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Corporate purchase : just been outbid

Hi,
New to forum. I am in the process of buying a repo' property, I am in a position to complete at end of this week but have just found out another offer has been put forward on the property.i understand this was always a risk with this type of purchase, however, I believe the estate agent (possibly different branch) who I have placed the offer with has been touting around trying to run the price up. I know the estate agent acts on behalf of the seller,but, surely this does not follow the estate agents code of practice?


To counteract the offer would take me over the 250k threshold, could I pay for fixtures separately to avoid the 3% stamp duty

Comments

  • Fire_Fox
    Fire_Fox Posts: 26,026 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Welcome! :) Generally lenders have a duty to get the best price for a repossession and thus minimise the losses of the borrower. Which part of the code of practice do you think it breaks? How do you know what the agent has been doing?
    Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    .......just found out another offer has been put forward on the property.i understand this was always a risk with this type of purchase .....

    surely this does not follow the estate agents code of practice?

    You accepted this might happen, but you think it's against a code of practice.... sorry, but this seems self-contradictory to me.

    If it's a repossession, what 'fixtures and fittings' could you buy?
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I believe the estate agent (possibly different branch) who I have placed the offer with has been touting around trying to run the price up.

    If another interested party expresses an interest. Then yes the price will rise.

    That's the risk that you are already aware of.
  • purt
    purt Posts: 4,710 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I would have thought your position would have meant they'd still run with you, unless the offer is considerably higher?
  • hcb42
    hcb42 Posts: 5,962 Forumite
    you cannot pay a disproportionate amount for fixtures to avoid paying council tax. E.g. one would normally not pay £3K for a pile of old curtains....
  • Yorkie1
    Yorkie1 Posts: 12,670 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    hcb42 wrote: »
    you cannot pay a disproportionate amount for fixtures to avoid paying council tax. E.g. one would normally not pay £3K for a pile of old curtains....

    Or even stamp duty ;)

    HMRC are wise to this trick and are likely to scrutinise any such dealings closely. The risk is that they will identify it as evasion and make you pay the stamp duty that would have been due.
  • hcb42
    hcb42 Posts: 5,962 Forumite
    Yorkie1 wrote: »
    Or even stamp duty ;)

    .

    Stressful day. I knew what I meant ;)

    That's before I hit the wine (which is any second now!)
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