Buying a garage/land

[piazza]

Hey, looking for same advice as regards the above. It's a garage that was part of someones house and had been sold on a few years ago. The guy that onwed it died and the family want it sold on, all are in agreement apparently.

I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm buying it tbh, just worried about ownership and legalities. Is there anything I can do to check things myself, and who would do the paperwork..solicitor presumably? Any ideas on costs or timescale? I'll be a cash buyer.

I had thought of asking for ID from the guy as I'm meeting him at the garage. Is a deposit a good idea as I think there may be a neighbour interested too!

Meeting him at 5 today, but Im free all day and wanted to expedite things if possible.

Cheers!

[BTTD]

You need a conveyancing solicitor, maybe use one of the online ones. They will do the title searches etc and register the deeds etc.

Edit: They'll also do the exchange of contracts (tying both parties into the sale) and the completion (payment transfer and registering deeds).

[doggone]

Especially if it's actuually attached to another house or in their garden(?) there may be some pitfalls about access and other things mere mortals cannot comprehend.
You need a solicitor and it's likely they will charge in the region of £1000.
But it may be money well spent.
Current owners may be amicable because you are paying money but what happens if the rest of it is sold and new owner isn't happy... Solicitor

[angryjonny]

You can do your own searches of land registry. I'd probably do that before getting a solicitor in, in this case, just to make sure it exists as a property in its own right. If not, I'd be very nervous I was paying for a gentlemen's agreement that wouldn't stand up in court.

[piazza]

The garage has it's own access from the street and is not attached to anything. It's freehold apparently, and I should probably mention I'm in Scotland.

The garage was sold years ago to the current owner who passed away last year. It was part of someones garden previously.

A grand seems a lot of money for a sub 10,000 sale ffs I might drop into the local shopping area and see if theres a conveyancing solicitor there, I'll flatter the receptionist they're probably wise to the fees anyway.

I'm guessing this is not gonna be finalised in a week..

Patience..I have none!

@ angryjonny I had you on block list, but seen your reply. Thanks for that!

[Rogerborg]

Before you put any money of your own in, I'd want to know that the seller has clear title to the land. If they can't show you something from the Land Registry, what makes them think that they own the land?

For all you or they know, it might still be registered to Dead Guy ("Aye, but Uncle Shuggy wud pure hae left it tae me in his will if he'd haed wun") or he might have bought it on a handshake and never had legal title to it.
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[piazza]

Thats what I'm afraid of, but if his dad died it's most probably in his dads name - much as I'd like to think he changed it. I'm assuming that won't be much of a problem if his paperwork is in order. Maybe he has some idea on costs too.

Ive spoken only briefly to him on the phone last night. I get the impression that the estate has been recently released, or whatever you call it.

Soooo should I ask to see a grave or a death certificate?

[Alpineandy]

[Polarbear]

Agree with everyone above. As much as I dislike donating money to shysters (I like that term ) when it comes to property and land I wouldn't dream of giving anyone money without a solicitor checking it out.
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[piazza]

Thanks guys! I'd only be leaving a deposit if he had clear title and I had been at his house, seen passport etc, but the relevant people would be used to seal the deal as it were.

I've bought a property before but never paid fees etc - the good old days - so no idea what they'd be. It's always a good idea to poke the BCF when stuff like this comes up....always learning

Hopefully I'll have some good news tonight.

[Rogerborg]

[piazza]

I dont think a handshake and keys would do it for me - I did laugh at hearing that from you tho - It is the kinda thing that should be relatively simple, you'd think anyway..

If he has no paperwork I'll walk away. Probably

[Alpineandy]

[Pete.]

Land/property brings the devil out in people worse than being in a car. My mate lives in a cul-de-sac and asked his neighbour if he could buy a tiny slip of land OUTSIDE his fence - between the fence and the road - because he couldn't easily get his car and caravan round the tight turn into his drive alongside the house. Although the neighbour did not need or use that land for any purpose he flatly refused a couple of grand for it without even giving a reason.

Later my mate did some work on his house and during the planning he discovered that he actually owned it anyway, so he was going to buy his own bit of ground back. He went out there to level it and lay a bit of tarmac. The neighbour came out in a rage and promptly got the paperwork stuffed in his face
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132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[piazza]

All went well, that is to say he seemed legit, no paperwork but apparently that's not exactly unusual. A price has been agreed and assuming I can get the legal side done for about £500 it'll be a done deal. Garage isnt in great condition, but theres room for another car or 2 in front

I spoke to someone locally who quoted me nearly a grand, though she did say that they operated a fixed fee and it's not in my favour with such a cheap purchase price. She also told me not be be dissuaded with little or no paperwork as it would most likely be held by an bank or similar.

