House we were buying now being reposessed! We still want it - next steps?

annie_m

I posted a while back regarding our house purchase as one of the vendors (divorced couple) went bankrupt during the sale process. The other was trying to avoid bankruptcy. We had a few hairy moments but were still looking good to complete & exchange last week until the bankrupt half of the couple refused to sign the final transfer document (releasing the property to his official reciever for the sale) until his ex-wife let him see their children. For reasons unknown his ex-wife refused his request and now he wont sign, she'll go bankrupt and house will be reposessed. So frustrating as legally this man doesn't own the property anymore, we were told he was out of the picture months ago, yet he's cropped up at the eleventh hour and managed to block the sale.

We are looking at other properties, but this house is still in the back of our minds. I called the vendors mortgage lender to ask what the process will now be and have been told to keep an eye on it for notice of reposession and that that is all we can do.

Does anyone know approximately how long it would take from notice of reposession to the point of being back on the market?

I was informed that the bank will obtain 2 valuations from local estate agents and then put it back up for the best price. Do you think it would be worth my while notifying local estate agents of our interest in this property as and when it comes back on the market?

We will carry on looking and viewing other properties in the area, as I would like nothing more than to find somewhere we like more and end the whole thing. But this house is still empty and will still be sold, I can't help but think why not to us?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

sonastin

I would do as they say and keep an eye out for the notice of repossession. Once it is repossessed, you will be by far the most attractive purchasers as you will be ready to exchange almost instantaneously - anyone else offering on the property would have to offer significantly more for the vendor to risk a) their mortgage not coming through, b) their searches throwing questions up, c) their survey finding something undesirable, etc.. I'm assuming you've done all these things already and they will still be valid come the change of vendor so you'll be good to go quickly. You just need to get the offer in as soon as it comes up for sale. Can you find out from the mortgagee who they will be using to a) handle the repossession side of things and b) market the property? If you can speak to the right people and let them know you're interested, they might be willing to give you a tip off when it goes on the market. They will have to go by the book and market it and so on, but drawing your attention to the advert on day 1 is allowed! And you'll make their job easier if they can sell it immediately too.

And in the meantime, keep looking in case something better comes up...

Jackinbox99

sonastin wrote: »

I would do as they say and keep an eye out for the notice of repossession. Once it is repossessed, you will be by far the most attractive purchasers as you will be ready to exchange almost instantaneously - anyone else offering on the property would have to offer significantly more for the vendor to risk a) their mortgage not coming through, b) their searches throwing questions up, c) their survey finding something undesirable, etc.. I'm assuming you've done all these things already and they will still be valid come the change of vendor so you'll be good to go quickly. You just need to get the offer in as soon as it comes up for sale. Can you find out from the mortgagee who they will be using to a) handle the repossession side of things and b) market the property? If you can speak to the right people and let them know you're interested, they might be willing to give you a tip off when it goes on the market. They will have to go by the book and market it and so on, but drawing your attention to the advert on day 1 is allowed! And you'll make their job easier if they can sell it immediately too.

And in the meantime, keep looking in case something better comes up...

Good points, but from my experience, all the bank is concerned about is getting the max money from selling the repo house. And they are not bothered about a quick sale.

I nearly bought a repo a few months back and was litterally days from completion. Money was all ready, surveys done, contracts all checked and was about to sign / exchange when the bank dumped me to go with a slightly higher offer. It meant that rather than days to get their cash from me, they would then have to readvertise the property for 28 days from the new higher offer, and risk the new buyer backing out etc.

elle-bells

I have a similar situation. I know that a house is basically going to end up being repossed. One person is taking to the bank, (wanting to sell quick to lower debt) the other isn't even answering solicitors letters (but has previously said they wouldn't sell the house for rather a lot more than they would actually get).
I've given them an offer, which has been taken to the bank and now I'm waiting, and waiting, and have no idea what's going on. I really don't want to keep ringing and asking as I feel like I'd be hassling them and they must have enough on at the moment.
If anyone has any ideas about this situation I'd be grateful.
(sorry to have buttied in on someone elses thread too)

Trollfever

OP.
Make your interest known to the Official Receiver dealing with the bankrupts estate.
The search function here
http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/bankruptcy/bankruptcysearch.htm
has not been working for a couple of weeks.

Use the search function at The London Gazette:
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/

mickeyfinn1

This exact thing just happened to my best friend. She was all set to move into the new place and just before contracts exchanged it was repossesed. She was gutted. She moved into rented and badgered her solicitor to chase up what was happening. She also left her phone number with the people opposite the house and next door and it was them who tipped her off that there were folk there to take possession. She managed to get along there and speak to them. they told her who was handling it all and she passed this to the lawyer. In the end, from it being repossesed it took 3 weeks to go back on the market. She offered exactly what had been agreed before and it was rejected. In the end, after 2 more weeks of haggling she ended up paying £10k more than originally agreed. (The house had been for sale for 2 years, marriage break down and they could not afford to sell at a reasonable price to due debts and decreasing property value). She moved in last week.

annie_m

Thanks everyone for your replies. Well, we decided to go back over a few properties we looked at a short while ago when we were having doubts due to all the problems, and one of the houses we initially dismissed had been reduced in price.

It is in a much more desirable area, and also no onward chain. Needs the right amount of work that we can handle and has the possibility to extend to the side in future should we need to. Now that it is in our price range, we made an offer and had it accepted! Fingers crossed there are no skeletons in this one's closet!

A few of you mentioned that the last property could increase in price, and we know there would have been something like £20k outstanding from our agreed price for the female vendor to repay after the sale, so I think that was highly likely.

All going well with the new place, we've ended up with a much better location and much more scope for future devlopment for very close to the same price. The last place now seems shrouded in doom and gloom! They can keep it.

Thanks again.

annie_m

Elle bells - any developments with your situation? are you dealing directly with the vendors or the Estate agents? If it's the latter, I'd keep checking.

Just to warn you, if you ARE dealing with an Estate Agent, they will always paint a rosy picture of the situation to keep the sale, to the point where in our case, some of what they told us was very misleading. So, if it's not already the case, ask them to put you in touch with both vendors directly. We were only in touch with one and it was the second who then scuppered the whole deal at the end. Make sure you know the full picture in case you end up wasting months like we did. Good luck with it.

elle-bells

annie_m wrote: »

Elle bells - any developments with your situation? are you dealing directly with the vendors or the Estate agents? If it's the latter, I'd keep checking.

Just to warn you, if you ARE dealing with an Estate Agent, they will always paint a rosy picture of the situation to keep the sale, to the point where in our case, some of what they told us was very misleading. So, if it's not already the case, ask them to put you in touch with both vendors directly. We were only in touch with one and it was the second who then scuppered the whole deal at the end. Make sure you know the full picture in case you end up wasting months like we did. Good luck with it.

No, I'm dealing with the vendor - it's not been repossed yet, only the vendor can't see any way around it happening as they and their ex-partner can't agree. All I know is that my offer has been taken to the bank.