Newbie needing serious advice!

[steeveyboy64]

Hi All. I am very new to all of this and need some guidance. I am at the point where I am about to purchase a holiday letting chalet in Lincolnshire. Unfortunately the banana skin has been delivered in that the 3rd party solicitors are indicating that I can NOT use a 3rd party agent platform to advertised my chalet but MUST use only theirs. If I search booking.com and airbnb I can find chalets being advertised on there.....the solicitors say I can only use their agent being {Name Removed} (never heard of them). The difference is this, booking/airbnb I can return around £600 per week, whereas directholidays is advertising similar chalets at £377 per week. I am baffled that they can actually have this much control/greed/suppression over MY investment which appears to me they are taking around 45% cut PLUS £3k service charges AND £450 maintenance charges per annum. Have they really got this control? As I am paying cash for the entire amount for the chalet with a license to assign surely I have the right to let to whom I wish and use any platform or agent to do so as long as no breach of contract/lease agreement is done. In the next few days I have to instruct my solicitor what I want to do, buy this small investment or invest all my money to hand over control and income to these greedy jackals???

[Sydaton]

If you think they're, "greedy jackals" then why would you want to enter in an investment where your return is linked to their actions?

Also if you know that a customer can go to directholidays and get a chalet for £377, why do you think you can get £600?

[Lawcruncher]

Presumably your solicitor has read the documentation. What does he say?

[steeveyboy64]

If you think they're, "greedy jackals" then why would you want to enter in an investment where your return is linked to their actions?

Also if you know that a customer can go to directholidays and get a chalet for £377, why do you think you can get £600?

This was not made aware to me until very late on. It was only referred to in the copy of the lease stating I need their approval for the 3rd party agent.

Because 600 is what is advertised on booking/airbnb.....please dont shoot the messanger I am looking for help not assassination

[steeveyboy64]

Presumably your solicitor has read the documentation. What does he say?

The solicitor has not been the best tbh. He is now saying maybe look elsewhere without even trying to be more of a 'solicitor' in advising whether or not they can do this. No doubt he is just happy to send me his bill etc. Still thinking of going ahead and try to better understand my position as others are clearly finding ways around their constraints. They are stating the following (this is an extract from their solicitors....apologies as I misconstrued when first read)

"[FONT=" undefined: TimesNewRoman"]There are currently no 3^rd party letting agents approved on the park, it is detailed in the letting agreement that booking.com is not permitted, as when owners list their properties to rent with this platform, the guests do not receive copies of the Park rules or have any contact with the owners, prior to letting, even though, the leaseholder is responsible for any guests accommodated in their property.[/FONT]

[FONT=" undefined: TimesNewRoman"]On the whole, the owners take bookings themselves, many use social media platforms, directholidays.co.uk etc.”

Open to very sensible thoughts on this one if anyone can spare a few minutes?[/FONT]

[jpkeates]

Walk away.

You have an investment that looks very attractive until you find that it isn't.

If you hadn't invested the time money and effort into this purchase already, your decision would be obvious.
If you had known the full facts at the outset you would never have reached the decision to proceed.

If you think you can have your cake (the property as you originally imagined it with the income model you imagined) and eat it (somehow sidestep the restrictions you are now being made aware of), I have some holiday lets on the moon you can buy cheap.

[Sydaton]

This was not made aware to me until very late on. It was only referred to in the copy of the lease stating I need their approval for the 3rd party agent.

Because 600 is what is advertised on booking/airbnb.....please dont shoot the messanger I am looking for help not assassination

I'm sorry if you found my question over-aggressive. I agree with others saying, "walk away" but I'm also wondering how people are advertising the same chalets for £600 on booking/airbnb if they are not allowed to do so by the terms of their purchases.

[steeveyboy64]

I'm sorry if you found my question over-aggressive. I agree with others saying, "walk away" but I'm also wondering how people are advertising the same chalets for £600 on booking/airbnb if they are not allowed to do so by the terms of their purchases.

I agree. I really do not envisage trying to blur the terms of the lease agreement but as a human being (last time I checked() I am damned inquisitive to how they do this. I am not looking for loop holes neither, I simply want to fully understand how best to utilise the let. I have been on social media last hour or so, and it seems there is indeed a thriving 'chalet letting' community out there. I recently retired from lecturing and am now recently self employed (fitting a kitchen once a month to keep active). As such My savings allow me to purchase this modest investment outright but obviously not in a position to attain a mortgage for a bricks and mortar property. Hence the interest. If I get my head around social media to promote/let/run this chalet then a full week will return approximately £420 per week (less in the out of season months if anyone actually wanted to do so) I believe this would be a reasonable residual income. Dealing with the legal jackals as my first time is quite unerving hence coming on here to ask sound advice. Thank you for your reply Sydaton.

[Lawcruncher]

The solicitor has not been the best tbh. He is now saying maybe look elsewhere without even trying to be more of a 'solicitor' in advising whether or not they can do this. No doubt he is just happy to send me his bill etc.

I suspected it might be something like that. It is entirely unsatisfactory. These days too many conveyancers are just too supine. You need to say you need clear advice as to whether what they contest holds up.

Still thinking of going ahead and try to better understand my position as others are clearly finding ways around their constraints.

Without full advice that would be very unwise.

[royw]

Find an owner and ask them? It's possible they have a different lease.
The sentence that says you're responsible for your guests needs investigating imo.

[islandgirl]

It seems odd that the only objection is the hirer via booking.com not getting a copy of the rules etc. That would be super easy to deal with!

[nukecad]

"No 3rd party letting agenrs approved" is not the same thing as 'no 3rd party agents allowed'.

So it depends on what you sign up to.whether you can use an "unapproved" 3rd party letting service or not.

[SouthernDave]

I suspected it might be something like that. It is entirely unsatisfactory. These days too many conveyancers are just too supine. You need to say you need clear advice as to whether what they contest holds up.



Without full advice that would be very unwise.

Lawcruncher gives good advice.
interesting question, is your ‘solicitor’ actually a solicitor? Or are they some rubbish high street conveyancer?

[Lawcruncher]

interesting question, is your ‘solicitor’ actually a solicitor? Or are they some rubbish high street conveyancer?

Conveyancers fall into two broad categories:

Good ones

Not so good ones

Those in either category can be solicitors, licensed conveyancers or chartered legal executives. Each of those do roughly the same amount of training and have studied the law needed to understand real property law. You can also have in either category conveyancers with no recognised legal qualifications or who are on the way to getting them.

Rumpole of the Bailey said that a double first from Cambridge does not necessarily help when defending at the Uxbridge Magistrates Court. Rumpole's creator, John Mortimer who was a barrister, said that lawyers should not study too mush law as it only confuses them. We can take that with a pinch of salt, but can see what he was getting at. I have been known to say, again tongue in cheek, that the difference between a law lecturer and a solicitor is that the law lecturer has studied the law and remembered most of it while a solicitor is someone who has studied the law and forgotten most of it. The essential point being made is that it is one thing knowing the law and another practising it. When doing routine conveyancing you are not regularly considering points of law and looking up cases. Many "promoted secretaries" are good bread and butter residential conveyancers. Some rubbish high street conveyancers are solicitors.

How good a conveyancer someone is depends on lots of factors.