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Deposit

January 11, 2016, 12:58 pm
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Hi

I'm trying to buy a house but haven't got all of my deposit together yet. Last time I put an offer in the agent was a bit funny about the fact that I could prove I had 100% of the deposit, (I have 70% depending on hse price.I didn't get the house despite being sold and therefore chain free. I've moved in with my mum and so I'm putting the bulk of my salary away and so I have no doubt I will have the deposit. Is that ok or should I wait until I have 100% sitting in the bank? I have separate funds for fees etc.
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Offering less than asking price? What would be acceptable?

January 11, 2016, 1:20 pm
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Hi all

I have seen a house for sale at 120k.. it is a 3 bed semi which has been on the market for a year and a half. I remember seeing this property over a year ago at the exact same price so to me it doesn't seem like the sellers are in such a rush to sell as it hasn't been reduced and it is quite a nice house so I imagine theyve had atleast one offer.

I know its a broad question with many things to consider, but from a sellers point of view.. if your property was on the market for that long how much would you be prepared to compromise on price?
The house itself LOOKS in pretty good condition, of course without a survey you cant know for sure. But from the photos it just looks like it needs updating, carpets look old etc.

I would be inclined to offer 15k less initially, seems a tad cheeky to me but I dont really know what is considered an unreasonable amount below asking price? Houses of a similar price/standard are very rarely on sale for longer than 6 months where I live and I imagine if this house does have any major defects the price would have reduced atleast by a little.

I know a lot of people say offer what you think it is worth - on face value I think it looks worth close to asking price but that shouldn't stop me from trying to get in with a nice low price :cool:

Any thoughts welcome.
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Selling tenanted house

January 11, 2016, 2:01 pm
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I have put my tenanted house on the market. The tenants tenancy is due to end in march 2016, I've told them I need to sell for financial reasons and they have said they understand and are willing to stay in the property until sold on a month by month basis but I just want to check is there anything I should do I,.e issue a formal document agreeing this. Does allowing them to stay on a month by month complicate things if they then go back on the agreement
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Renting - noise issues

January 11, 2016, 2:07 pm
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As well as being a lanLord, I am also a tenant as I've had to move for work. I've lived above a beaut salon for a few years now with no issues...until recently. On occasion the music has been so loud from the salon that I can here the track word for word in my living room. I mentioned it to them over the Xmas period on one particular day as I wasn't sure if they knew just how loud it was. I was told they hold children's parties every so often and they have a business to run. It's happened twice since then with this sat being the worst. We both rent from the same agency so I phoned them and they suguested if it persists to call the council. As it went on for some time I sent them a Facebook message in the hope they'd tone it dowe and told them the agency had suggested reporting the issue but that I'd rather not go down that route and sort it amicably. I got a response today saying they'd spoken to the council and were informed that because it isn't everyday and the noise in within working hours (9am-8pm) that there is no issue.

Is this right? do I have no rights at all?
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Selling My 2nd Property Capitial Gains Tax

January 12, 2016, 12:41 am
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Hi

Just after a bit of clarification on this really,

We have just had a flat valued and are looking to sell up to make some home improvements to our main house.

My question is around Capital Gains Tax

It me and my wife on the mortgage so would we receive £11.000 CGA each or is it £11.000 for the both of us?

Also is the amount of tax paid in CGT worked out on both wages added together (mine and my wife's) or is it worked out individual as i break into the higher threshold (40%) only by a few hundred pounds but my wife is self employed so she only pays standard 20%. This would be the difference in paying 18% in CGT or 28% i am going to speak to my accountant any way but just seeing if you guys could help with any information.
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Making a loss on a shared ownership home

January 12, 2016, 2:05 am
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We bought a shared ownership new build 6 years ago, we were glad to get it and thought it was our forever home.

I have been left some money, I repaid my mortgage so I now own 50%. I need to sell now, as I need somewhere for my mother as she needs round the clock care. She has sold her bungalow, and we are buying another larger house which isnt dependent on my sale.

