Need advice on house I purchased that I'm not sure is a good idea

EnoughSaid

FrancieB wrote: »

I will have decided that I will let him keep my 12k. This is extrmely annoying but I have another house in mind and if the price is right I'll be better off in the long run.

You need to be carefull here because the builder may decide to sue you for not fulfilling the contract.

If you decide to look for another property then if I were in your shoes I wouldn't rush into it because property prices will continue to fall for the foreseable future. The reasons being...oversupply of properties, banks giving lower mortgages and asking for bigger deposits and, due to the recession, many people feel insecure in their jobs and have lost the appetite for big mortgages. On top of this, the buy to let investors have stopped buying property because the immigrants are now emigrating so there are fewer tenants. Other potential buyers are holding off buying too because they expect prices to fall further so this in itself reduces the demand.

You should be able to get good bargains from distressed sellers though, i.e. sellers who need cash urgently, such as couples getting divorced, builders suffering cash flow problems and properties that have been repossessed by banks. If I was looking at a property like this my initial offer would be very low. You should be able to tell by the sellers response to this how desperate they are for the money.

FrancieB

EnoughSaid wrote: »

Y

You should be able to get good bargains from distressed sellers though, i.e. sellers who need cash urgently, such as couples getting divorced, builders suffering cash flow problems and properties that have been repossessed by banks. If I was looking at a property like this my initial offer would be very low. You should be able to tell by the sellers response to this how desperate they are for the money.

I spoke to a few people who said that the builder would be desperate but not this guy!!!. Must be one of the ones that made a mint during the good times.

Pub07

FrancieB wrote: »

I spoke to a few people who said that the builder would be desperate but not this guy!!!. Must be one of the ones that made a mint during the good times.

Not that desparate now that the banks are being bailed out.

FrancieB

FrancieB wrote: »

I spoke to a few people who said that the builder would be desperate but not this guy!!!. Must be one of the ones that made a mint during the good times.

I'm sure he made a mint but I'm also sure he owes 2 or 3 mints back :pac:

Why would he be desperate to renegotiate the price with you when you've agreed(signed a contract) to pay the full amount?

I'm guessing (could very well be a bit off) since you payed 300k for a 3bed at the height of the peak, that your house could be worth 150k or under right now.
If that's the case then the builder wont just want to keep your 12k, as it'll be well worth him dragging you through the courts to get his 130-140k that he wont get if he has to sell the house on to someone else.

My only advice would be to start taking this very seriously. It sounds like you really don't know whats going on and I'm actually beginning to think/hope that you're a troll.

FrancieB

Dont be so ridiculous. He can drag me through whatever courts he wants. Where do you think I'll get the money?

I haven't got 100k in the bank.

padimus

FrancieB wrote: »

Dont be so ridiculous. He can drag me through whatever courts he wants. Where do you think I'll get the money?

I haven't got 100k in the bank.

Doesn´t matter if you don´t have it.

If he goes to court and gets a judgement registered against for you for 100k then the chances of you ever getting a loan from any lender are non existant

I know a couple of people in similar situations and you´re stuck I´m afraid. Back in the good times he might have let you walk away (less the deposit of course) but not a chance now

dny123456

FrancieB wrote: »

I spoke to a few people who said that the builder would be desperate but not this guy!!!. Must be one of the ones that made a mint during the good times.

You'd probably be better off if he was not one of the ones who made a mint during the good times. The best hope you have of getting out of it is if he goes out of business or goes bankrupt. If he has resources to bring you (and people like you) through the courts, he probably will.

Seek legal advice, would I.

FrancieB

dny123456 wrote: »

You'd probably be better off if he was not one of the ones who made a mint during the good times. The best hope you have of getting out of it is if he goes out of business or goes bankrupt. If he has resources to bring you (and people like you) through the courts, he probably will.

Seek legal advice, would I.

Legal advice seems sound. Solicitor has advised, I will lose my 12k, no question about that. Good news is... at my discretion...ALL BETS ARE OFF...

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys. Hopefully not too many mugs fall into my category

subway

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5213789.ece

Builders take Irish housebuyers to court - Sunday Times

Buyers attempting to pull out of property purchases because of falling values are being taken to court by developers

Mark Tighe

IRISH housebuyers who are trying to pull out of purchases because of falling property values are being taken to court by builders and developers.

Construction companies say they have been forced into legal action to secure sales that were agreed when the properties were valued at up to €100,000 more than they are now.

FrancieB

Yikes.

Hope I dont have to go to court. He can have 5k. Thats all I have. I have some furniture too if he wants that.

