Supposed to be exchanging on repo tomorrow!!

karenthemummy79

Thanks - I think we are definately going to have to consider it!! The solicitor said that the other side will have to give us an indemnity insurance if there is no guarantee (and if the lender is happy to proceed!) but they said they want MY solicitor to sort it out which will cost £300!!!

I am also having to pay in excess of £100 to sort out the issue with the title on the land and am going to fork out a few hundred (I guess) on having all the locks changed because the repo company hasnt and has lost the keys!

All these hundreds add up and we just cant afford it all!!!

Like you said - even £500 is a result so I will see what tomorrow brings!!!
xx

gjchester

karenthemummy79 wrote: »

am going to fork out a few hundred (I guess) on having all the locks changed because the repo company hasnt and has lost the keys!

Lock barrels can be got for as little as a fiver, look in Screwfix or Toolstation, or personally I used handlestore.com last time I changed them.
Windows usually don't have unique keys, and the glazers name should be in them, you may get keys that way.

zcacmxi

I think that the reason repos are meant to be cheaper is because it's "sold as seen".

The previous owner is not around/unwilling/unable to respond to the additional enquiries. You must therefore assume that nothing works, and factor in the price to fix it all.

Did you get any quotes? I'd make sure that the price you are paying plus the costs make it all worthwhile, as I've read on a number of previous threads that repos and auctions are not always the bargains that they once used to be!

karenthemummy79

Yes we are very fortunate that my partner can do the majority of the work himself and anything that he cant do, he knows someone that can!!!

We already have a plumber lined up who was supposed to be going in on Saturday to install the boiler.

Well, tonight I went to see the next door neighbour who confirmed that the properties do not have an NHBS but he gave me the name, address & phone number for the architect so I will be on the phone to him 1st thing in the morning to see if they can provide anything at all!! The neighbour was really nice actually and showed me around his house which was great to see what the house can be like when finished and furnished!! It has made me even more determined!! the houses are so spacious!!

All I can do is see what tomorrow brings which is what I have been saying for 28days and think I will carry on saying for some time to come!

Thanks for all your advice!

karenthemummy79

Well, after numerous phonecalls yday to the architect and the council, we have discovered that there was an occupancy certificate issued on the property in feb 2004 with 4 'minor' issues that had to be resolved before the final certificate could be issued!!! That is as far as it went!!!

So basically the house has never been signed off by building control in the council so the architect has never been able to issue his certificate!!!

The next plan is that the architect (who is being very helpful by the way!) is going to phone the man from the council on Monday morning (on hols today!) and try to arrange to meet him at the property on Monday. He said it is best if they meet there together as it will save on time and they can try and come to a mutual agreement to get this issue sorted.

Obviously, this is going to cost money - the architect has his fee and if there is any work to be done then we have to do it before even exchanging contracts!!!!!

If there is work to be done, we will get a quote and I think that is definately the time to start renegotiating on the price we are paying for the property!!!! I feel like the repossession company has has 12mths to sort all of this out and instead, we are doing all their dirty work at our expense!!!! So frustrating!!!

PasturesNew

The catalogue of annoyances you're experiencing are all part and parcel of buying a repo. Repo houses are problematical because questions can't be answered, paperwork is missing, keys are missing ....

It would petrify me to buy one, to be honest. So much can go wrong.

Trollfever

I feel like the repossession company has has 12mths to sort all of this out and instead, we are doing all their dirty work at our expense!!!! So frustrating!!!

If the mortgage lender gets you to pay then it mitigates their loss.

zcacmxi

The more you look at it, Repo = Agro.

They usually require lots of work, there is lots of agro, lots can go wrong.

The price has to be low enough to compensate for all of the above.

ciano125

I appreciate you want to get as much money as possible for your house, thats only natural, however, you HAVE to sell your house. The market really doesnt give a hoot about what you want or need for it, if it is priced correctly it will sell - there is demand. The only way you are going to do this is to price it VERY attractivly, get people interested and then get several bids on it. You've got it on the market at (correct me if I'm wrong) £150k? From a buers point of view, and it is difficult without seeing your house and being able to do any sort of valuation on it, if I was going to buy your house I'd be offering about £130k anyway to see if I could get it or not, if not, I'd go to the next house and offer what I thought was market value on that one. I dont give a hoot about what you want or need for it, I'm only going to offer what I think it's worth. If you cant accept that, it wont sell. The problem is that sellers are still reluctant to accept the fact that their house isnt worth what it once was, however, as someone has said, if you're trading up (which you are) you can make money anyway because the bigger house has dropped in value more.

Its all just psychology at the end of the day, but if you're going to take such a risk you need to be as smart as possible about it. Drop your price and get shut of it (oh, and ten grand off isn't, in my opinion, a massive drop) and then enjoy your new house.

We're going to look at a repo tomorrow so I've enjoyed reading your posts and have found them very educational, thank you, and I wish you well in your purchase.