[Closed] Reposessed houses

Its rumoured that the undead spirits of the ex-owners bank accounts stalk the premises at night

I bought one once. Did it up and made a huge profit in a short space of time. Had debt collectors and mail demands turning up regularly for about 8 months though, so always had my sale documents to hand and ID to prove who I was. Bit of a pain, but no real drama.

This might be far from typical as property is a mystery to me, but a mate of mine is in the process of buying a repo flat in London.

Out of spite the previous owners have smashed all the kitchen appliances, torn out all the taps and shower, pulled up all the wooden flooring, treat all the carpets to a nice soiling and used something metal and sharp to scratch profanities into the windows.

He's getting it really cheap (well, it's in London so it's still stupendous money) but it's cheap for a reason. First thing he'll have to do is spend a few grand putting right the damage.

That's what mine was like - bare wires coming out of the walls - no switches, sockets or lights and all the doors and kitchen units removed. Grafitti everywhere. Dead pigeons on the balcony sitting in 5 inches of $hit.

The best bit was on the estate agent's details;

'This spacious 3 bedroom flat is in need of some refurbishment...'

The house next door to us ended up like that but the couple that bought it did it up and you would never know now so i dont see how it could efect it long term as its not like a car which has accident damage.

I bought a repo'd building recently - no problems at all. Yes, British Gas keep sending final demands, but it's no biggy.

Other posters are correct though, it's common for evictees to vandalise before they leave. And generally, if people can't keep their finances in order, there's a good chance that they're not exactly on the money when it comes to maintenance, hygiene etc.

Big bargains to be had though, just check it out first and cut your cloth accordingly.

I'm far from being the expert on this, but it would seem that buying repos is wherre the big money is to be made out of a recession.

Hmm, the one next door to us is spotless. Was inhabited by tenants who owed nothing and were generally very nice. The landlord had the house reposessed..

So it looks like a bargain 🙂

I bought one, pretty rank but a third cheaper than smaller houses in the same road...basically needed new kitchen and bathroom floors (burnt in log burner)and decoration throughout.

Final demands we just opened and rang...told them tenants had emigrated to France....no worries after a while and no credit issues!

Oh and the police turned up once as the previous tenant gave the address after an accident... North Wales Plod recognised a Taffy accent and knew I wasn't the guy they wanted

Buy it as a cheap home for your family thats what I did...plus you can go biking with your neighbour...how cool would that be?

plus you can go biking with your neighbour

Well if I'm my new neighbour then that'd be normal for me cos I go biking with myself all the time.

Er... 🙂

It's a semi, so I'd considered buying it and knocking through - but it's all on a different level so would have made an interesting house layout...

And the cycle of greed leading to another crash ten years down the line starts again.....

And the cycle of greed leading to another crash ten years down the line starts again.....

Don't get me started.. people buying things caused the crash? Sod off and read something!

Get started. See if I care. 🙂

Where do you look for repo houses then?

Molgrips you were trying to flog a street of them on here last week! just assumed it was another desperate attempt to get somebody of good character as a neighbour, before Wales&West Housing snap them up!

Sorry you haven't got any friends to ride with 😥

If you come up North to ride give us a shout...don't want you wandering the wilderness on your own

I looked at a few in the last slump, like people say, quite often stripped of anything of the smallest value, light bulbs, light switches, fireplaces etc. Knew someone who bought a huge repo'd house on a private road on a golf course, the whole kitchen ceiling was missing!!? As long as your/he's not buying it without viewing I wouldn't worry, if the price is fair go for it.

Haveing worked on 2 repoed houses, sadly the owners will do their best to damage the house before its taken from them, like pissing all over the floor upstairs which is usually chipboard which absorbs, urine, the first one the new owbner had washed the floor with bleach the night before , the smell wa horrendous, from the fumes, some of the g/f ceiling s had to be replaced as well, also the second the residents had partially rewired , or cut certain wiores, so the whole thing needed rewiring, what you get is what you see, so expect to replace everyhing, and budget accordingly, and have the kettle on for the bailiffs are theyll be round quite often.

Molgrips you were trying to flog a street of them on here last week! just assumed it was another desperate attempt to get somebody of good character as a neighbour, before Wales&West Housing snap them up!

Hehe, yeah actually it would be nice to have a mtber as a neighbour.

The previous guy actually was a small-time roadie. He was obsessed with gradient, and only ever went on sub-15 mile rides to seek out the steepest climbs he could find. He'd stand outside for ages and ramble on about how steep this or that hill was. Otherwise nice enough tho 🙂

I bought a repossessed house. Did a stupid thing and forgot to change the locks... yep the previous owners kids came back and burgled me.
On the plus side my neighbours think I can do no wrong compared to the loud unruly people who lived there before.