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Buying house with land not registered to owner! Help

14 replies

Emmalou88 · 29/11/2018 19:54

Me and my SO are buying our first house. We originally brought one although the owner pulled out and sold to another couple.
After that huge dissapointment and 8 months later we found our perfect house. The garden was small but we agreed we can't get everything.
Anyway.. we have paid over 2k in legal fees and should be signing within 2 weeks but i noticed a section of land looked odd on the plan and found the side access 1.5x6m and a large rectangle of land 3x3 has been taken from a factory next door when it was built 7 years ago. Our solicitor asked the buyer to purchase the land to sell but they have refused and said they will correct the boundary with a fence. The problem is we have lost a huge chunk of land. Is it worth asking for a price reduction.. if so how much? On the possibility we could buy the land after we've brought the house.

It's caused a massive strain on our relationship as my SO believes 2 failed purchases is a sign for us not to move in together.
I've thought about buying the house on my own but I'm 7k short on the maximum i can lend.. if i got the discount i could also buy it on my own so if he does have second thoughts i still have a house.
Any help would be appreciated..

OP posts:
Racecardriver · 29/11/2018 19:57

You can’t know that you will be able to buy it. They may not want to sell it to you. You could buy it and keep your mouth shut and hope the real owner won’t notice but it will cause problems when you eventually sell. Do you think you are likely to give you s reduction if you tell them you OH doesn’t want it but you can buy it yourself for 7k less?

AveEldon · 29/11/2018 20:01

" my SO believes 2 failed purchases is a sign for us not to move in together. "

This is a sign you should not buy with this person
He is having second thoughts and wants out

Singlenotsingle · 29/11/2018 20:03

Always try to negotiate, especially in a situation like this, where you're not getting what you thought you were getting.

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Xiaoxiong · 29/11/2018 20:09

Your SO thinks two failed purchases is a sign you shouldn't move in together?????

Yes it is a sign, a huge red flag waving in your face. Buy alone if you can negotiate the price down, or don't buy at all. Definitely do not buy with him and to be honest if that's his reaction to something as benign as a couple of house purchases having issues, imagine his reaction to something in your future actually going wrong. This person is not a life partner for you if he is so willing to throw in the towel at the slightest hitch. Either that, or he wants to split up anyway and is using this as an excuse.

BuffaloCauliflower · 29/11/2018 20:16

It's caused a massive strain on our relationship as my SO believes 2 failed purchases is a sign for us not to move in together.

THIS is the most concerning bit of your whole post. Trials should make a relationship stronger, this man isn’t fully on your team if he’s saying things like this.

toastymarshmallowss · 29/11/2018 20:18

I agree with what others have said, I don't think the land is your main problem!

Emmalou88 · 29/11/2018 20:27

Thanks for the advice guys.
I think the factory would sell as they have lots of wasteland around and the neighbours brought some land for their gardens 10 years ago.. i know its a risk tho as it's not guarenteed and i have no idea what they would want.
If i was to buy the house i couldn't afford to buy land for a while, but it would be a good option.
I think i will try and knock down the price as much as i can so i can afford it on my own as i think it's the safer bet. I might mention doing it on my own so need a lower price worst case as i think they might drop out as I'd have to do the whole mortgage process again.
The original house i was purchasing on my own which he was fine about but don't know how he will react to me kicking him off the mortgage.
He goes through these negative phases as he has a mild form of bipolar but this has given me warning signs as its a big risk.

OP posts:
Singlenotsingle · 29/11/2018 22:22

You won't be kicking him off the mortgage! He's flakey - he's taken this minor hitch s a sign not to go ahead. In MN-speak, you've dodged a bullet. Do it on your own and good luck!

Emmalou88 · 29/11/2018 22:44

Singlenotsingle.. you're right, thank you. It'll take longer to sort but will be worth it in the long run.

OP posts:
hellozzz · 29/11/2018 22:47

Bid 7k less

ThunderInMyHeart · 29/11/2018 22:50

I second Xiaoxiong

rosablue · 06/12/2018 00:10

If they didn't point out that a chunk of your garden wasn't actually going to be your garden, then that's really deceitful of them and I would be asking them to take a bigger chunk off - how much percentagewise of the garden is it? And if part of the access and side garden is involved, that's even more...

Have another look at the details - did they include or mention or show on pictures any of the 'not legally yours' bit of the garden? If so - (and even if not, if they showed you around the house and didn't mention the issue) then... (assuming they are no overrun with offers!)

If you thought that the garden was small anyway,. then I would go back to them, point out that this is a big deal as the garden was already too small for you really, you want to pull out, they have caused you to waste lots on legal fees, all because they didn't advertise it correctly, which means you believe that they have priced it wrongly and that actually the right price is [a big chunk lower. say £25k].

Say that you would be prepared to pay £11.3K lower if they sort it out beforehand - hopefully the difference between £25k and £11.3k would more than cover the land so that they would be quids in if they sorted the land out - if not tweak the figures so that you want to take off more than the land is worth to encourage them to sort it out to save you the hassle and to ensure it really gets done.

Regarding choosing £11.3K rather than £10K or £11K - if you choose a round number people just assume that you have randomly chosen a round number that works for you. If you suggest a number that is not a nice neat convenient number, then people assume that you have a good reason for choosing it... (which you do - to make them think you know the proper number and haven't picked it randomly Grin) and don't try to bargain you down half as much. Doesn't always work but works a heck of a lot more than it should do! Plus it gives you some room to negotiate and still cover the £7K difference.

And yes - agree with others - that housebuying is full of hurdles and if this is enough to be a sign not to buy together to him then it's definitely a sign all right - just not the one he is assuming.

If you do buy the house and he moves in, make sure that you get it set up legally so you can charge him to lodge with you and pay his share of the bills but that he doesn't have any claim on the mortgage or property if/when he goes. So, make sure he always pays you rent, and that he never calls it his mortgage payment - doesn't matter if that's what you spend it on or not. If he tries to pay you a cheque that says in the reference it's a mortgage payment for example, always send a paper trail (or email or text but make sure you keep it!) to say, no this is just your rent payment, and the bills you owe this month are £xxx.

There was someone on MN quite recently who was caught out by a partner who wasn't on her mortgage but who, when he eventually started to pay her rent, put the cheque in her account referenced as mortgage payment to try to use it as proof that he had paid the mortgage and deserved a share of the property, she was considering giving him some just to get rid of him because of the grief it was causing her SadAngry so definitely worth thinking about!

Aquamarine1029 · 06/12/2018 01:39

It's caused a massive strain on our relationship as my SO believes 2 failed purchases is a sign for us not to move in together.

This is all I needed to see. The land issue is the least of your problems. This is a massive red flag. Life is full of constant problems and bullshit, and his reaction to this minor waffle is to run? Do NOT buy a house with this man. Forewarned is fair warned.

Emmalou88 · 06/12/2018 16:02

Rosablue. Thank you so much for your info! I've gone with 26k off and listed the reasons for the price as well as calculating the price of the land lost. I've told them to keep the fence how it is and I'll attempt to buy the land.
I've told the solicitor my plans for the mortgage ect and they said if i give a bigger deposit and drop the price i can do it..
Haven't heard anything back from the seller yet tho..but also haven't mentioned about my change in mortgage either untill it goes ahead.

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