Gazumped on Repossession - where do i stand?

supersideburns

Hi Everyone,

I recently put an offer in on a property that was repossed and going to auction. I knew that there was chance that someone else could come in at any time and whip it from under our feet but we decided to proceed anyway, getting a mortgage agreement, a survey and all the rest, thinking if that did happen I would at least be made aware.

That is until I received a phone call from the estate agent telling me that unfortunately it had been sold and they had completed that day. The estate agent claimed that it was thought another party and this was the first they had heard, also the date she said they exchanged contracts was the day we paid for a surveyor to inspect the property.

I’m felling less than pleased, as you might expect, but I feel almost cheated as I outlaid money for something I never really had a chance follow through with. I have the offer, although never accepted formally, just said it was at an acceptable level, (this was from the auction company which was selling the property), should they have let me know what was going on or have I learnt a lesson the expensive way? I have read that when an offer is accepted on a reposed property it had to go to press, is this the same as it was due to be auctioned?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

hamblettamaud

i hate to sound preachy, but i think there is a lesson there that many moneysavers (including myself) can learn:

don't trust anyone.

ask questions, get insurance, pay non-refundable deposits, make sure that if you make an agreement the other side loses if they break the contract.

and sorry to sound preachy - i almost hate to read my own advice back to me again.

supersideburns

hamblettamaud wrote: »

don't trust anyone.

ask questions, get insurance, pay non-refundable deposits, make sure that if you make an agreement the other side loses if they break the contract.

I don't think this is an issue of trust, as when buying a repossession the bank/seller won't commit as they are trying to get the best price. I spent my very hard earned cash trying to buy a home, yes there was risks but I had taken them into consideration and if it came off I would have been up.

I want to know if there is anything I can do, have they acted illegally in anyway? For example, not informing me it was already sold, therefore taking money for something that I never had a chance of buying. I there anything i can do?

confused31_2

I dont think you have got a leg to stand on i think with a reposession its a race to whoever completes first, i think we are gonna see this happen more often.

Maybe when they put the notice in the paper, a cash buyer just went straight in and paid the money, that was acceptable to the bank, you said yourself they hadnt accepted your offer, they said the offer you made would be acceptable.

I think then this was the time to do things as fast as you can, but being a buyer that needs to get a mortgage and a survey done, you are always going to be at risk, maybe just look at normal houses(not repos) theres plenty of bargains out there.

Especially when people are waiting for people to be reposessed, you will see ftb's trying to get a repo, struggle to get a mortgage in place, and in the meantime the notice will go in the paper and you will just get investors with hard cash come in and gazump.

confused31_2

Having read you first post it seems a bit dodgy them completing straight after the survey, you didnt arrange the survey through the estate agent??

Because if you did it looks like you paid for the survery and the other person was just waiting for that to be done to complete.

id be upset too, but surveys arent that much, and you have learnt by this for next time.

david29dpo

I know for a fact that if you are in a contract race with normal sales, all parties have to be told. Not sure about auction sales.

MissMotivation

hamblettamaud wrote: »

i hate to sound preachy, but i think there is a lesson there that many moneysavers (including myself) can learn:

don't trust anyone.

ask questions, get insurance, pay non-refundable deposits, make sure that if you make an agreement the other side loses if they break the contract.

and sorry to sound preachy - i almost hate to read my own advice back to me again.

How would paying a 'non-refundable' deposit have helped in this situation

There is no comeback on the seller as they sale is no legally binding until exchange of contracts!

poppysarah

There's nowt to do - sadly it sounds like wires were crossed - they should have alerted him when they had another offer - to give an option of increasing his.

If they failed to do that then technically they haven't done everything they can to get the best offer on the property -
I would assume they can show the price was advertised in the local paper too

amersall

supersideburns wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

I recently put an offer in on a property that was repossed and going to auction. I knew that there was chance that someone else could come in at any time and whip it from under our feet but we decided to proceed anyway, getting a mortgage agreement, a survey and all the rest, thinking if that did happen I would at least be made aware.

That is until I received a phone call from the estate agent telling me that unfortunately it had been sold and they had completed that day. The estate agent claimed that it was thought another party and this was the first they had heard, also the date she said they exchanged contracts was the day we paid for a surveyor to inspect the property.

I’m felling less than pleased, as you might expect, but I feel almost cheated as I outlaid money for something I never really had a chance follow through with. I have the offer, although never accepted formally, just said it was at an acceptable level, (this was from the auction company which was selling the property), should they have let me know what was going on or have I learnt a lesson the expensive way? I have read that when an offer is accepted on a reposed property it had to go to press, is this the same as it was due to be auctioned?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

surely if the house completed with the other buyer the same day you paid for a survey your survey is not needed? i would get advice from a solicitor you paid for something you did not recieve

Catti

david29dpo wrote: »

I know for a fact that if you are in a contract race with normal sales, all parties have to be told. Not sure about auction sales.

But it is not clear from the OP that contracts had even been issued - it sounds like the early stage of the transaction.

Conrad

Sellers and thier agents have no legal obligation to buyers in such cases.
You had not even has a survey done, so as far as the sellers were concerned you were merely a possible deal.

Repo teams are well used to deals falling through as buyers aren't commited until completion.
Thier only interest is obtaining best price for the Bank and person repossessed.

I have to say from experience, cheap repos tend to go to those that dont bopther with surveys, and often only want to the most basic of legal checks done which can be arranged in a matter of hours.

No offence, but you will have been percieved as just an ordinary buyer that may pull out at any time, what with surveys being done etc.

Seriously capable buyers that have a chance of very low prices being achieved, amke offers on the proviso they wont have a survey or normal legals done and can complete in 2 days.
Thats not to say the odd ordinary buyer doesn't get a bargain though, but there's luck involved in such cases.