Repossession

pipsmistress

My daughters ex husband (not divorced yet) is still living in the famiy home, she is a joint mortgatee (she lives in a rented home) but he hasn't paid the mortgage for the last 6 months so its in danger of being repossessed, it is on the market and has been for over a year.   The ex will not communicate with her in any way shape or form.  

My question at this stage is, roughly what is the percentage of below market value that you get for a repossession?  Im trying to understand whether it is worth spending so much money on solicitors fees, courts etc to try and get her something, or let the repossession ( not sure we can stop it!) and hope there is a surplus left after his debts, courts, mortgage etc have been deducted 

eddddy

There isn't really a concept of a percentage below market value.

If it's repossessed, often the bank will put the property on the market for 2 or 3 weeks with a guide price, and the best offer received during those 2 or 3 weeks will be accepted.

So if your daughter and her ex put the property on the market for 2 or 3 weeks with a guide price, and then accepted the best offer received - they're likely to get the same 'best offer' as the bank gets.

The difference might be fees. The bank might charge a big chunk of fees for having to carry out the repossession.

Thrugelmir

The market will determine the selling price. Possibly the property could be auctioned if there's a lack of serious interest by a given date. While the lender has a duty of care to the borrower, the lender obviously wants their money back in a reasonable time frame. 

davidmcn

In my experience there's not a significant difference in the price achieved between repossessions and the same properties being sold (in a hurry) by the owners. The vast majority are sold via agents in the usual way rather than ending up in auction. As above the main difference will be the various costs charged by the bank. 

ReadingTim

Absolutely no hard and fast rule whatsoever - it depends on what offers the bank gets once it's repossessed, which in turn depends on who's buying at the time it's being sold, and (to a lesser extent) the state the place is left in - should the ex absolutely trash the place then it's obviously not going to attach as high an offer as it would if it was in relatively 'good' condition. 

The bank has an obligation to get as much as they can for it, but they can't magic up buyers out of thin air or make them pay more than they want to pay for it.  Whether this covers the money owed, plus costs, no-one knows - you might as well as how long a piece of string is.  

pipsmistress

Thanks for your replies.  Just don’t know what to do for the best.  The solicitors have quoted a minimum of 12K to even start the divorce proceedings including sorting out the finances.  I’m willing to fund the solicitors and daughter is wanting to pay me back when she gets a settlement but because of his noncooperation I’m afraid it could escalate in costs and fees and she still not end up with anything anyway!   Was wondering if repossession might play in her favour but not sure now.  What do I advice her 😞

Crashy_Time

First thing to do is drop the asking price, on the market a year suggests well overpriced.

pipsmistress

It’s been dropped by 45k already but we’ve no way of knowing if he’s even showing people around.  We don’t know what his agenda is.... only spite! 

[Deleted User]

A property repossession can follow you around like a bad stink. Every time your daughter goes to apply for a mortgage in the future she will be asked if she's ever had a property repossessed. Is that better or worse though than having to pay the mortgage to keep a roof over the soon-to-be ex-husband's head? 

Have you and your daughter read through Wikivorce to see how much of the divorce she could DIY to help keep solicitor costs down? Usually the first step is mediation and if your daughter offers it and the husband refuses it doesn't reflect well on him in court. 

https://www.wikivorce.com/divorce/

Thrugelmir

pipsmistress said:

Thanks for your replies.  Just don’t know what to do for the best.  The solicitors have quoted a minimum of 12K to even start the divorce proceedings including sorting out the finances.  I’m willing to fund the solicitors and daughter is wanting to pay me back when she gets a settlement but because of his noncooperation I’m afraid it could escalate in costs and fees and she still not end up with anything anyway!   Was wondering if repossession might play in her favour but not sure now.  What do I advice her 😞

The ex might see the error in his ways once he faces reality and consults a solicitor himself. Being belligerent cuts no ice in the view of the courts. Potentially paying the costs of your daughter from his share of the proceeds is bound to focus attention. 

bob_the_dinosaur

He is basically cutting his nose off to spite his face, the more he does this the more of his own money he is wasting.
Lose a potential buyer- have to take a lower offer- less money for him
Drag procedings out- more solicitors fees for him to pay- less money for him.
If he has debts then he is unlikely to get a mortgage himself (depending on what the debts have done to his credit record), he might be trying to get the repossesion to happen so he can present himself to council as homeless and get l.a housing.  

On the repossession side, if its a property that would be suitable for a FTB in normal circumstances then the agent might only want to show investors/cash buyers round.  I bought my first house as a repossession at the age of 27, the agents didn't initially want to show it to me as I was a FTB and there was a 28 day completion deadline