Selling my mum's house

[wiggydiggy]

That very nearly happened when we were selling MiL's house.

Against our instructions, the Estate agent let the purchaser have the keys. We went round to find walls knocked through and major ground floor remodeling in progress. Completion went ahead a week or so later.

Then, before moving in, the purchaser stepped in front of a car on Finchley road and died. Had that happened before completion we would have been comprehensively stuffed

Thats not the first story I've heard like that, it's from another site:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/jpsosl/update_estate_agent_gave_the_keys_to_my_old_house/


Has a happy ending but could have been much worse. Buyer does not get keys until you have their money.

 

[GuyBoden]

Also, a bit late, but you can do your own Probate online, I've done it, so it can't be difficult, obviously it depends on complexity.

https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate

 

[Drago]

I sold my first flat without an estate agent. Didn't sweat it at all. Two years ago sold my cottage back home without one after the tennant offered to buy it. Smooth as silk.

My Dad has just sold his without an estate agent to a neighbour who is a builder, and very glad he is too because an agents cut of 800 large is much better in his pocket that theirs.

I can understand your nervousness in deviating from the usual course, but it's really nothing to worry about. IMHO things go much better without those muppets sticking their oar in. It's the conveyancers that do the heavy lifting anyway.

BTW, sorry to hear of you Mum's passing.

 

[All uphill]

If you are not keeping the property in the family then I would suggest you forget any notion of sentimentality and simply maximise your inheritance as it won't happen again. You'll be kicking yourself when your proposed buyer either sells on quickly for a profit, or dies sooner than expected and the land/property ends up in the hands of a developer anyway!

If you can get more by using a selling agent even after factoring in their fees then do it. It's not being greedy and unless your mum wanted it to go to a particular person then why wouldn't you?

When we sold our mum's house a neighbour asked if we would sell to her daughter. Her maximum offer was around £2k less than a firm offer we already had. Less than 1% of the sale price; not much really.

What!

If a stranger came up to you in the street and asked for £2000 what would you say? Yes, here you are?

I'm not usually cynical but do you think it's likely/possible that your potential buyer sees the chance of making lots of money out of your inheritance?

 

[lazybloke]

If not using an estate agent, I guess the conveyancers would sort out the EPC survey/certificate requirements?
Didn't have to deal with such things when I last moved.

 

[vickster]

I thought everyone knows that estate agents are mostly licensed thieves. Sounds like you’ve already got one involved so be prepared for them demanding a large sum for doing virtually nothing. Your conveyancer will handle everything for you. You hold the keys so control access.

They can’t ask for anything without a contract being signed. All they’ve done is provide a valuation, not been engaged

 

[wiggydiggy]

They can’t ask for anything without a contract being signed. All they’ve done is provide a valuation, not been engaged

True. Thats why I mentioned the 3 different valuations, I got three for a probate application earlier this year. No charge and we've never heard back from them trying to get us to sell.

 

[Kingfisher101]

No to doing any work before the sale has totally gone through and the money has gone in your account. Personally I would go through the Estate Agents as you may get loads of people offering a lot more than this guy will do.

 

[BigSid]

Just my 2p's worth. A friend of mine sold his house last year without an estate agent. Cost him £100 to upload some pictures to a website. (Want to say Zoopla but I'm not sure.) He then had an open house viewing weekend and from 20 viewings had 14 offers above the asking price. If you're not going to use an agent I'd suggest doing something similar rather than just accepting the builder's offer. As the estate agent says it's difficult to put a price on it let the market decide.

 

[johnblack]

Get the most you can, sentimentality means nothing, if the best price is for land with planning, get a value on it.

 

[Electric_Andy]

1) The neighbour is after a bargain, and to suggest doing work without sole ownership is either incredibly dim, or naive to the whole process.
2) If the neighbour is serious about buying, then let them do so amongst competition. You say you wouldn't like it to go to developers, but what if the neighbour only wants to pay 50k less than what it's worth?
3) Some high street estate agents charge low fees but do a poor job. We are going through the process of selling/buying now. Luckily an old acquaintence runs the best Estate Agents in town and has the credentials to show. Yes they will charge 1.5% but they will also try and get the most possible for the property.

It depends how emotionally attached you are to the idea of it staying as a home, or if you want more money having it sold properly. And there is no gurantee that it will be bought by a developer.

 

[rvw]

I am also in the process of selling my late mother's house - you have my sympathy for your loss.

I don't think I need to reiterate the advice about access, or about an agent. My comment is more on balancing a quick sale (so long as it is for a sensible price) to your neighbour against marketing the property more widely.

My sister and I (but she's in Scotland so not able to be involved in the practicalities) are organising a full refurbishment of the bungalow: Mum was a lifelong smoker and the paintwork and carpets have suffered. We're also redoing the kitchen, which is sound but rather dated. In our case, we know that if we don't do the work, it simply won't sell for ages, and in the meantime we shall have to pay for the electricity and gas (which are pretty negligible at the moment but will be more in winter) and also a monthly service charge.

You mention that the house is 'rough around the edges' - so you probably have to look at the same kind of balancing act, of work that will help it to sell against the cost of doing the work. That does give a bit of an advantage to the option of selling to the neighbour: as well as avoiding the hassle of getting the necessary work done.

In terms of probate, my understanding is that you won't be able, legally, to exchange contracts until this is granted, because before then you aren't the owner. We've been told it can take up to 16 weeks, so we're not holding our breath!

Anyhow, best wishes with it all.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Remember as well, these a chronic housing shortage in this country at the moment and if your asking price is sensible it will sell, no bother. I agree with the others let the market decide the best offer. That guy is after a cheap deal, no two ways about it. You need to do what's best for yourself/ your family not what's best for him.
More like he's interested in doing it up and then selling it on for a stonking profit or making it into flats or something? He's probably spinning you a right tale. I'd get more than one estate agent to value it as well. Land is worth a fortune. You really don't want to get ripped off.

 

[T4tomo]

While I wait for probate to come through, someone who lives near the bungalow has approached me and asked to buy it. He is in his 70s but has been in the building trade for decades and he wants to do it up before he and his wife move in as their last home. I quite like the idea that a developer doesn't buy it to rip it down and cram 3 executive homes onto the site.

If it has devolvement potential, i'd be selling it to the highest bidder, the fact that this guy is a builder is a massive red flag, he's probably applying for planning permission already.

your other option is get an architect to draw up some plans for conversion and get outline planning permission and then market it.

 

[chris667]

Another thread where completely incorrect legal advice is being handed out by people with little grasp or understanding of the potential issues.

Of course the developer wants to do things off the books. He wants to pay less than other developers would be willing to pay if it was on the open market. You could easily run into all sorts of trouble and you are 300 miles away.

You need to be exceptionally careful with property valuations. This is HMRC's bread and butter. CGT liability can be a lot more than IHT liability when people get valuations wrong.

This is best done by an expert. Don't take advice from random people on the internet.