Selling property to family

squidley

I may be selling my house to a member of my family. A stepson to be precise. Needless to say (although I will say it anyway) it's all above board and I am selling it to him and his wife at the lowest end of what I would have expected to get for it. In case it is relevant, his mum (my wife) is not on the deeds to the property.  

I just wondered if this would be likely to cause any complications? I am assuming it won't, but just thought I would ask. Do we need to inform the solicitors, or is it totally irrelevant to them. 

Grizebeck

treat it like a normal sale,

Herzlos

Make sure there's a valuation and that they pay around that figure, you don't want it to look like you gifted them anything in case there are tax implications later.

user1977

I expect the solicitors will ask you for any information they need, but why would you be worried about telling them what you've told us?

MeteredOut

squidley said:

I may be selling my house to a member of my family. A stepson to be precise. Needless to say (although I will say it anyway) it's all above board and I am selling it to him and his wife at the lowest end of what I would have expected to get for it. In case it is relevant, his mum (my wife) is not on the deeds to the property.  

I just wondered if this would be likely to cause any complications? I am assuming it won't, but just thought I would ask. Do we need to inform the solicitors, or is it totally irrelevant to them. 

So long as "at the lowest end of what I would have expected to get for it" is not significantly below market value (has it been valued?), just treat it as if you were selling to a complete stranger and there should be no issues.

SDLT_Geek

squidley said:

I may be selling my house to a member of my family. A stepson to be precise. Needless to say (although I will say it anyway) it's all above board and I am selling it to him and his wife at the lowest end of what I would have expected to get for it. In case it is relevant, his mum (my wife) is not on the deeds to the property.  

I just wondered if this would be likely to cause any complications? I am assuming it won't, but just thought I would ask. Do we need to inform the solicitors, or is it totally irrelevant to them. 

You do not live in this house?  Your stepson and his wife will live there?

If you want your solicitors to be able to help you properly, tell them the whole story!!

theartfullodger

squidley said:

I may be selling my house to a member of my family. A stepson to be precise. Needless to say (although I will say it anyway) it's all above board and I am selling it to him and his wife at the lowest end of what I would have expected to get for it

(ultimately) it's not what you think is fair price but what HMRC consider is/was market price.  They have power to enforce (though other than SDLT, IHT or if he rents it out can't see that being relevant).

In your shoes i'd invite 3 local agents round (don't explain whole story) say you're thinking of selling please advise.  Then file their replies.

Where will you live? If in same house gets very complicated....

JohnBrown53

I'd be careful to ensure that there are no tax implications and that the price the house is sold for is the market rate (as valued by different estate agents). If you continue to live in the house after the sale that could look dubious for any future tax assessment. Take some advice. 

squidley

Thank you all for your comments.

There will be no issues with the valuation. It is in line with other houses sold in the street. I certainly won't be giving it away cheap as I need every penny for the move! It's a straightforward "they move in and we move out". 

I'm certainly not worried about telling the solicitor. My question was simply was it likely to cause any complications. Which I presume would delay things. 

squidley

Purely out of interest, is a stepson a "family member" to me?

Apologies for going a bit off topic.

user1977

squidley said:

Purely out of interest, is a stepson a "family member" to me?

In what sense? There is no universal definition of "family".