Estate Agents and Repossessions

JayCee

We are in the process of moving from Scotland to England and due to the differences in house selling laws, we would prefer to purchase a house with 'no chain'.

A number of properties in this category fall into the 'repossession' bracket, but we are having major problems with even getting to view such properties, due to awkward Agents.

Having already sold in Scotland, we are fully committed and keep getting told that we are ideal purchasers in England, as we have no chain.

The 1st repossessed property that we encountered appeared on Rightmove on 19th March. I phoned the Agent the same day and was told that an offer had been accepted that morning, so no more viewings were being arranged.

At the beginning of May. it was still listed on Rightmove as being for sale, with nothing suggesting that it had been sold or was under offer.

I phoned the Agent again and was told that an offer had been accepted earlier that week and no more viewings were being taken.

I mentioned that I had been told that 6 weeks earlier and was told that it had fallen through, but had since been sold again.

At the end of June, it was still listed on Rightmove and I called the Agent, only to get the same tale about an offer having been accepted earlier in the week, so I couldn't view it and they hadn't updated Rightmove yet.

Again, they were evasive when questioned by me about being told the same story on 2 other occasions in the past 3 months.

The house has finally shown as sold on Rightmove in the last week.

The 2nd repossessed property that we encountered showed on Rightmove that an offer had been accepted and further offers were being invited.

I phoned the Agent and was told that the person dealing with that property would return my call.

6 further calls were made in subsequent days but I was always told that only 1 person was dealing with the property and he was never available, nor did he return calls.

Eventually, I got to speak to him, only to be told that "the closing date is tomorrow and no more viewings are being taken."

The property remained on rightmove for another 2 months, but again I had problems trying to speak with the Agent dealing. Twice I was told that the date had been extended, but was about to end and no more viewings were being taken.

The 3rd property, we actually got to see and research showed similar properties in good condition were going for around £220,000. It was on the market at £217,000 but was in poor condition and needed £20,000 spent on it, to bring it up to move in condition.

Research showed the last selling price to be £184,000 in 2006. So I offered £185,000 assuming this would cover the lenders exposure.

The agent told me that he had no idea how much the vendor wanted, but reckoned it would be 'considerably more'.

He phoned us back within 5 mins to tell us that our offer had been rejected, so we put in an increased offer of £193,000.

Again we were quickly told that the vendor wanted considerably more, but the Agent had no idea how much more.

Given the condition of the house, I would be surprised that anyone would pay much more and the Agent again appeared very evasive when I tried to find out more about the property and I remain unconvinced that my offers were actually submitted to the vendor.

It has been on the market for more than 3 months and I would have thought that any lender would consider £193,000 for a property that was in poor condition and had been on the market for more than 3 months, from someone ready to buy immediately. Especially given that the property was last sold for £184,000, so unless they gave a 110% mortgage, they would be recovering their exposure.

We have been trying to view a 4th property for 2 weeks now, but have been given the names of 3 different people who are the 'only person dealing with that property'. Each time/date that we have suggested for a viewing has not been suitable. When I have said "you tell me when I can view it then" on each occasion I have been told someone will get back to me, but they never do.

One former Agent that I have spoken to stated that certain unscrupulous Agents only deal with 'preferred investors' when dealing with repossessions (usually for under the counter commission).

That surely is defrauding the vendors.

The 4 properties that I've referred to were all using different Agents, so it's not one specific Company, but the one thing they were all consistent with was trying to push other properties on me that I wasn't interested in, while maintaining that the person dealing with the property that I was interested in was never in the office.


Given that I have failed to even get viewings on 3 repossessed properties and remain unconvinced that my offers have been submitted on the other one, is there any way of finding out who is actually selling these properties, as I'm sure that they would be very interested in the tactics being used by their Agents.

Running_Horse

Does it have to be a repossession? How much extra will you pay for one?

There are plenty of distressed and estate and divorcing sellers out there to get a bargain.

Doozergirl

If you download documents from the land registry it will cost you £4 but it will tell you who the lender is. The law is that repossessions must be marketed until exchange of contracts has taken place. They should not be refusing you viewings, so if you are fobbed off I would ask to speak to the sales manager, armed with your title deed and tell them that if you are refused a viewing and don't feel that things are being run correctly that you will have no hesitation in contacting the named lender and telling them so.

If you make a low but sensible offer on a repossession and it is rejected quickly, it hasn't been put forward. You must always with a repossession be sent a Notification of Offer - make sure you get one.

I bought a repo last year. It was a nightmare trying to view it, trying to offer on it. After lord knows how many calls from me I ended up having to play my send my husband in because he plays rugby with the company director. That was the only way that my offer was going in. It was nothing to do with the director or being 'mates' and having preferential buyers, they just weren't interested in selling the place because it had 'issues', it was simply the threat that he might have to get involved that got someone's finger out to push the low offer through to the people dealing with the repossession. And it took time to get a reply from them, which is what happens with low offers but I got it. But without tenacity, there's not a chance.

But I've bought others that have been no more difficult than any other purchase, so it isn't always like that. But you need to know what you're talking about if they are going to push you about. If there is an offer, ask them where the seven day notice is going to be advertised. They have to put forward all offers and you can still get a place that is going through.

Don't take it! Go into the office so you can ask for the sales manager if needs be.

PasturesNew

Primelocation has a searchable "no chain" feature, so you can view all properties where there's no chain.
http://www.primelocation.com/chain-free-property/

FraudBuster

You may like to have a browse here:

The Estate Agents Public Register provides details of estate agents who are currently banned from engaging in estate agency work or who have received a formal warning under the Estate Agents Act 1979.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/estate-agents/register/?Order=Text

JayCee

Thanks to all who've posted.

Running Horse.... It could be anything, just that a property without a chain suits us much better, as we have already sold our house and have a fixed date to move out. There are quite a few houses with no chains, for several reasons, but I was just wondering why it was so difficult to even view repossessed properties, given that we are in such a strong position as purchasers.



Doozer Girl...... I wasn't aware of the 'Notification of Offer' process and certainly wasn't given one for either of the offers that we submitted and were quickly rejected.

I'll give the Agent a call to see what excuse he gives me. :eek:

The problem is that we live 400 miles North of where we are moving to, so it's not quite as simple as going into see the Agents and they are just fobbing us off over the phone. As stated in my previous post, the person who is apparently dealing with the properties that we have enquired about never seems to be available and never returns calls.

We are now thinking of renting for a few months, which will get us into the vicinity and in a stronger position to follow your advice and make a few personal appearances in Agents offices.

googler

FraudBuster wrote: »

You may like to have a browse here:

The Estate Agents Public Register provides details of estate agents who are currently banned from engaging in estate agency work or who have received a formal warning under the Estate Agents Act 1979.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/estate-agents/register/?Order=Text

Short list, isn't it?

SimonMrGreenWard

It's not just a few agents, loads of them are solely in it to sell the repo properties to their preferred investors. Not only do they get the big commission on the sale, they get a backhanded from buyer but they then get to resell once place has been flipped/developed so double their commission.

Put offers in writing. Request a receipt. You can do this via email. State on the offer your position etc. And, in a nice way, state that you're very serious and will report any signs of your offer not being put forward.

The reward is often too great for the agent to sell to their 'mate'.