Help me save this listed property!

[HP89]

There is a gorgeous house I have been in love with for many years… the house was put on the market around 7 years ago but was in no position to buy it, and to be honest never thought I would be.

Fast forward to now, circumstances have changed and now in a position to upgrade considerably. BAM, the house is on the market again, going to auction, unoccupied, and a little worse for wear but still in all its period feature glory!

Our house isn’t on the market yet/ we aren’t cash ready so we didn’t register for the auction and I had let myself have a little sad day at missing the opportunity to own this house I have fantasised over since I was a girl.

The auction date passes and much to my surprise, the house doesn’t sell and is on the market but with the auctioneers “available post-auction”.
obviously my delusional side says it’s because it’s waiting for us!

Due to convoluted job circumstances DH doesn’t want to put our house on the market until December/January.

Can we still make an offer !? Is it ridiculous? It is empty and looks as though it has been for some time and given it was auction I’m guessing it would be no chain.

I am so in love with this house, I have driven by it everyday since it came on the market again. Would love so advice/opinions on the best steps to take to maximise the small chance I have to own and save this special listed building!!

Or the chances are that if the OP offers a higher price than the potential next auction price but on the basis of a longer completion date, they might be happy with that. We don't know.

This is exactly what happened when we sold our last house ^

We put it into auction and had lots of viewings/people downloading the legal pack, but on the night of the auction it failed to sell.

One pair of buyers had been interested in the (extremely unique, period detached) house when we'd bought it a few years previously and had withdrawn their own house from the market after failing to secure it. They admitted ours was the only house they'd be prepared to move for/to.

This time they'd viewed as soon as we'd listed it for sale but as our listing came completely out of the blue, they weren't on the market yet themselves/needed a small temporary mortgage to buy as the guide price was higher than the amount of savings they had available.

Because they weren't in a position to bid on the night they feared they'd lost their dream house a second time, but shortly after the auction they secured the funding to purchase and contacted us.

The purchase went through on an auction contract within 28 days once they had carried out a survey etc. They told us the auction house/EA even banged his gavel on his desk at the point of exchange. The price they paid was slightly higher than our auction reserve.

I meant to add that if you can get the funds in place @HP89 purchasing via an auction contract as our buyers did shouldn't be a problem. Good luck...hope you get your dream house!

Thought I would update, thank you all for the great replies. I’ve loved reading stories about your experiences!

I called the auctioneer to arrange a viewing. The person ‘in charge’ of the listing wasn’t there, but the guy I spoke to said that there are a couple of people making offers (they always say this?), but he will pass on my details. I told him our situation and he said that the sellers are actually wanting a minimum price of 100k more than it’s on for! cheeky! Even In these circumstances, we would still go for it. Sadly, it is subject to their 28 day auction terms so I think we are out of the race 😢. Have attached a photo for those asking. Hope it helps understand why I’m so crazy about it 😄

(A very tiny flicker of hope remains until I hear back. Sniff sniff)

It is beautiful. I would imagine it costs a fortune to heat though. I feel that it needs a pride and prejudice style flounce around in an empire line dress, but have probably got the time period totally wrong!

It is very lovely - I can see why you love it. That said , unless you are in a position to proceed that doesn't sound great - would be the same for any house and I will say this - if it is not just beautiful but has no other problems why has it gone to auction? Am I wrong in saying a house which looks like that ought to be able to be sold via more conventional means . There may be a rational explanation - ie probate want a quick sale etc - but worth thinking about.

Bridging loan?

Bloody hell, that is so lovely. Beautiful stones!

It’s gone to auction because no one wants it for anywhere near the price it’s on for.

Not only that but no dealers, investors or anyone that actually has the money are interested at the reserve price at auction.

that means that there’s a lot wrong with it and it will be colossal to deal with it.

Its too much money, and I doubt you understand what you would be taking on.

Totally agree with Palmasailor and will add the cheeky vendors want £100K above the stated price. They can’t sell it but if a purchaser comes long they want the full price plus a bonus. That would put me off.
It’s beautiful but possibly a money pit.

It's a beautiful house, but they do sound incredibly cheeky/greedy @HP89! Nonetheless, I hope the stars align for you and you're successful!

The house we sold at auction (well, as I explained above it didn't sell at auction per se, but still sold with an auction contract) had nothing wrong with it, other than the fact we'd begun stripping out the woodchip and replastering plus the kitchen and cloaks were a bit dated.

The reason we chose to enter it into auction was that we didn't have the enthusiasm or funds to complete the work in the timescales we'd intended. Our grown-up DS was encouraging us to sell as he hated visiting us there (3.5 hrs drive) and we were feeling very despondent. Also, when we purchased the house - a beautiful, extremely unique Arts & Crafts style detached property - it had been on the market more than two years and we didn't want to go through a protracted process like that....

We put it up for auction with a reserve that was £40k less than we'd paid three years before.

If only we'd realised the couple we eventually sold to were still interested from when they'd lost out to us, we would have put it with a high street EA.

Beautiful house and hope one day it or a very similar one will be yours. It may happen if they have one failed auction.

Beautiful house OP - hope you get it!

If it's empty, no chain and you view and are still in love with it, could you offer a substantial non-refundable deposit to secure it for a few months? Or is that not possible/too risky?

Gorgeous house, probably a money pit but I certainly wouldn't judge you! In general terms, I think it's totally unreasonable to expect a vendor to agree a sale when you're basically refusing to take the transaction any further until next January, but if they're going to be CFs about what they'll accept for a house that's clearly not going to be easy to sell, then you may well find it's still available in the new year anyway. Hope you get what you want!

Thanks for all the replies! I am slowly coming back to planet earth and thinking it was incredibly ambitious… good ideas about asking to put down a bigger non-refundable deposit to secure for longer, not sure how that would work out with an auction contract but all academic as haven’t heard back about a viewing.

Luckily we live in a part of the country with many beautiful old houses, so I’m holding on to hope that one day something similar (or better) will align itself with our house sale ☺️

will update if any progress!

@LibertyLily

They told us the auction house/EA even banged his gavel on his desk at the point of exchange.

That's adorable!😊

Gorgeous house but sounds like the timing is wrong. Though the cheeky sellers alone would put me off.
If there are other lovely houses in the area then one is waiting for you when it’s your time!
Do update the thread. I love old houses and have anyways wanted to live in one, but have neither the money nor the know-how to be able to maintain or repair.

The vendors don't sound realistic, I also think it is likely that a standard mortgage would not be available for that property- listed properties have mortgage and insurance issues in terms of specialist products being needed even if they are in good condition. It looks like an absolute money pit with the potential to ruin someone to me although also very pretty I agree. I would run a mile personally and think you might have a lucky escape. I grew up in a beautiful large stone house which took decades to get manageable so I understand the appeal but it looks terrifying to me. Maybe check out the renovation woe posts on more standard bills. That is an absolutely enormous task not to be underestimated, it will be cold and have mice etc and rotten timber/ collapsing elements. But I am being very negative I realise