Elderly parent being asked to sell by neighbour

[VforVienetta]

Opinions welcomed on this - FIL's next door neighbours (NDN) have asked to buy his flat. They have spoken and made a verbal agreement of some sort, which is detailed below in the email received today by his DC.
He lives alone in the family home, and has considered moving a few times the last few years (at his DC suggestion) but had decided that he did not want to leave his home, due to memories and familiarity. He's in his 80s, does not have English as his first language, and may not fully understand what he's agreeing to.
How would you read the email below?

“ NDN proposed to buy my property and we discussed and broadly agreed the following:

1	We appoint our own conveyancing solicitors but not the estate agents   <span class="italic"><strong>a .Seller’s saving £ 22,500 incl vat at 2.5% agency fee  on 750K and similar amount by buyer    b. I could use solicitor recommended by Foxton or anyone recommended by you    c. Solicitor’s fees to be determined</strong></span>
2	Valuation : <span class="italic"><strong>Both Foxton and Chesterton advised asking price of £ 750K</strong></span> <strong>which I would quote as my selling price</strong>
3	After the search done by buyer’s solicitor possibly with their own valuation idea we discuss on principal for price to be agreed of the property<strong>. Please join the process from that point onwards</strong>
4	NDN confirmed that he could make transfer of the agreed value in one remittance either directly to me or to my solicitor.
5	However he needs the deed of sale signed by both of us attested by our solicitors to enable him to remit the money  required by Thai Foreign Exchange Authorities.  <strong>Any comments/ suggestions to  improve on that?</strong>
6	He could  transfer funds as early as 31 October, 2019
7	After the exchange of contract NDN would allowed me to stay on a few months”

Sounds dodgy to me. Does he really have 750k in cash ready to transfer? Will it fall foul of money laundering laws? Searches are separate to valuation. Is ndn already an owner/occupier or renter? How would they arrange a short term lease, who would pay for that?

All excellent questions, thank you! Will add them to the list of our own questions. The biggest one of which is "WTF?!"

I think that you need proper legal advice on this.

WTAF is right
I’d be heading over there ASAP to talk to the neighbors

I think this sounds like the housing equivalent of a 419 scam. "I will transfer the money but first please sign all the paperwork"

I call bullshit!

We had supposed Thai buyers for a house my oh was selling, complete chancers

Your dad DOES NOT WANT to sell. Remind him of this.

I’d be very careful here
Get your own independent valuation of the house
If necessary appoint your own solicitors ( ie not those recommended by neighbours or anyone representing he neighbours )

Does he really want to move?
Tell neighbours to F Off
Be wary

Phew, I'm glad this is raising the same alarm bells with you as we had.
The Thai neighbours have been kind to him over the years, but aren't close, his DC don't even know them by name.
Wtf is 2.5% fees for both buyer & seller all about too? We paid 1% commission when we sold our last house. They're talking about 'saving' a completely fictional 4%.

Dodgy as anything he wants the paperwork signed before the money and then may not do it in one go

No decent solicitor would sell a house like this at all

But the other thing is if he doesnt understand what is going on and is in his 80s look into getting power of attorney set up so he cannot be scammed at all

No way is he to sign a "Deed of sale" until he has the money! Otherwise they could just not pay. Though hopefully any solicitor would put stop to this.

Possibly the neighbours are honest. I admit I did something similar with my brother due to me doing the convenencing myself to save money. House was in my name before I paid him....but that was my brother! Not a neighbour! Technically I could have scammed him for a lot of money and he would have struggled to prove anything.

You or his dc need to talk to your file urgently. Does he actually want to move? If he says yes, whats changed his mind? Do you think he's vulnerable, do you need to chat about power of attorney?

And no idea about the fees. I don't remember buyers fees, just stamp duty. Which they won't get out of.

Thankfully his eldest DC has POA already.
All three DC are now on the case, so will be finding out more tomorrow.

So FIL signs his house away first and then waits for his money from Thailand. Doesn't sound at all dodgy...

Glad all his family are there to protect him from this scam.

No no no. If he wants to sell his flat let him go through the proper channels and not do as they are telling him.

I would hope a solicitor would not allow the deeds to be transferred to the neighbour before the money is received. I also wouldn’t trust them to allow your FIL to stay for a few months without a formal arrangement.

We have known the NDN wanted to buy the flat for years, and FIL had said he'd give them first refusal if he decided to sell.

He currently has some serious health concerns, so has said he will wait for his test results before deciding to pursue the sale.
We don't want to hassle him about this while he's worried, so will tread gently.

Hahaha all hunky dory until point 5.

No one would sign a deed of sale unless the money was changing hands simultaneously. This is why the money and contracts are exchanged through a solicitor.

Absolutely not on point 5, and that would raise my suspicion about the rest.

With the rest I think the key point is whether it's your FIL who has gathered that info or not. If the neighbours did it all, I would be much more worried. 1% is also the current going rate round here. 2.4% sounds ridiculous especially on such a high value property. But I don't know the area.

I would also not want them to buy him out then "let him stay for a few months". They have potential to make his life there hell if they want, and if he does turn out to be very ill, the last thing he needs is to worry about being evicted. I think he should keep ownership at least as long as he continues living there, even if it means losing a bit on the value if Brexit causes a housing slump. His quality of life, security, safety is what matters, not the sale price, and to me it sounds like that is all better served by him retaining ownership as long as he lives there.

My question- apart from WTF - is, does he really want to sell? There’s some incredibly aggressive behaviour sometimes from people who really want a particular property.

I really don't think he wants to sell. He's gone through the motions before, looking for suitable properties, even viewing a few, but really doesn't want to leave the family home. He was widowed 8 years ago, and the flat holds a lot of memories.
We as DC and partners think it would be far more practical for him to move near one of us, to a more suitable property, but at the end of the day we want him to be happy. If that means staying where he is then that's fine.
It seems to us that he's been persuaded by the neighbours.

I’d be round there like a fucking shot OP, telling the NDNs to get to fuck, the cheeky bastards.

Elstree it's London.

I’m glad he has DC to protect him, they should go to these NDN and tell them to back off.
Is Thai banks the new Nigerian?

If your father in law didn't want to move then he shouldn't. Moving house is a huge upheaval, surely more so at his age. It seems like his home is worth a lot and this all seems a little too dodgey. If he decides he really wants to sell I think it may be better to use an agent, preferavly with a better fee than that, so he has more options of buyers, financial checks and someone to advise and chase the process as well as his solicitor.