Cash buyers/ can this significantly reduce the asked price?

AdrianC

<scratches head> If your house was in Canada, why is the money in USD? <shrug>

Anyway, no, the source of the money (so long as it's demonstrably legitimate) does not affect how the property is taxed in any way.

EverGreen_2

AdrianC wrote: »

<scratches head> If your house was in Canada, why is the money in USD? <shrug>

Anyway, no, the source of the money (so long as it's demonstrably legitimate) does not affect how the property is taxed in any way.

You don't need to scratch your head. So simple. I haven't moved to UK completely. I have my CAD and USD accounts there in the same HSBC bank. Everyone is entitled to do that there. The USD is more or less same value as CAD (most of time). I am keeping an eye on the exchange rate for the best moment. Pound is still stronger compared to USD.
It is sweat money...and absolutely legitimate.

happylucky

I think your solicitor would probably ask for id, source of funds verification etc. before acting for you if that is required.


If I were you I would check if there is a tax implication regarding foreign exchange movements and any resultant gain on that cash "investment" between date of UK residency taken up again (if you are classified as a resident again yet) and date when the funds are to be remitted to UK and any exemptions to that e.g. if funds sourced from PPR sold in last country of residence, time between selling one PPR and acquiring another etc (not sure if applicable to you, but this certainly is a factor in some other countries).


On your original question re cash discount, well as already mentioned by people who I'm sure are far more experienced than I am, it depends. But I would certainly say that a FAST move to exchange can be highly desirable in certain areas e.g. prime central London where recent data shows a slight decline...a standard conveyancing process in the UK takes an incredibly long time in which a non-binding agreement can be derailed once the market gets a bit wobbly. In those circumstances, it's in the interests of the seller to discount in exchange for a super-speedy deal. Whether they choose to do that, of course, and to what extent a discount, is up to them!


Best of luck to you.

EverGreen_2

happylucky wrote: »

I think your solicitor would probably ask for id, source of funds verification etc. before acting for you if that is required.


If I were you I would check if there is a tax implication regarding foreign exchange movements and any resultant gain on that cash "investment" between date of UK residency taken up again (if you are classified as a resident again yet) and date when the funds are to be remitted to UK and any exemptions to that e.g. if funds sourced from PPR sold in last country of residence, time between selling one PPR and acquiring another etc (not sure if applicable to you, but this certainly is a factor in some other countries).


On your original question re cash discount, well as already mentioned by people who I'm sure are far more experienced than I am, it depends. But I would certainly say that a FAST move to exchange can be highly desirable in certain areas e.g. prime central London where recent data shows a slight decline...a standard conveyancing process in the UK takes an incredibly long time in which a non-binding agreement can be derailed once the market gets a bit wobbly. In those circumstances, it's in the interests of the seller to discount in exchange for a super-speedy deal. Whether they choose to do that, of course, and to what extent a discount, is up to them!


Best of luck to you.

Thank you so much...and many thanks to everyone here. I really appreciate. I am not going near central London or near London as this is for the multi-Million guys. I am searching in West Midland, Birmingham. As I have been following the housing market in that area for almost 12 months, I can see the market as slow moving. very slow indeed. The slow market must add to the frustration of the sellers there. So, I hope this may save me some money.

ibizafan_2

It does very much depend on the local market. In 2000, I went to see a house in a desirable area of my Midlands town. There was an open day and you were given 15 minutes to view. The house was priced very reasonably, and it would have been pointless to offer less than asking price. Several people duly offered full asking, but because I was a cash buyer, they went with me. Of course, I had to prove that I had the funds. If you are looking in an area where the houses are slow to sell it might be worth a lower offer with cash. Only you know the specific area and how it sells.

kaya

We were house hunting six months ago and unless you were a cash buyer they wouldn't even look at you so as for cash getting you a discount it's highly unlikely

Slinky

We were let down by a cash buyer who had sold her house and the onward purchase fell through. She had previously lived in the house next door to ours (not when we lived there) so decided not to have a survey done. Didn't even have the decency to let us know she'd changed her mind, we only found out on the day contracts were due to be exchanged she hadn't taken her deposit into her solicitor.

'Cash' buyers can be a pain in the !!!! if they are living in rented and tied to a rental contract which expires at some distant future date which they invariably are working towards even if they tell the vendor otherwise. If you're not in this situation, make it known to your potential vendors.