Buying a flat!

[mckean]

Could anyone shed a light on me, what to consider when buying a home.

We're going to buy a flat, it should be around 75m2 and was built around 1975-1990 (that we can afford)

Apprarently, it is old and thus, I would like to know what to consider about the house itself when buying it:
-Last mainternance ?
- Water tube?
- Service fee?
...

Please drop me some lines with your experience. I would be very very much appreciate!

[betelgeuse]

Apprarently, it is old and thus, I would like to know what to consider about the house itself when buying it:
-Last mainternance ?
- Water tube?
- Service fee?
...
!

You will want to check the renovations done and what the 5 year plan for the housing company is. For example redoing pipes and bathrooms can be 600 euros / m2 (tens of thousands of euros in your size category). The surfaces etc. are relative cheap and easy to renovate and you should not care about them too much when going to an open house. The status of the housing company is important financially.

[Rip]

.
On the plus side, its age means that it is probably not ready for major replacement of the pipes just yet, but you still have to check.

Major renovation of facade/windows /balconies seems to usually hit first. Not usually as expensive as plumbing , but still pretty bad

[riku2]

there is a strange way of quoting the prices since often the existing owners will have taken out separate loans for substantial renovations done to the whole block (eg the facing or windows). The sticker price of the flat doesn't show this and I think when buying you have a choice of taking over the loan or paying it off when you buy the flat (which immediately bumps up the price you pay to move in). You might not notice this immediately when browsing house ads since it's assumed you know about this concept since it's common for flats in Finland.

Personally I bought a detached house three weeks after moving to finland and now I realise many of the issues with flats don't apply to owning your own house. With a flat there will be a committee deciding on renovations, garden work, snow clearing etc and they will decide how YOUR money is spent (including major costs such as windows or complete plumbing replacement). if the block is full of families with kids for example you might find yourself paying towards construction of a playground in the yard regardless of whether you need such an amenity.

I would consider the cost of ownership a minor issue compared to the noise you might get from the neighbours. This is hard to evaluate before you move in though. some blocks may have good construction, others less so and you will hear your neighbours walk around or go to the toilet. Mid 70's seems the turning point for noise insulation. before that and the quality is hopeless, after that things get better. This is one reason i'd never consider buying a flat and considering they are not really cheaper than detached houses, then I don't think i'll ever change my mind.

[betelgeuse]

there is a strange way of quoting the prices since often the existing owners will have taken out separate loans for substantial renovations done to the whole block (eg the facing or windows). The sticker price of the flat doesn't show this and I think when buying you have a choice of taking over the loan or paying it off when you buy the flat (which immediately bumps up the price you pay to move in). You might not notice this immediately when browsing house ads since it's assumed you know about this concept since it's common for flats in Finland.

In oikotie.fi all the prices in listings quote velaton hinta = sales price + housing company debt. Any way the terms are:

velaton hinta = sales price + housing company debt (as riku2 said this debt can usually be paid back a a couple times a year)
sales price = the amount of money you wire to the seller

It makes sense that sites compare the velaton hinta because that's what you eventually have to pay (it might take a couple decades since the housing company debt is also long term).

With a flat there will be a committee deciding on renovations, garden work, snow clearing etc and they will decide how YOUR money is spent (including major costs such as windows or complete plumbing replacement). if the block is full of families with kids for example you might find yourself paying towards construction of a playground in the yard regardless of whether you need such an amenity.

On the plus side the board is relatively easy to get into since usually who need to hunt for members. However, most boards wouldn't switch their working language to English. The major costs are only proposed by the board to a shareholder meeting which then decides on them with a simple majority.

[foca]

This a very important decision. Get an agent (most of them in the metropolitan region speak English) .

[betelgeuse]

I'm now wondering if most committees release meeting minutes. If you can get it, you might see" that people asked for these things (even if they were not approved or even voted on) which would be a good hint that your neighbours want to spend big bucks in the future.

The minutes of meetings for the board are not public. The shareholder meeting minutes are available for existing owners. The shareholder do have a limited access to board decisions:

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2 ... 91599#L7P6

"A shareholder has the right to be informed of any decisions of the Board of Directors pertaining to a right or responsibility, conferred on the shareholder by the shares owned by said shareholder, in relation to the housing company or another shareholder. "