Buying a Repossessed Property - Scotland

babzblue

My partner and I are first time buyers and have recently put in an offer on a repossession. This was accepted quickly, and our mortgage came through within a couple of days. Everything was going fine until we got a letter from our solicitor stating that there were problems with the boundaries of the property due to there being a shared close with the neighbour. He said that everything above and below the shared close is owned jointly by the owner of our house and the neighbouring property. We know that the neighbouring property is owned by the local council and our solicitor says that he generally finds that they are willing to cooperate on such matters and that it is usually sorted out more quickly than if the property was owned privately. He also said that we only need to enter into a binding contract to have this sorted with the council to get the house sale through. He contacted the reposession company and advised them of the problems in the hope that they may help out with the costs of having this sorted. As expected, they replied with the fact that it is sold as seen and is our responsibility as buyers. Our worry now is that we pay the legal fees to have this all sorted out and then have the sellers back out as it is taking too long. We would like some advice about the liklihood of this happening given that we are not what is causing the problem - our loan papers are through and ready to be signed. It has been 2 and a half weeks since our offer was first accepted and we have no idea how long the title deeds will take to sort. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Taadaa

We bought a repossession in 2007, and although rhey set a four week deadline for us they were not concerned at going over it because they knew things were progressing. Make sure your conveyancer speaks to theirs with regular updates - this issue would come up with any new buyer anyway. Also get an idea of how much it will cost before you decide to continue.

babzblue

Thanks. The sollicitor has, from the start, been very cagey about giving us a quote. This was something which concerned us greatly but we felt trapped as our mortgage advisor told us that to take on another solicitor would mean putting in a new offer and this would risk the property being put to a closing date which we didnt want. Our mortgage advisor made a promise to us that the fees would not go over £800 for the sollicitor, which he should not have done as they are likely to be significantly more now. We can't help but feel annoyed as we know that our mortgage advisor and the guy showing us the house knew there was likely to be a problem with the boundaries and we weren't told about this until we were committed. As first time buyers we feel that we have had the p*** taken out of us but we love the house and it is a steal, a 2 bed house for the price of most 1 bed flats in the area. Our parents have offered to help us out with the legal fees so we will be able to pay them but would be devastated if we were due thousands and didnt even get the house. If a cash buyer was to come along at this stage we feel we would lose the property to them as they could buy it then sort out the problems later. Is this correct? and if so, what is the liklihood of a cash buyer putting in an offer considering the property is a very good price?

googler

babzblue wrote: »

My partner and I are first time buyers and have recently put in an offer on a repossession. This was accepted quickly, and our mortgage came through within a couple of days. Everything was going fine until we got a letter from our solicitor stating that there were problems with the boundaries of the property due to there being a shared close with the neighbour. He said that everything above and below the shared close is owned jointly by the owner of our house and the neighbouring property. We know that the neighbouring property is owned by the local council and our solicitor says that he generally finds that they are willing to cooperate on such matters and that it is usually sorted out more quickly than if the property was owned privately. He also said that we only need to enter into a binding contract to have this sorted with the council to get the house sale through. He contacted the reposession company and advised them of the problems in the hope that they may help out with the costs of having this sorted.

What's the problem, what do you need to 'sort'?

You're buying something which gives you common ownership of some part of the building or land with others, which is quite routine, I would have thought.......

babzblue

According to the sollicitor, not only is the close shared but everything above the close also. This means that part of our bedroom is shared by the neighbour and part of the neighbours bedroom is shared by us which obviously shouldnt be the case. He says that in order for the mortgage to go through our lender will want to know that this is being sorted out. Sorry, should have been clearer in the first post. Thanks.

dotchas

In Scotland an EA will not (or should not)accept an offer once yours has been accepted. Even for a repossession. This is different to England and Wales.

googler

babzblue wrote: »

According to the sollicitor, not only is the close shared but everything above the close also. This means that part of our bedroom is shared by the neighbour and part of the neighbours bedroom is shared by us which obviously shouldnt be the case. He says that in order for the mortgage to go through our lender will want to know that this is being sorted out. Sorry, should have been clearer in the first post. Thanks.

Yet the previous owner (and possibly others prior to them) bought it on this basis......?

googler

dotchas wrote: »

In Scotland an EA will not (or should not)accept an offer once yours has been accepted. Even for a repossession. This is different to England and Wales.

Missed that point. seconded.

babzblue

Apparently (according to the sollicitor) the law is fairly recent and has caused a problem with alot of properties with shared closes. Of course, we are relying on what the sollicitor tells us being true. This is why I have created this thread. I'm glad to hear the point about not being able to accept other offers, we had hoped that this was the case, however it would not stop the sellers from pulling out of the deal with us in the hope of getting a cash buyer? Do you think that this is likely? We are ill about the prospect of losing the house as we find it unlikely that we will see another one like it in our pricerange and have fallen in love with it. I have already lost a lot of sleep over it and really appreciate all the help. Any other input on the matter would be gratefully received. Thanks.

googler

Which law.....?

BuntyB

Morning

Do not panic, the problem that has arisen with the title is quite common and if the house next door is owned by the LA, hopefully be straightfoward to sort and any additional costs should not run into thousands but perhaps a few hundred pounds, though ur solicitor should try to get the sellers to cover some of the costs involved, it may or may not delay ur date of entry but ensure that the selling solicitors know that u have ur mortgage offer. Ur solicitor could conclude contracts but conditional to the title problem being sorted prior to date of entry and having the option to withdraw from the contract if problem not sorted