disillusionedftb1 Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hi, I am a FTB in Northern Ireland and although I have only recently started looking to buy a property I have quickly developed a keen distrust of Estate Agents. I apologise to any good ones out there but my experiences so far have been less than positive. I really thought that in the current climate, Agents would be keen to differentiate by giving good customer service. I found a property that I was interested in, the details on the website say the agent is acting on behalf of the mortgage company and that they have received an offer on the property. I understand that this is a repossession case. They state what this offer is (slightly over the asking price on the site). It states that any interested parties must submit a HIGHER offer to the selling agent before exchange of contracts. My queries are:- This property was added to this site for sale in February 2009 - 19 months ago and this "offer" has been on since it was added???? Surely this offer would have been accepted in 19 months if it existed? Secondly they request offers in writing prior to exchange of contracts. We do not have an exchange of contracts in Northern Ireland or am I missing something. Am I just being sceptical or does this sound incorrect. Any advice on this would be appreciate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getdoon_weebobby Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 wait till 2012 halifax sept house prices down 3.6% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
house hunter Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I have a bit of experience in this matter as I looked at a number of reposessed properties before finally buying something earlier this year. Once an EA takes an offer on a repo and it is accepted by the seller ( bank usually) they have to advertise what the offer is in the paper and on their website. This gives everyone else a chance to make an offer before contracts are signed by both parties (yes, we do exchange contracts in Northern Ireland). Usually the repo company want a completion within 3-4 weeks if the buyer is in a position to do this but they will ask for signed contracts earlier than this if possible. This means that as soon as you see the notice on the property for the first time you have only a few weeks to make an offer before both parties sign contracts. If you saw this notice 19 months ago then the property is either already sold and the agent hasnt removed it off the site or the sale has fallen through and they have been too lazy to remove the notice. No repossession company will allow an agent to sit on an offer for 19 months as they want a quick turnaround. The notice may only have appeared recently so dont assume it was on from the moment the property came onto the market. Just call the agent and ask what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinbin Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hi, I am a FTB in Northern Ireland and although I have only recently started looking to buy a property I have quickly developed a keen distrust of Estate Agents. I apologise to any good ones out there but my experiences so far have been less than positive. Most EA's are full of it. I have recently sold my house and I am looking around at the minute and it amazes me how some of them are still trying to talk the market up...Massively at that! I have got to know my local EA's fairly well and to be honest I am not confident that they know how to even value properties in the current market, they appear to be fishing for information from me about what other EA's are valuing properties at, offers in on other properties etc. I must say though that one EA in particular that I get on Ok with turned to me they other day and said that she thinks in the next 6 months that she cant see any outcome for House Prices other than them tumbling. They have so many on their books with higher asking prices but with ZERO offers. Interesting stuff. Anyway ... back to your own topic. TBH I wouldn't trust the EA to even pass an offer on if they didnt feel it was high enough (speaking from my own experience). You could always bypass them if you really didnt trust them but what I would recommend is that you look at the auction sites. Wilson auctions for example have repossions listed. Might give you further property options particularly if you are interested a repo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ride_on Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 Most EA's are full of it. I have recently sold my house and I am looking around at the minute and it amazes me how some of them are still trying to talk the market up...Massively at that! I have got to know my local EA's fairly well and to be honest I am not confident that they know how to even value properties in the current market, they appear to be fishing for information from me about what other EA's are valuing properties at, offers in on other properties etc. I always thought that EAs only value is they they know what houses sold for(past tense) in an area, they have no idea of current/future value or why the market goes up and down 'its just cycles init'. In this day and age I see no need for EAs for private-private sales, perhaps a solicitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIOWEN Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 Just saw this one on Gumtree http://belfast.gumtree.com/belfast/17/67499117.html 65K cash Never thought of looking on Gumtree. Googled his number and he had another for sale "near reposesed". 10 years rent would pay for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R + R Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 now what does nama need a flock of belfast legal eagles for? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11708787 rock on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastVI Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 (edited) now what does nama need a flock of belfast legal eagles for? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11708787 rock on! NAMA is taking over 3.5bn (I think) of loans in NI. Most of these will be sub £30m. So we are talking quite a few loans. They will require independent legal advice on each transaction. Assessing the title, security etc. They can't simple appoint one firm of Solicitors are they are likely to be conflicted as they will have worked on many of these projects for either the borrower or lender in the past. The sensible thing to do is to appoint a panel of Solicitors, which they can choose from. The loans have started to move over and they require this work to be carried out. Edited November 8, 2010 by BelfastVI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R + R Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 NAMA is taking over 3.5bn (I think) of loans in NI. Most of these will be sub £30m. So we are talking quite a few loans. They will require independent legal advice on each transaction. Assessing the title, security etc. They can't simple appoint one firm of Solicitors are they are likely to be conflicted as they will have worked on many of these projects for either the borrower or lender in the past. The sensible thing to do is to appoint a panel of Solicitors, which they can choose from. The loans have started to move over and they require this work to be carried out. no repoing and cashing? rock on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelfastVI Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 no repoing and cashing? rock on! They are mostly green fields with usually only outline planning and costly infrastructure upfront costs. they can try 'repoing and cashing' all they like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2buyornot2buy Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 They are mostly green fields with usually only outline planning and costly infrastructure upfront costs. they can try 'repoing and cashing' all they like. I think its actually mostly Belfast office space. And a few hotels thrown in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPCwhen? Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Ok, I'm looking for some free advice (or informed opinion!) I'm in the process of buying a repossessed property and my solicitor has written to me asking for money to cover DOE and property searches, stat charge searches, bankruptcy search, land registry search, priority search etc before my lender will offer a mortgage advance. They also advise that the vendor refuses to recognise this as a residential transaction and that it wont be subject to the Home Charter Scheme (whatever that is!). Does anyone have any experience of this type of thing? Are these costs that are normally borne by the buyer in any property transaction?Mr guess is that they probably are. Im just wary of paying up because I feel that there is a strong possibility that I may be gazumped because the property remains on the market until exchange of contracts! All advice welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigooner Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Ok, I'm looking for some free advice (or informed opinion!) I'm in the process of buying a repossessed property and my solicitor has written to me asking for money to cover DOE and property searches, stat charge searches, bankruptcy search, land registry search, priority search etc before my lender will offer a mortgage advance. They also advise that the vendor refuses to recognise this as a residential transaction and that it wont be subject to the Home Charter Scheme (whatever that is!). Does anyone have any experience of this type of thing? Are these costs that are normally borne by the buyer in any property transaction?Mr guess is that they probably are. Im just wary of paying up because I feel that there is a strong possibility that I may be gazumped because the property remains on the market until exchange of contracts! All advice welcome! Hi there, The vendor should pay for the DoE and EJO charges etc etc against the property, your solicitor should have advised you on this and as to why they are not paying it. It would make sense for them to get this all in place before selling, so that when an offer is made they can proceed as quick as possible. If it is a local bank that is in possession, they usually get all this info for the buyer at no charge to you. Im guessing that its in the hands of an intermediary mortgage company (like Future Mortgages), who usually do not pay for anything and are a nightmare to deal with. Don't know why this isn't being treated as a residential transaction, make sure your solicitor reads all the legals thoroughly. Keep asking him/her any questions you have, that is what they are paid for! If stuff like ground rent is missing, you will be liable for 6 years payment before buying the house. Get your solicitor to explain everything over and over until you are satisfied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPCwhen? Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 Thanks for the excellent advice - I will definitely be making sure my solicitor checks out that ground rent issue! Have decided to bite the bullet and pay for the costs of the searches. What you say about the intermediary mortgage company makes sense as the EA happened to mention he was dealing with the bank through an intermediary. Thanks again for your helpful post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shifty_FTB Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 you wouldnt be so kind to let us know what the asking price was and what was the accepted offer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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