Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Buying a house that is not on the market

160 replies

NaomiBlues · 10/02/2022 13:32

My husband and I are interested in buying a property that is not currently on the market. It has a lot of sentimental value (family reasons) and we'd really like to approach the current occupiers (who we know a little but not well) with an offer. They have not lived in the property for a long time (less than six months) and do not have any emotional attachment to that particular house as we do. Does anyone have any experience of doing anything like this? Any advice that you'd give in our situation?

OP posts:
FindmeuptheFarawaytree · 10/02/2022 14:30

I doubt 50k over will be enough if they've only just moved - the moving process is so stressful! Also, I expect they do have an emotional attachment, I certainly did with mine otherwise I wouldn't gave bought it. Its worth asking, but you need to be prepared that they may say no.

Sausagedogsarethebest · 10/02/2022 14:35

They'll probably have gone through all the hassle of changing their address on everything. They may have entered into fixed term energy deals or a fixed mortgage deal. The thought alone of doing all that again would make me say no, but worth a try I suppose.

magentafour · 10/02/2022 14:40

If you made me a convincing financial offer, which included the costs you've already mentioned (moving fees, stamp duty on my new home etc) then I'd probably consider it, provided that I could find a suitable house to move to and there wasn't some very particular reason that I wanted/needed to stay in that specific house. You'd have to work to my timescales and give me the time and space to find somewhere new. Provided all these conditions were met, it might be something I'd go for.

Stupid question, but do you know for certain that the people living in the house are the owners with the right to sell and they're not just renting? (You may be sure about this, I just wouldn't want you to waste time talking to the wrong people.)

Do they have a mortgage or did they buy in cash? If they have a mortgage, there might be more for them to think about if they have to transfer that mortgage to a new house. I'm not sure how much involvement a mortgage company have in a sale, as I don't have one. Other posters might have a better idea.

erinaceus · 10/02/2022 14:46

Perhaps reconsider your attitude to their emotional attachment to the property -- it might be different to what you assume.

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 10/02/2022 14:51

@IpanemaPeaHen

Any reason why you didn’t put in an offer when it was on the market?
Ummm, this was what i was thinking,
Catrina123 · 10/02/2022 15:02

Think you'd meed to go waaayyy higher than £50k...

EmmaH2022 · 10/02/2022 15:04

@Mumdiva99

Oh....and if you do approach them please don't tell them they have no emotional attachment to the place. It's their home and it sounds quite patronising and entitled - even if you don't mean it that way.
Exactly this I became emotionally attached to my home within about two days!
Lovinglavidaloca · 10/02/2022 15:06

Agree about the emotional attachment. We’ve even waiting to move into our new house for months now so I imagine when we do (if!!) we will be very attached to it very quickly.

Thurlow · 10/02/2022 15:09

It's not just the extra money to cover their fees though, is it? I presume you'll need to sell your property, and then they'd need to find another one and if the market is anything like around here, there's nothing else to buy. So you'd be asking them to put themselves in the nightmare of a chain again.

We've not long moved into this house and I theory I'm not emotionally attached to it and would be tempted by other houses BUT I don't think any amount of money would tempt me to go through the whole chain nightmare again.

gunnersgold · 10/02/2022 15:10

How weird , I would only
Move again for £150k . To only cover their fees is ridiculous. What if that's the only house on the market they like and to get something better would cost more anyway . If someone approached me it would need to be a amazing package !

AmberLynn1536 · 10/02/2022 15:10

Why didn’t you buy it a few months ago when it was actually for sale?

Sprig1 · 10/02/2022 15:10

Depending on % of property value you are likely to have to pay well over 50k to get them to agree to move, especially considering they have only just bought it. Why didn't you buy it 6mths ago?

magentafour · 10/02/2022 15:16

@gunnersgold

How weird , I would only Move again for £150k . To only cover their fees is ridiculous. What if that's the only house on the market they like and to get something better would cost more anyway . If someone approached me it would need to be a amazing package !
To be fair to the original poster, I don't think they have said that they would only offer to pay the owner's moving fees. They seem to be saying they want to make a financial offer to purchase the house. £50k has been floated. We do not know what percentage of the sale price that represents. It might be a very good offer. It might not.

