Reposessed Home

webjaved

Hello,

What kind of things should you be looking out for if you are willing to make an offer on a repossessed property?

The family that moved out has left in anger and smashed the walls in a bedroom, the kitchen units are broken and some doors are broken too that will need replacing.

There's also a smashed window in the bedroom upstairs on the front of the property that has not been boarded up so it's just open to the elements.

Here is the listing: https://www.ryder-dutton.co.uk/properties/15382741/sales/OLD220221

We quite like the property, it would be perfect for us. I was thinking of sticking an offer of £175k on it.

The estate agent did say that it's a company that is selling the property, so if my offer were to be accepted the property will still be online and viewings will be taken if someone makes an offer higher than me, even if it was at the contract swapping stage. She did not disclose the name of the company. I could ask when I make an offer.

I'm a first-time buyer so just want to make sure I cover everything. The property is freehold so there is no ground rent to pay.

Thank you,

Javed

jonnydeppiwish!

Repossed houses - great if you’re happy to be out bid the day before you want to exchange.

No, in all seriousness, keep some extra cash if you need to up the price at the end. The Banks will want as much money as they can get.

webjaved

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Repossed houses - great if you’re happy to be out bid the day before you want to exchange.

No, in all seriousness, keep some extra cash if you need to up the price at the end. The Banks will want as much money as they can get.

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

eddddy

webjaved said:

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

The bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible - so they will consider offers right up to exchange of contract. 

If your offer of £175k is initially accepted, the amount of your offer will be advertised, and if somebody decides to offer more, their offer will probably be accepted. So you need to move quickly and get to exchange of contract as quickly as you can.


You can see if you can find a conveyancer who offers 'no-sale, no-fee' - but that might not be possible for a repossessed property.

And sometimes it's the big conveyancing warehouses who offer 'no-sale, no fee' - working with them can sometimes be slow and painful, and they're not good for 'non-standard' purchases, like a repossession.

You really need a good solicitor who can work quickly and diligently - and they're unlikely to offer 'no-sale, no fee'.


And even with a 'no-sale, no-fee' solicitor, you'll have to pay disbursements, mortgage application fees, valuation fees, survey fees etc, which you would lose, if you're then outbid. 

webjaved

eddddy said:

webjaved said:

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

The bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible - so they will consider offers right up to exchange of contract. 

If your offer of £175k is initially accepted, the amount of your offer will be advertised, and if somebody decides to offer more, their offer will probably be accepted. So you need to move quickly and get to exchange of contract as quickly as you can.


You can see if you can find a conveyancer who offers 'no-sale, no-fee' - but that might not be possible for a repossessed property.

And sometimes it's the big conveyancing warehouses who offer 'no-sale, no fee' - working with them can sometimes be slow and painful, and they're not good for 'non-standard' purchases, like a repossession.

You really need a good solicitor who can work quickly and diligently - and they're unlikely to offer 'no-sale, no fee'.


And even with a 'no-sale, no-fee' solicitor, you'll have to pay disbursements, mortgage application fees, valuation fees, survey fees etc, which you would lose, if you're then outbid. 

And that is my biggest concern at the moment, losing out on money that I cannot afford to lose. The property is not with a bank, I've had that confirmed from the estate agents, they just said it's a company that owns the property, they then rang back 1hr later asking me if £175k was my best offer and I said yes. They have more viewings next weekend, so let's see how that goes. Deep down, I believe this property will end up around the £200k+ mark. If it's meant to be it will be. 

Thank you for those points you've raised, it's given me loads to look into and consider.

RelievedSheff

Just watch out for the timescales they give as well. We seriously considered buying a repo property before we ended up with our last house. The one thing that put us off was that they wanted exchange within 28 days. Now this was possible at the time but it felt like too much of a rush.

theartfullodger

Check what's in any water tanks......


I bought a repo.  Fossilised chipolata sausage under grill over fungus/mould on top of congealed fat....

Unexpected car in garage.  Turned out to be owned by neighbour: Who slept in it when his wife locked him out if he'd had a over-thirsty evening.  Took 6 months to get it shifted.

user1977

webjaved said:

eddddy said:

webjaved said:

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

The bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible - so they will consider offers right up to exchange of contract. 

If your offer of £175k is initially accepted, the amount of your offer will be advertised, and if somebody decides to offer more, their offer will probably be accepted. So you need to move quickly and get to exchange of contract as quickly as you can.


You can see if you can find a conveyancer who offers 'no-sale, no-fee' - but that might not be possible for a repossessed property.

And sometimes it's the big conveyancing warehouses who offer 'no-sale, no fee' - working with them can sometimes be slow and painful, and they're not good for 'non-standard' purchases, like a repossession.

You really need a good solicitor who can work quickly and diligently - and they're unlikely to offer 'no-sale, no fee'.


And even with a 'no-sale, no-fee' solicitor, you'll have to pay disbursements, mortgage application fees, valuation fees, survey fees etc, which you would lose, if you're then outbid. 

