How to recognise properties which need a quick sale? Hoping for a quick sale and a good deal!

onlyrenting

Hi all,

I'm after advice once again! I was involved in a house purchase for the last 9 months where the seller was very complicated, to say the least. The property was on the market for 6 months before I saw it, having been reduced 330 -> 320 -> 310 -> 300k. It went to best and final offers, and whilst I liked the property, I didn't deem it worth 300k, so I submitted 280k and thought nothing of it.

After some back and forth with the EA, my offer was eventually accepted! Happy days, what could go wrong?! Sellers had some issues with getting their onward purchase and the process with littered with delays, etc.

 Eventually they lost their onward purchase and have asked me to wait for them. I had a new mortgage offer and have then again waited for them. Sellers failed to get a new house sorted through, so they eventually said they will to move to parents and sell to me.

This was again subject to so many delays over the past three months. Now it transpires there's a relationship breakdown involved and one of the parties seems to be trying to make the sale backfire. 3 weeks before the agreed completion / exchange, sellers stated they now want the original £330k price!

Whilst I didn't like losing out on the property, especially on what I thought was a good price, I pulled out after this as I couldn't take it anymore and I am now looking at other properties. Due to all the delays, I have also unfortunately passed these delays to my landlord. My landlord wanted to sell the property already 6 months ago, but due to being delayed by the sellers, I had to delay my leaving date to the landlord.

The landlord was initially understanding of my situation and willing to work with me, but as time went on he became more impatient and argumentative. He has threatened a S21 notice twice in the last two months, but has not done this yet.

I am aware that I don't have to leave after the S21 expires and that I can probably delay the process for quite a while, but I don't want to resort to that. After all, it's not the landlord's fault and he's just equally inconvenienced as I am.

I have £190k as a deposit and would only look for properties in the 280-300k range, which is less than 3x my annual salary. As a first time buyer I believe this would make my side of things incredibly quick and simple? With that in mind, I want to look for properties where the seller needs to sell quickly. This is to hopefully proceed quickly and hopefully get another good deal! However, these properties are obviously not easy to spot!

So I am asking the MSE experts for assistance! How do I spot these kinds of properties? How do I best use my financial situation to be appealing to those sellers that want to sell?

Any help / advice is appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

daveyjp

Sounds callous, but I know a small property BTL investor who trawls Rightmove looking for properties which appear to have been last occupied by people who have died.

Clues are tired interiors, unkempt gardens, older style kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, patterned carpets, grab handles and ramps, stairlifts etc etc.

He knows there will be no chain, families generally need to sell and he goes in with a sensible no messing offer.

user1977

Ones which say they have no chain? Ones which are empty?

Millsandovis

Look for no chain as a selling feature 

Hoenir

Register with some Estate Agents. View properties before they are even listed. 

p00hsticks

daveyjp said:

Sounds callous, but I know a small property BTL investor who trawls Rightmove looking for properties which appear to have been last occupied by people who have died.

Clues are tired interiors, unkempt gardens, older style kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, patterned carpets, grab handles and ramps, stairlifts etc etc.

He knows there will be no chain, families generally need to sell and he goes in with a sensible no messing offer.

With these sort of properties though, you need to make sure that the executors / administrators of the estate have already got probate through - some market it before getting it and this can make the sale process lengthy as it is needed in order to exchange contracts. 

You can also get beneficiaries pushing to get higher offers in order to (as they see it) increase their inheritance, or disagreeing on what price to accept. 

Loanranger21

Properties selling at auction perhaps?

user1977

Loanranger21 said:

Properties selling at auction perhaps?

Probably not a sensible hunting ground for a FTB who needs a mortgage.

theoretica

You know of one property for sure - but presumably have a reason not to buy the property you are renting.

RHemmings

Add apps that track price changes on Rightmove, and then look for properties with rapid price reductions.

GDB2222

One of the issues that the op has discovered is that the transaction has to work for both parties. He was pleased with the bargain price, but ultimately the sellers found that it didn’t work for them.