The guy said his solicitor would do both his and mine for a discount and he'd pay half the fee. I'm not doing that don't worry

The fees seem pretty clear from what I can see, there's more to pay for bank transfers and a few other things that arent relevant to me so £500 seems reasonable for my purchase. I have found a few online with quotes as above just need to call to confirm.

[BTTD]

A friend of mine is a corporate solicitor. I was chatting to him after I'd bought my garage and he asked me why I didn't use an online conveyancer. He reckoned that on balance they were quicker and cheaper than high street conveyancers, based on his personal experience and other colleagues who had used them. Worth a look, it never even occurred to me at the time.

[piazza]

[Diggs]

You'll almost certainly need a Land Registry-compliant plan as it is unlikely that the garage will have been Registered in isolation from the main area unless it was purchased in a separate conveyance. You may find that the on-line conveyancer will ask you to source your own plan and that it will cost in the region of £100 if no site survey is required.

If you struggle in this respect, pm me and I'll sort one for you.
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[piazza]

Diggs! the land was bought from the house owner and I'm led to believe it has paperwork, is that what you mean? I did look arund at whats needed and came to the conclusion that it was an 'all in' price!?

I'm still waitin for a call or 2, but the guys been on the phone this morning. I'll hang back til' I find out...

[Diggs]

pm sent
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[Rogerborg]

[piazza]

I appreciate all the comments and advice and I'm taking it all on board.

There was never gonna be a time I just payed without the correct
procedures in place ...much as I might have been tempted

The guys just off the phone and his idea that his guy sorted it all and I'd just need a solicitor to sign it off was bullshit, I was paying half his fees: £500 and my solicitor cost. I did some phoning around.

So now he's saying that if I do need to get my own conveyancer and can't/won't be paying half his fee he's upping the price to cover it. He also failed to mention that the 500 was exclusive of VAT

He now has interested parties and he's gonna adjust the price accordingly, his 'mate, solicitor' sounds like a dick! I implied as much too.

I told him my figure was fixed and that's that. He's gonna get back to me later and let me know what's happening.

Not greatly happy, and the conveyancers havent got back to me yet to confirm I can actually get the price quoted.

Thanks for watching my back!

[piazza]

Just got a callback from a local solicitors who confirmed that I need the full conveyencing - which I know now- But! he did say he'd do it for my figure.

I'm not gonna call the guy back I'll let him get back to me later if he wants my money

[Rogerborg]

I'd treat it as a problem that you can work out together.

Hopefully Diggs is sorting you out (why so secretive?) but Dead Dad's Son needs to either have:

1) Already transferred title in the land to himself. Pennies to pounds he hasn't done this, or else he'd have a copy of the new title deed to hand.

or

2) Give you a copy of the court confirmation from Dead Dad's estate. Which will be great if the land is registered in Dead Dad's name, but I'd bet he hasn't verified that.

Before he tried to flog this land off, he should have done (and paid for) his own land registry check to find out whether he's actually got an asset. It sounds like he's expecting you or some other buyer to contribute to the cost of finding that out.

So, it's really a simple enough question, no aggro: "Can you show me that you have title to this land, or that your dad did and that title has passed to you?"

If the answer is anything other than "Absolutely, here is the title deed in my name / the title deed in Dead Dad's name plus the confirmation of inheritance," then that's a no, he can't show you.
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[Spamalittle]

If you do proceed you will most almost certainly need a Land Register compliant plan. Doesn't really matter if the previous conveyance of the property had a plan attached, it most likely won't be useable as you're only buying a part of that title (unless it's a decent LR compliant plan and can be marked-up with the bit you're buying (although technically there are copyright issues with that too)).

Another thing to be aware of is whether you'll need access rights across the neighbour's property for inspecting/maintaining and repairing the garage. Also make sure it connects to a public road - you'd be surprised. Your solicitor, when you instruct one, should be on top of these things but check before you hand over any spondoolies.

You'll also need to stump up £60 to register your title at the Registers of Scotland. There may be other costs (i.e. property searches) that the seller would usually front, but in this scenario I imagine they'll ask you to pay for these too.

Rogerborg is of course correct. The seller/their solicitor has to stump up a title in the Seller's name (unlikely by the sounds of it) or Confirmation (whether this is available may depend on when pops passed). To be fair, your solicitor can't register your title if they've not seen evidence that the seller is able to, well, sell it (hence the property searches).
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