The property is not with a bank, I've had that confirmed from the estate agents, they just said it's a company that owns the property

So where did the "repossessed" bit come from then?

webjaved

RelievedSheff said:

Just watch out for the timescales they give as well. We seriously considered buying a repo property before we ended up with our last house. The one thing that put us off was that they wanted exchange within 28 days. Now this was possible at the time but it felt like too much of a rush.

I'll keep an eye out on this. I guess I will know more after the latest viewings are conducted how soon the sale will go through.

theartfullodger said:

Check what's in any water tanks......


I bought a repo.  Fossilised chipolata sausage under grill over fungus/mould on top of congealed fat....

Unexpected car in garage.  Turned out to be owned by neighbour: Who slept in it when his wife locked him out if he'd had a over-thirsty evening.  Took 6 months to get it shifted.

We couldn't access the garage as the garden door was closed, I did drive round the back and checked the garage, it had some sort of notice on it and a few bins on the drive, I might pop past it on my way home and see what's written on the notice that has been stuck up.

user1977 said:

webjaved said:

eddddy said:

webjaved said:

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

The bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible - so they will consider offers right up to exchange of contract. 

If your offer of £175k is initially accepted, the amount of your offer will be advertised, and if somebody decides to offer more, their offer will probably be accepted. So you need to move quickly and get to exchange of contract as quickly as you can.


You can see if you can find a conveyancer who offers 'no-sale, no-fee' - but that might not be possible for a repossessed property.

And sometimes it's the big conveyancing warehouses who offer 'no-sale, no fee' - working with them can sometimes be slow and painful, and they're not good for 'non-standard' purchases, like a repossession.

You really need a good solicitor who can work quickly and diligently - and they're unlikely to offer 'no-sale, no fee'.


And even with a 'no-sale, no-fee' solicitor, you'll have to pay disbursements, mortgage application fees, valuation fees, survey fees etc, which you would lose, if you're then outbid. 

The property is not with a bank, I've had that confirmed from the estate agents, they just said it's a company that owns the property

So where did the "repossessed" bit come from then?

No idea. That is what the woman who was showing us around the house said. Explains it after the damage they left and how quickly they left.

user1977

webjaved said:

RelievedSheff said:

Just watch out for the timescales they give as well. We seriously considered buying a repo property before we ended up with our last house. The one thing that put us off was that they wanted exchange within 28 days. Now this was possible at the time but it felt like too much of a rush.

I'll keep an eye out on this. I guess I will know more after the latest viewings are conducted how soon the sale will go through.

theartfullodger said:

Check what's in any water tanks......


I bought a repo.  Fossilised chipolata sausage under grill over fungus/mould on top of congealed fat....

Unexpected car in garage.  Turned out to be owned by neighbour: Who slept in it when his wife locked him out if he'd had a over-thirsty evening.  Took 6 months to get it shifted.

We couldn't access the garage as the garden door was closed, I did drive round the back and checked the garage, it had some sort of notice on it and a few bins on the drive, I might pop past it on my way home and see what's written on the notice that has been stuck up.

user1977 said:

webjaved said:

eddddy said:

webjaved said:

I'm only willing to go as far as £175k - if I am lucky to get it then so be it.

I would have to make sure any fees from the solicitor are taken once the contract is finalised and not beforehand.

I suspect that this property will go well above the £200k mark - the property market is just absurd at the moment.

The bank has a legal duty to get the best price reasonably possible - so they will consider offers right up to exchange of contract. 

If your offer of £175k is initially accepted, the amount of your offer will be advertised, and if somebody decides to offer more, their offer will probably be accepted. So you need to move quickly and get to exchange of contract as quickly as you can.


You can see if you can find a conveyancer who offers 'no-sale, no-fee' - but that might not be possible for a repossessed property.

And sometimes it's the big conveyancing warehouses who offer 'no-sale, no fee' - working with them can sometimes be slow and painful, and they're not good for 'non-standard' purchases, like a repossession.

You really need a good solicitor who can work quickly and diligently - and they're unlikely to offer 'no-sale, no fee'.


And even with a 'no-sale, no-fee' solicitor, you'll have to pay disbursements, mortgage application fees, valuation fees, survey fees etc, which you would lose, if you're then outbid. 

The property is not with a bank, I've had that confirmed from the estate agents, they just said it's a company that owns the property

So where did the "repossessed" bit come from then?

No idea. That is what the woman who was showing us around the house said. Explains it after the damage they left and how quickly they left.

So are the vendors landlords who have repossessed it from tenants? Or there might be some confusion because lenders often use an intermediary company to deal with repossessions - but in reality it is the lender selling.

You may wish to consider whether it's mortgageable, especially if it's not watertight.

The estate agent link isn't working for me.

RAS

Link works for me; looks like a modern 3 storey townhouse, middle of a block of three, with mud and bins in the front garden . No interior pictures yet, promised later. The adjacent gardens don't look great either