My mum died earlier this year and left me her house, which is a large bungalow on a good-sized plot of land in a sought-after area of a Midlands town. The bungalow itself is only 2 bed and 1 bathroom, as it was built by my parents before I came along. It has also had very little done to it for about 20 years, so is rough around the edges.
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.
For the purposes of valuing mum's estate, I got an estate agent to look at it and they said it was hard to price, as houses in this area vary widely and some have had a lot of money spent on them by people moving into the area. However, the agent agreed with my proposed ballpark figure.
This potential purchaser is having his own house valued tomorrow and wants the agent to also give him a price for mum's house. If he's happy with the numbers, he's willing to make me an offer.
Couple of slight issues:
1) I'm a little bit nervous about doing this without an estate agent involved, although I don't think they'd really be earning their fee if I already have a buyer lined up.
2) The potential purchaser would like to have some work done inside the house before it's ready for them to move into, so he hinted he might want to start this before I have probate.
3) I live 3 hours drive away, so will have to do pretty much everything remotely.
Any advice?
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.
For the purposes of valuing mum's estate, I got an estate agent to look at it and they said it was hard to price, as houses in this area vary widely and some have had a lot of money spent on them by people moving into the area. However, the agent agreed with my proposed ballpark figure.
This potential purchaser is having his own house valued tomorrow and wants the agent to also give him a price for mum's house. If he's happy with the numbers, he's willing to make me an offer.
Couple of slight issues:
1) I'm a little bit nervous about doing this without an estate agent involved, although I don't think they'd really be earning their fee if I already have a buyer lined up.
2) The potential purchaser would like to have some work done inside the house before it's ready for them to move into, so he hinted he might want to start this before I have probate.
3) I live 3 hours drive away, so will have to do pretty much everything remotely.
Any advice?