Council tax for unoccupied house

Heycock

I've sold 2 houses in the past as executor...both for less than we'd originally wanted. The simple fact is that "the best possible price" is whatever the market is prepared to pay and at the moment that is probably less than what you'd want in an ideal world. So, as an executor your duty is to liquidate and distribute the assets of the estate after discharge of debts. This should be done as soon as reasonably possible. If you wait for prices to increase, and they don't, THEN you could find questions being asked. Drop your asking price by between 5 and 10% to see if a buyer bites. If they do, then you've done your best by the beneficiaries. Each month of Council Tax will reduce the estate anyway, so one plays against the other. And an early sale gets rid of your main headache.

Secondly, the question of deprivation of capital doesn't apply as you are wearing your executors hat and it's not legally your money or your sister's until the asset is disposed of and the estate distributed to you or whoever.

Ames

The heating's ancient and doesn't have anything as fancy as a 'frost setting', sadly.

Heycock, if I'm honest I'm too scared to suggest dropping the price by 5%. My sister chose the EA offering the highest asking price and lowest fees, even though when dad tried to sell his house with them they were rubbish, not showing people round etc.

My sister's refusing to even consider dropping the price until at least July. It's already dropped in value since mum died in April 2011, and since dad and sister have spent thousands on doing it up which has to be repaid it's just losing money.

I'm leaving all of that to my solicitor, she's not going to let it carry on forever like this as she'll want paying sooner or later!

I have asked on the housing forum here for advice, it was mixed really as far as doing the redecorating etc. As for how much it's up for, none of the solicitors think it's too high, although I do. It's worth the amount, but Scarborough is a low income area and I don't think many people can afford it. I don't want to ask for more specific advice as I'd have to give away the village name, which is far too identifying as it's a small place.

Dunroamin

Ames wrote: »

The heating's ancient and doesn't have anything as fancy as a 'frost setting', sadly.

Heycock, if I'm honest I'm too scared to suggest dropping the price by 5%. My sister chose the EA offering the highest asking price and lowest fees, even though when dad tried to sell his house with them they were rubbish, not showing people round etc.

My sister's refusing to even consider dropping the price until at least July. It's already dropped in value since mum died in April 2011, and since dad and sister have spent thousands on doing it up which has to be repaid it's just losing money.

I'm leaving all of that to my solicitor, she's not going to let it carry on forever like this as she'll want paying sooner or later!

I have asked on the housing forum here for advice, it was mixed really as far as doing the redecorating etc. As for how much it's up for, none of the solicitors think it's too high, although I do. It's worth the amount, but Scarborough is a low income area and I don't think many people can afford it. I don't want to ask for more specific advice as I'd have to give away the village name, which is far too identifying as it's a small place.

But you're the executor and you make the decisions, not her! You cannot possibly have the property hanging around for another 8 months before you drop the price - that's madness!

What percentage of the property's price would 8 months' mortgage payments, CT and utilities come to?

Ames

Ah, but you see, no-one ever buys a house apart from the three months between March and June (and really it's not till April). So as we haven't gone through those golden times with it on the market there's no point dropping the price until we have done and we still haven't sold it.

Meanwhile, house prices keep dropping. (Except, they don't believe me about that either).

Eight months of mortgage, CT and utilities would be in the region of 3k (I'm not entirely sure about utilities, that could add a few more hundred), and the house is on the market for 170k.

I thought we should have put it straight on the market for 150k without pratting around putting in a new kitchen, carpets etc, but they did it anyway, and the 'added value' from that means they now wont sell it for less than 160k.

And that's without all the faffing around making it look like someone lives there, because as soon as a buyer realises the situation we'll never get anything approaching real value for it.

And as soon as you drop the value even a smidgeon, the sharks start circling.

I'd hoped that my solicitor would make them see sense, but she seems happy to let them get on with it, so maybe their way is right and I'm wrong.

Dunroamin

Ames wrote: »

Ah, but you see, no-one ever buys a house apart from the three months between March and June (and really it's not till April). So as we haven't gone through those golden times with it on the market there's no point dropping the price until we have done and we still haven't sold it.

Meanwhile, house prices keep dropping. (Except, they don't believe me about that either).

Eight months of mortgage, CT and utilities would be in the region of 3k (I'm not entirely sure about utilities, that could add a few more hundred), and the house is on the market for 170k.

I thought we should have put it straight on the market for 150k without pratting around putting in a new kitchen, carpets etc, but they did it anyway, and the 'added value' from that means they now wont sell it for less than 160k.

