Buying a property from my brother - any advise

JPW1972

Hi

I was wondering if anyone has any advise. My parents died a few years ago and left their house to my brother and me, but the property was placed in my brothers name. This hasnt caused any problems until now, however, I am now wanting to purchase the property from my brother for half the current value (54,000 of 108,000).

Can anyone give any advise on the best way to pursue this or if there any major pit falls I need to be aware of.

TonyMMM

Why was it not placed in joint names at the time ?

Is your brother happy to sell his half ?

Do you have an agreed valuation ?

JPW1972

The valuation is based on an estate agent valuation and my brother is more than happy to sell. It was placed solely in his name at the time as my parents thought this would be easier.

I'm guessing that one issue I will have is that I will still need a deposit despite as the fact that I own half is not noted on the deeds, Im just wondering what other pit falls there may be.

Ideally I wanted to have the deeds transferred into my name and then remortgage the deposit as this way I wouldnt have had to use my renovation money as a deposit.

bryanb

[QUOTE=JPW1972;38338338__It_was_placed_solely_in_his_name_at_the_time_as_my_parents_thought_this_would_be_easier.[/QUOTE]

Was this thought in the will, or did the executor decide to do it this way?

puddy

how will you prove that half the house is yours? is your brother able to simply put your name on the deeds too or would that raise questions?

JPW1972

There was no will - it was something my mom dealt with, she had cancer so made the arrangement with my brother.

There is no paper trail to prove that it is half mine but my brother does not dispute this.

I guess there is the possibility of changing the deeds to joint names and then me buying my brother out, but would rather avoid double solicitors fees if possible.

[Deleted User]

Doing this.., could save u a hefty deposit tho.., but I am not sure of mortgage procedure in this case. Would it be worth presenting the two scenarios to a building society / bank and asking them how they would affect any mortgage offers?

JQ.

I personally would not trust an Estate Agent with such an important decision. After all they have no qualifications and you will not have any recourse if they get it wrong. And if they do get the valuation wrong it could lead to a dispute with your brother. Personally, I'd get a Chartered Surveyor to value it and rely on that.

JPW1972

THe valuation of the property is consistent with other properties within the area. I will consult a mortgage advisor and see how viable these options are.

bryanb

JPW1972 wrote: »

I guess there is the possibility of changing the deeds to joint names and then me buying my brother out, but would rather avoid double solicitors fees if possible.

You could just buy it once in the normal way, at an agreed price.

G_M

Why are you not just buying it off your brother for £54K? I don't see the problem.
Is there currently a mortgage on the property? How much? This will need to be paid off (out of the 54K) in the normal way, and replaced by your new mortgage.
See an independant mortgage broker for advice on best mortgage - yes, you'll need a deposit, but 10% of 54K is only £5400.
Personally I would get 3 separate EAs round to value it and either take the middle one, or add the 3 together and divide by 3.