Hi Guys..
Haven't asked anything random for a while, so thought i should hit you all with this one and see if anyone knows anything about it..


I've seen a house on the market, which is cheap as chips.. need a bit of work but nothing like what the drug den needed this last month or so. We are nearing completion of that one, so am looking for my next property. This is round the corner and is ripe for a good going over. However its priced well, but the leasehold only has 62 years left on it, which makes me think this is why a lot of families have seen it and a) not been wanting to spend the money to get it up to scratch and b) worried about the resale consequences when there is less time then there already is left on the lease.

Its priced a £155k and an insider let slip to me, that they had taken offers of less then this but people have backed out previously as they wanted the freehold. Ive asked for the freehold price, and initial indication stated between £3k and £10k but the final price is taking its time to get through to the sales agent, so much so, they are annoyed and have put the property on hold awaiting the info. I was told today was deadline, and nothing yet. Im tempted to put an offer in for £140k but am worried that what if i can't buy the freehold. My solicitor said freeholds CAN be bought off anyone, but price is a problem, could go for silly money, apparently you can take a freehold owner to court to force a price, but there is no guarantee it will be a good price. House is worth in region of £180k with freehold and good nick, so there is margin there, but i may get stuck..
Needs about £10k work doing.. so its a nice one..

Anyone dealt/deals with this kind of stuff? Freeholder is London based, and take their bloody time to get info across. Im thinking of putting in a blind offer of £140k and kind of dealing with it when i get to it.. but obviously it will hurt if i get stuck.. rent will only just cover mortgage installments, so may be a cash magnet for all the wrong reasons..

Hmm.. opinions/perspectives appreciated..

You'll know better than I, Kam that properties where you can't get your hands on the freehold can cause way more problems than you need. Before we moved into our own house, my wife's flat was a shared freehold arrangement and we were nearly scuppered from moving at the very last minute when the shared freehold introduced an insurance problem for the new buyer.... Isn't M@verik in property? Maybe he would have an idea... 

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well these homes were actually built by rover cars back in the early 70's.. the house im currently working on is on the same housing block, and that is freehold, it was purchased in mid 90's but rover sold the freehold land to loads of different companies in lots, so its wrong to assume that the freehold will definitely be offered on application, god knows where they got the estimated price from, but its really playing on my mind.. i don't want to let it go, as it will shine up nice when i work some majic on it..

I suppose it's a bit of a lucky dip whether you could get the FH for a decent price though... margin's being chipped away all the while.

It's not on the same scale obviously, but this puts me in mind of that property auction programme that's on TV - some guy bought an apartment in some big old mansion up on the Norfolk coast somewhere. The flat cost him 25k or something silly, but the entire building needed about 800k of work doing on it to bring it up to scratch... the owners of the flats were responsible for that cost. Nasty surprise that

I guess let your solicitor advise you what the best course of action would be but at the end of the day, it's your choice isn't it. Good luck!  

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well despite all the good advice offered.. i kept pushing this guy for the freehold price and he still kept saying he wouldn't disclose it as he didn't have it..
he gave me an ultimatum:

a) buy it as it is, i.e. leasehold for 62 years and have a go yourself to get freehold as clearly it won't sell without.
b) sit on you're ass and wait for me to get price, then you can make you're own mind whether its worth it or not for you (along with another 10 people awaiting the info - all family buyers)
c) i buy the freehold and you give me an offer above asking, cuz for the price of this house with freehold you'd be taking the at £155k..

I considered it, and decided to take the with option C and offered him £150k, he told me to get stuffed, (all through agent naturally) so i offered £155k and told him as soon as he gets freehold, i will exchange in 21 days and complete in 30.. provided he complies with all our requests and his solicitor responds promptly..

Means i get the house and its been withdrawn from sale as under offer.. probably won't have freehold til juneish, but at least its secured to a degree.. sales agreed, and house is 'under offer' formally.. nice..

Nicely done, Kam... well done. Why do I get the feeling you'll go far?  

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thanks mate.. i bloody hope i do too!
got this RS4 and M3 to raise money for!!.. not got a clue yet..
this pimp mobile was an unexpected cost for me..

I change cars too regularly, i need to chill out a bit i think..
I have a problem paying for services and maintenance though, bloody stealers..