Buying a repossessed property

Johnnytoxic · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:47

I've put on offer in on a property that was repossessed. Really hoping it comes off and I'm aware things are a little more complicated when it comes to these.

Once an offer is accepted it is listed in the paper under the public notices section advising anyone else to make higher offers. The estate agent said people rarely see these ads and make a move for a property that someones already offered on.

Anyone got any experience with buying repossessed properties?

robgmun · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:50

Yeah the ghosts are a right ***** to get rid of the second time round

Tyron · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:52

Have you inspected the house? They tend to need minor work.

My dad has bought a few and he's had no problems.

Destination · 30 Apr 2012 at 09:59

Out ov interest, where did you see it advertised in the first place?

Rotty · 30 Apr 2012 at 10:07

you may run into credit problems after you move in due to the inevitable bad record associated with the address, you need to sort this with all the credit reference agencies by means of a letter of dissassocation and then check the record again to make sure it has been done

Johnnytoxic · 30 Apr 2012 at 10:10

Hikari Kisugi said:
Out ov interest, where did you see it advertised in the first place?

Normal estate agent had it advertised on their site, they didn't say on the ad it was a repo.

Werewolf · 30 Apr 2012 at 10:11

Strictly speaking the credit thing shouldn't be an issue.
IIRC legally it's by person not address, so unless you share a surname or have a similar name to one of the people who lived there it should be a problem any more than any other move (unless the address itself has been blacklisted by individual companies for things like fraudulent catalog orders, but that's a risk anywhere), otherwise it's just the normal problem when you move, or not being on the electoral role for the address (which is checked by many companies).

However I think some telecomms companies can be quite frustrating to deal with when an address has had an outstanding debt.

The bigger problem is likely to be debt collectors who don't usually want to give up on an address they think someone lives at - get a stamp or some labels with "addressee no longer at this address" or similar.

DirtyRaver · 30 Apr 2012 at 10:12

When I was looking for my first home I put an offer in on a repossessed house I went to view, it was accepted, but the estate agent told me they were obliged to still advertise the property as for sale until the exchange of contracts, it was annoying because people still viewed the house and put in higher offers which I then had to increase my own offer.

Missed out on it in the end, had a survey done and the house was unmortgageable due to a poorly built single skin extension.

mattyprice4004 · 30 Apr 2012 at 11:35

Werewolf said:
The bigger problem is likely to be debt collectors who don't usually want to give up on an address they think someone lives at - get a stamp or some labels with "addressee no longer at this address" or similar.

Or buy a label printer - that way when they don't get the message you can leave them sarcastic comments

Werewolf · 30 Apr 2012 at 11:50

mattyprice4004 said:
Or buy a label printer - that way when they don't get the message you can leave them sarcastic comments

I didn't want to suggest a possibly expensive option (although I saw some Brother printers about £40 a few weeks back).

I of course would never dream of using sarcastic comments on such letters, I would never dream of abusing my label printer like that...(honest, I never use silly titles when sending things to friends/family...)

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 30 Apr 2012 at 11:58

A few things :
It will probably happen quickly as you have no chain

Is it currently vacant? assume so. If not expect some damage to occur.

Definately 100% absolutely get all the locks changed immediately. Most are easy to buy replacements for from a DIY shop, garage doors can be a bit of a pain to find sometimes (find a garage door fitter) and double glazing locks also can be a pain.
Its good practice to change locks any any property you buy but a MUST for a reposession. Its possible its already been done by the bank/building soc.

You will inevitably get some hastle from bailifs etc, suggest you get a few key documents ready for when they arrive, purchase docs, copy of your passport etc. If they are not convinced they will return so convince them first time they arrive on your doorstep. Otherwise you could come home one day and find you left a window open and your TV has gone. Just hastle to get it back.

mattyprice4004 · 30 Apr 2012 at 11:59

Werewolf said:
I didn't want to suggest a possibly expensive option (although I saw some Brother printers about £40 a few weeks back).

I of course would never dream of using sarcastic comments on such letters, I would never dream of abusing my label printer like that...(honest, I never use silly titles when sending things to friends/family...)

I labelled my label printer, just because I could.

You can get a decent Dymo for around £40 second hand, incredibly handy thing to have about.

Johnnytoxic · 30 Apr 2012 at 12:05

Thanks for the tips people. hopefully it works out.

Papa_Benjie · 30 Apr 2012 at 13:36

Before we moved into ours it was recommended to us to get photos of all of the empty rooms with date stamps on the photos. This will help with any arguements if a debt collector starts getting funny.

We've been in four years and have only had one lot of correspondence over the phone with a collector looking for the previous owner. We explained the situation and they accepted it and left us alone.

cm1179 · 30 Apr 2012 at 13:41

Rotty said:
you may run into credit problems after you move in due to the inevitable bad record associated with the address, you need to sort this with all the credit reference agencies by means of a letter of dissassocation and then check the record again to make sure it has been done

i heard that it's more of a 'nightmare' than a 'problem'?

Destination · 30 Apr 2012 at 14:35

Papa_Benjie said:
Before we moved into ours it was recommended to us to get photos of all of the empty rooms with date stamps on the photos. This will help with any arguements if a debt collector starts getting funny.

We've been in four years and have only had one lot of correspondence over the phone with a collector looking for the previous owner. We explained the situation and they accepted it and left us alone.

Good idea with the photographs.

Modular · 30 Apr 2012 at 14:45

lol i work in mortgage collections.. i probably repossessed his ass

possesses possesses five s's

Banzai_Joe · 30 Apr 2012 at 15:08

where would one look for repossessed properties, if say, one wanted to property develop?
Rightmove certainly doesn't show them.

holymonk · 30 Apr 2012 at 20:00

I currently (not for long) work for an unnamed large building society here in the UK, dealing with repossessions and sales.

We normally use 2 local estate agents to market our properties, unless we cant shift them, then we enter them into auction.

Its fairly common that people will out bid each other, however we look to shift them as quickly as possible, in this economic climate on average we lose 60k on every property we repossess.

Estate agents arent allowed to disclose they are repossessions, we use mystery 'shoppers' to keep an eye on them.

All in all though, they are usually a big deal as the longer they are on our books the bigger the loss we make, so putting in a few cheeky offers isnt a bad idea and slowly increasing.

The Halk · 30 Apr 2012 at 20:07

Werewolf said:
Strictly speaking the credit thing shouldn't be an issue.
IIRC legally it's by person not address, so unless you share a surname or have a similar name to one of the people who lived there it should be a problem any more than any other move (unless the address itself has been blacklisted by individual companies for things like fraudulent catalog orders, but that's a risk anywhere), otherwise it's just the normal problem when you move, or not being on the electoral role for the address (which is checked by many companies).

However I think some telecomms companies can be quite frustrating to deal with when an address has had an outstanding debt.

The bigger problem is likely to be debt collectors who don't usually want to give up on an address they think someone lives at - get a stamp or some labels with "addressee no longer at this address" or similar.

Dead right on the credit thing, and dead right that it's utility companies who can be a PITA - however they're not acting properly if they do (I'm not 100% certain on that, but I do recall reading it). Debt collectors too, are a bunch of scum bags in general and harassment is a tool of their trade.

However post codes and areas have credit ratings - for example if you live in a really bad area you may find it more difficult to obtain credit than if you live in a nice area.

The estate agent is right that you seldom get competitive interest when buying, at least in the current climate.

Finally don't be too worried about the previous occupants bad credit, it's not that likely that there's debt collectors hounding the house, most people when they get a house repossessed are at the point where everything is getting written off, and closed, so I don't think you'll be under siege.