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Goleo
Posts: 39 Forumite
I've put an offer in (asking price) on a repossessed house. If accepted they said they will continue to allow people to view the house. Does anyone have advice on buying a repossessed house?
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From my daughter's experience the seller has to get the best price possible so until the legal process for buying is well under way so they have to continue marketing the property.
be aware that the previous owner might not take kindly to having their house taken away from them and could do a bit of damage to the place when they remove their stuff from the house before you move in e.g stamp through the ceilings, remove bolts from the loft ladder, put broken glass down the outside drain in other words take it out on the house. Try to inspect it with the estate agent on the morning of completion so you can negotiate for any damage done since you put in an offer. shouldn't happen as they should be accompanied but it does as my Daughter found out.
be prepared for a lot of post from debt collectors, might even be visits from baliffs- I pre printed lots of labels for my Daughter which explained that the post was being returned as the house had been sold by X bank through Y estate agent, the date they completed and that they had no connection with the previous occupier. So far she has used over 60 of these labels and the post is reducing.
On the positive side you can pick up a bargain.0 -
With a repossession you need to be aware that the lender is legally bound to get the best price possible for the house. Even when an acceptable offer has been accepted there will usually be a notice put in a local paper inviting higher offers before exchange of contracts. So you need to try to make sure your offer is a decent one if you really want the house & you think it may bring a lot of interest from other prospective purchasers.
Proceedable buyers, ie those with no property to sell such as FTB's or cash purchasers are viewed as ideal as the lender is looking for the sale to conclude quickly.The bigger the bargain, the better I feel.
I should mention that there's only one of me, don't confuse me with others of the same name.0 -
some one asked this question on our company chat room a few days ago about buying a repo and here is the official response
''We are under a Statutory obligation to obtain the best possible price for a property in possession. One of the ways we do this is not to have a list of repossessed property but try to sell each one with a selling agent that is local to the property. We ask that all offers for a property goes through the estate agent so that if a member of staff did happen to want to buy a property we have repossessed, it can be shown that we have obtained the highest price and showed no favour to any particular buyer. When we accept an offer we then ask the selling agent to advertise it in the local press asking that anyone interested in buying the property makes an offer over the asking price within 7 days of the ad appearing. We then issue a draft contract to whoever has made the highest bid''0 -
Thanks. Seems like i could lose the house after i had gotten underway with all the survey stuff etc. I am a ftb so in a good position i think. It's just a worry that someone could offer more and get it. Would i get the chance to offer more than them?0
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Also it there any guarantees that the central heating, gas fire, cooker, shower/water etc work ok? They are all turned off with DO NOT USE tape on them.0
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If the house has been repossessed it may be that the services were disconnected due to non-payment. You could ask the selling agents to find out what the situation is. Contact an electricity/gas supplier to enquire what the situation will be if you buy the house. Due to the address and because you are a FTB, they may want want guarantees of some sort.0
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No guarantees on the appliances I'm afraid. Even with a conventional house purchase you have no guarantees on this kind of thing and are advised to get the relevant corgi registered people in to check on them.
Probably as the house was repossessed the bills weren't paid so the utility people came in & disconnected the supplies. This often happens in the case of repossessions.The bigger the bargain, the better I feel.
I should mention that there's only one of me, don't confuse me with others of the same name.0 -
If someone does offer more, you will be given the opportunity to raise your bid. The fact that you have already offered the asking price will limit the number of other people that might be interested. Repossessions through agents do seem to be offered at market value.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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We bought a repossessed house 6 months ago.
One thing you MUST be prepared for is that the company who are selling this house will want to exchange and complete in 28 days. We were lucky as we were first time buyers, so it was not a problem for us.
We have been getting debt collection agency letters for the previous owners ever sine we moved in. We also had a visit from the bailiffs last month. We just send the letters back marked 'no longer at this address' and pop them back in the post box. As for the bailiffs, we just explained that we had bought the house and that was it, they were very nice and polite.
It is very nerve racking because they will advertise in the local paper once your offer has been accepted, inviting people to make higher bids. Its annoying because you have to get moving so fast, if anyone does outbid you, you will have lost out on the survey money. Just remember to keep your head though and don't bid more than its worth.What the Deuce?0 -
No guarantees on the appliances I'm afraid. Even with a conventional house purchase you have no guarantees on this kind of thing and are advised to get the relevant corgi registered people in to check on them.
Probably as the house was repossessed the bills weren't paid so the utility people came in & disconnected the supplies. This often happens in the case of repossessions.
I meant the utility companies might want OP to give some guarantee or deposit before they will sign them up for services (because of previous occupants and if OP has not had utility bills in their name before)0
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