Repossession and aftermath

clockley_2

Hi. First post here and I have a fairly complicated story which I will try to cover as fully as I can.

After some searching I found a property to buy and gave my offer. The offer was accepted (£2000 less than asking price) and sale went ahead. A condition was placed on the offer that a rear fence was to be fixed which was agreed by the vendor.

Meanwhile, my central London solicitor advised I use someone closer to the property to get a better deal. I was advised by the estate agent (Bairstowe Eves) that things would move faster if I used the same solicitor as the vendor. I agreed and was signed up with Countrywide Property Lawyers (who I later found out are affiliated with Bairstowe Eves) When the paperwork came through it suggested the vendors lawyer was someone else entirely and the estate agent just said he agreed to use Countrywide, then changed his mind.

Despite feeling mislead, we continued with the sale and as things started moving, the vendor was evicted by Nationwide (his lender). I was assured by the EA that this was not a problem. The vendor was given a deadline and should he not sell by then, they would take on the sale, and the transition would be straight forward.

The deadline soon arrived and as we were so close to exchange, Nationwide gave a weeks extention. The vendor still had not completed the agreed work and I was advised to add a £2000 retention clause on the contract should the work not be done. At that point, the vendor started to argue, saying he had no intention of doing the work or paying any retention. This haggling went back and forth until the deadline arrived and Nationwide repossessed the property fully.

Despite what the EA told us, the property went back on the market, at £3000 more than the original asking price. We were informed that if we were still interested, we should put in an offer. I placed the offer of the orginal price less £2000 to account for the work, indicating that I did not need the work completed. I also pointed out that all the paperwork is done and we have no forward chain, expecting this to be the most acceptable offer for Nationwide considering all they need is to cover the original mortgage. Four days later I was told that Nationwide were not accepting offers for two weeks.

A couple of days later, the EA called my partner suggesting that if we offered our original offer it would be accepted, even though I had no formal indication that my original offer had been declined.

I never trusted EA's before and trust them even less now. I feel my solicitors are incompetent (and affiliated with EA making it doubly worse) and I don't know what to do next.

I would be very grateful for any advise in this matter.

Craig

silvercar

Something doesn't sound right. Particularly this bit:

The vendor still had not completed the agreed work and I was advised to add a £2000 retention clause on the contract should the work not be done. At that point, the vendor started to argue, saying he had no intention of doing the work or paying any retention.

Who would refuse to put a fence up, if it meant that they wouldn't be repossessed? By being repossesssed he's going to lose more money as the lender will add legal costs to the bill. Plus his credit record will take a hammering and his chance of getting a decent mortgage in the near future are diminished. All because he wouldn't put a fence up? Someone is not telling you something.

mr218

if you are still interested can you take on a new solicitor. but if i were you i would drive a hard bargain and appear fairly disinterested.

i sympathise with you and this again reinforces my belief that you should not trust EAs and always seek independent advice wherever possible.

they seem keen on your original offer. if i were you tell them you are sick of being mistreated by all parties and are only willing to proceed if they reduce the price further to acknowledge and account for the general hassle you have been put through.

clockley_2

Well, that's what I did when I placed the offer inc the £2000 retention. It seems to have made no difference and even though we threatened to back out completely. The EA are claiming that this is a new policy of Nationwide (the weeks on the market before selling) and they had no idea.

If I changed solicitor, would that not mean started everything again? All the searches have been completed and contracts were ready to exchange.

My suspision is that the EA had a second buyer and were stalling while they tried to get a better offer. I have heard of a similar story also relating to the same EA where they kept two buyers hanging to see who completed first.

Craig

sheeny_2

A friend of mine tried to buy a repo'd house after he saw it advertised in the local paper. There was a legal notice saying it would be sold on such a date unless more than £x thousand was offered.
It seemed cheap, so he went to the EA and offered a full £5000 more than the advertised price. The EA found some excuse to turn his bid down!
He later found out that a 'builder friend' of the EA had bought the place :cool:

Jorgan_2

silvercar wrote:

Something doesn't sound right. Particularly this bit:



Who would refuse to put a fence up, if it meant that they wouldn't be repossessed? By being repossesssed he's going to lose more money as the lender will add legal costs to the bill. Plus his credit record will take a hammering and his chance of getting a decent mortgage in the near future are diminished. All because he wouldn't put a fence up? Someone is not telling you something.

Sadly, a lot of people who have properties repossessed don't understand the full implications of whats involved. The seller may have felt that there was no point in doing the work as it was going to cost him money & he would get no 'benefit' from the work being done. I have taken on a number of repossessed properties over the years, some in a good state of repair, others trashed, kitchens, bathrooms, boilers either smashed or removed, affecting the selling price of the property. I once met someone who had smashed up their property when it had been repossessed & they had no idea that they would be liable for any debt left over once the property was sold, they assumed that once it was sold the debt was gone.

Getting back to OP, Nationwide has a duty to achieve the highest possible figure from the sale of the property. Bairstow Eaves are part of Countrywide and have a process thay have to complete. Ask them if your first offer has been rejected & if a seven day notice has to appear in the local paper. Most companies will do this when selling a repo, If another offer has been made you will see exactly what that offer is & can then decide whether you want to increase.

td

Knowledge is power in this case - ring Nationwide and find out what their policy is soyou know whether the ea is telling the truth - you caould also check whether your offer has been passed on.

td

clockley_2

Well, the nonsense finally came to an end. Myself and my OH are now settled in our new home and are slogging through the ton of work that needs to be done on the place. We are just happy it's all over.

Talking to neighbours, things have become clearer - the former owner was an alcoholic, possibly a drug abuser. He did not have cancer - it was a ruse to secure a quick sale. Every night there were police and ambulances at the house. He had up to twelve tenants at a time staying here (in a two bedroom house!)

The neighbours now think we are saints - they put up for fourteen years with the neighbour from hell....to them we are a breath of fresh air, so everyone has a happy ending....

david29dpo

countrywide again!!!