Seller Wants Access For 6 Months After Completion

nichekos

dickibobboy wrote: »

I had this on my repo house for 12 months. I questioned it and it was to do with if the previous owner queried the price etc they could request it to be looked into where the bank (who repossessed) would inspect and value the house to ensure everything was done fair.

Interesting - so what would have happened had there been a dispute following inspection? I would hope it would be an issue solely for the previous owner and repossessing bank to resolve between themselves (and wouldn't involve you and your property)?

silvercar

nichekos wrote: »

Interesting - so what would have happened had there been a dispute following inspection? I would hope it would be an issue solely for the previous owner and repossessing bank to resolve between themselves (and wouldn't involve you and your property)?

Correct. It wouldn't be an issue for the subsequent purchaser unless they could be proved they were involved in an under value sale. eg they were connected to the repossessing bank, estate agent or even the repossessed and used this connection in an underhand way.

Silvertabby

“ Interesting - so what would have happened had there been a dispute following inspection? I would hope it would be an issue solely for the previous owner and repossessing bank to resolve between themselves (and wouldn't involve you and your property)?
Originally posted by nichekos ”

Correct. It wouldn't be an issue for the subsequent purchaser unless they could be proved they were involved in an under value sale. eg they were connected to the repossessing bank, estate agent or even the repossessed and used this connection in an underhand way. Posted by silvercar

That still doesn't make sense - what if the new owners have gutted the place and/or fitted new a bathroom and kitchen? The value of the house 6 months down the line will obviously be more than the value as at the time of sale.

davidmcn

Silvertabby wrote: »

That still doesn't make sense - what if the new owners have gutted the place and/or fitted new a bathroom and kitchen? The value of the house 6 months down the line will obviously be more than the value as at the time of sale.

Then they'll make adjustments for the recent works. Surveyors are familiar with how to do retrospective valuations.

Though (having sold plenty of repos in the past) I wouldn't say it's a standard clause, and it's unhelpfully vague if all they mean is "once in a blue moon we might want you to allow a valuer in for a quick look around".

AnotherJoe

davidmcn wrote: »

Then they'll make adjustments for the recent works. Surveyors are familiar with how to do retrospective valuations.

Though (having sold plenty of repos in the past) I wouldn't say it's a standard clause, and it's unhelpfully vague if all they mean is "once in a blue moon we might want you to allow a valuer in for a quick look around".

It’s still hard to understand how that works. As said let’s say old kitchen and bathroom have been removed, possibly replaced, possibly not. How is the valuer meant to know what state the previous ones were in ? What if the new owners have added or removed living space ? Turned one bedroom into two, or two into one?

Surely anything that needs doing can be done from plans and reference to similar properties, looking at the property when it’s been changed radically can be of no help.

If the sellers are insistent on this, I’d want the clause much more prescriptive about who was allowed, for how long, eg one visit by an accredited valuer for no more than one hour, or something like that.

davidmcn

AnotherJoe wrote: »

It’s still hard to understand how that works. As said let’s say old kitchen and bathroom have been removed, possibly replaced, possibly not. How is the valuer meant to know what state the previous ones were in ? What if the new owners have added or removed living space ? Turned one bedroom into two, or two into one?

Presumably most of this could be checked from the marketing information or other pics taken by the lender's agents when they took possession.

I've only encountered such a request for access once, not sure how rare they are - as you say, you can argue much of this from desktop (or drive-by) valuations with a fair degree of accuracy.

nichekos

For anyone who has a similar issue in the future and is interested in the outcome of this - here's what my conveyancer said:

This is usual in repossession properties. The lender in possession is under an obligation to secure the very best price they can for the property. If this is questioned by the original owner following completion for example, they may need to reinspect/revalue.

It's non-negotiable as far as the seller is concerned, so whilst I'm still not entirely happy about it, I'm not going to pull out of the sale. I have asked for an additional sentence to be added - e.g. to state any dispute which may arise following an inspection is entirely between the previous owner and mortgage provider and nothing to do with me.

silvercar

nichekos wrote: »

For anyone who has a similar issue in the future and is interested in the outcome of this - here's what my conveyancer said:

This is usual in repossession properties. The lender in possession is under an obligation to secure the very best price they can for the property. If this is questioned by the original owner following completion for example, they may need to reinspect/revalue.

It's non-negotiable as far as the seller is concerned, so whilst I'm still not entirely happy about it, I'm not going to pull out of the sale. I have asked for an additional sentence to be added - e.g. to state any dispute which may arise following an inspection is entirely between the previous owner and mortgage provider and nothing to do with me.

Thanks for reporting back.

Great to hear you are going ahead. I'm confident this will be one of those things that may look worrying on paper but will pan out fine.