trying to buy a house that is subject of a court order to force sale

Nenen

We've seen a house we are thinking about putting in an offer for however, we found out from the EA it is under instruction from a solicitor as it is the subject of a court order to sell it as part of an acrimonious divorce. I assume one party is forcing the other to sell against their will.

Aside from the fact this makes me feel rather sad for the people involved and therefore rather guilty at wanting to be moneysaving at a time like this....

Do any of you knowledable people know if this court order situation is more or less likely to make them accept a lower offer? (we think it is currently overpriced)

Also, is it more or less likely to make the sale drag on and/or become more expensive than usual for our legal fees?

Any other possible advantages/disadvantages of buying a house subject to a court order?

wecanhelpu

Are you a shift worker nen?

mr.broderick

wecanhelpu wrote: »

Are you a shift worker nen?

Now you have got my attention...

Nenen

wecanhelpu wrote: »

Are you a shift worker nen?

No..... why?

wecanhelpu

It's just that you posted the same question at practically the same time last night.

I'm not having a go - It's a legitimite question which you didn't get an answer to so I understand why you started a new thread.

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the answer. I think as you say it could go either way and I would be interested to know what everyone thinks.

best wishes

silvercar

could be that the court has just rubber stamped a divorce settlement that involves the house being sold, doesn't necessarily mean its acrimoneous.

It will probably mean there are three sets of solicitors involved - yours, his and hers- so negotiations could be prolonged. On the other hand they all could have reached the point where they want the whole business done and dusted so work quickly.

It will mean that both parties have to accept the price offered, so if one insists on holding out for a higher price you may come unstuck. On the otherhand, they run the risk of being taken back to court if a realistic offer is rejected.

Nenen

wecanhelpu wrote: »

It's just that you posted the same question at practically the same time last night.

I'm not having a go - It's a legitimite question which you didn't get an answer to so I understand why you started a new thread.
best wishes

Aha... I see why you thought that now:rotfl:
Actually, I'm a teacher who doesn't get her marking finished until that sort of time most evenings *sigh*!
Sorry re cross-post... I assumed that because the one I posted last night had no response after 24 hours and was also on the end of a thread that started out as something else entirely, no one had noticed it and I should try again.
I'm worried about offering for this house, I like it but am really reluctant to get caught in the cross-fire of someone else's war and keen to find someone who might know what it's like. Thanks for looking at my threads though wecan.

wecanhelpu

It was just the wording that I recognised and thought "where have I read that before"?

So I went and looked.

I'm also a teacher and have to look out for plagiarism

Nenen

Thanks for that info Silvercar. The way the EA spoke it was one solicitor giving the EA instructions to sell according to a court order as one of the couple had had to be forced to sell. He implied this solicitor was their client acting on court order (rather than the couple). But I don't know how much the EA was telling the truth, hiding things or didn't really know himself!;)

It was so sad... the house had obviously been gutted and totally done up to the point of the last few things needing to be done (e.g. internal doors waxed). There were a few baby photos left hanging on a wall in one room too. It was as if they had got within a hair's breadth of finishing a HUGE project and then the relationship broke down. Such a shame after all their work too. I can understand why one of them doesn't want to sell.

I can imagine the reluctant one can hold out for the asking price for quite a time too... unless the court have some sort of control over the price they have to accept... don't know how that would work legally though!

rizla01

I would suggest that, because of the points already mentioned that you make an offer with a time limit attached.

I.E. offer subject to being accepted within 2 weeks from today.

You could be hanging around for months and even then they could re-concile.

You never know but you could miss out on a better purchase.

david29dpo

my solicitor friend as done a few of these and never again where his words. they tend to drag on and on because of the fighting between the sellers. 8 months the last one took.