Sale fell through after i moved abroad

bombata

My husband took a job in another country. Knowing that it will start in November we put our house on the market in May and accepted an offer 5 weeks later. We suppose to complete in October. All was fine until we found out in September that our buyers lost their buyers. They planned to rent our their flat and release equity to buy our house and asked for time to sort it out. So we moved abroad with 2 young children and all of our belongings.

Two weeks ago we were ready to exchange and complete when we found out on the day the the buyers morgage was not granted as the lender required a variation of deed in regards to a doubling ground rent clause in the buyer's flats lease, which takes 2-3 months. We asked them for help in covering our costs while we wait for them and they pulled out completely.

My first inital thought was renting it out and we had lots of interested parties but I felt those families were looking for a home and not to move again in a years time when we sold the house. Also we are just delaying the house sale as we are not planning to come back.

The house is empty and will go back on the market at Christmas. Until we sold it we will pay double accommodation costs. Soon I will have to hire a gardener. Its over £1000 a month.

The market is so slow and I am scared of how long the house will remain on the market. Does anyone have an idea on how to recupe some costs? Could I get a property guardian and give him a discounted rent while we are on the market? How would I go about it? Any advice?

rachel230

There is no simple answer to this as no one can look into a crystal ball. So some things to consider..
Re the doubling g/r, how often does it double? You should sort this yourself before putting it back on the market as many lenders are refusing to lend on onerous g/r terms (as you have found out).
The idea of cheaper rent is good but you must get a trusted agent to manage in your absence. Many agents are negligent, especially if they know the owner is abroad so choose very carefully. Also, bear in mind, you cannot be sure that a tenant will leave exactly when you want them to. On the flip side, they could vacate when you have found buyers and then the buyers pull out, leaving you with an empty flat. It is just one of these situations that you can't predict unfortunately.

bombata

Thanks for your reply. Its is not our house but the failed buyers flat that they needed to sell that has a doubling ground rent clause.

In order to rent it out we need to now get an expat morgage which is expensive and tie us down to 2 years. They have higher interest rates and arrangement fees and has an early redemption clause. I would only want to get someone in to cover until I sell not be tied down to two years.

So how find someone who would "housesit" for £600 rent a month instead of the £1500 rent the estate agent told me I can charge. Leave when the flat is sold and it being legal I.e having a clear contract?

TallGirl

Horrible situation to be in in hindsight maybe have lowered the price and accepted an offer from a buyer with no chain although that could have broken as well.

You could always sell it at auction but again lower price likely.

As for finding a guardian you could always contact one of the guardian companies they usually use commercial properties but there are some that have normal properties. I am with Global Guardians but although we are licensees not tenants it is a grey area and people can always refuse to leave.

I sold my house when my tenants gave notice it took from mid April to end Aug. If the price is right things will sell quickly. Hope it works out for you.

knightstyle

As others have said there is no easy answer. We have sold a house while living abroad like you. We were able to let the house for holiday lets whilst it was for sale, it still had our furniture in.
One thing you need to check up on is your tax situation.

sugarfree

You may be worrying unnecessarily.

We sold a house in England while living abroad.
Our tenant had moved out and we put it on the market.
I was a bit concerned that I wasn't on site to ensure it was clean and well presented but in the event it sold very fast, albeit for a bit less than the asking price. I didn't mind, though, because we wanted rid of it.

I wouldn't bother trying to get a tenant / guardian if I were you. At least to begin with.
Just put it on the market and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck!

G_M

I feel for you. Very hard to deal with at long distance.


It sounds to me like getting shot of the property is the priority. Price it really low 'for a quick sale' and make sure your estate agent vets buyers so as to avoid long chains.


Best of luck.

GDB2222

bombata wrote: »

So how find someone who would "housesit" for £600 rent a month instead of the £1500 rent the estate agent told me I can charge. Leave when the flat is sold and it being legal I.e having a clear contract?

I strongly advise you to forget about getting a house-sitter. You will create far more problems than you will solve.

The guardian may not move out when you want them to, regardless of the contract.

If you use one of the professional guardian companies, they won't be paying you. You'll be paying them.

I assume there's no furniture in the place, so how is the guardian supposed to live?

If they move their own furniture in, what will they do with it when you ask them to leave, presumably with little notice?

The guardian may be messy, and the house won't present itself well. So, whatever you get in rent, you may lose in sale price.

Are you expecting the guardian to be a champion gardener as well?

Are you expecting him/her to be keen about showing the property at its best to prospective buyers?



We are currently trying to sell a tenanted house. Our solution, to keep the tenant onside, is to offer her an incentive of three months rent if the house sells. In your circumstances, you may hope to sell the place in 3 months anyway.


I'm sorry that you have this extra expense, but you should just price the house competitively and hope for a quick sale.

LittleMrsThrifty

Put it back on the market today. If needed, get a cleaner to give it a spruce up, put some lights on timers etc and a cut back of the garden. But otherwise just get it on the market. Although there are more buyers around in the new year, there are people currently looking for properties and there isn't much for sale so yours might just sell swiftly. You could also reduce the price for a quick sale.

bombata

Thanks all. Yes I guess selling is our best chance. We did received a few offers pretty quickly after we put it on the market the first time so fingers crossed.

I have hired a cleaner already and am flying back next week and bringing back some curtains, towels and other props to make it look a bit more appealing. There is a little furniture left.

It was too good to be true to have a buyer who wanted to move in when we move out. I am also trying to find a job so I can help with the costs in the meantime. All not ideal but that is life.

GDB2222

I know that the advice here is generally to dress houses up, but I think they look better when empty. The rooms look bigger, and so on.

Removing the furniture may show up the decorations a bit, but a bit of emulsion works wonders. Very quick if you still have the paint and just have to touch up.