House been on market for 6 month, no viewings, Desperate to sell

Exodi

YoungBlueEyes said:

I don't know if what I've suggested there is legal but someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Does paying bills accrue interest in/rights to a property? 

I can't remember the exact case (I'm sure someone will provide it), but I think the precedent was set that if someone is making payments with the expectation that they are accruing equity (for example, if you have an agreement with the owner to 'split the mortgage payment') then it is possible for someone who is not on the deeds or mortgage of a house to gain equity in the property.

On this forum, most people usually make it crystal clear, that you should charge someone 'rent' and not use the word mortgage, or even that any money received is going towards the mortgage, so that no claim can be launched claiming the tenant believed they were paying towards the mortgage and building equity in the house. Those more cautious types go one step further and avoid charging any 'housing' costs at all - e.g. such as having them pay all the bills, but nothing towards house, so there is little room for any feigned confusion.

So long story short, paying 'bills' (as in utilities) does not accrue interest/rights in a property. Paying 'half the mortgage', where you can convince a judge you genuinely believed you were building equity, can accrue interest/rights in a property. This is rare, but never say never.

p00hsticks

jlfrs01 said:

When a property fails to sell it's nearly always because the price is to high and/or it's not aesthetically pleasing/in poor decorative order.

Nearly always - but I suspect that this may be one of those exceptions that prove the rule.

Here I think the problem could well be that either the ex is not allowing viewings, or that people considering viewings are put off when they find out that there is to all intents and purposes as sitting tenant occupying the property who is not necessarily going to be willing to leave. 

YoungBlueEyes

I think I remember reading the case you're talking about Exodi. I wasn't sure if reliably paying the bills (not mortgage) would create rights, and throw a child and + length of relationship into the mix, it might be a tricky one. Hence my suggestion of bypassing it all and throwing money at the problem, but that's already failed so... 

MSE_James

Sarah1Mitty2 said:
 Are you able to post a link to get more in-depth advice?

Please could we remind everyone of the yellow box at the top of this page, which includes a reminder not to post links to your own property listings (as this in effect reveals your address, contrary to forum rules).

MeteredOut

I'd love to hear what the EA is saying about getting no viewings? Surely that question has been asked?

(I hope it doesn't turn out the "other person" is the EA...)

TBagpuss

Exodi said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

I don't know if what I've suggested there is legal but someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Does paying bills accrue interest in/rights to a property? 

I can't remember the exact case (I'm sure someone will provide it), but I think the precedent was set that if someone is making payments with the expectation that they are accruing equity (for example, if you have an agreement with the owner to 'split the mortgage payment') then it is possible for someone who is not on the deeds or mortgage of a house to gain equity in the property.

On this forum, most people usually make it crystal clear, that you should charge someone 'rent' and not use the word mortgage, or even that any money received is going towards the mortgage, so that no claim can be launched claiming the tenant believed they were paying towards the mortgage and building equity in the house. Those more cautious types go one step further and avoid charging any 'housing' costs at all - e.g. such as having them pay all the bills, but nothing towards house, so there is little room for any feigned confusion.

So long story short, paying 'bills' (as in utilities) does not accrue interest/rights in a property. Paying 'half the mortgage', where you can convince a judge you genuinely believed you were building equity, can accrue interest/rights in a property. This is rare, but never say never.

Paying bills doesn't give anyone an automatic claim on the property but it might result in creating a tenancy.

what can happen is the creation of a constructive or resulting trust, where one person assert that they made payments on the basis that it was agreed / mutually understood that this would give them an interest in the property. It's a stronger argument where they pay towards the mortgage, or pay over along period of time, or where there is a long separation and they are living in the property and paying the rent, as if a court is trying to decide whether there was a mutual intention that they would have an interest, they look at how both parties acted . The best advice f you are having a partner move in is to have a cohabitation agreement which expressly states that they person *won't* have any interest in the property unless there is a formal written agreement to say they will, as that makes it very hard for them to argue that they were relying on a verbal agreement or a shared 'understanding' 

It's always a fairly hard argument to win - I think those cases where it has been successful involved non-owning partners paying towards a mortgage for years, in some cases many years  after separation.

Just contributing towards outgoings would not normally come close to being enough. That said, a court fight over the issue can be extremely expensive and while the winner might be entitled to their costs if the loser doesn't own a property they probably aren't going to get them back, so it can often be more cost effective to pay to make the problem disappear.

OP, I agree that it's likely that your best move at this stage is to insist that she move out. Give her a hard deadline, maybe 6 weeks from the date of the letter telling her to leave. Then review the situation. Consider taking the property off the market, and the remarketing in a month or two with a new agent. Alternatively, you could look into whether you might be able to rent it out - it's not ideal and of course you would need your lender's consent to let, and to comply with all the legal obligations which come with being a landlord, but it might mean that you could at least afford the mortgage.

You say you couldn't move back in, but it may be enough to tell her that you are going to and that is why she needs to move out.  Or go up with a mate or two to stay in the house . Offer to help he move her stuff to her now property ort new partner's place. 
If she has not been paying either rent or mortgage she should have been able to save up a deposit by now! 

Check in with your agent - have they had any enquiries? It's certainly possible that she is doing something to reduce the chances of a successful sale , even if it's just not responding to the agents when they try to arrange viewings, or letting the exterior look tatty so it's off-putting to anyone doing a drive by before contacting the agents. 

Sistergold

Relationship for only 2years, cheating, child not yours, you have moved out, you left ex in house, you are renting and paying mortgage, trying to sell with ex still there? My head is spinning to be honest. First thing to do is retrace your steps and move back in, give ex plus child x weeks to leave. At this point if house still not sold you continue to live in the house until the market is better to sell. This way you don’t pay rent plus mortgage. You really need to put your foot down before you are dragged underground. 

theoretica

No viewings does sound like a price issue, but I agree that a property which is currently lived in by someone other than the seller is at least an orange flag, verging on red.  The buyer doesn't know they won't be awkward about leaving.

[Deleted User]

bmnsuk said:

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

Hi, the selling price and what you owe are not connected, trying to get the price you paid two years ago won`t work in this market, you need to contact the mortgage company and say you are struggling and also get advice from CAB or similar about the rights she has to stay there rent free if she isn`t on the mortgage.

The house was valued at 20k more than I paid for it 2 years ago. I've dropped the price to close to what I did pay for it now. I took advice from a solicitor about the ex living and he literally told me to "play nice"  in order to get her out

Follow their advice.
I was told the same thing, years ago, in a similar situation.

I did it all as instructed by the solicitor, the ex tried every little thing to force my hand to get them out but i stuck to the advice every step of the way.
It was worth it as both our actions were noted and the ex didn't do as well as they wanted because of their own were seen as time-wasting and obstructive.

Re: the not being sold, just reduce it to sell - the ex will get less out of it/you if the sale cost is low !

johnhenstock

Sarah1Mitty2 said:

turnitround said:

I suspect the reason it isn't selling is because your ex is still living there. Anyone looking to buy a property doesn't want the prospect of someone refusing to leave and delaying completion. 

You are not responsible for her or the child and have given her every chance to sort out future accommodation. Perhaps it's time to look after your own interest, its crazy to be paying for 2 houses. 

I strongly believe that it is because the OP is trying to get the price they paid two years ago, the economic landscape has changed way beyond that being a credible goal now, the best route is to drop the price to a point where serious viewings start turning up.

Are you making up stuff again? Over the last two years, most properties went up in value between 5 and 40%, rightly or wrongly.

No one sells at those prices, they’d be stupid to do so. Yes, the “market” changed, but no in the way you think.

OP, can you post a link to your property or is that too sensitive?