My gripe is I was told to get a RICS valuation for my old shared ownership house. I bought at 142,000 (50% of that I paid) the RICS valuation is 135000. I have paid for and installed solar panels and many more improvements. I will make a loss on the sale as the Housing Association says I am not allowed to sell my half for more than half of the 135,000. I have complained to the housing association and they are unsympathetic: their line is any home can go down in value as well as up. Also the house is no longer new - like a new car they depreciate most in first few years. BUT it has been in the press that house prices round here are rising.

Do I have any recourse to the law about being mis-sold a shared ownership? I wasnt made aware that I could only sell for what a RICS valuation said and no more.
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Need help with filling in Shared ownership application form

January 12, 2016, 4:06 am
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Hello Folks of the Forum!

Hoping for your knowledge etc, I'm filling in the shared ownership application form after being accepted into the help to buy scheme, we've got most of it done and are just about ready to hand in.
What I'm wondering is, what's the best possible answer for 'why are you applying for a shared ownership home' Do we just go completely honest here ie we feel it is a good stepping stone on the properly ladder and we couldn't afford to get our own home otherwise, I was also thinking about the security it provides in comparison to renting, but basically just unsure how to word the whole thing. I'm scared of not being accepted especially seeing as we want to reserve a home asap (they've only got 2 left eek)

Thanks in Advance guys!
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selling property - Capital Gains tax allowances

January 12, 2016, 4:29 am
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We (3 siblings) inherited a property a year ago and are also joint Executers. Probate was granted in the Autumn and we plan to sell in the Spring.

We believe prices have risen since we got the probate valuation, so there may be Captial Gains Tax to pay.

The question is, is we transfered the property into our (3) joint names and then sell, would we have 3 x the CGT allowance (£11,100 each)?

As opposed to the Estate selling and paying the CGT?
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Prescribed Information Query

January 12, 2016, 5:41 am
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Hi All,

In summary, I've moved out of a rented property yesterday, and had our house checked out by an independent company, which was organised by my letting agency. The house inspection passed with flying colors, apart from paint damage to a wall where we had a water leak a year ago (the leak was not our fault, and was from a fault connection from the tank in the loft). The landlord fixed this and said he would come back and paint the wall but never did. The person who inspected our house yesterday said that she had to note this down and that from her past experience with my letting agency she thinks we may be charged for the repainting of this wall and possibly the whole of the upstairs wall as they are all the same color. The letting agency are aware that this was not our fault, so i'm hoping I don't as it's £50 a wall! Just incase I had a look on the DPS website about how my deposit is returned, and also how to appeal any deductions from my deposit.

Whilst doing this, I came some information on 'Prescribed Information' and how I was supposed to have received this from my letting agent when I paid my deposit over in August 14 (when my rental started), however I recall signing this document 2 months ago when my letting agent came around do to one of their quarterly checks.

At the time I didn't think much of it, as the letting agent was pushing various pieces of paper work in front of me asking me to read and sign. When it came to this one she said this was a new thing that the DPS had implemented and so they were being consistent across all their tenancies and giving a copy to each of their tenants. She asked me to sign it, and said she had already dated it with the date I paid my deposit. At the time I didn't think too much of it as she also did the same on the other forms, so I signed it.

However knowing what I know now, I feel pretty stupid and i've read that this prescribed information was present way before I started my tenancy in Aug 14, so firstly I've been lied to! Secondly I've gone and signed something that was backdated, which I guess now covers my agents backs, as I have read that without me being provided with this prescribed information the deposit is void and must be returned to me in full (and even potentially with more than the original deposit being returned).

I have dug this paperwork out and even though the written date of the copy is the date I paid the deposit, the actual printed date on the prescribed information is dated 25/09/2015. So if my letting agent try to deduct money from my deposit for this damage do I have any case to bring up this prescribed information issue?
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Finally Fully Completed!

January 12, 2016, 5:52 am
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Afternoon All,


Since legally completing on our new build back in July we have today just received notification from our solicitors that the sale has been registered with the land registry and that our business has been concluded.


My question is; is there anything in the file that is worth me getting hold of? (perhaps even the whole file?) He has sent me a copy of the mortgage deed, NHBC paperwork, the official copy of title, and a copy of TP1. This is literally all we have had from them re this property.


Am I within my rights to request the entire file? do I need it? I don't want to be in the position of coming to sell later down the line and find I am missing something and that it is too late to do anything about it.