Troll.


lock it I guess.

astrofool

On a serious note, they can garnish your wages until you've paid back the debt. You'll also have 0 chance of buying another property at a reduced price with this debt hanging over you. A very serious situation to be in, and hopefully you are just trolling

bobbiw

the house has dropped and will continue to do so. you could expect it to hit 150 in the next two years.

I would walk away and say you couldnt get the loan or something. Builders are not going to get very far chasing you for it.

The choice is loose 12 or loose 150, thats the choice you have to make.

banchang

FrancieB wrote: »

A lot of smart ass's around here it would appear.

.

A piece of advice.


Listen.

oceanclub

I regard myself as a leftie, but occasionally I think that people should be chemically sterlised at birth and then only get the antidote required to reverse it once they prove they can be fit parents. I'm beginning to think similar thoughts about buying property.

P.

bobbiw

They might try but thats typical. The whole premise was that you lost your deposit if you couldnt buy.

It happened all the time when people couldnt get loans or something fellthrough.

Builders didnt care becasue they could sell it for more anyway so they would let people drop out.

the presedent was set back then so I doubt the courts would enfore anything.

They will not garnish your wages at all, its just scaremongering by a bunch of ignorant people

A Dub in Glasgo

FrancieB wrote: »

Getting the money from bank isn't the problem. If I can only obtain 80%, thats not a problem neither.

FrancieB wrote: »

Dont be so ridiculous. He can drag me through whatever courts he wants. Where do you think I'll get the money?

I haven't got 100k in the bank.

Hmmm, sounds to me that you could easily complete your end of the contract

bobbiw

even in most of those contacts it says that "if you back out you loose your deposit"

there is no way a builder is going to win, people hate them with a passion in Ireland and they are seen for the scum that they are.

But they have made their money so what can you do. they may never sell another house again but im sure they dont care.

Just tell them the bank refused your loan and thats it.

I wouldnt think they have a hope in hell, in fact I would go after them for the deposit.

Amazing how they were able to be late by a year on building a home but once they say its done you have a few weeks,

I would contact the estate agent or whoever you bought through and tell them the deal is off. It will take a little while to get it sorted as they willtry and negotiate etc.

Once you are off the hook you can go back to them in a year and offer 150k less as they wont have sold anyway.

iguana

bobbiw wrote: »

the presedent was set back then so I doubt the courts would enfore anything.

They will not garnish your wages at all, its just scaremongering by a bunch of ignorant people

The high court has already issued over 100 writs to force buyers to honour the contracts they've signed. Just because the developers were happy to allow people to forfeit their deposits in exchange for breaking the contract when it suited them doesn't set legal precedent. Precedent is set by the courts and as it stands now the courts are telling people that legal contracts must be honoured.

And the courts have the power to order you to pay whatever you agreed to when you signed a legally binding contract. In most case that will mean that if you don't buy and the developer then sells for €75k less than you agreed to pay, you then owe them that plus legal fees. And you will have to pay that at a rate the court sets or you could be found in contempt of court and imprisoned.

The best hope people have of getting out of these contracts is if they can take a case and have a judge agree that the developer has taken an unreasonably long time to complete his side of the contract. But these contracts were written by the developers solicitors so they are very well protected. It's possible that a judge in a test case will rule sympathetically to the purchasers. Personally I feel that expecting people to wait over 6 months past the agreed finish date to be a breach on the developers part. But I'm not a high court judge, and no doubt there are legal clauses in the contracts that even the fairest judges in the world can't overrule.

Mark Tighe wrote:

More than 100 homebuyers have been issued with High Court writs by developers who are trying to force through deals made at the height of the Irish property boom.
contd.>>>>>>>>>
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5908617.ece

crocro

iguana wrote: »

It's possible that a judge in a test case will rule sympathetically to the purchasers.

Yes it is possible. Judges do not always rule by the book and often like to go along with their personal sympathies.

However, the law relating to this type of contract is very well understood and tested since the mid 19th century. In a forward contract where a buyer agrees a price with a seller months before delivery of goods, there will nearly always be an incentive for one or other party to abandon the contract and take advantage of the price movement in the meantime. Without legal backup, most of the forward contracts would be dishonoured by the time of delivery.

Best hope for the OP is that the builder goes bust and that the acquirer of his debtors doesn't pursue this case or else that the judge sympathises more with the buyer than the seller.

If I were the developer and lost a case based on the sympathy of the judge where there was a simple breach of contract, I'd appeal.

The OP has to consider the risk of having to pay for both sides' legal costs in the event of losing.