Wanting to buy a house not yet on the market

Polkadot87

Me and my partner are first time buyers. We have recently been made aware that a particular property will be on the market soon. The owner recently died and had no family so the house will be sold by solicitors. They are currently in the process of being granted probate.

We have been able to view the property through friends who are checking in on the property whilst it is empty and think it would be suitable for us. 

We have thought about writing to the solicitors to make an offer now but are worried that this could make make them inflate the price if it does end up on the market. Also, the solicitors is part of an estate agent so we don't know if there will be the same incentive to avoid agency fees. 

Would it be best to make an offer now or wait until it comes on the market?

Any help appreciated, thanks.

p00hsticks

You say that the deceased had no family, but it sounds unusual for solicitors to be jumping in to adminster an estate unless they have been either named as executors in a will or asked by an executor to do so. And a will suggests that someone, somewhere is the beneficiary. 

So I suspect that, in much the same way that a lender has a duty to realise as high a price as possible for a repossessed house, as executors the solicitor will need to demonstrate that the house is sold for as much as possible - which means putting it onto the open market. 

Having said that ,I can't see that there is any harm in simply letting the solicitor know that you might be interested in purchasing the property...

Polkadot87

Thanks for your reply. I think they must have been named executor. All the money from the house sale will go to charity.

We thought that might be the case that they need to put it on the market. If we let them know should we let them know now or wait a bit until we know probate has gone through? 

user1977

If the beneficiary is a charity then I don't see any chance of them doing a pre-market deal, just make contact and let them know your interest. And bear in mind it could take them months simply to get probate.

Polkadot87

Thanks, the longer the better for us as we will need to get all our ducks in a row!