And that's without all the faffing around making it look like someone lives there, because as soon as a buyer realises the situation we'll never get anything approaching real value for it.

And as soon as you drop the value even a smidgeon, the sharks start circling.

I'd hoped that my solicitor would make them see sense, but she seems happy to let them get on with it, so maybe their way is right and I'm wrong.

I hope you don't think I'm trying to heckle you but I really am trying to help.:)

You say, " they now wont sell it for less than 160k." but, as I keep saying, you are the executor and your word goes, particularly as one of the "they" is your father who isn't one of the inheritors of the property.

I really hope that you sort it out but I do think that you need to be more assertive about it, particularly if you're getting into financial problems because of it, which can't be good for your health.

ETA

Have you looked at comparable houses in the area and seen what they've sold for?

Ames

I know you're just trying to help, and I do appreciate it.

It's really not good for my health - not just the worrying but the things that I can't really afford. Plus I'm putting in for medical rehousing, and don't know if I'll be able to afford a removal van, let alone the increased bills.

But at the moment the affect on my health of having to face a big confrontation would be worse than things are now.

If it turns out that the CT can't be added to the estate as a debt and paid later then I will be putting my foot down about the furniture.

I'm going to write to my solicitor this week about a random bill from the mortgage company for their legal fees - a letter a couple of weeks ago said it was 1.5k, last week another letter came saying it's now 3k, when there's been no more action by their solicitors since the court hearing in September. So I'll ask her again about the council tax, and for advice on changing the asking price.

CIS

If it turns out that the CT can't be added to the estate as a debt and paid later then I will be putting my foot down about the furniture.

Unless legal ownership of the property has been transferred then it becomes the responsibility of the estate and due as per any normal council tax charge.

For council tax purposes your best off speaking to the council, the solicitors will either guess and get it wrong or call the council to ask them anyway (You'd be surprised by how many calls we get from solicitors and how many times they get it wrong...)

Dunroamin

Ames wrote: »

I'm going to write to my solicitor this week about a random bill from the mortgage company for their legal fees - a letter a couple of weeks ago said it was 1.5k, last week another letter came saying it's now 3k, when there's been no more action by their solicitors since the court hearing in September. So I'll ask her again about the council tax, and for advice on changing the asking price.

Don't forget that every contact you have with the solicitor is less money for the estate (and for you).

Good luck.

Mojisola

Ames wrote: »

1. I'd be failing in my duty as executor to get the best possible price.
2. The DWP could accuse me of deprivation of capital, selling it cheaply to reduce the impact on means tested benefits.
3. The contract for sale is between the EA and my sister, not me.

1. You have a very valid counter-argument that you are changing the price in order to sell the property so that the estate isn't continually being charged for maintenance, insurance, CT, etc.

2. I don't think they could unless you sold it at a ridiculously reduced price.

3. If you are the executor, you have to sell the house and have the contract with the EA. Your sister doesn't have any legal right to sell the property.

I know you're struggling with health problems and uncooperative relatives but I think you need to shut them out, get to grips with your responsibilities as the executor and sell the place. Once that's done, all the stress will be over.

Stop asking the solicitor about everything - you're just becoming a money tree for her.

Ames

I haven't asked the solicitor much, I was contacting her daily in the lead up to court (I didn't see the point as she said she'd get in touch as soon as she heard anything, but dad and sister were both phoning me daily and telling me I had to).

Since then there's just been one letter when I had to sign something for her, and in with that I asked about council tax and something to do with the mortgage. I need to write to her about the mortgage company actions, so I was going to include a question about how long to leave it before lowering the price.

I've been getting conflicting advice on this thread about whether I have to pay the CT monthly or whether it's added to the estate, so I'll just ask the council for a definite answer.

Mojisola, I gave permission for sister to sign the contract with the EA. I was careful with the wording so it was only permission for it to go up for sale, but I think she'll have to be involved with any decisions.

And I really can't risk annoying dad - he's letting us pay the mortgage on his credit card and he's paying 1/3. He also paid 2/3 of the outstanding arrears. I can't afford to cover the full amount myself, just finding 2/3 is a struggle. And if we miss a payment they can repossess, and my finances aren't stable enough to be sure that the money will be in my account on the right day every month. But on the other hand he's getting a bit annoyed that my sister isn't paying everything, that he's spent his savings on this, and can't retire like he'd planned to.