Offering to sell me his house and pay him back without interest!

nikkita_2

Hello everyone,apologies if i have posted in the wrong place.I need some advice about buying a house.I have been offered a house for 70k,the owner is a family friend but not a relative and i am not in a relationship with him nor do i have a child by him etc etc.He owns the house in question outright.He is willing to sell me the house and has said that i can pay him the 70k cost over the space of 10 years.He will not be charging me interest and doesnt require me to pay it every month..he says as long as it is paid back within the 10 years that we have agreed then he is happy.My question is..can this be done? what do i need to do? he says that we will go to a solicitor and get an agreement drawn up so that he can sell me the house on those terms.It is a fab offer and there are no strings attached.Any advice would really be appreciated,i am also interested in your thoughts so feel free to comment.I live in northern ireland so im not sure if this make a different when buying and selling.thanks in advance

sinizterguy

It can be done if the property does not currently have a mortgage.

Get a solicitor to sort out the contract so both parties are aware of what is involved and what is expected.

Do make sure exactly how much minimum they expect from you and in what time period.

The way you word it suggests you could hang on to all the money and 9 years and 11 months later pay him the whole £70k. I expect they will not be happy with that arrangement.

PlutoinCapricorn

Why would he do this?

stator

It's certainly possible. I would make sure that you hire your OWN solicitor to represent your interests and review the agreement. But you also need to be VERY clear about what happens if you can't pay any more. If you get unemployed or long term sick and can't pay anything, is he going to try and take the house back? Also what happens if he dies, would his estate expect a large payment of the balance? And what if you die?

PlutoinCapricorn

There must be some kind of catch somewhere...

nikkita_2

Why would he do this? He says that he is just trying to be good to me as i have helped him emotionally over the last 18 years.My husband and i realise how generous it is and cant quite believe it. Does he need a reason? please help me out if i am missing something! If everything is done properly and legally surely the house would indeed be ours?

Pete9501

That is a very generous offer and I would take it.

nikkita_2

stator wrote: »

It's certainly possible. I would make sure that you hire your OWN solicitor to represent your interests and review the agreement. But you also need to be VERY clear about what happens if you can't pay any more. If you get unemployed or long term sick and can't pay anything, is he going to try and take the house back? Also what happens if he dies, would his estate expect a large payment of the balance? And what if you die?

Yes these are things that i hadnt thought about! we plan to pay back the money just the same way that we would if we owed the money to the bank ie putting by money weekly in a savings account.These are the kind of things that i need to have written in to an agreement.Ur suggestion of my own solicitor is a great idea too :T

Micromat

nikkita wrote: »

Why would he do this? He says that he is just trying to be good to me as i have helped him emotionally over the last 18 years.My husband and i realise how generous it is and cant quite believe it. Does he need a reason? please help me out if i am missing something! If everything is done properly and legally surely the house would indeed be ours?

Problem is there are so many non decent genuine people in the world it's hard for some to believe there isn't a catch somewhere!
If you can get everything tied up legally and it's absolutely clear what your obligations are then go for it...

Annisele

It's certainly possible, but there might be problems depending on why he wants to do it.

If he's trying to put his property beyond the reach of a vengeful ex, or his creditors, or the local authority (care costs), etc - there could be problems.

I think you'll definitely need your own solicitor/surveyor. You don't know for certain that the house really is worth anything like £70k - maybe he doesn't own it at all, or the title is defective, or it's about to fall down, or a motorway is about to be built through the front room.

I know I sound like the voice of doom. Chances are everything is fine - but better to investigate first!

Mojisola

Definitely get your own legal advice.

What would happen if he or one of you dies before the house has been paid for?

What if you want to move?

Although he might be a caring, generous person, get everything tied up legally.

I would also recommend making the payments regularly just as if you had a mortgage. Treat the debt seriously.