Property in receivership

[EmmaH2022]

Went to see a property today that is vacant and up for sale by the receivers.

I am working tonight and can’t research this properly till tomorrow, but my immediate feeling is it sounds like trouble. Does anyone have experience of this? Arguably it’s less hassle than a chain.

grateful to hear if anyone has experience. Thanks.

I work in this area-I would happily buy a property that's in receivership. It just means it's in the possession of the receivers rather than the former "owner". Shouldn't be any more hassle than a normal sale

Thank you

what’s the difference between this and repossessed properties? In the 90s we used to say that there was a risk of the owner trashing it.

sorry if replies are short as working.

I had a purchase going but it fell through. This is reduced, nice and walking distance from family.

other concerns are angry previous owners seeking revenge eg brick through windows

Practically, there isn't a difference. The lender has just appointed a receiver to act as their agent in effect.
I guess there's still a risk of a vengeful former owner putting a brick through the window, but I wouldn't be particularly worried about it personally. It wouldn't put me off a property if it ticked all my other boxes.

Thank you Minikievs

do you feel it’s likely to proceed faster or slower than a normal transaction? Also, from what I can see it’s a good price, but I’m very aware that it might be a bit reduced because there might be unknown factors.

I think the person who has to sell - or has been repossessed already, I’m a bit confused - has lost more than one flat in the block, which makes me even more concerned as they might have friends there. I’m being told they never lived there, just rented it out.

Are There tenants in situ? If not then I’d jump at the chance. Likely to be a quick sale for a good price. All the receiver needs to do really is cover their costs and what the bank is owed. Beyond that they only care about speed of sale.

Just reading that they are not obliged to take the property off the market and indeed seems like they’d have to accept higher offers to get max money?

I think the multiple flats piece sounds more like they were a landlord and over extended rather than actually lived it one of them. Most landlords don’t surround themselves with their own tenants.
The property has been repossessed by the bank but as pp states is being looked after by the receiver to save the bank the trouble.

What do you mean by “not obliged to take the property off the market”?

Agree Burnamer that’s probably an overextended landlord.

i just googled for repossessed properties and that’s what it said. They don’t have to remove it from market as they are obliged to get as much money as they can. I am surprised this hasn’t gone to auction in that case.

I feel pretty strongly that it should be a no, but not sure if I’m being irrational.

Receivers are legally required to get the best price possible. Once a property is under offer they have to put up a legal notice to this effect, on the sale particulars. They can accept a higher offer until exchange.

Sorry we cross posted

it’s empty but I noticed evidence of a broken lock immediately. Whoever patched it up didn’t do a great job.

i was not told about the circumstances till after I viewed.

it is in excellent condition otherwise.

I’d speak to the agent about the lock. The receiver would have changed the locks on taking possession of the property so you may have seen the original (now broken lock) and the replacement. It’s worth asking.

Yes receivers do have to get the best price in that they can’t sell to person A for £200k rather than person B for £210k just because they feel like it / person A is a property developer who buys multiple properties/ person A is their friend. However, in this kind of market, if your offer is the only offer (or even the only proceedable offer) they won’t hold on to get a higher offer unless yours is really low ball. They risk not selling , the market dropping and the property being worth less/ not selling at all.

Burnamer I see your points. Re the lock, I did ask and they said whoever changed it obviously did a bad job and that should be changed/improved. They then told me the situation after I’d viewed, expressed an interest and enquired about the buyer situation. So I imagine most people would be put off.

I’ll sleep on it. Thank you all, much appreciated.

My brother bought a repossession property as his first house, he got it approximately 20% cheaper than the market value. He put his offer in just after Christmas & got the keys mid February.

Thank you
I think this is a bit below but the EA specified that the receiver is obliged to take higher offers. In a market where things are still going above asking, I think it's a big risk to take, forking out solicitor's fees etc in a situation like this.

thanks everyone, live and learn.

Best of luck with your search.

Thank you. 😀

I have been buying these types of properties since the Credit Crunch of 2008. Repossessions and properties bought through LPA Receivers offer exceptional value. Do the maths before you completely disregard it. Auctions are good too - great value.

Worth investigating. A little bit of info is here, Property Auctions, but Google is a good source too.