Buying a repossessed house

Hectors_House

Goleo wrote: »

Also it there any guarantees that the central heating, gas fire, cooker, shower/water etc work ok? They are all turned off with DO NOT USE tape on them.

There are no guarentees with a repossession. This is why you shouldn't go chasing the price up if the estate agent tells you someone else has put a higher offer in.

In our case we were lucky that no other offers were made and we made sure ours was realistic considering that the kitchen had been completely removed, heating pipes ripped away from the walls and external drains loosened.

For our own peace of mind we replaced the boiler and the broken gas pipes were replaced as a part of that process.

jiggywithit

My offer for a repossessed house has been accepted. They said they have to put a notice in the paper (in 2 weeks). Can I start my mortgage proceedings and get their valuer out, or do I have to wait 2 weeks, plus 1 week of it being advertised, til I can start?

poppysarah

Mortgage is tough if they want a fast transaction. Speak to them tomorrow to find out - problem is if some overbids you then you may have spent money already.

I've just seen some numpty have an offer accepted 2k less than the asking price which is seriously insane given when lots of other properties aint selling and are being massively reduced by normal sellers.

shininghero

I'm currently considering putting in an offer of 230k on a repo'd 5 bed house advertised for 280k. The previous owner took EVERYTHING, I mean carpets, appliances, light bulbs etc. The house isn't cleaned but it's mostly cosmetic so I don't mind. I can stretch to 250k max so I am starting at 230k. Do you guys think this is too low?

poppysarah

try it and see.

shininghero

a quick update...made an offer of 230k but the agent didn't even pass it onto the lender. the agent didn't make any indication of how high it needs to be either... will try 240 tomorrow...

shininghero

another wee update. 240k rejected without being referred and 250k also rejected...

maryotuam

I thought they had a legal duty to inform the vendor of any offers?

Wooden

Hi, i've recently had an offer accepted on a repossed property, i had a mortgage aplication accepted and got a soliciter to get things moving .... then last saturday i had a call from the mortgage company saying that the criteria for the mortgage has now changed, they now want a 15% deposite instead of the origional 10% (interest only mortgage).
I also had a letter from the EA saying they were going to put a notice in my local paper on friday (22nd) saying ot was under offer, i wasn't aware they did this so was a bit taken aback (i've now read up about it and know what the crack is), i was keen to sort another mortgage but then didn't want to end up getting out bid on it and possibly ending up with mortgage fees to pay.
I was advised by my FA to wait and see if anyone puts a higher bid in before i sorted another mortgage, which i'm happy to do, but i was given a date of 3rd june to exchange contracts and to be complete by 10th June, the longer i leave it the shorter amount of time there'll be to sort it all out, what would happen if those dates weren't kept to ?
Also am i right in thinking that once the notice has been placed in the paper, someone has 7 days to put in a bigger offer ? what happens after that 7 days if no-one has put a bigger offer in, is it then mine or can someone still outbid me after those 7 days ?

thanks

karenthemummy79

Hi - it isnt always 7 days - more often than not it says 'anyone wishing to place a higher offer must do so before exchange of contracts'!!!

This leaves you open to being gazumped right up until then - I am going through the same at the mo - we have had to extend our 28days but that is because of issues with the property that arent our fault so the other side have been happy to exchange but I doubt they would extend for probs with the mortgage.

Good luck!! It is a very stressful time!!!

Still dont know when we are exchanging!
xx