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The Countess Completes Today


TheCountOfNowhere

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HOLA441

The countess' flat in Clapham completes today.

It's very stressfull moving out and sorting everything out but it's finally done.

Here are some pointers for the move:

1) The E.A. feels were 1% + VAT...with no flat fee....Don't pay more !!!! Don't believe them when they say they can't do it for less. Feel free to Private Message me if you want to know who she used...I wouldnt recommend them though

2) We used a local moving company...they were atrocious. Foreign workers, didn't comprehend English, cost a fortune and lumped on charges on top. Damaged loads of things !!! Feel free to private message me if you want to know who it is.

3) BT...Charged a 60 quid phone DISCONNECTION fee...they seem to do some dodgy rolling 12 month contract thing where THEY re-sign you up to another 12 months even though you didnt agree to it or ask for it !!! Google it, it's common!!!

4) If you are a leashold flat owner, renew you lease before you get near 80 years left.

5) If you're buying a leashold flat make sure the least has well over 80 years left...It seems it MUCH more expensive to renew it after it goes past 80 years and you need to have been in the flat 2 years to get the lease renewed....So you need at least 82 years

6) Don't trust London any estate agents.

It took about 5 months from the offer being accept to complete and it's take about 7 months all in.

Glad to be rid of the flat, it was looking tatty ( for £410K !!! ) and the buyer has a bit of a bargain rope round their necks.

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HOLA442

1) Screw E.A.s for all you can get.

2) Don't move house unless you need to.

3) Don't have a landline.

4) Buy Freehold. Houses, not flats or "maisonettes" or "coach houses".

5) Again.

6) Don't live in London.

Sounds like you've sorted yourselves out. Well done.

Edit: FECK ME!! 7 MONTHS!! HOW'S THAT FOR LIQUIDITY!! HPC-tastic!!!

Edited by Cash with Nowhere to Go
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HOLA443

Good tips, especially about the 80 year limits on leasehold. This is another rip-off of the archaic leasehold system. New leases are granted often for as little as 99 years, but you have to extend it before there are less than 80 years unexpired so it is not seen as a 'short' lease. So, in effect, you are buying a 19 year lease when you buy a 99 year one!

Another trick that the lessors try to use is to offer the lessees a lease extension back up to the original 99 years - only another 19 years before their next payday, thus making their freehold more valuable. If anyone comes across a lessor who tries to do this, they should force them through the Leasehold Reform Act which will mean they get 90 years on top of whatever is left on the current lease AND the ground rent cannot be jacked up.

I have looked at flats in the same block where the leases have been extended at different times. Some are paying the original £5 per year ground rent from when the original 1960's leases were granted, some are paying hundreds of pounds a year for the next door flat! The £5 payers had longer left on their leases as well!

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3) BT...Charged a 60 quid phone DISCONNECTION fee...they seem to do some dodgy rolling 12 month contract thing where THEY re-sign you up to another 12 months even though you didnt agree to it or ask for it !!! Google it, it's common!!!

That's a complete con, they tried it with me to, I got angry then hung up, then redialed and the next operator did the disconnection without ever mentioning (or charging) the illegal fee.

You can probably get it refunded back since they have no basis to charge you the disconnection fee as long as you had the line for more than 12 months. Read the contract and write them a complaint letter.

Edited by wise_eagle
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I have looked at flats in the same block where the leases have been extended at different times. Some are paying the original £5 per year ground rent from when the original 1960's leases were granted, some are paying hundreds of pounds a year for the next door flat! The £5 payers had longer left on their leases as well!

But they will have paid much much much much much much much much more for it (the lease extension, not the property)

tim

Edited by tim123
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Find me a genuine unlimited BB connection that doesn't require you to have a Landline and I'm with you

tim

I had virgin cable for 1 year and that was fantastic. I paid about 8 quid a month for a 2MByte connection and I got full connection speed, unlike a BT/ADSL line.

I now use my mobile as a wireless hub and use the three mobile network all you can east data connection, it's fantastic !!!

Unless I was streaming lots of video I dont see the point of having a BT line now.

P.S. I have my own business, work in IT and pretty much require constant internet access ( for Porn and HPC ) and if i dont need a BT landline then no one does.

Edited by TheCountOfNowhere
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HOLA4413

I'm with Virgin for TV+broadband. On the internet the whole package comes with mandatory line rental (£11pcm iirc) but I rang them up and played them off against BT's package and managed to get the line rental removed. It works for me.

The TV is actually useful because you get the On-Demand which means you can watch your shows sometime in the week after it is aired, without any ads. Perfect.

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I'm with Virgin for TV+broadband. On the internet the whole package comes with mandatory line rental (£11pcm iirc) but I rang them up and played them off against BT's package and managed to get the line rental removed. It works for me.

The TV is actually useful because you get the On-Demand which means you can watch your shows sometime in the week after it is aired, without any ads. Perfect.

"mandatory line rental" Do you have cable or the ADSL line ?

If you have cable ( not man people do ) then you dont have the BT line rental.

IWhen you are moving house it's one of the things worth looking for, it really is better than ADSL.

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I've not had a land line for 5 years now!!!

The countess snow agrees, she wont have one now either.

OK if you have unlimited free calls 24/7 apart from international, premium rate and mobiles... you rarely phone . ;)

Good luck with your new home....any idea how long you want to stay there?

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