house advice - buying a reposession

[messerschmitt owner]

Seen a shagged repo I'd like to put an offer in on. Our buyers can move quickly, I can afford the work to get the house back in habitable order but what pitfalls are there - especially as I want to pitch an offer in much below the asking price (which is full retail in the area).

[Father Ted]

Repos often get TRASHED by the outgoing party. Be aware of everything from missing pipework and electricals to turds under the carpet, even needles and syringes.

Then there is the issue of the property being associated with a poor credit rating - that can cause you a right royal headache.

BUT on the plus side the mortgage holder who is selling only wants to get their money back, any extra is a bonus - so often you can get a property for a LOT less than it would retail at.

We got our repo for £20,000 less than surrounding properties. That more than paid for a skip, decorating and a new boiler

[Lankytim]

All I can say is go in low and you may be pleasantly surprised, often the bank just want to liquidate the property ASAP and get some of their money back.

[Split_Pin]

I deal with these for a job and they can be a good buy. We also looked at a repo ourselves but it was trashed and had bulletholes in the back door.

 

Not a prob in itself but the silly bint of an estate agent was trying to play us by saying we needed to be quick as there was an offer on the table. We walked away as we were clearly not going to get anywhere by offering what it was actually worth.

 

As said, go in low!

[messerschmitt owner]

it's been for sale since October 2011 (July with the owners) and is royally shagged. The sun room is pinned in with one brick either side and needs demolishing or serious pinning before rebuilding. It's on the market at the retail value just now of about £250k. It needs £33k of work if paying someone to do it. Most of the shagged-ness is simply decor but I wouldn't trust the boiler or hob and at least one loo needs a new floor. Evidence of light damp in the ensuite. Worst issue is the sunroom and the outbuildings, which need reroofed and new doors all olang.

 

I reckoned it was worth tops £185000 as it stands and don't want to offer more than £170k as a first offer. I'm tempted to go for £160k.

[Guest]

Go in low then you can go up.

Go in high you can't reverse.

Worked for me.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I would get a survey done on my behalf (in addition to anything arranged/required by the lender).

 

Goes without saying that you should check actual land registry prices as opposed to what's currently being advertised by the local estate agents.

[messerschmitt owner]

I would get a survey done on my behalf (in addition to anything arranged/required by the lender).

 

Goes without saying that you should check actual land registry prices as opposed to what's currently being advertised by the local estate agents.

it needs a full structural due to the sunroom. It is a unique house in the area but is four bed (two ensuite) with four reception rooms (including the sunroom). Zoopla reckons £243k - I don't think that's far off. We sold ours at £163,000 (priced at £169,950) and sold to the fourth viewer and properties are shifting again if priced sensibly.

 

My thoughts are the minimum to get it habitable is about £10k, looking tidy £20k and perfect £30-33k.

[outlaw118]

May I weigh in my twopenneth - I worked for Halifux plc for 14 years, 10 of which doing repos etc...

 

1) It's a popular misconception that ALL repos go for peanuts, because the lender just needs to get their money back. As you have found out with the place you're looking at, it's going to be cheap for a reason - it's fooked. Invariably repos are in need of at the very least redocoration, and sometimes a full refurb (living in a caravan in the garden type thing) will be required. Why? Because 95% of the time, the financial difficulties that the (ex)householder found themselves in, which ultimately led to repossession, will have been going on for a while. So, given the choice of fixing the little problem with the gutters for £150, that money gets paid onto the mortgage, or is used to buy kids trainers or summat. So, the property is in a declining state for some time before the bailiffs come a-knocking.

Secondly, the lenders have a legal obligation to get the best possible price for the property in either the open market or at an auction. They will need to weigh up the amount of interest, versus the amount outstanding on the mortgage, bearing in mind that a) The mortgage debt is rising on a daily basis The property is potentially declining in condition and therefore saleability too, so if marketed @ £185k, and gets no interest for, for instance a month, the mortgage debt may have increased by £1000 in that time - obviously debt outstanding dependent - so if a buyer comes in, who can complete quickly, and offers less, the calculator will come out, and a desicion will be made on that basis.

