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

PlutoinCapricorn

He does sound very unsophisticated. I certainly would not accept such an offer from such a man. Has he got a job?

nikkita_2

yes he has his own business,house has tenants in it at the minute,house he lives in with his mum is owned outright,70k is great value for the house and i have no doubt that he could achieve more if he sold it on the open market..but his intention is only to sell to us.I will be paying the money back for the house and if i dont repay inside the time then the house will become his the same way as the bank would own it if i defaulted on a mortgage.Yes i would feel that i was taking advantage if he was giving me the house but as we are buying it from him i realise that this is debt and therefore i still need to think about the inplications the same way i would if the bank was lending us the money !!!

Errata

Yes i would feel that i was taking advantage if he was giving me the house but as we are buying it from him

If he's pricing it below it's market value, then he IS giving part of it to you. Why would he do that? You will always feel that you 'owe' him; perhaps that's his intention as he has no OH, friends and still lives with his mum when he's old enough to be a grandad and owns property.

PlutoinCapricorn

There is no harm in thinking about possibilities and 'what ifs'.

I have remembered a generous man who lent a colleague a few thou. interest free to get them through a phase of unemployment, to be repaid when they were on their feet again. The recipient had just helped this man at work, socialised a bit ... just as friends. The lender got married, needed money for new furniture etc. and was pushed by his new wife to get the money back, with interest. The repayment caused some problems.

nikkita_2

Errata wrote: »

If he's pricing it below it's market value, then he IS giving part of it to you. Why would he do that? You will always feel that you 'owe' him; perhaps that's his intention as he has no OH, friends and still lives with his mum when he's old enough to be a grandad and owns property.

yes,perhaps u are right.

PlutoinCapricorn

Avoiding tax is one possibility; I am wondering whether the house is a bait and he is looking for more food for his flesh-eating zombies in the cellar.

TBagpuss

The house could be transferred to you with a charge (private mortgage) to him. The charge would state what you owed and when it would have to be repaid.

You would thn be in the position of anyone else with a mortgage, save that your lender would be a private person, not a bank.

You do need to ensure that you get advice, particuarly with regard to the wording of the charge, so that you are 100% clear about your rights and liabilities.

troubleinparadise

If the solicitor you see to act on your behalf doesn't raise every one of the issues suggested here, walk away and find one that does!

You may just have a metaphorical "winning euro millions lottery ticket" situation here, or a "Pandora's box" that you regret ever opening.....

Seek legal advice before anything else!

lisyloo

You haven't said how old his mum is (I don't think).
Could she need care in the future?
Could her house be sold to pay for care?
Could he harbour some secrey fantasy about being part of your family? e.g. you take him in when his mums house gets sold out of sympathy - after all he did really help you out.

This is not just a favour. He's saving you over £10Ks worth of interest and giving you a great deal on the sale price.
What does your other half think? Anything amiss?

It's super generous so I'd be suspicious that he wants something back. Maybe to be part of your family.

I'd also be concerned about the legalities. For example what if he's hiding money this way by passing it to you. You won't be implicated, but you could suffer the consequences. Personally I would be putting by normal mortgage payments just in case the generosity ever got "rolled back". Local authorities have the power to do this if he was doing something illegal.

It highly abnormal even for family members to be this generous ,but if you've known him for this long then surely you know if it's legit?

fairy_lights

When I read the first post and you said he was a childless family friend who you'd known for years, I assumed you were talking about someone elderly who had seen you grow up and saw you as a surrogate child, and wanted to pass something on to you in the absence of children of their own.
But then in a later post you say he's only in his late 30's, which for me makes it an entirely different scenario.
He might be a single childless bloke now, but what if a couple of years in to your seven year agreement he meets someone and wants to settle down, and regrets selling you the house at a discounted rate?
And are you sure he hasn't got the hots for you and sees this as a way in to your life?