I think, ultimately, this is probably do-able. Most things are if the price is right. The inconvenience can be offset for enough money, it just depends how much someone is willing to pay.

RosesforTea · 10/02/2022 15:17

I’ve seen this done twice, both successfully.

The first time was a friend. They missed out on the house at auction and 6 months later it was still the ‘house that got away’ in their minds. They approached the new owners with this explanation. The new owners saw the house as a stepping stone, they intended to live there for a few years, do as many improvements as they could, and then on-sell for profit. They came to an agreement where my friends paid the or their time, trouble and profit to date (they had done some work) plus an extra years worth or so.

The second house was mine. My house was up for rent, not sale, so I approached the owner via the Agent asking if they would sell. It originally was a no. I asked again a few months later - no again. A few months later they approached me to see if I was still interested and it went back and forth (with other potential buyers!) and took a long time and was incredibly stressful, but I was successful. I think I overpaid, but (like my friend above), I was buying for the next 20-30 years, and it was more important to me to secure the house, than to miss out by an amount of money I wouldn’t care about in 30 years time.

My advice? Be respectful, be quietly persistent and be prepared to pay a lot for your emotional connection. They may initially say no, but after a few weeks, the idea may marinate abit and they may change their minds.

WhyMeLord · 10/02/2022 15:18

We moved into our new house in September, we are very emotionally attached to it. The amount of money someone would have to offer us to move again is way more than is a sensible amount to pay for this house. That said, everyone has their price, worth an ask.

EmmaH2022 · 10/02/2022 15:18

I just remembered....this issue came up with sone family friends.

They didn't budge but I now recall they talked about the money would have to be almost the total upfront, otherwise what stops the buyer from vanishing -or just pulling out - while you've bust a gut looking for a new home?

2bazookas · 10/02/2022 15:20

@NaomiBlues

We were thinking of offering £50k over the market value, covering the stamp duty for their onward purchase, and their legal/conveyancing fees.
why on earth did you and DH not buy it when it was for sale 6 months ago?
Sockpile · 10/02/2022 15:26

What is 50k as a percentage?

Even if I was offered 20% above value 6 months moving in I would alsmost definitely not take it unless I regretted the move.

SauvignonBlanc23 · 10/02/2022 15:32

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!

loislovesstewie · 10/02/2022 15:35

SauvignonBlanc23, I really don't think it works like that, does it?

EmmaH2022 · 10/02/2022 15:36

@SauvignonBlanc23

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!
Are you seriously suggesting they approach the mortgage lender to get their home removed from them?
ShallWeTalkAboutBruno · 10/02/2022 15:36

@SauvignonBlanc23

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!
Of course you can’t do that.
Shutupandcry · 10/02/2022 15:38

@SauvignonBlanc23

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!
Imagine if someone did that to you when you'd just moved in! AWFUL!
SheWoreYellow · 10/02/2022 15:38

@SauvignonBlanc23

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!
I think this might the most batty thing I have ever read on here Grin
peboh · 10/02/2022 15:38

@SauvignonBlanc23

Daft question, but if they have taken out a mortgage, is there any way the mortgage lender could sell it to you if they say no? You'd have to know which bank or building society it was and I don't know how you'd find that out, but isn't there any way of going round them? I hope they say yes, obviously, but if they don't!
Oh for gods sake. Don't do this. They've bought a house, gone through all the faff and stress of getting a mortgage etc. Why does op having an emotional attachment to this house take precedent over its current owners?! If op wanted it badly, they should have put an offer that couldn't be refused when the house was on the market.
Swipe left for the next trending thread