Trying to secure a repossession property

antilles · 9 June 2019 at 6:34PM

I bought a repo a few years back. If there's tape over taps and gas etc, services are turned off, and there are stickers on things (like the toilet) saying 'do not use' or similar, it's 99% sure to be a repo.

I put a cheeky bid in which was accepted. Two weeks later a higher bid came in but the EA told me the person couldn't raise the finance. A couple of days before I completed, I was told that a higher offer (5k over mine) had come in, but I was so close to completion that the bank didn't want to accept the higher offer at that point as it would have meant starting the process from scratch again and paying more costs.

I used a broker for the mortgage and they advised me to use a fast solicitor. You will find that many solicitors will take months to complete, even when the house is a repo and there's no seller involved (apart from the bank), so it's vital that you use either a specialist solicitor who is used to dealing with repos (i.e. aiming for fast completion and used to chasing people down), or a solicitor you know who will be as quick as possible. I managed to complete in 21 days.

The bank can accept any higher bids right up to completion, and the EA has to advertise your offer on the listing - so everyone can see what your bid is, and therefore it's easy to get 'gazumped'. So until you have the keys you can in theory be gazumped at any time - although in practice, once you are most of the way through the process, it's very unlikely the bank will want to start again unless the higher offer is substantially over yours.

You may likely find that the owners have done some damage on the way out, so be prepared to find all sorts of horrors. Mine had tried to rip out the kitchen and sabotage the plumbing - so be very careful when turning stuff back on.

So to summarise - you need to complete as fast as possible to keep the odds in your favour.

Good luck!

cjj_2 · 9 June 2019 at 7:58PM

antilles wrote: »

I bought a repo a few years back. If there's tape over taps and gas etc, services are turned off, and there are stickers on things (like the toilet) saying 'do not use' or similar, it's 99% sure to be a repo.

I put a cheeky bid in which was accepted. Two weeks later a higher bid came in but the EA told me the person couldn't raise the finance. A couple of days before I completed, I was told that a higher offer (5k over mine) had come in, but I was so close to completion that the bank didn't want to accept the higher offer at that point as it would have meant starting the process from scratch again and paying more costs.

I used a broker for the mortgage and they advised me to use a fast solicitor. You will find that many solicitors will take months to complete, even when the house is a repo and there's no seller involved (apart from the bank), so it's vital that you use either a specialist solicitor who is used to dealing with repos (i.e. aiming for fast completion and used to chasing people down), or a solicitor you know who will be as quick as possible. I managed to complete in 21 days.

The bank can accept any higher bids right up to completion, and the EA has to advertise your offer on the listing - so everyone can see what your bid is, and therefore it's easy to get 'gazumped'. So until you have the keys you can in theory be gazumped at any time - although in practice, once you are most of the way through the process, it's very unlikely the bank will want to start again unless the higher offer is substantially over yours.

You may likely find that the owners have done some damage on the way out, so be prepared to find all sorts of horrors. Mine had tried to rip out the kitchen and sabotage the plumbing - so be very careful when turning stuff back on.

So to summarise - you need to complete as fast as possible to keep the odds in your favour.

Good luck!

Thankyou for this. Yes stickers on toilet and oven etc. I would be very surprised if not a repossession

cjj_2 · 11 June 2019 at 5:19PM

So I’ve had a second viewing today and made an offer at asking price. There was an offer on table but not sure what it was.

Company EA are selling for came back and said submit final offer and prove funds. Why would I submit final offer now ? I’ve been told there will be a figure published once agreed on and higher offers invited. I’ve proved my funds based on asking price offer.

My excellent mortgage man says he knows some very good solicitors who would be speedy.

I’ve also built up a very good rapport with the girls at the EA. All in all a good day.