 

2) You need to be aware that the mortgage WILL NOT be the only thing that the previous owner owes. As Fatha-Ted alluded to in his reply re: credit references etc, whilst the house being blacklisted is not such a major problem as it was before, it may be something that will be a niggly PITA. You will also need to be prepared for the likes of me (I'm a Debt Recovery Officer for my sins) knocking on the door and asking for the previous owner/occupier, so it will be useful to keep some I.D. handy, to prove that you are Mr M Owner, and that Mrs M Owner is not Mrs Brown who owes £1700 on her Grattans catalogue.

 

3) Like everyone has said, go in low, the worst the lender can say is NO, then you can go back with an improved offer. As suggested by Luxo, it's always a good idea to get the place looked at by a professional, just to make sure that there's nothing hidden that you've not spotted - £200 for a half decent structural survey may end up being money well spent if you can avoid buying a money-pit. Think of it as hammering a bigger survey over the estate agents one if you will.

 

Hope that i've been of some help.....one day I'll write a book..."The Adventures Of Repo Man"...but nobody will believe it....

[messerschmitt owner]

I know about the bailiffs - the owner one before us in this house had it repo-ed. I had the details including the mortgage letter next to the door and the bailiffs accepted it every time.

[Split_Pin]

Has the Home Report been introduced in England and Wales yet?

 

When we are looking to sell a property in possession we have to arrange and pay for this, which includes a survey and valuation. We then have to get a secondary survey done for fairness, hammer over smaller one etc. Furthermore, we usually carry out a degree of repair to it to make it more saleable.

 

A good lender will usually freeze and/or write back the interest charged on the mortgage since the property was taken into posession, mainly to mitigate losses but also to be fair to the former borrower.

 

You have to ask yourself though, is it worth the hassle? Like a car, if you really want it then money is no object, but as said, all manner of cost cutting maintenance could be lurking.

 

Saying that, we bought our current house in a neglected state and have treated it as a rolling resto and its quite enjoyable.

[messerschmitt owner]

no HIP here!

 

it's a viable resto project and lots is easy even for one on a budget. I could redo the bathrooms myself, wire and plumb in new showers. The carpets are decent but badly needing cleaned and the walls are all smooth and just needing painted. I'm not so precious I can't live with simple £1.49 pendant light fittings.

 

I could live with the kitchen for a while and it has plenty of outbuildings - well, what's the worst that can happen? They can say no and/or I waste £500 on a reasonable survey.

 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for ... 60600.html

[Father Ted]

May I weigh in my twopenneth

1) it's going to be cheap for a reason - it's fooked.

Oh and then some, try drainage rods and bricks in the drain requiring excavation of the road, fooked roof, fooked plumbing, fooked electrics, missing boiler in addition to decorating.

 

2) You will also need to be prepared for the likes of me (I'm a Debt Recovery Officer for my sins) knocking on the door and asking for the previous owner/occupier,

^^^

This.

This I was unprepared for and caused a LOT of headaches.

I would say it was nearly 5 years before all the previous debt issues of the fleeing owners were put to rest

3)

it's always a good idea to get the place looked at by a professional, just to make sure that there's nothing hidden that you've not spotted - £200 for a half decent structural survey may end up being money well spent if you can avoid buying a money-pit.

This^^^

Whilst it might not spot everything, having one meant the insurance company footed the bill for digging up a busy B road and the traffic management stuff (blokes with stop/go sign on a pole) to repair the drains filled with old drain rods and rubble.

Over £10K at 1995 prices.

[Morgan84]

I found when buying a place that reposessions or derelect houses go for crazy money,and sometimes fetch as much,or more as a equivalent property in good condition through a estate agents.For some reason people get into a bidding frenzy,and will happily pay top dollar for crap,but overlook a real gem,as it isn't percieved as a 'bargain'. I got my place through a divorce - after 30 years of marriage,the guy took on a girlfriend,and his wife had a sense of humour failure !!

