First-time buyer advice on reposession property

jodami84

Afternoon all,

Only just discovered what an excellent tool this forum is and was hoping I could pick your brains on a couple of things im uncertain about. Any help would be much appreciated.

We are potentially offering on an repo that is on the market at 125,000. This seems a very reasonable price in the area as it is, but on first viewing it looked like a rewire would be on the cards. As a rule, are you much liklier to have a cheeky offer accepted on a repo than one by a normal vendor.

Also, we have read the other thread on repo's and have become aware for the first time of the 28 day rule. We are currently staying with family and have a 10% deposit sorted along with what we feel should be sufficient for legal fees and the like. The consensus seems to be that you should get the mortgage and solicitor sorted before offering, so what are the best ways to find competitively priced solicitors in your area. We have a D.I.P from Abbey mortage wise, do we need to take this further still before offering, as I am yet to produce any proof of income or statements.

Moving quickly wouldnt be such an issue given our circumstances, though it might be if we were going to have to pay any bills from the off. Am i right in thinking that you dont have to pay council tax until it is sufficiently furnished to be habitable.

As you can tell, I am fretting a little and any help at all would be much appreciated.

Stu

poppysarah

There'll be a six month exemption maybe for the council tax depending on whether it's been used up already.

GMS

Did you deal direct with Abbey or through a broker?

Some products offer free legals so may be worth checking.

If you look for a solicitor yourself try to get a recommendation from somebody. If you used a broker they may be able to refer. Other than that have a ring around. The only real difference will be in the actual legal fees. Disbursements and searches etc will be pretty standard.

Once you have a solicitor in place you are in position to make an offer as you already have a DIP. Dont worry too much about the 28 days as this should be enough time if the sols are quick.

Survey may show an issue with electrics, be prepared to play hard ball with the vendors if anything like that shows on survey.

G_M

Repos are less likely than non-repos to negotiate after survey. 'Buy as seen' is the rule, warts and all.

Use a local solicitor you can visit - if things need signing no delay on postage. You can alos pop in to discuss delays etc in person. Emphasise the need for speed and if/when they confirm they can move fast ask them to guarantee that by agreeing to a no sale no fee arrangement. that way if you get gazumped, a distinct possibility, you don't end up with legal fees.

When comparing legal fees watch out for extras eg like these.

jodami84

We are going for a second viewing tomorrow evening and as my partners dad is a spark we are taking him with us to see what he thinks.

I am yet to speak to a broker, all i have done is look through the internet and compared various rates. Abbey worked out favourably as my current account is with them

jw2003

We did this last year and the 28 days was pretty flexible, I think it took us about 42 days in total so not too long at all. We offered 10% under the asking price which wasn't accepted so raised our offer by 2% and it was. According to the agent, they had a very definite floor but the agent didn't know how much they would accept.

jodami84

would u mind me asking what kind of price the percentages were related to jw?

giddypenguin

Just a note on sales falling through due to higher offers - you won't be in a chain, which may out weigh some of the issues with buying a repo. Chains fall flat quite often, so whenever you put an offer on a house and begin checks and surveys you run the risk of losing money.

planemad

poppysarah wrote: »

There'll be a six month exemption maybe for the council tax depending on whether it's been used up already.

You need to wary here, most councils do give 6 months grace while its not furnished/occupied.

BUT

It only one 6 months and they would have normally given 2-3 months of that to the Repo company/Bank.
When I purchased my latest repo the bank RSB already used up 3 months of the 6 so I only got3 month free.
I checked this with my legal guy and he said that the council were within there rights to do this.

Katieprecious

The worst thing you can do with a repo property is get attached to it. If you think its good value then chances are others will too! I recently offered on a repo as a FTB with 10% deposit and had the offer accepted, what we didn't realise is that after the offer is accepted it goes to public notice and is advertised for 7 days telling people the amount you have paid and asking anyone interested to make a higher offer, (in this time they want you to pay for your valuation and setting up solicitors). Unluckily for us there was more interest in the property and someone else offered £15,000 over our initial accepted offer. Even after the period of public notice someone could still come in and offer higher up until the date you sign for the property.

From my experience of trying to purchase a repo property, they'll accept a low offer to get the ball rolling!

jodami84

sorry to hear of that experience. It is obviously the biggest downside to a repo.

We went tonight and we are going to offer on the property should the right circumstances arise. We are in no rush, but in a position to move quickly should the opp arise. The EA told us we were the third second viewing in a fortnight (if u believe it) and we may well hold tight and see of someone else does the donkey work. I dont wanna set the ball rolling for others. The house is fresh on the market for a new EA (previously on with another firm for 12 months) and i may well leave it a few weeks and see what happens.

Incidentally the house is on at 125,000 and was bought for 120,000 in 2007