Thanks in advance :)


Kevin.
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Renting with very bad credit??

January 12, 2016, 6:15 am
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I will try to keep this as brief as possible, but I am looking for any advice that you guys can offer.
I currently rent the house that I live in with my partner, however when I moved in it was just me so his name is not on the tenancy. We now have to move because the landlord has decided to sell up and here is my problem. When looking around ta alternative rental properties, most of them require that all adults living in the property must sign the tenancy agreement, however my partner has very poor credit so when they do the searches, I'm worried that they wont offer us the tenancy because of this. I am happy for the tenancy to just be in my name because it always has been, but is this normal practice for agents to insist on joint tenancies?
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Doubling Mortgage at nearly 40 - is it worth it?

January 12, 2016, 6:20 am
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Ok here goes - I will try and keep focused-
Background - I am 39 years old, my wife is 38, we have a daughter who is nearly 4. We live in the North west England
We have a mortgage on our house. Our house is worth approx £205,000 we have an oustanding balance of £77,000 mortgage and pay £450 a month. So loan to value is very good at 38%. Additional information - we fixed 5 years ago and extended the term of our mortgage as we knew having a baby / child would have costs so we increased to 20 years from 15 years. we spend £250 on nursery fees a month.

ok new situation -

Seen a house at £280,000, if we sold our house we would need approx £150,000 mortgage. This is roughly double what we currently have. we want our payments to be under £600 so our term would need to be around 29 years.

so the question - At 39 years old, is it wise to double your mortgage, increase your term and increase your payments?
From an investment point of view what is better? To have a house worth £205,000 owing just £77,000 or having a £280,000 property and owing £150,000. Or is it just the same. Though monthly my payments would increase by around 30%.
My plan to retire early is achievable in my current house as I would pay my mortgage off in say 15 years. But it would be nearly 30 years when I would pay off the new monies. If obviously I stayed and did not down size.

So I guess the question remains - when all the info highlights paying off your mortgage should be a priority. Is it ever worth doubling your mortgage mount when you get to nearly 40??
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Latent defects on new build

January 12, 2016, 7:14 am
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We purchased a new build flat in July last year and since then we've had a list of issues. The most serious:

Water damage to kitchen cabinets around the hood. The hood is installed with the flue pipe going through a kitchen cabinet and straight through the ceiling to the roof. This is all boxed in so we can't see how it's installed. After a few months, we noticed water dripping down through the cabinets and ruining them. Initially we thought this was a leak but we had a builder in and he suspects that the flue pipe was not insulated and there is a bare metal flue pipe boxed in. This is causing condensation which is soaking the wooden cabinets. On closer inspection we also noticed there's a huge amount of building rubble on the inside of the hood which could only have gotten in during installation (no idea how either!).

We contacted our building management (who are also the developer) stating that this has clearly been installed incorrectly and they replied saying that the deflects period finished and the flue pipe is your responsibility. As it has been less than 6 months we find this hard to believe. We have a CRL warranty (not as good as NHBC I know). Do we have a claim to pursue? What steps can we take to force the to take responsibility?

Another issue we had was that the spur controlling the immersion heater blew out and melted several wires. Luckily the fuse tripped and no serious issues but our electrician came and said it was a defective spur and we should contact the building management to check other flats. We did this and, again, they claim no responsibility and worse still, they haven't bothered to check other flats in the building.

Is there anything we can do to force the management company to do something?
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Dispute over damp issues

January 12, 2016, 7:50 am
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Hello all,

I’d like please to get some advice on a paying for a damp issue in a house I’m in the process of buying.

Surveyor came back to us with some damp issues, nothing surprising considering the age of the house (1860s), so we got a local reputable firm out to assess the situation. Total quote was £2800, of which vendor has agreed to pay £2500, great result ! However, it’s a small house, they have 3 children, and the work, which would take around a week, would be far too disruptive for them to do before completion. They’ve suggested knocking the money off the purchase price, but we don’t have the cash to pay for the work.

