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Original poster

Buying a home before repossessed

14 replies

Gettingonwithit72 · 26/02/2018 09:54

Hi Guys,

I know most of this is circumstantial so would be hard to answer, but we viewed a house on Friday and its an absolute dream house. Could never get the amount of mortgage for what the vendors want for it, we've done a kind of 'this is what you could have' but we were in the area viewing another with the same agents.

Anyway, we have found out the only reason they are selling is due one not being able to work any longer and they just cannot afford the house anymore. They've found themselves in great difficulty and are around 6 months from having the home repossessed. They have only lived there 5 years so I wouldn't have thought there would be much equity in the property.

Would it be very cheeky for me to ask them how low they would be willing to go, explain our situation and how we would potentially only be able to offer £20/30k below the asking price? I don't want to put any strain on the family at this moment, I really do feel for them, but it would be an absolute dream for me. My thoughts are surely some kind of offer is better than them living this out for perhaps 6 months and having it repossessed anyway? Is my head in the clouds because I love it so much? Blush

OP posts:
scurryfunge · 26/02/2018 09:57

Maybe the asking amount is close to what they owe on the mortgage.

Magstermay · 26/02/2018 10:08

IT depends on the asking price how Cheeky £20-30k less is. However, I always think if you don’t ask you’ll never know.

Work out what your absolute maximum would be and offer that, they can say no if they want to. If they do say you’ll leave it on the table and if they don’t get anything better they can come back to you.

happyasasandboy · 26/02/2018 10:15

I would give a best offer tether than asking what they will take. As the previous post says, offer the most you can pay, and leave it with them. Repossession should have no bearing on it; except that they might be more likely to come back to you towards the end of the 6 months if your offer would work out better for them than repossession.

Focus on yourself rather than them. You can control what you offer and when you offer t and how long you're happy for that to stay on the table. Anything else (like what they need to make on the house, what their future plans are, what they owe, repossession etc) are all out of your sphere of influence and entirely in the hands of the vendor.

SleepySheepy · 26/02/2018 10:22

There's no harm in asking / putting an offer in. At the end of the day you're not forcing them to accept it. I think you're worrying a bit too much.

You shouldn't feel guilty, it's so common for people to make low offers on property, they will be expecting it to an extent.

Original poster
Gettingonwithit72 · 26/02/2018 11:08

£20/30k is a good amount to off the asking price, I suppose because I know the situation they are in I feel like I'm taking advantage.

I like the idea of leaving it on the table, I have nothing to lose. However I would hate to have it rejected, buy something else and then have them come back to me later. I do want to have bought something and be in by summer time.

OP posts:
user1488204592 · 26/02/2018 13:41

I have done this and would do it again, we got 25k off our property. If they really do not want to accept it, or can't, they won't accept it.

They have also made their position known, in doing so surely they expect people will use that to their advantage.

Rulerruler · 26/02/2018 13:48

We unknowingly did this a few years ago. We offered a low price and were surprised it was accepted on condition we could complete within 5 weeks. Day after we moved in we received a letter telling us to clear out our belongings as repossession was imminent - it had got that close! I like to think it worked out ok for all of us - we got a house we loved and I heard they cleared the debt and had 50k left over.

There's no harm in going it for a bit of negotiation!

shakemysilliesout · 26/02/2018 13:51

Make an offer. I hated it when people said 'what would you take' without making an offer as I would always think 'i will take asking price obvs'

Hoppinggreen · 26/02/2018 13:55

I remember my Dad bought our last family home like this
He didn’t take advantage as it was someone we knew but they wanted to sell it rather than the bank take it as as they can then sell it for whatever they want and go after the ex owner for any outstanding mortagage.
They might welcome the opportunity of selling to you rather than being repossessed

namechangedtoday15 · 26/02/2018 16:34

I agree it's circumstantial and actually in 5 years, depending where you are, they could have made quite a bit on it. You also don't know how big a deposit they put down. I'm not sure who told you they're 6 months from repossession - wasn't the EA by any chance was it Hmm?

All you can do is make the offer. If it gets rejected, then you have the chance to go higher if you like it that much. I would discount the repossession from your consideration. Even if they are 6 months away from repossession, and say a sale takes 3 months to go through, they have plenty of time to get close to asking price if it's such a dream house.

Original poster
Gettingonwithit72 · 27/02/2018 09:18

We have a meeting booked with our advisor later this week, then we plan to make an offer.

It's good to know people have done this (obviously know it happens but its nice to have advice from people with experience)

The sellers told us about the situation while we were in the house, they don't want to leave but have no other choice. The house however has been advertised just short of a year, and has been reduced already. We should have maybe asked if there has been much interest since the reduction as it was only recently.

OP posts:
Sprinklesinmyelbow · 27/02/2018 09:22

No one would know if someone was 6 months from repossession Confused they have to be in 3 months arrears before any action can be taken and they could stretch that situation out for years. No one gets 6 months notice. Besides they could easily find new jobs, work out payment plans etc in that time.

I would offer anyway, but take that information with a pinch of salt. And also bear in mind people in financial difficulty need as much money as they can get because they’re bound to be in more debt than most and may have other charges against the house. In many ways they might be less likely to take a cheap offer

Ariela · 27/02/2018 10:09

I'd offer what you can afford and see what happens.

Pradaqueen · 27/02/2018 21:54

Bear in mind if it were to be repossessed the bank has to be seen to be getting market value for the property. Often this is via auction which would mean you would have only 30 days to complete. And sometimes properties are sold without vacant possession. You would only know this if you have read the legal pack properly. In some genuine repossessions a family would not be rehoused/receive assistance if they had 'intentionally' made themselves homeless by leaving so they stay put.

As PP have said, make an offer to the EA and see what happens. But for now, I would take the intel with a pinch of salt.

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