Buying a repossessed house

johnson293

GDB2222 wrote: »

I wonder if you are being set up for a gazunder?

Nah, I don't think its that (hopefully) - I think its just that they are young first time buyers, they are Asians (so with their culture, the husband makes all the decisions), and with the husband having been working abroad for the last couple of weeks they/he just havn't been able to react to paperwork coming through, and aren't as aware of the urgency needed sometimes.

As I said, its just frustrating as I've been doing all I can to meet my vendors deadline, only to grind to a halt till they catch up again.

Hopefully their solicitor can sort the searches out quickly, and we wont have too long a delay.

johnson293

Well, looks like this is the week that it we get to exchange, or it goes t1ts up!

Last Friday, the company selling the repo agreed to extend the exchange deadline until this coming Friday, 26th June. Problem now is that my buyer goes away abroad on business again on Friday, so we gotta hope his solicitor can complete all the searches and got the paperwork ready for him to sign on Thursday!

He only formally appointed them last wednesday and apparently paid them by cheque, so they wouldn't even start the searches until that cleared, so I think they may have only started yesterday.

Will be pretty annoyed if we end up losing the house we want through our buyers being/doing things slow, and him going away on business at crucial times.

Wish me luck for Friday!!

ravenfield

Hi

I'm trying to put in an offer for a repossessed house. Apparently one of the viewer has put in the amount i would like to offer. I was told if i put in the same offer I will likely to get it as I'm FTB with a huge deposite (i.e. 70% of 250k).

I was thinking of offering 10k less than the other offer but the estate agent says I won't get it even as FTB Is that true? The other buyer has sold his house but has a chain and is awaiting the process to complete. Reason of my lower offer is I might want to do some repair or minor extensions so would like to save myself 10k for the works

Moreover, does anyone knows how much money I should allow for the reconnection fees for the water, gas, bt line etc?

Thanks

Ditto

ravenfield wrote: »

Moreover, does anyone knows how much money I should allow for the reconnection fees for the water, gas, bt line etc?

Would like to know this as well, plus would you encounter any problems when starting up the boiler again?

Also if the estate agent said that someone had put in a higher offer than the one accepted, mine, would that be put in the local paper?

ravenfield

if the agent tells me someone put in a higher offer then i'm going to walk away. just too many unknown factor for repair or fees for reconnections. there are many other houses in the market that wants my money.

GDB2222

ravenfield wrote: »

Hi

Moreover, does anyone knows how much money I should allow for the reconnection fees for the water, gas, bt line etc?

You should check with the suppliers as it must vary. If the connections are all ok, you are not looking at a lot in the scheme of things, perhaps £200-300. I ahve a feeling that my son paid £130 to have a BT line reactivated. Obviously, putting in a new water main, say, would be different.

johnson293

This may be a silly question, but are all the services (generally) disconnected in a repossessed house?

Reason I ask is, the one we viewed, and are trying to buy had the 'Do Not Use' tape on the sinks, boiler, etc. When we asked the estate agent why the tape was there (genuinely didn't know) he said it was so that no-one used them, so no water was used, when it is not billable.

However, it appears that the electric may have been switched off somewhere, as when I enquired about an Alarm, he said there was one but it wasn't in use due to the electric being off.

What I had planned doing (once I hopefully exchange contracts and have a moving date) was contact all of my current utilities and advise them of moving house and the date, and also advise them of the fact its a repossessed property, and see what advice they give.

I hope there has been no malicious damage done to any of the services - the house looked ok, whereas another we looked at which was also a repo had clearly had the kitchen and much of the pipework ripped out, and needed loads of work doing before you could even move in.

woody252506

johnson293 wrote: »

This may be a silly question, but are all the services (generally) disconnected in a repossessed house?

Reason I ask is, the one we viewed, and are trying to buy had the 'Do Not Use' tape on the sinks, boiler, etc. When we asked the estate agent why the tape was there (genuinely didn't know) he said it was so that no-one used them, so no water was used, when it is not billable.

However, it appears that the electric may have been switched off somewhere, as when I enquired about an Alarm, he said there was one but it wasn't in use due to the electric being off.

What I had planned doing (once I hopefully exchange contracts and have a moving date) was contact all of my current utilities and advise them of moving house and the date, and also advise them of the fact its a repossessed property, and see what advice they give.

I hope there has been no malicious damage done to any of the services - the house looked ok, whereas another we looked at which was also a repo had clearly had the kitchen and much of the pipework ripped out, and needed loads of work doing before you could even move in.

Me and my partner moved into our first home last week. It was a repo.

Thankfully all utilities in it are working fine now!!!

I phoned Yorkshire Water and found out who the previous Gas/Electricity Providers and also gave them a call. They talked me through how to turn everything back on.

I did some basic checks before doing this (Look in loft for any holes in Gas Fire Flue, check light switch wiring, look at pipes under sink and in bathroom) to see if there was any noticable damage or holes anywhere. If the previous owners had done any it was likely to be in these areas.

It was then simply a case of switching back on the main electricity switch for the house and the stop tap under the sink for the water. The Gas I wanted to be 100% sure so got a Corgi guy in who checked for leaks (There was none) and he got the boiler up and running and working for hot water/radiators. This cost me £85 as a part needed replacing on the boiler.

Turning the Gas on was simply finding the cabinet outside the house where the Gas meter was and turning the handle back to the vertical position. Aparantly only in extreme circumstances (Major debt or major risk of people stealing Gas/Electric in the area) do companies come out and cut the house off from the main supply. Usually its just turned off from in/around the house.

We saw another repo before buying this one and it was in a state. Big holes in the walls, wires pulled out etc and if i had bought that one I would not have turned everything on until I got it all checked by fully qualified people. You can usually judge when viewing if the previous owners were intent on making the house a mess/danger or just accepted things and left.

We gauged after viewing it twice that the people who were in previously had just upped and gone and not done any malicious damage. There is always a risk though so you never know!!!!!

Anyone want anymore advice then ask away

johnson293

Thanks woody252506.

Once we (hopefully) get to exchange of contracts, we intended to go back and measure up, as one of the rooms does need a carpet fitted. However, I will also have a good look around and check for some of the things you mention (any visible damage to accessible pipes, etc).

Generally, the house looked ok condition wise, so hopefully the previous owners did just leave without being malicious.

woody252506

johnson293 wrote: »

Thanks woody252506.

Once we (hopefully) get to exchange of contracts, we intended to go back and measure up, as one of the rooms does need a carpet fitted. However, I will also have a good look around and check for some of the things you mention (any visible damage to accessible pipes, etc).

Generally, the house looked ok condition wise, so hopefully the previous owners did just leave without being malicious.

No problem. If you need anymore help then shout out. I am by no means an expert but the last 2 weeks of been in my first house have meant I am massively wiser than before about how things work and what to look for!