Off to see a house tomorrow which is a repossession. Estate agent reckons it’s more complex that a non-repossession, making noises about ‘helping me get a good price’
What’s he on about – auction?
No extra charges or risks are there?

disgruntled debtors with axes?

I was going to post up a similar question – we are going to view one ‘now owned by the bank’ as the estate agent put it.

And also – will they consider offers under the asking price like any ‘normal’ vendor?

Ohh, and apparently you are expected to complete within 28 days of having an offer accepted. But I am not 100% that is the truth – just heard it second-hand.

Ours went for 40% less than we paid for it. So go grab yourself a bargain. Estate agent is talking bollocks I would say.

A bloke I used to work with was a repo man with a building society andhe told me a few tales.

The worst one was that when a couple knew they were going to be re-possessed they locked their big dogs in the house for a week with a lot of dog food and let them do what they wanted to do. You can imagine the mess!

That was a worst case scenario though.

Structurally I guess that the house will be sound, but cosmetically…

My last house was a repo. Empty for a year and a half, big deposit, no chain and they still threatened to pull out if I did not complete in three weeks! They had a dead cert for a sale on a property they couldnt shift and they Still gave me grief. Never the buyer holdings things up, it’s the bloody solicitors though
Disgruntled ex owners took everything – radiators , kitchen, boiler, shower and front door. Got a deal though.

Haven’t you seen The Exorcist or The Amytiville Horror?

no different, although there can be a lot of scope for bargaining. the bank really is only interested in clearing the outstanding debt against the place.

there are some horror stories regarding old creditors and the disgruntled former owners but the majority of repos are normal people who get in a situation and are glad to hand the keys back.

if the former owner has known for a while that they’re going down the pan then obviously they’re not going to spend tons on the house in terms of maintenance and upkeep on the house but that’s stuff to look for in any house.

regards completing quickly i don’t think there’s anything contractually that the estate agents can do, but i think they’re targeted on quick sales so the bank can get it off the books and the debt written off. there is usuallly, due to the lower prices, a fair bit of copmpetition for repos so you being able to instruct quickly puts you in a better place anyway.

we’ve looked at a few but have lost out to other parties being able to move faster 🙁

good luck

Apart from the fact the previous owners may have trashed it, my brother’s experience of trying to buy a repo was that gazumping was not being discouraged by the agents. He was outbid twice during the process despite having both his offers accepted and lost 500 quid worth of search fees etc. He walked away in the end as the price went too high and he was pretty pi5sed off with the whole thing.

He was a first time buyer too so could move very quickly.

Bought our first house as a repo – got it for about 40% under market value. We had to do quite a bit of decorating, but there were no serious problems. We made an absolute killing on it when we sold it a couple of years ago. Being in Scotland made it a relatively straightforward process, as once the contract’s signed in Scotland both parties are legally bound to proceed with the sale.

I’d feel kinda bad buying a repo to be honest. You just never know how and why the previous owners had to be kicked out of their home.

Just business at the end of the day I guess for some.

Almost all the repos in our street were bought by speculative landlords. Many of them were only repoed when their tenants moved out of their own volition anyway. So no biggie.

We got a cracking deal on our first flat, it was a repossession. Get in quick and contact the bank/building society’s solicitors, most of them just want to offload the property pronto.

Expect the property to have been poorly maintained.

Just business at the end of the day I guess for some.

Well I don’t think it is that. Not buying it doesn’t change anything for the previous owner as they no longer own it anyway. Makes sound sense to get something at the best price you can.

The property we are going to see is, as far as we understand, owned by the bank because the owner died so it is a slightly different situation anyway.

Makes sound sense to get something at the best price you can.

Like I said, just business for some.

Although they say it shouldnt matter, the previous owner was obviously in financial difficulty, and therefore they may have a lot of debt attached to the property. They say this shouldnt stick with the new owner but I had this problem ages ago and took a long time to get it all straightened out.

We bought a repo at the beginning of the year and it was a nervous six weeks. We were told 28 day turnaround (in the end it was about 31).

Our house was in perfect condition, no different from any other apart from being empty and services not being ‘guaranteed working’. The ex-owners had obviously looked after the place and it was exactly what we wanted.

Key things we learnt from the experience, make sure you have everything you could possibly need sorted asap. Once our offer was accepted we had a struggle to get a surveyor in quickly – this was our main stumbling block. Obviously make sure you have as much done on the mortgage (assuming you need one) so it can be put in place asap too.

Be careful of estate agents ramping the price, we were up against another bidder (apparently, still don’t think there was anybody else involved), you have to be willing to stick firm with your offer if you think they are pulling a fast one.

Like I said, just business for some.

And what would it be, other than business, for others?

I never understand how the “rules” of normal behaviour and gentlemanly conduct are suspended when it cones to house buying and selling. Still, I guess if you can get the best deal for you and your family and save loadsamoney, then, yeah, it’s just business.

I am really struggling to understand your point of view darcy – what IS the problem with buying a house that has been repossessed by a bank?

You can struggle all you want m-f. I’m not interested in trying to explain it to you. As I said, it’s just business for some.

Why are you not interested in trying to explain it? Are you able?

Can you example what an alternative scenario might be for the people that used to own the property should people refuse to buy a house already repossessed by a bank.

Eh? I have to explain it to you? Do I? Who died and made you king of **** everything m-f? Just leave it. I’ll give you the last word on it. Off you go…

You don’t have to explain anything DD, but you do appear quite opinionated on the subject so I would just like to know just what alternative there is that you think could be less painful for the people that used to own a house but is now owned by a bank.

There you go, I have had the last word. Probably because you are unable to add a constructive argument to your apparent point of view.

I don’t recall you normally being so touchy DD – are you having a bad day?

i bought one and as above.
previous owners know for a whil ethey are getting evicted so decor is not brilliant.
you cannot check appliances or water or eleccy and they may have sabotaged it – mine did the water- disconnected the feed pipe to hot water tap under bath then refitted the panel so water poured throught the ceiling – thankfully I was gutting the kitchen anyway.
Leaking roof not fixed etc but I knew about that and it was an easy fix but it is still drying out now
You have no history of house re problems when windows were fitted etc
Easily outbid by a cash buyer and four I went for all went for over the asking price[more than 10%] but were still bargains at the sold price. mine was 25k cheaper than another house in street thoug hmine is bigger

You better enjoy or be able to do lots of DIY. New bathroom, kitchen, gas apliances, wood burner and readiators + decorating to every single room for me

EDIT:DD the repo person is in a worse position if the house does not sell as they owe all the mortgage and still need to pay it etc so the debts mount up. I doubt everything you buy second hand is sold by someone who does not need the money – bike sales on here when made redundant for example
Mine was a fraudster and owes everyone money so I doubt he is loosing much sleep over my purchase. he basically got a 100% mortgage and then lived here rent free till he was repossesed.
I kind of see your point but it is not like i am making them homeless

Sounds like a good deal.