I was Gazzumped .... but was I right??!!!!!

[The Beauty Zoo]

Some of you may have read my journal and know that I am in the process of trying to open my own salon.

I am not going to start at the beginning....it's too long!!!! Suffice to say that there was myself and another party going for the shop and the landlord decided to go with me as the other guy was taking too long (he was going for change of use BEFORE taking the lease)

On Thursday afternoon I had a call from the Estate Agent saying that although the landlord had decided to go with me the other guy had had his change of use approved and had gone through his solicitor and offered more rent!!! He said it may help me if, as a gesture, I increased my rent offer!! Although the landlord hadn't made a definant decision, he was going to think about it overnight, he is a business man and wants the best rent that he can get. WTF, I was really cross. I was adamant that I would not be playing these sort of games and told the E/A as much. I said I had bent over backwards to accomodate the landlord and try and get this through quickly, his solicitor had held it up by taking 2 weeks to send the draft copy of the lease through, I was not having searches to speed it up, I was taking it without getting change of use first, he was not willing to give me any rent free period to give me time to get the shop up and running but he wanted more rent!!!!

Well after a very long discussion I agreed to increase my offer for the rent by an extra £500 per annum.....this works out to just over £9 per week.

It took 15 mins for the E/A to get back to me and say the landlord was definantly sticking with me...YES the shop is mine. I told the E/A that I wanted that in writing to my solicitor before I do any more....he also said the L/L was willing for me to have to keys before I sign the lease but that has to go through the solicitors too!!!!! Oh and I have had to increase the length of the lease from 6 years to 9...the L/L wanted 10 but I said no as the rent reviews are every 3 years.

I know this is long but I feel really deflated now when I should be over the moon......the shop is MINE!!!!!! Did I do the right thing or was I just being taken for a mug?????

Thanks Geeks!!!!!! XXXXX

 

[amos78]

Well done the shop is yours!!!:biggrin: Yes you did do the right thing well done. Negotiating is the hardest part of any business start-up and i think you've done really well. £9 a week is nothing you can make that in half an hour babe.

 

[1999judy]

A bit of a nightmare for you hun but YES!!! the shop is yours:hug: Well done and good luck with the business. Hope it all goes well and don't forget to post some piccies for us. You did the right thing....if you hadn't done it would you forever taunt yourself with "Oh for a few quid I could have had my own business" ? Get the champagne out!:hug:

 

[Zingara]

Aww hun, I'm so pleased you got the place! Your landlord does sound like a bit of a devil, but I'm sure that if you keep your wits about you, you'll handle him no problem! What goes around...and all that!

Now cheer up and think of all the fun you'll have getting the place ready and showing off to us poor souls who are still working in our spare rooms!:hug:

 

[Nailsinlondon1]

Well the way I see it .... you wanted it and made the offer, now pour yourself a drink and £9 a week is made by selling a bottle of solar oil lol....
Good luck huni and see ya next week and you can tell me all about it over a cuppa xxxx or two and a packet of cigs xxx

 

[Snugglepuss]

Well done you managed to get the shop for an extra £9 quid - and this the start of the rest of your life - I'm sure you will put in as much effot and passion into your business as you have in to getting the salon you wanted - what does that tell me - that you will do everything in your power to be a huge success - Well done Nikki

:hug: Debbie xx

 

[~shelley~]

Well done hun, i think you did the right thing xxxxx

 

[Sassy Hassy]

Aw Nikki what a bummer. Opening a shop can be so damned hard. I hope the rest is plain sailing for you matey. Keep going , you're nearly there. xxxxxxx

 

[jac extreme]

glad you got it sorted nikki, £9.00 a week is not too much money, a bit of retail or some nail art and your there. well done:hug:

 

[pazzy]

Someone once said to me 'how much is it worth to YOU?' so if it was worth the extra money - then absolutely you did the right thing. Its life, and someone somewhere is always waiting for the oppurtunity that you are too.
Well done. Good luck.

