Buying a repossessed house

designergraphics

Thanks GBD2222, will do it this evening. No news from the EA as at 5.35pm so we'll hear nothing until tomorrow. The house has been removed from the EA's website.

designergraphics

Heard this morning that my daughter's offer wasn't enough. Her solicitor has spoken to the seller's solicitor about the other buyer's status and a conflict of interest on the EA's part and he'll be getting back to her later today. If we have no joy there my daughter's asked her solicitor to make a higher offer on her behalf. The way things stand I can see it dragging on for days with no one being able to exchange if the seller keeps going back and fore for higher offers. As I've said before, my daughter's ready to exchange and seeing as the other buyer only placed his first offer last Monday I'm sure he's not in as strong a position to move. Will be glad when it's resolved.

GDB2222

Has your daughter actually had a draft contract yet?

designergraphics

Yes, her solicitor received the draft contact yesterday - made out for her initial offer. We were hoping to exchange for that amount today - well it was worth a try. The solicitor's got permission to alter and sign the contract on their behalf.
The highest offer has now been updated on the EA's website and it's £10,000 more than my daughter's first offer and £2,000 more than her last offer. Her solicitor's gone back with a final offer higher than the current highest offer on condition contracts are exchanged today. If everything's above board the seller should accept this as it's the highest offer and it will be sold today. If they turn it down they'll have accepted less money with no guaranteed completion. It's 4.45pm and we still haven't heard anything so I guess nothing else can be done before Monday. Of course, the longer it drags on the more time the other party has to be ready to exchange.

GDB2222

Is it definitely worth the higher offer? I'd be quite inclined to withdraw from this deal unless it's still very cheap.

designergraphics

Yes, it's definitely worth the higher offer but it's not worth paying the market value and my daughter's had enough. This is definitely her final bid. The solicitor's just been in touch to say we won't know until Monday. It would seem they aren't interested in a quick and definite sale for some apparent reason.

geoffky

Jesus what a convoluted way of buying a house..It sounds as transparent a muck.

designergraphics

geoffky wrote: »

Jesus what a convoluted way of buying a house..It sounds as transparent a muck.

If no one else had placed an offer it would have been a good buy and a painless procedure. It gets more messy if there's more than one offer and it can get pretty stressful. I suppose if it's a business investment it's not so bad if it's to be the family home it's a different matter. I suppose the thing to do is to set a maximum you're willing to spend, don't get carried away with the bidding and don't get emotionally involved. Of course that's much easier said than done.

GDB2222

The seller's in a fantastic position - two buyers competing. No point for the seller in accepting one in a hurry when the other one may come back with a higher offer. Designer, I am afraid that the market has a habit of finding its own level, and that's what's happened. The only thing to be wary of is that the other bidder really is genuinely able to proceed. The only way to find that one out is not to increase your offer. If the vendors eventually come back to you, you'll know the other buyer wasn't really able to proceed after all.

designergraphics

Yes GDB, I'm afraid that's what's happening and even though my daughter said the current offer is her final there's nothing stopping the seller going back to the other buyer to see if they want to beat it. Indeed, I imagine that's exactly what they'll do. I don't know if the other buyer is genuinely able to proceed but I'm sure he isn't able to proceed as quickly, even if he is a cash buyer. The current offer is definitely the last one on our part and if it's not enough, the way my daughter feels about the house now, I doubt she'd be willing to offer the same amount if the sale fell through and they came back to her with a second chance. She's emotionally drained and is fed up with the whole process. She's definitely not going to go down this road again.