[Cavcraft]

Phone the vendor up, tell them you live miles away and want a discount because of that. When you view it again just go round kicking the doors and saying a mate is selling one loads cheaper that's in much better nick.

Then go home, leave it a day or two and send them a text message saying 'orite M8 wots ur best price 4 ca$h' followed by a bid of about 1/53rd of what it's actually worth.

 

Seems to work on eBay and you've nothing to lose.

[Lankytim]

....or go round, drink lots of the vendors coffee and eat their buscuits, say you like it and offer the asking price, then dissapear off the face of the earth after telling the vendor you are off to get some money from the cash point.

[TimothyClaypole]

Technically the one thing I did in my past that was the right thing to do at the time buying my reposession.

 

 

[ashmicro]

All new appliances AND a cement mixer! Seriously, that's a cracking job, and those bumpy, sponge-plastered ceilings are a cunt to get rid of.

[e287yba]

... Goes without saying that you should check actual land registry prices as opposed to what's currently being advertised by the local estate agents.

 

This can be fun - for example, why did one house sell for £50k about 8 years ago when others on the street were selling for around £150k? It might be something simple like a divorce settlement... But you see the low price and think "what was wrong with that one then, then???" .

 

Other sites like 'mouseprice' (I think!) use the land registry price data, and add other features. Also check on 'police.co.uk' (or whatever it is) for basic info on local crime rates, plus check on 'postcode insurance ratings' websites wrt car insurance .

 

Also visit the locale in the evening and at night - I believe this is vital, to see the "other side" of the place if there is one (eg kids playing football in the street until 9.30PM or gangs of knuckle-dragging teenagers) that you would rather not face.

 

And, finally, Good Luck, I hope you get your bargain .

[Father Ted]

Technically the one thing I did in my past that was the right thing to do at the time buying my reposession.

 

I See your kitchen

& I raise you - Internal Stone Cladding

 

*

 

*after the carpet cleaner had done its work - this was the best room in the house.

[ashmicro]

That's not stone cladding mate, that's the old 1970s favourite Crazy Paving. On a wall. All time win right there.

[Father Ted]

That's not stone cladding mate, that's the old 1970s favourite Crazy Paving. On a wall. All time win right there.

Wrecked the wall when I removed it.

Also the "alcoves" which were large chunks of internal wall removed and then stone cladding applied to the inside face of the outside wall.

Its still there behind the new wall.

[Wilko220]

I bought a repossessed flat and, like others on here, had irritating problems with bailiffs letters, etc. As annoying as it was though, it's quite straightforward to sort out, and a couple of years on, the problem has mainly stopped now.

I don't regret the buy for a second - got a great deal, even taking account for the necessary redecoration of torn wallpaper and getting the saboutaged boiler fixed...

[ProgRocker]

Looks like a decent enough house!

 

Concrete/cement in the drains is another tactic that the defaulter does too. Best to get the drains checked out as well.

[DSdriver]

Repos often get TRASHED by the outgoing party.

 

Not in every case! Friends of mine bought a repo London flat that the previous owners had left so quickly there was a full set of quality saucepans in the kitchen and a wardrobe full of designer frocks.

[TimothyClaypole]

I see your crazy paving and raise you my stairs:

 

 

[HBR]

Ha ha ha, it's nothing to do with cars & shite cars in particular but if we're going to go off topic by talking about property then it is at least SHITE property, and some especially shite decor!

[Father Ted]

I see your crazy paving and raise you my stairs:

 

 

You win.

That is seriously epileptic fit inducing decor.

[Father Ted]

You do realise I am now going to have to find and scan a photo of the Avocado bathroom suite with broken toilet pan that got replaced for 2 years with a yellow pan (that was obtained from a mates garden and had plants in it).

I have to this day never found out what that shade of yellow was called. if I could I would have had a whole suite that colour, it was fab.

[Morgan84]

We should match the shite decor to a shite car.I think the internal crazy pave stone clad it very much a brown Allegro owners sort of thing !