Buying a repo house

[audi321]

I've found a decent house I like which is empty (and in a bit of a state) as it was reposessed buy the mortgage company.

I've put in a cheeky low offer and they've not come back to me yet. Am I right in thinking they have to publicise my offer to the world for a period of time before accepting it?

Thanks in advance

[craigjm]

No you are not right, you are slightly confused. How it works is the property is put up for sale for a certain amount and then you can put in an offer just like any other offer. The mortgage company will then reject or accept it just like any other seller. Once you have agreed on a price they will then advertise the price you have agreed on for 7 days in the local press and sometimes but not always on the internet on sites like rightmove. So you will often see a property that says "an offer of 255k has been received on the property, anyone wishing to make a higher offer must do so by....".

However, that is not the end of it. You must have your mortgage in place now as you have only 28 days to complete all of the conveyancing and during ALL of that time if anyone comes in with a higher bid you will be asked to match or exceed it. Most banks will wish to stick with the current buyer than start conveyancing again but its not always the case so be prepared to be gazumped even on the 27th day!

You usually have to pay the sellers legal fees too

Oh and one final thing that a lot of people dont know about - if the person who was repossessed can scrape together their arrears and three months advance payments then they can claim the property back right up until you have actually completed.

[audi321]

Wow. Loads of interesting info there thanks Craig!

[craigjm]

No problem. You need to make your conveyancing solicitor aware that it is a repossession and most charge a bit more for a 28 day service. If you dont make it within the 28 days the seller can in theory charge you for every day you are over. Being a repo you will get less info than you would if buying from an individual so sometimes you take a risk. Be aware when you first go in there that the ex owner may have sabotaged things as the left so check all plumbing etc before turning on the water and stuff.