We suggested the vendors pay their money to the solicitors into a holding account, which would get released to us upon completion. However, our mortgage advisor has told us that the solicitors would be obliged to inform the mortgage lenders, who would then retract their offer, as they’d be lending X for a house which is actually worth X minus £2800. We then suggested the vendors pay the damp company up front, and we have the work done after completion. Mortgage advisor again said if solicitors know this, they’d still have to tell the mortgage lenders. I don’t know what to do ! The only viable option I see is to keep it quiet from the solicitors (they’ve been copied in on a few emails, but nothing’s been confirmed), mortgage advisor has “suggested” this ,but this could land us in trouble if they find out :(

Thanks in advance !
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Sole occupancy

January 12, 2016, 7:58 am
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Hi All,

I bought a house around 7 months ago. I had to sign a sole occupancy for as I was the only one living in the property. It stated they would do a credit search in 6 months to check if anybody else was living there. I have checked my file and there has been no search carried out.

My GF and I would like to move in together, so just wondering what I do? and any consequences?

Thanks
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How many houses did you view?

January 12, 2016, 8:03 am
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My OH and I have just started the search for our first house. We put an offer in on the first one we viewed as we loved it. It needed quite a bit of work but was liveable and had stunning views over open countryside from the back garden. However our offer was rejected, which we were surprised at as it wasn't too much below what he wanted. We didn’t feel the house was worth any more, taking all the work needed into consideration so left it. The vendor was a businessman who rented the house out previously and the EA said himself that he thought the guy was playing a game.

Since then we have viewed one other house which we didn’t like and have two more viewings for this weekend. One I know my OH will HATE as it’s a fairly new build and another which actually looks like it has potential.

Out of interest, how many houses did you view before you found one you wanted to buy? Did you compromise on anything or did you not stop until you found the ‘perfect’ house?
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Mortgage and getting a new job query..

January 12, 2016, 8:57 am
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Hi there,


Me and my partner are looking into buying our first home together very soon and I am pretty clueless about everything! My partner works full time earning approx. 45k and I am a SAHM. I am wanting to find a job now that our daughter is almost 3 and qualifies for some help with childcare and my question is if I were to get a job would mortgage lenders consider my salary straightaway or would I have to be working there for a certain amount of time?


Any info really appreciated.
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Lease Extension - Strange quirk?

January 12, 2016, 9:32 am
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Hello


I am currently negotiating an extension of my lease as it is coming up to the 80 year mark.


As I understood it, if you extend your lease by the 90 years available, you pay a premium (£thousands) but the ground rent is reduced to a peppercorn.


I have been informed by my property management company that the Freehold is owned by the local council but the Headlease is owned by our management company, in which each flat has a share.


Flat owners have been told that although we would no longer have to pay ground rent to the freeholder, we would still have to pay ground rent to the management company (owner of the headlease).


In their words "...there is no corresponding reduction in the ground rent payable under any superior lease."


They say that the management company will no longer be collecting ground rent from leaseholders, but the management company still has to pay it to the freeholder.


Has anyone ever heard of this? I thought the major cost of extending a lease was to compensate the freeholder as they wouldn't be collecting ground rent anymore??


Thanks for any advice
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Renting, tenants rights when moving out

January 12, 2016, 9:58 am
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Hello

I am wondering if anyone can help me please
I have tried calling shelter for 2 days and it says they are busy and I can't get in to the CAB until tomorrow afternoon.


We have been renting a house from a private landlord for a number of years and recently handed in our notice and are moving out at the end of the month.

There are jobs that they said they would do a few years back that they have never done and we have finally had enough but now want to to be in from now until we move out to do them involving plastering of walls to cover damp etc...

I have explained that this is an in convenience as we are trying to empty out the house, clean it etc and plastering walls whilst we are trying to move out our furniture is not
the smartest idea in my opinion but they are having none of it and are practically pestering me.

I am wondering if I have the right to refuse? I have said it would be better when the house is empty when we have vacated the property but they are insisting the jobs are to be done now:mad: Please help l!?I'm very stressed and not sure what to do
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Mortgage 5 x Salary before of after tax?

January 12, 2016, 10:10 am
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Hi, this may seem obvious though I just want to know for sure, will a lender calculate the 5 x salary before tax? So only what you actually get paid into your account after deductions (income tax, NI)?
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