Property left to charity, Wanting to purchase...

getmore4less

Notify the executor you are interested in the property and would like to be notified if it is to be sold.

Keep it simple if in a letter and post to the house(do not hand deliver) attn. Executors of.... If you cant find them any other way.

You may also need to be very diligent for signs of it being sold/moved on if they don't respond and no indication the place will be actively marketed.
Also find out which local paper carry the legal notices.

TBagpuss

If you know which firm of solicitors is dealing with the estate, or if you know who the executor is, write to them expressing your interest.

They may still decide to market the proety via an agent in order to ensure that the best price is achieved.

the testator may have named the charity as executors if the whole estate went to them

[Deleted User]

It might be worth writing a letter expressing your interest and popping it through the door of the house

cloo

I would imagine a charity is likely to sell it. If it needs modernisation it's mostly a liability to them as bricks and mortar, but could be valuable to sell. We once looked at a wreck for sale that had been left to charity (it was too small and too much of a wreck for us!)

giddypenguin

It depends who the charity is - I work with a church to which a property was left, this was over 5 years ago now. We took a long time to decide what to do with the land and house, utilising it as an office for a while. When it sold it was on the open market. But we hung on to it for a while, not least because we had some legal hiccups with the charity commission over what we could actually use the money on.

So your answer is, it depends. Likely, if it's a small charity, it won't be quick!

Splitty93

Thanks for all your replies, I hadn't even thought that maybe they would hold on to it for what ever reason. I think I will write a letter expressing my interest in the property and to be notified if/when the property goes to market. This seems like a silly question, but I'll ask anyway as you all have a very good knowledge of everything that I don't. But is there anyway I could find out who the executors of the property are now? I will post a letter first thing in the morning and keep an eye on the property for any signs of change. And what are the legal notices which the paper will hold? Is this when they post in the local newspaper changes of ownership? Thanks for all your help it is much appreciated!

AdrianC

If you know what charity it is, then write to the trustees of the charity - their details are freely available. Point out that you're happy to pay a fair market value, and a direct sale to you will save them marketing costs. If you can proceed with the purchase very easily, no chain, no mortgage, then so much the better.