 

[jobo]

well done and congratulations on taking this braveeeeeeee step. L/L is sooo bad but he is a business man!!!
Whats meant to be is meant to be!!
Playing devils advocate though it concerns me that you have not had searches done or change of use. What happens if you sign and cannot get it. you are stuck with a lease you can not get out. change of use takes around 6/8 weeks to do so how are you gonna pay the rent when you have no income???He hasn't even given you a rent free period!Without the searches you have no idea about public access etc. Don't wanna put a downer on this as its a great step to take but please be cautious
Good luck

 

[nailzoo]

sounds like the landlord is a penny pincher, make sure your lease is airtight and make sure every complaint/problem you have is in writing, he sounds like the type thats gonna give your trouble, or try and avoid any expenses out of his pocket, it's great you get rent review every 3 years, we get it every 12 months here (CPU) consumer prices (minimum of 5%), Leases are always a pain in the a** and always seem to be in favour of the LL, the lease before my last one was for a shopping centre and was 67 pages long, not to mention all the crap with insurance ..... but still, it's nice to know it's yours ........ for the time being ..... GOOD LUCK

 

[The Beauty Zoo]

Awe, thanks for all the replies I feel alot better now :hug: I knew you lot would be positive!!!!!!

I am going into the unknown but I can be very strong minded and I know that I am taking a chance by not getting the searches done....but the lease is only 9 years and the Estate Agent was in agreement with me. I am having the lease looked over by a Solicitor.....I cannot make head nor tail of it!!!! The Planning Officer has assured me (on the quiet) that I will not have a problem getting change of use. They have just approved it for a take-away and that is notoriously the hardest one to get. I also had the Architect check out the plans with Building Regs before submitting so we know that they will not have any problem with what is going to be done!!!

Roofie and anyone else who is going to Olympia.....its a date!!!!! I cannot wait for next weekend!!!!!!

 

[CadenceAlex]

Awe, thanks for all the replies I feel alot better now :hug: I knew you lot would be positive!!!!!!

I am going into the unknown but I can be very strong minded and I know that I am taking a chance by not getting the searches done....but the lease is only 9 years and the Estate Agent was in agreement with me. I am having the lease looked over by a Solicitor.....I cannot make head nor tail of it!!!! The Planning Officer has assured me (on the quiet) that I will not have a problem getting change of use. They have just approved it for a take-away and that is notoriously the hardest one to get. I also had the Architect check out the plans with Building Regs before submitting so we know that they will not have any problem with what is going to be done!!!

Roofie and anyone else who is going to Olympia.....its a date!!!!! I cannot wait for next weekend!!!!!!

Nine years is such a long time! I think as someone said in a previous post, your landlord is a penny pincher as he obviously had no qualms about playing you and the other prospective tenant off.

I wouldn't have gone for it in my opinion as I couldn't bear to be giving that man that money for almost a decade BUT, you are happy and that is what counts, and as someone else said, its only a bottle of Solar oil or some nail art a week.

Congratulations on your new business venture! You must be so excited!!

xxxx

 

[jenny mosley]

Hi
What a battle..
Thank goodness it's yours now
Good luck in all that you do:hug:
jen

 

[Andrea J Ashley]

I rented a shop which had never been used before in Etepona Spain, it had no floor, water, electric, or front, it needed licenses for everything and to top it my lovely landlord turned into the Landlord from hell. He played every dirty trick in the book,just some of his tricks

• contract stated the shop was 75 sq mts, Architect stated it was only 45, so I had to fight for the extra space but charged me more rent
• Cancelled my telephone lines three times , to try and stop me from opening, ( internet cafe without telephone lines), This was after the shop was totally reformed and had all the licenses, he was hoping I would give up and he would be left with this new shop.
• Constantly taking photos of the shop, with the threat that he might have to sell it, knowing that even though I had first refusal he would ask a crazy price for it.
• Told everyone it was his Internet cafe.
• Started threatning phone calls to my family.
• His wife was with the Spanish police and they were constantly in the shop hassling us.

Even though the shop was thriving, I always had at the back of my mind "what was he going to do next", so I sold my remaining years and moved back to Scotland last year.

I Know the British system is different and they would not get away with this here, but I would advise you to be really strong and hold your ground and take no **** and enjoy your new venture:green:

Andrea