I need to sabotage a bid.
Discussion
Yes, this makes me a bad person. But we have lost out on bidding to a developer, who is at £100k below us, but can move immediately for cash. This sadly is the story of all big houses needing refurb around us - developers buy them. I want this one as our "forever" home. Owners died, being sold by their siblings from probate.
I know we've lost. House is going on the market anyway to make us liquid, but it will never be sold before this one is sold.
So how do I sabotage this process? All inventive ideas considered. All morality ignored.
I know we've lost. House is going on the market anyway to make us liquid, but it will never be sold before this one is sold.
So how do I sabotage this process? All inventive ideas considered. All morality ignored.
Gary C said:
B17NNS said:
Sell yours to webuyanyhouse.com for £80k less than you'd get in a private sale. Offer £20k more than the developer as a cash buyer. Cost to change remains the same.
Clever.Our house is valued (recently) at £1.3m. 90% of this actually gets me to what I need to buy the new house, which is on at 1.4, but could of course go higher.
But London is a bit screwed on prices, so I am pretty unsure that webuyanyhouse would really offer me 90% of the value. Worth a shot - especially as 90% is still breakeven for me on what this place cost us to buy and renovate...
Edited by Harry Flashman on Wednesday 31st May 17:51
deckster said:
Knock down half the back wall. Rip out the kitchen & bathroom. Plant some Japanese Knotweed in the garden.
Basically make it so that nobody but a madman would want to buy the place.
Basically make it so that nobody but a madman would want to buy the place.
For the others who don't know the house, this has already been done. Sadly someone madder than me wants to buy it!
Absolutely - we got our current place because I was a chain free buyer.
Very little stock out there at the moment that I can see, and I'm specifically after a detached Victorian with a decent garden. Streatham Hill/Telford Park is pricier than our area next door. That said - any leads? The draw with this one is the hard work on it has been done. Most of the big derelictsi see round here need hundreds of thousands spent - this needs less than 100k.
GT3 - I know you work in this field: any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am considering calling a developer friend and asking for advice.
Lady F will likely kill me if I suggest selling our newly renovated house to free cash and move back to my flat and wait for a house we like to come to market. We both fell in love with this one!
Very little stock out there at the moment that I can see, and I'm specifically after a detached Victorian with a decent garden. Streatham Hill/Telford Park is pricier than our area next door. That said - any leads? The draw with this one is the hard work on it has been done. Most of the big derelictsi see round here need hundreds of thousands spent - this needs less than 100k.
GT3 - I know you work in this field: any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am considering calling a developer friend and asking for advice.
Lady F will likely kill me if I suggest selling our newly renovated house to free cash and move back to my flat and wait for a house we like to come to market. We both fell in love with this one!
EJH said:
The content of our letter was quite simple, explaining:
- our relationship with and ties to the area
- our desire to remain in the area
- our love of the house and how it would fit our lives (similar age & situation to the vendors when they bought and moved in) and
- how the house would allow us to continue to remain in the area (and had a garage for my stupid car)
More time was taken on how it was written (Mrs EJH to Mrs Vendor but without labouring that point overly) than the content. I don’t think I kept a copy of it but if it’s of use I can have a look and see if I still have one somewhere.
Thanks - that would be great!- our relationship with and ties to the area
- our desire to remain in the area
- our love of the house and how it would fit our lives (similar age & situation to the vendors when they bought and moved in) and
- how the house would allow us to continue to remain in the area (and had a garage for my stupid car)
More time was taken on how it was written (Mrs EJH to Mrs Vendor but without labouring that point overly) than the content. I don’t think I kept a copy of it but if it’s of use I can have a look and see if I still have one somewhere.
On the probate point, it looks like the house has gone through probate, so he just wants rid of it fast. He is the old owner's brother, who died in the house, so I suspect of a similar age (elderly) and wants the money quickly, life being short and all that.
blueg33 said:
Serious answer from me. Phone the developer and offer him your price on the condition that he doesn't market it until you have sold your place. Offer a small non returnable and maybe offer to pay his legal fees.
