Anyone know about home repossessions?

[MrJuice]

I looked up my mates property and it is not listed on completed house sales.

I've heard that certain types of property are excluded from public searches on the land registry. Eg those sold below market value by developers and possibly repossessions.

The former is definitely true. I have another friend who buys property from developers when they want out and a quick sale. He pays cash. And then mortgages them. I don't have a list of properties he has bought in this way but he assured me this type of purchase does not get listed in hand registry. He's a very well to do car dealer who turns over 25m+. Definitely not a billy bullstter.

[MrC986]

surveyor said:

My experience as a chartered Surveyor is that the lenders are also wary of they legal duty. Most have some form of independent valuation to try and spot the worst of the scams

Surveyor is correct - the mainstream lenders will take 2 valuations before putting the repossessed property into the market. One from the agent who will be appointed to sell it and one from an independent valuer who is on the lenders approved valuer list and familiar with the location. The independent valuer is asked to provide a 28 day sale figure (ala an auction sale figure) and also a 90 day sale figure to the lender with evidence to support the figures cited. The independent valuer will also advise whether the property is capable of getting a mortgage, which requires a kitchen and bathroom to be fitted. If the valuation figures provided by the two are significantly different, then there is further questioning - the banks also apparently have a computer system that will run alongside any independent advice to watch for potential anomalies and fraud indicators.