Peterparky Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Hi All Looking to buy and renovate properties (flats ideally) with a view to flip and BTL alongside my Landscape gardening business with the ultimate goal of a small self build once we have enough money saved and a plot! There is some really great help here so i will be checking back often and with 20 years of landscaping and gardening experience hope i may be able to help as well. In the meantime if anyone can add to or advise on a query i have presently - form 2012 - 2015 i worked in garden and always thought the next door garden had a really good building plot potential. They were elderly and had sectioned it off with a small block wall as per pics. I was working with a builder on some projects and we often talked about finding land. So i knocked on the neighbours door and asked him if he would ever think of selling - he gave us a price of £80,000. We talked about how it may be possible to get capital and invest - the builder wanted to build and live in the plot, so agreed to pay me originally £10,000 for the 'finders fee' and not invest so he could live in it. After 4 years of trying to get planning, gaining a new business partner who funded the build -they have finally built and just about to complete on this - £329,000 There hasn't been any contact with the builder really over the last 4 years and i have only just seen the property - i phoned him and he said he was happy to give me £1000 'finders fee' - they have made £70000 ish on the project after fees. Is there an agreed principle in this or rule of thumb - i am not after money just a fair deal. If the general rule is 1% of the land value for example then £1000 is generous, if the rule is 1% of the sale price then it should be around £3.2k. If there are no rules any advice would be appreciated - we are not friends more acquaintances, i'm not really looking to take it legal - Thanks for any replies or help Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Unless you have some written agreement with him, I would just take whatever he offers you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Take the £1000 and treat it as a windfall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 If you think you had a proper verbal contract at £10,000 - that is a no its or buts type - then the builder should pay that to you. When was to trigger the payment - was it purchase, gaining consents or selling? Did you ever ask for the money? A verbal agreement can often be binding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Further to this, perhaps write to him asking for the £10,000 and pointing out that this is as per your agreement made on xxxx that in the event that he purchases / develops / the site at xxxx he will pay you £10,000 in respect of a finders fee. If you took this to a small claims court the fee is £410. See if they come back with a better offer. I think they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 (edited) The rule is always put this sort of thing in writing but verbal contracts are legally binding if you can prove one exists. £10,000 to find an £80,000 plot sounds a lot to me. I think an estate agent would a normal charge a seller 1-2%? Obviously if you had paid to get planning permission or otherwise helped to develop the plot you should get more. Edited June 7, 2019 by Temp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Sorry mate, I think you have just had a lesson on life. Take the grand and be a bit wiser next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Walter Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 The general rule relating to contracts in respect of real estate (land and buildings) is that it has to be in writing otherwise it will be unenforceable. Your contract may well be different as it does not relate to rights in land itself but rather a "finders fee". However, assuming the contract does not have to be in writing, in the absence of someone else being able to confirm the verbal contract, the difficulty in proving your verbal contract strongly suggests that you should take what is being offered and effectively cut your losses. Sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 24 minutes ago, Temp said: £10,000 to find an £80,000 plot sounds a lot to me. I think an estate agent would a normal charge a seller 1-2%? The £10,000 is only 3% of GDV although at 14% of profit it is a bit hefty. I think he may settle on £3,000 though. 7 minutes ago, D Walter said: the difficulty in proving your verbal contract He would not have offered £1,000 if he did not think there was any agreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Walter Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Yes, but was the offer of £1k in writing? And, even if it was, how to prove the contract for the balance....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterparky Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 Thanks guys for the advice - yes more of a 'mates' agreement but still binding and really good to get a cross section of experienced advice on matters like this. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Most importantly, read the agreements carefully and save all documents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now