Approaching the Owner of a 'Fallow' House

RHemmings

If the 2010 Mortgage Charge was an equity release, then it could have been paid back by the time the owner died. 

elsien

There’s a house like this in my parent’s street. Been empty for a good few years now. The son turns up once in a while to maintain the garden, but the exterior is slowly getting more dilapidated.
Another neighbour tried to buy it, and the son agreed but did a lot of faffing around and then hoiked the price up to a ridiculously high level.
The current view of the neighbours is that, for whatever reason although he says he wants to sell, he’s not ready to and is always going to put barriers in the way. It’s never been formally on the market.

silvercar

badmemory said:

I wouldn't think it would be equity release as they are not known for their patience after the owner has died.  One near me they waited a whole six months up for sale.  Patience is not their middle name.

You’re assuming they know the borrower has died.

RHemmings

I slept on it, and I'm going to do this. Unless I change my mind, of course. 

I'm not going to approach the (likely) son directly. 

There is a house selling by 'modern method of auction' nearby. A like and similar house. My experience of my city is that it is very rare for houses selling by 'modern method of auction' to get even one bid.

I'm going to wait until the auction has finished, and see if it gets any bids. Then, I'm going to put an envelope through the front door addressed to 'The Owner' in hand-writing, and have a very polite letter asking if they are interested in selling the property. This avoids most of the weirdness that might be part of approaching the likely son directly. (Particularly if he isn't the son.) 

Note that I'm continuing to pursue other property opportunities in parallel. This is not an all eggs in one (unlikely) basket thing. 

RAS

RHemmings said:

RAS said:

It may be worth getting the deceased's death certificate and will? Combined cost about £4. That could give you the name(s) of the executor(s), the addresses of some beneficiaries and the name and address of the informant.

I can see that would work well in a situation like this. But, now that I believe I know who the son is and he is someone I know 'in real life', I'm not sure about all of this. 

The important thing is that even though you know the son, you don't know who the executor is/was. That is the only person who has the right to sell or transfer the property. Could be son. Could be someone else.

Also the estate may be split between several people. Perhaps some beneficiaries want to sell and some don't, which explains the delay? If you know who inherits the house, you may get a better understanding of the reason behind the fallow period. 

RHemmings

I feel a bit creepy doing this, but I have the grant of probate. There is one executor, the son, and it is now 100% that the son is who I thought he was. 

BlueVeranda

Does the similar house selling by auction also tick your boxes? Because if it does, and you suspect it may not get much interest at auction, you could go along and put a bid in yourself instead of waiting to see what the outcome is. 

FreeBear

BlueVeranda said:

Does the similar house selling by auction also tick your boxes? Because if it does, and you suspect it may not get much interest at auction, you could go along and put a bid in yourself instead of waiting to see what the outcome is. 

No, no, and no.

Do not encourage the use of dodgy selling practices. You would end up being on the hook for fees even if the sale fell through (although some exceptions may apply).

BlueVeranda

FreeBear said:

BlueVeranda said:

Does the similar house selling by auction also tick your boxes? Because if it does, and you suspect it may not get much interest at auction, you could go along and put a bid in yourself instead of waiting to see what the outcome is. 

No, no, and no.

Do not encourage the use of dodgy selling practices. You would end up being on the hook for fees even if the sale fell through (although some exceptions may apply).

Ok, I'm not a fan of auctions myself, but it seemed to be slightly more proactive given that the similar house is at least known to be for sale.

RHemmings

FreeBear said:

Do not encourage the use of dodgy selling practices. You would end up being on the hook for fees even if the sale fell through (although some exceptions may apply).

I'm aware of the issues with online auctions. I'm still, however, weighing up the risks. I'm aware of the T&Cs etc. and what can go wrong. On the auction website used, there is the possibility of making an offer. I'm going to look into whether this is possible after the auction finishes, if it finishes with no bids.

BlueVeranda said:

Does the similar house selling by auction also tick your boxes? Because if it does, and you suspect it may not get much interest at auction, you could go along and put a bid in yourself instead of waiting to see what the outcome is. 

It's selling online via 'modern method of auction'.