Questions posed to me about re-possessed house I purchased

Lil_Dee_2

Hello House buyers/sellers !! I don't often check my PM's (Personal Messages) as I've not had internet available at home for a looooong time (whilst moving house, funnily enough) but I've just managed to get myself back up and running this week, and have just signed in and had a proper look around.

Well, it seems I owe three other MSEs an apology - I never noticed I had any PMs til now. :rolleyes:

The reason for this (looong) thread is that all three had the same question about a re-possessed property I mentioned. I bought it as a re-possession from the Abbey, and they all wanted to know how, and how much less did I pay, and was it worth it etc. Well, the answer isn't going to be what I think you were all hoping for - I don't have a magic wand to find re-possessed property, and I don't have a mole working at the Abbey to point me in the right direction !!! (More's the pity) However, I thought I'd pass on how I happened upon my little bargain, so that it may help someone else in the future, though I was very, very lucky to get mine.

As with a lot of FTBs and those of us that have split from a partner, I found myself looking for a home, with a small deposit (approx. 5%) and not a lot else. EAs annoy the hell out of me, and I got sick of them trying to force me into going for property that I felt was out of my price range, and in the end, I had the phrase "I ALREADY HAVE MY OWN MORTGAGE ADVISOR, THANK YOU" on a sandwich board that I used to wear whilst walking round their offices (Joke!)

I quite literally got in my car and drove around areas that I felt happy to live in. Whilst driving round the estate that I eventually settled on, I saw an EAs board that I didn't recognise. Because of this, I knew immediatly that I had never seen the details of this house, and immediatly set about finding out where they were, so I could get hold of them. As it turns out, I hadn't seen their office because they weren't "local" like the other EAs (although they weren't that far away, they were further than you would have expected). They had recently changed their business priority, and were now concentrating on commercial sales/lets, so no longer advertised houses in the local papers. The house in question was actually the last domestic property they had on their books.

Due to the fact that they were more distant (and therefore no-one looking in this area would have walked into their office off the street, as you would normally) and no longer pushing domestic sales, didn't mean it wasn't under offer. Quite the opposite in fact. It had been under offer for nearly five months, but there was a blockage in the sale (I was advised that should I be in a position to confirm my mortgage offer, I would be in a better position than the current bidder).

Surprisingly, when I was able to provide the necessary paperwork, followed by my giving the EA (and ultimately the Abbey) a higher bid than had originally been accepted is where the fun started. The Abbey instructed the EA to revert back to the original bidder, and advise him/her (?) of the position, and ask if they could match it !!!!

Neither the EA nor I understood why, as it was self evident that the mortgage was a problem for the original bidder, hence why the five months had passed and still no sale, yet here they were, giving him the chance to match and/or better my offer. Yet, here I was in a secure, well paid job and had been with the same employer for over ten years at this point. What bit did they think would make me the wrong choice !???

There ensued a battle, as the original bidder did exactly what I'd hoped they wouldn't and upped their offer, plus added a little more :mad: What they thought they would acheive by doing this (other than making me pay more) I will never know. The Abbey, rather than going with their EAs recommendation (I had now matched the higher offer) and accepting my offer, then went on to advise that whoever managed to get the exchange/completion ready first would win the house !!!! :rolleyes:

Needless to say, I didn't have to wait five months for my mortgage to come through, and my solicitor (in conjunction with a slightly miffed EA) managed to ensure that my offer was ready to go before the other party could wade in with another, higher bid (and believe me, they tried - but the EA was busy, and 'forgot' to call them back thankfully)

I still believe that the Abbey would have waited another six months if the original bidder had outbid me by just £500 at the time. And this was on a house, that I eventually completed on for £43,000. Talk about left and right hand not knowing what the other is doing !!! They would surely have lost far more waiting for them to come through?

Anyways, there it is...long-winded, but complete. I bought back in Jul 2000 for £43,000. The market price at the time was more like £49,000. I sold in Nov 2005 for £114,000. I was, as mentioned previously VERY lucky.

I hope the luck rubs off on some of you out there !