Advice on buying a house that has been repossessed?

We are due to exchange contracts on Monday for a repossessed house. It had been on the market for approx 3 months before we put an offer in. It was originally marketed at £149,950 and by the time we went to view it, it was advertised at £119,950. We put in offers of £110k, £112k and £114k. It was eventually accepted at £115k.

We are FTB and so could move quickly. If we exchange on Monday, it will have taken us 3 weeks from when our offer was accepted to exchange. We were warned about the possibility of the utilities being disconnected so once our offer was accepted, i rang up the gas, water and electric and asked them if the supply had been disconnected. They were very helpful and told me that the supply hadnt been disconnected, just turned off at the property. All we need to do is turn it back on when we move in. The locks were already changed by the mortgage company when the previous occupants were evicted, as somebody has already mentioned.

When the mortgage company repossessed the house, they also taped the letter box up, so no more incoming mail!! We have been advised that we may get a few letters from bailiffs etc, but the chances are, if the mail hasnt been able to be delivered, they will know that they no longer live there. There were also notices put in the window with a '14 day notice' or similar explaining that the house has been repossessed. Any bailiffs visiting should have read this and so the chance of them turning up when we have purchased is also greatly reduced.

The worst thing we have found with buying this property is the waiting! I know you can get gazumped on any house you buy, but a repossessed house has to stay on the market (unless agreed with the seller) and your offer has to be advised in the local press. The seller also has a legal obligation to get the best price that they can for the property. The house we are buying is going to auction on Aug 21st and this has already been advertised... but fingers crossed we can exchange on Monday.

Good Luck

Hi Claire!

The house is structuraly (Sp?) sound, but requires a lot of decoration! It is a 2 bed mid terraced with an 80ft garden... needless to say the garden is in a right state... more of a jungle really! We can move straight in as it is habitable, but just not to our taste. This is something we will do over time like replacing carpets, kitchen etc. Im actually looking forward to decorating and making it 'our home'

As for the offer in the press, all it said was that the EA are acting on behalf of the mortgagee in possession and have received an offer of £115k on property XXX. Higher bids are invited before exchange of contracts. No pictures of the house, just a small, plain notice... if i wasnt specifically looking for it ( i became obsessed!) then i probably wouldnt have noticed it! It was a bit of a shock though last week when the house came back on Rightmove (the EA and seller agreed to withdraw the advert when our offer was accepted) saying that it was going to auction on Aug 21st.... but apparently this is just standard and its in case we dont complete when we said we would.
Some people on here have said wait until it goes to auction... just be aware that the mortgage company will probably have a reserve on the property which is close to the asking price (or your offer if it is accepted). So you may not be any better off by waiting. Also, there is a chance that it might actually go above the asking price if it is a particurlarly desirable property or has good investment potential. And finally.... if you purchase at auction, it is effectively sold. If any conveyancing searches throw up any problems... tuff. I believe this to be correct, but im sure someone will correct me if i am wrong!

claire1978 wrote: »

have viewed again with a builder, locks have been changed, the whole house needs redecoration, new flooring, some built in cupboards to remove, new bathroom.

its on for around 120000, marketed in dec 2007,
now the big question how much should I offer? any thoughts?

£60k or less

Im very interested in this thread as Ive just put in an offer for a property on the market at the ridiculous price of 210. There is one on the same terrace in mint condition and no work required on the market for the same price who will accept 175-180 as I offered slightly less on that one and this is what they want me to go to. For the repossession I put in an offer of 125 as there is at least 40k of work needing doing so I might be able to go up a little but not much.

Loads of work, completely regutting, every room needs redone, new kitchen, bathroom and finish off the half complete cellar conversion which is still a building site. Exterior walls (end terrace) need repointing, roof needs attention, and on top of that needs a house clearance as lots of junk left. A sale fell through after agreement for close to asking price, THEN the buyer got a full structural survey and pulled out.

It would be interesting to hear views on the repossessors strategy/minimum aims.

Is it to recoup 100 percent of monies owed through the house sale (they have 12 years to recover from the bankrupt on secured loans) ?

Or to to get as much as possible bearing in mind they may have to pay any excess monies owed back to bankrupt (for him to pay off other debtors).

Do they accept say 75% of what they are owed if it a quick sale ? If I dont get it accepted I may still get a survey done and wait for auction, but it is 765 pounds for the full survey. Advice from those with experience of buying repossessed welcome!!!