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

Flugelhorn

definitely go for no chain (death, divorce, second home, emigrating,  ex rental etc etc) and offer a good price (definitely makes it go more quickly.

I have bought 3 in the last few years - all no chain,  they were being sold because of divorce / emigration and buying new second home 

they all went through very smoothly - 4 months was the most delay and that was leasehold 

Flugelhorn

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.

beware of the ones where it is the attorney who is selling - the ex-resident is now in a care home but then passes away before the sale goes through and there is a huge delay while probate is sorted. 

GDB2222

Flugelhorn said:

definitely go for no chain (death, divorce, second home, emigrating,  ex rental etc etc) and offer a good price (definitely makes it go more quickly.

I have bought 3 in the last few years - all no chain,  they were being sold because of divorce / emigration and buying new second home 

they all went through very smoothly - 4 months was the most delay and that was leasehold 

Divorce can be tricky. Sometimes, one partner can deliberately delay the sale.

Flugelhorn

that is very true - yes agree very variable - thinking about it, it was well down the line and she was selling as the children were now leaving home.  Turned out neighbours had tried to buy it a couple of years before but the divorce caused some problems and she cancelled the sale -  maybe we were lucky!

pjs493

Agree with others regarding houses that are being sold due to divorce. Few marriages end on friendly terms and if it is particularly acrimonious it can drag out for a long time if both parties can’t agree on things related to the sale. 

My brother bought a house from a divorcing couple and it added about eight weeks to the transaction due to them not being on speaking terms and everything having to go via multiple solicitors. They were also in the awful position of being in negative equity with their mortgage company so argued over where the money ought to come from to cover the difference. They were part way through renovating the bathroom when they split so when my brother bought the house he had to finish the bathroom before he could even move in. He was a FTB living at home with our parents rent free so it wasn’t a huge deal for him that things dragged on.  

FreeBear

Flugelhorn said:

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.

beware of the ones where it is the attorney who is selling - the ex-resident is now in a care home but then passes away before the sale goes through and there is a huge delay while probate is sorted. 

There was one poster here a couple of years back. Had agreed to a purchase from an elderly owner who inconveniently died part way through. Took another 18 months to complete as I recall.

RHemmings

GDB2222 said:

Flugelhorn said:

definitely go for no chain (death, divorce, second home, emigrating,  ex rental etc etc) and offer a good price (definitely makes it go more quickly.

I have bought 3 in the last few years - all no chain,  they were being sold because of divorce / emigration and buying new second home 

they all went through very smoothly - 4 months was the most delay and that was leasehold 

Divorce can be tricky. Sometimes, one partner can deliberately delay the sale.

Exactly this happened to a friend of mine. One partner wanted the relationship over and for the house to be sold. The other partner wanted the relationship to be over and the house not to be sold in the hope the other partner would come back again. And in the meantime my friend gets his life put on hold. In the end the sale fell through. 

ReadySteadyPop

user1977 said:

Loanranger21 said:

Properties selling at auction perhaps?

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

They have a 190k deposit?

user1977

ReadySteadyPop said:

user1977 said:

Loanranger21 said:

Properties selling at auction perhaps?

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

They have a 190k deposit?

Assuming the PP means a traditional auction, that means doing all the due diligence prior to bidding (FTBs tend to have limited funds for lawyers/surveyors) and being comfortable that they'll be able to get mortgage funds for c. 28 days after the auction. As well as understanding why the property is in an auction in the first place...

ReadySteadyPop

If you wait a while you should get a decent enough house for 190k.