I recently tried to purchase an apartment in Manchester without success, the main reason being that the property was a repossessed one and the issues that come with it.
The property itself was at a great price, almost £10,000 lower than others listed in the same complex. Other apartments, albeit with better furnishings and at a ground floor level were almost 40k higher.
My plan was simple, put an offer in and set up the mortgage ready to move in. This sounded simple enough but it was far from it.
More than 2 estate agents were offering the property around, which is normal practice but as they are trying to get the best price for their client they seemed intense from the first minute for me to put my highest offer in.
As I was due to make a final offer, I was then told 2 other parties were bidding on the property, rather than get in a bidding war I decided to wait until the other 2 reached a price. Whether this was the right idea is another question.
The basics are when you make an offer for a repossessed property, there are timescales in place which you have to meet, with this particular case the time was 21 days to exchange contracts. Not too bad, the quicker the better for me, however the property is still on the market and anyone wishing to increase their offer can do at anytime.
The last thing I wanted was to be ‘gazumped’ at the last minute and lose fees,time and the effort put in trying to purchase the place.
Eventually, I decided to offer more than £2,000 than the highest offer, however due to having a 1 week vacation in place, the seller’s could not agree to sell me the property. The believed that the previous cash purchaser was in a better position to purchase.
Whilst I am disappointed, I think the experience has put me in a position now where the next time I see a property I will understand the different processes and be better suited.
Advice: If a repossessed property is being marketed by different companies, contact them all, they are all offering the same service so try to use the one you feel best with.