As a developer I would usually take a "land turn" over the risk of developing, especially with an election and BREXIT on the horizon
Won't work - he will be liable for stamp duty on buy, no? Wipes out his land turn profit.As a developer I would usually take a "land turn" over the risk of developing, especially with an election and BREXIT on the horizon
I can'yt actually bribe anyone - career risk too high: I'd get struck off. All the Law Society need is a crime of dishonesty and your career is done for - an offence under the Bribery Act counts, sadly.
Having the developer disappeared though? That's a plan. No dishonesty as such...
Getting our house on the market asap, writing a letter to the vendor in the meantime...
Having the developer disappeared though? That's a plan. No dishonesty as such...
Getting our house on the market asap, writing a letter to the vendor in the meantime...
So just met the agent. There are a number of bidders on the new house. He is recommending the seller to go with the smaller bids that are certain (no chain, finance arranged), unless he can get a higher offer that interests the client with a house that he can be as sure as possible is going to get sold i.e. he wants to sell ours.
He just saw our house, which he valued at £1.35m if we took our time on the sale and were willing to get into a chain, given offers he has had on similar houses in our immediate neighbourhood, and indeed one he has just sold on the street at £1.38m - same size as ours, but not newly renovated (bad) but Edwardian (good - people want older houses in London; ours is 1930s so worth less than these).
More pertinently, another house on the street that they have for sale is in the same group of houses as ours (so originally identical) has just had chain free offer of £1.2m, which the vendors rejected. Ours is 25% bigger (had a two storey extension at some point in the past), with one more bedroom, a bigger garden, overlooks the park (instead of a block of flats), and has just been renovated to a very high spec - so is better in every way. He turned up with an armload of brochures from his and other agencies' stock of similar value, and a list of recent sale prices.
He thinks he can get a chain free offer at £1.25m immediately from the rejected buyer, and other offers from the stock of buyers who have offered on other houses in the vicinity and been rejected, with sellers here looking for asking at what I think are inflated values. Whilst possibly selling at an undervalue, this is to me relatively risk free - if we can offer the seller a price he likes, and have a firm offer on ours, with the same agent, it is in the agent's interests to make the transaction, as he gets two lots of fees. Also, I will break even on our house including everything including stamp duty, renovation and his sale commission even if I sold it at £1.175m. I may not be maximising what I could get, but if that gets me to the "forever home", that is OK with me. If it does not, I don't sell.
If I sell to webuyanyhouse or similar, I may get £1.2m immediately on a very good day (maybe - no idea what offer they will make; we keep missing each others' calls), but I could end up with nowhere to live if we don't get the next house, having sold ours for less than I could have - worst case scenario, really. If I market with this agent and we fail in our bid, we pull our sale and except for a few hundred pounds of expenses, no loss.
Seller of the house we want is putting kitchen and bathroom in to make the house mortgageable, on agent's advice. The Japanese Knotweed in the garden of the house we want is being dealt with by a reputable company with 10 year guarantee being given. Now 2 years into treatment. It is currently 7m from the house - whilst not visible as it is being chopped back and treated, it is definitely an issue that needs to be dealt with properly, for us and mortgage company.
The developer has dropped out as was offering way below asking. Other buyers are a mix of people like us, who are around asking price but have to sell their houses, and chain free buyers at under asking price.
I know you can't always tell these things, but the agent seemed direct and honest. Did not give his client's secrets away (although I probed), was realistic about our place and did not go for a silly high valuation (Foxtons recently said £1.4-£1,45m, which I knew was nonsense), and just seemed like an OK person. You never know, but I liked the way he behaved and talked.
Our house goes on the market soon. Please PH, wish me luck.
He just saw our house, which he valued at £1.35m if we took our time on the sale and were willing to get into a chain, given offers he has had on similar houses in our immediate neighbourhood, and indeed one he has just sold on the street at £1.38m - same size as ours, but not newly renovated (bad) but Edwardian (good - people want older houses in London; ours is 1930s so worth less than these).
More pertinently, another house on the street that they have for sale is in the same group of houses as ours (so originally identical) has just had chain free offer of £1.2m, which the vendors rejected. Ours is 25% bigger (had a two storey extension at some point in the past), with one more bedroom, a bigger garden, overlooks the park (instead of a block of flats), and has just been renovated to a very high spec - so is better in every way. He turned up with an armload of brochures from his and other agencies' stock of similar value, and a list of recent sale prices.
