 9xx year lease of the ground floor flat to the buyer containing all necessary rights and maintenance obligations etc, and disposing of the freehold of the building to the new buyer and the owner of the upstairs flat, if he is co-operative. They can then continue the obligations of the landlord such as insuring the whole building, recouping the costs through insurance rent, maintaining the structure and recouping costs through service charge etc..

Hope that makes sense?
 
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Hope that makes sense?
thanks, think I'll hold off that one. Got a viewing on another one on Thursday anyway with 999year lease. Similar property just an extra 10k.
if the other one doesn't sell and I haven't found anything else maybe I'll rethink and go in with a very low offer or something.
 
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next round of questions, how much can you realistically soundproof ceilings and walls, i don't mind losing a fair amount like 10cm per wall/ceiling.
One I saw today you could easily hear their music. Is it possible to block it out totally, with the algorithmic scale it's hard to estimate db but I would place it just below a normal conversation in a quiet area.
 
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found a flat I like, top floor flat as well, so far fewer issues with noise insulation, it is also stripped back to floorboards cupboards has no doors etc.
and a secluded garden that i have no worries about building a large shed on and annoying neighbours.

however a few questions
there's no gas, has anyone had any experience with electric underfloor heating an how much it costs to run?

then the main one which I know I should be asking questions, but I'm not quite sure what I should be asking.
its 980year lease, no charges, freehold is owned by a person. What questions should I be asking about that, especially as it needs total redecoration and I know most leaseholds have some restriction that you need to get permision? is there other questions i should be asking about the freehold/leasehold?

how good are building surveys obviously with plasterboard up how much can they actually see, do they actually get on the roof and check the condition and do they get into the attic and check in there as well?
 
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Building surveys are basically you get what you pay for

The cheapest is a valuation survey, these are the ones often touted as a "drive by survey", all they are doing is attempting to make sure the building societies money is safe ;)

Honestly its hard to give an exact answer, but the older the property the more I would spend on a survey as they more chance there is something you are going to want to know about

I had a close escape on the first house I nearly bought. We paid for a complete structural survey, it turned out the detached house was in fact the remains of a terrace block and had a second "outer" wall added where the old ones used to be attached.
The wall wasn't tied in so could have parted ways should it wish, but best was that the whole house was leaning slightly towards where the rest of the attached houses used to be. The mortgage company were not willing to lend a bean on this, I suspect a valuation survey would have indicated it was worth market value.
 
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