Discount When Buying Off Dead People

beecher2

dzug1 wrote: »

But remember that there are costs in keeping the house on hoping for a better price - insurance, heating, utilities, security, etc. All those change the definition of maximising the estate.

And what the property is 'worth' is not an exact figure in any case.

None of these costs are particularly significant though - it has probably cost us under £200 to have a house sitting empty for 5 months. Insurance was already paid, utilities didn't cost much, security involved neighbours keeping an eye out.

As has been said, as executor you have a legal obligation to get the best price possible. We had an early low offer which was rejected - not being ripped off was more important to me than getting the sale over and done with.

DaftyDuck

I sold a very old house three years back (1320 main block, various bits earlier & later). Got a lot of interest from nosey people just wanting a poke-round that obviously had little interest in buying and even less money, and some.... irritated me. One couple poked and prodded, ooh'ed and ahh'ed (pointing out it wasn't double-glazed at one point) then, at the top of the wooden spiral staircase in the creaky dark, one asked, spelling it out (sic) .... " are there any G. O. S. T. S.... ? " {yep... twice-proven morons}.

Realising that any remaining hope of their being anything other than rubber-necking idiots was gone, and assuring them it was spirit-free, I left them upstairs for their final look-round, popped downstairs, hopped on a low wall outside, and chucked one of the cats' rubber balls on the roof. It ran beautifully silently down the roof and into a gulley, rolled on down while I walked inside, and I was well inside and in sight as it bumped clonkily and plopingly on its way down inside a cast-iron downpipe. They looked..... shocked, particularly as my exertions and my trying not to pee myself and simultaneously swallow my tongue probably left me looking more than worried. {That's the house that sold to the mad artist who walked backwards all the time, for those who followed that}

However, the OP has missed a good point. Never buy from the dead. They are a disinterested party, and executors invariably fight each other interminably to the death, being family and that. Far, far better is to buy from the dying - the very nearly dead. Here, tactics can be far more successful ... "my offer is only on the table for a week" translates as "hurry up and accept, you haven't got long", followed by a "I don't need a mortgage approval, so I can buy quickly for cash" brings them temporary relief, before you crush them down with "I suppose vacating the property within a month or two isn't going to be a problem.... you are ... um .. downsizing, I expect". At this point you will probably be able to drop the price to close to the cash in your pocket and seal the deal without them risking a visit to a solicitor. Just make sure there are independent witnesses to their signature* before you ask them to leave your house.

There is a further stage I have yet to perfect. You buy from the perfectly healthy.... However, you manage to make life so hellish for them, so dreadfully stressful by your tactics that you rapidly reduce them to invalid status. Maybe create just one death (nobody wants to carry on living in a house where their beloved has died, but two would put it in the hands of those beastly so-called "grieving" executor children). Then, not only do you get the house for peanuts, there's still somebody around to sue at a later date for "mis-description", or for leaving the property with their junk in it.... Scouring this forum gives a good idea of the tactics to employ... look for the posts started at 3am by the non-sleepers for a start.

* This can be forged anyway, as the old and frail can't really write, let alone read. Saves time as well.

AdrianC

beecher2 wrote: »

None of these costs are particularly significant though - it has probably cost us under £200 to have a house sitting empty for 5 months. Insurance was already paid, utilities didn't cost much, security involved neighbours keeping an eye out.

Council tax is payable on an empty property now.

Miss_Marple_2

AdrianC wrote: »

Council tax is payable on an empty property now.

Not for the first 2 months, if unfurnished ( I think ), then isn't it 50% reduction after that ?

The house I just left has 2 months exemption, which then takes it to the 2 free months, so the letter I just received for the council said that it is exempt up untill the end of March.

moneyistooshorttomention

DaftyDuck wrote: »

I sold a very old house three years back (1320 main block, various bits earlier & later). Got a lot of interest from nosey people just wanting a poke-round that obviously had little interest in buying and even less money, and some.... irritated me. One couple poked and prodded, ooh'ed and ahh'ed (pointing out it wasn't double-glazed at one point) then, at the top of the wooden spiral staircase in the creaky dark, one asked, spelling it out (sic) .... " are there any G. O. S. T. S.... ? " {yep... twice-proven morons}.

Realising that any remaining hope of their being anything other than rubber-necking idiots was gone, and assuring them it was spirit-free, I left them upstairs for their final look-round, popped downstairs, hopped on a low wall outside, and chucked one of the cats' rubber balls on the roof. It ran beautifully silently down the roof and into a gulley, rolled on down while I walked inside, and I was well inside and in sight as it bumped clonkily and plopingly on its way down inside a cast-iron downpipe. They looked..... shocked, particularly as my exertions and my trying not to pee myself and simultaneously swallow my tongue probably left me looking more than worried. {That's the house that sold to the mad artist who walked backwards all the time, for those who followed that}

However, the OP has missed a good point. Never buy from the dead. They are a disinterested party, and executors invariably fight each other interminably to the death, being family and that. Far, far better is to buy from the dying - the very nearly dead. Here, tactics can be far more successful ... "my offer is only on the table for a week" translates as "hurry up and accept, you haven't got long", followed by a "I don't need a mortgage approval, so I can buy quickly for cash" brings them temporary relief, before you crush them down with "I suppose vacating the property within a month or two isn't going to be a problem.... you are ... um .. downsizing, I expect". At this point you will probably be able to drop the price to close to the cash in your pocket and seal the deal without them risking a visit to a solicitor. Just make sure there are independent witnesses to their signature* before you ask them to leave your house.

There is a further stage I have yet to perfect. You buy from the perfectly healthy.... However, you manage to make life so hellish for them, so dreadfully stressful by your tactics that you rapidly reduce them to invalid status. Maybe create just one death (nobody wants to carry on living in a house where their beloved has died, but two would put it in the hands of those beastly so-called "grieving" executor children). Then, not only do you get the house for peanuts, there's still somebody around to sue at a later date for "mis-description", or for leaving the property with their junk in it.... Scouring this forum gives a good idea of the tactics to employ... look for the posts started at 3am by the non-sleepers for a start.

* This can be forged anyway, as the old and frail can't really write, let alone read. Saves time as well.

OP DID rather ask for that:rotfl::rotfl:...oh boy us iz gonna have a lot of fun after their tone to start with...:cool:

mufi

AdrianC wrote: »

Council tax is payable on an empty property now.

Depends on the reason: my local council gives an open-ended exemption for those in residential care.

beecher2

AdrianC wrote: »

Council tax is payable on an empty property now.

We had 6 months exemption on council tax - not sure if that's because I'm in Scotland though.