He thinks he can get a chain free offer at £1.25m immediately from the rejected buyer, and other offers from the stock of buyers who have offered on other houses in the vicinity and been rejected, with sellers here looking for asking at what I think are inflated values. Whilst possibly selling at an undervalue, this is to me relatively risk free - if we can offer the seller a price he likes, and have a firm offer on ours, with the same agent, it is in the agent's interests to make the transaction, as he gets two lots of fees. Also, I will break even on our house including everything including stamp duty, renovation and his sale commission even if I sold it at £1.175m. I may not be maximising what I could get, but if that gets me to the "forever home", that is OK with me. If it does not, I don't sell.
If I sell to webuyanyhouse or similar, I may get £1.2m immediately on a very good day (maybe - no idea what offer they will make; we keep missing each others' calls), but I could end up with nowhere to live if we don't get the next house, having sold ours for less than I could have - worst case scenario, really. If I market with this agent and we fail in our bid, we pull our sale and except for a few hundred pounds of expenses, no loss.
Seller of the house we want is putting kitchen and bathroom in to make the house mortgageable, on agent's advice. The Japanese Knotweed in the garden of the house we want is being dealt with by a reputable company with 10 year guarantee being given. Now 2 years into treatment. It is currently 7m from the house - whilst not visible as it is being chopped back and treated, it is definitely an issue that needs to be dealt with properly, for us and mortgage company.
The developer has dropped out as was offering way below asking. Other buyers are a mix of people like us, who are around asking price but have to sell their houses, and chain free buyers at under asking price.
I know you can't always tell these things, but the agent seemed direct and honest. Did not give his client's secrets away (although I probed), was realistic about our place and did not go for a silly high valuation (Foxtons recently said £1.4-£1,45m, which I knew was nonsense), and just seemed like an OK person. You never know, but I liked the way he behaved and talked.
Our house goes on the market soon. Please PH, wish me luck.
Just to lighten the thread, We would be leaving this, just renovated by us:
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Kitchen by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
for this:
disaster house 2 by baconrashers, on Flickr
disaster house by baconrashers, on Flickr
I must have gone mad.
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrKitchen by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on Flickrfor this:
disaster house 2 by baconrashers, on Flickrdisaster house by baconrashers, on FlickrI must have gone mad.
princeperch said:
just because I'm bored and nosy I had a look at the one you want to buy on rightmove.
that's a hell of a lot of house. from the back it looks enormous.
good luck
Yep. As I said, forever home.that's a hell of a lot of house. from the back it looks enormous.
good luck
Our own beautiful home is no rabbit hutch at 5 beds, 3.5 baths, 5 beds and 3 reception rooms. This house makes it feel like a starter home. I want it.
In detail.
Item 1 on my list is "avoid getting divorced by Lady F for dragging her through this all again".
Price looks good for its size, but this is not prime London, but a suburb that until recently was a bit dodgy. I know, I've lived here for 14 years. Yes, this house would be worth £4m in Clapham, but this is not Clapham, by a long, long shot. £1.4m is seemingly a good price, but it needs £200k spent on it and will require further work after that initial spend, and may in this market end up being worth less than that £1.7m total spend (when you factor in stamp duty). The gardens could easily eat another £30k if you start landscaping and in future years that Japanese Knotweed comes back.
It's a family home to us, not a short/mid-term profit...
Item 1 on my list is "avoid getting divorced by Lady F for dragging her through this all again".
Price looks good for its size, but this is not prime London, but a suburb that until recently was a bit dodgy. I know, I've lived here for 14 years. Yes, this house would be worth £4m in Clapham, but this is not Clapham, by a long, long shot. £1.4m is seemingly a good price, but it needs £200k spent on it and will require further work after that initial spend, and may in this market end up being worth less than that £1.7m total spend (when you factor in stamp duty). The gardens could easily eat another £30k if you start landscaping and in future years that Japanese Knotweed comes back.
It's a family home to us, not a short/mid-term profit...
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff