Yellow Tape on the Cooker...

Sparkkee

Yellow tape on the cooker in a vacant property = Reposession?

Agent is refusing to say one way or the other.:rolleyes:

mlz1413

I believe this means the property has had it's electric, gas and water stopped at the mains.

It could be a repossension, it could be someone who has moved abroad, it could be a death and the family / estate have decided to do this to prevent problems.

Does it matter is the main thing?

Sparkkee

mlz1413 wrote: »

Does it matter is the main thing?

I'd like to know why the property is empty so that I know whether they've moved because the area is rubbish, the house is rubbish or the neighbours are hellish.

Other than that, not really

brightonman123

if no valid gas cert in place, i would steer WELL clear.

moneysavinmonkey

If it is a resposession they usually put tape over the gas appliances and also the plumbing installations. So the toilet, sinks etc should be taped up. Doesn't necessarily mean anything is afoot just they do that to cover themselves. Buyer beware applies.

There are a number of other reasons too, it seems strange the agent refusing to comment. If it wasn't a reposession you would think they would deny it, so i'd guess that it is.

moneysavinmonkey

brightonman123 wrote: »

if no valid gas cert in place, i would steer WELL clear.

houses for sale don't usually come with a gas certificate AFAIK that is just for renting, no?

Sparkkee

brightonman123 wrote: »

if no valid gas cert in place, i would steer WELL clear.

Does disconnected gas always mean no gas certificate?

Sparkkee

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

If it wasn't a reposession you would think they would deny it, so i'd guess that it is.

That's what I was thinking too...

Presumably they're trying to avoid offers aimed at the minimum the mortgage company will accept, although how that differs to the minimum a vendor would accept on a vacant property?

russ21282

It must be a reposession. They also screw the letterbox shut too. I'm guessing if the previous occupant had died or moved away the estate agent would tell you.

Apparently EAs are not allowed to tell you if it's a repo (usually say a company is selling it) so in this case looks as though it is.

Saying that, when i first started looking a few months back, the EAs wouldn't tell me if it was or wasn't. Now though, they will pretty much tell you if you ask. Must be getting sick of people asking with the number of repos on the market!

mlz1413

Sparkkee wrote: »

I'd like to know why the property is empty so that I know whether they've moved because the area is rubbish, the house is rubbish or the neighbours are hellish.

Other than that, not really

I'm guessing this area is not local to you or you're new to the area. Buy a local paper for a few weeks and check out where the aeras are in stories(general feel - no specifics as good and bad happen everywhere).

Visit areas at 8-10pm at night, who is about, do you feel safe, etc.
Visit areas first thing in the morning 6-7am, is there any litter, bottles, tramps sleeping rough?

Also ask, newsagents, local shops, EA, go into pubs in the area.

Look at the general state of the houses, street and cars this can normally give a feel for how much care put into the homes of the neighbours.

Sparkkee

mlz1413 wrote: »

I'm guessing this area is not local to you or you're new to the area. Buy a local paper for a few weeks and check out where the aeras are in stories(general feel - no specifics as good and bad happen everywhere).

Visit areas at 8-10pm at night, who is about, do you feel safe, etc.
Visit areas first thing in the morning 6-7am, is there any litter, bottles, tramps sleeping rough?

Also ask, newsagents, local shops, EA, go into pubs in the area.

Look at the general state of the houses, street and cars this can normally give a feel for how much care put into the homes of the neighbours.

It's only about half a mile away from where I live now, but the area is very patchy. Within about 10 minutes walk you go from 4-5 bed detached houses with £300k + price tags to 3 bed terraces with prices more like £80k! :eek:

The reason I'm worried is that it's at a low price in an area which flooded extensively - dodgy neighbours vs reposession vs possible structural problems? It feels like a reposession, but I'd like to make sure that there is nothing else obviously wrong with it!