Buying house/apartment from banks megathread

Dellnum

I am about to buy an apt where the banks are forcing the vendor to sell.
So what I was wondering is what is the procedure when going sale agreed.
Does the vendor go to the banks with my offer and then how long do I have to wait for the banks to come back with their consent.

The furniture is being sold separately, so do the banks have to know about this.
Are there any pitfalls attached to paying for the furniture separately ?

Then how long does it take for the whole deal to go sold. I mean does it take any longer than if the banks were not involved.

Can I expect major delays or can this sale go through smoothly.

Many thanks for any replies.

john1963

I went sale agreed in august on a bank sale and am still waiting

m'lady

Went sale agreed at start of September, still waiting.

Dellnum

It would appear so that I am in for the long haul. I have not signed any contracts yet so I am trying to decide whether it is worth the wait. I would love to hear from someone who went sale agreed and didn't have a long wait.

Could anyone tell me what the hold up is ?

Quandary

Sale agreed since July and still no end in sight.

leanonme

We want sale agreed in March and received the keys in June, the delays come from our legal guys having to find the info them selves, as they were not provided with all documents. But to be honest, by brother went sale agreed in October on a non bank sale and he received the keys in early Jan so even with a bank sale etc it can be slow.

Advise for all:
check re water payments, are all up to date etc.
check the house one more time before you sign the contract, ours got broken into just before we signed, but because we didnt view it we got landed with the cost of the damage caused etc.

Ms2011

Took me 17 months from sale agreed to close of sale.

Rew

We ditched a bank sale a few months in EA stringing us along but reality is he hadn't a clue and was being drip fed by bank. Unless it's a bargain forget it don't sign the contact till everything is in place.

Dellnum

Thanks for all the advice, my property is not a bargain but it is the only one in my price range in the area I want, so I was up against a few bidders. If I had another choice I would not go for it.

Thanks Leanonme, you seem to be an exception to the rule, fingers crossed.

ConorMal

Did anyone on this thread close their bank sale in the meantime? how long did it take?
We went sale agreed in July, just found out it is a bank sale.

Dellnum

I went sale agreed just before Christmas 2015 and the sale closed about first week of July. There was nothing else on the market so I just waited and it was worth the wait in the end.

Pending

ConorMal wrote: »

Did anyone on this thread close their bank sale in the meantime? how long did it take?
We went sale agreed in July, just found out it is a bank sale.

Same here. Agreed early July, so sign of contracts yet

We were initially assured there was no bank involvement, but have just discovered it is in negative equity, etc and bank consent to sale is being sought.

Details of our offer have just gone to the bank this week - does anyone know how long it might take to get consent to sell from the bank?

seldduca2012

My partner and I have viewed a place we really like. The EA mentioned the home in question is a bank sale - it has been on the market a couple of months, in a decent location with a decent price (relative to other properties for sale in the same development). Little info has been provided and many questions (when was the electricity cut - in light of the reinstallation fee) the EA is unable to answer (which I've heard is standard of bank sales).

We are obviously worried their is a catch.

Anyone any experience of buying a home/property that was a bank sale? Except for the possibility of a longer sale agreed period any other differences to a non bank sale?

DublinDilbert

There's no hard and fast rules, it could be a simpler than a normal sale or it could be a complete nightmare. If you search here you will find stories from both ends of the spectrum. It depends on the Receiver, Bank, Original owner and what stage in the process they are all at.

My advice would be put in your offer and keep looking to see if anything similar/better comes up. One receiver / bank sale i was involved with when like this, bidding started early nov 2015, highest bid accepted late dec 2015, deposit paid jan 2016, contracts signed and key may 2016.

seldduca2012

Thank you for your reply.

Can we talk/liaise with the bank in question directly? Or is it bank solicitor to our solicitor?

We have many questions (electricity cut date, outstanding bills, contents included) and EA has been unable to disclose same to us. Will we/our solicitor be able to find this out?

Thanks

hairyslug

There wont be a person to talk to from the bank, chances are all decisions regarding the sale will be made "behind the scenes".

Not to put you off but we pulled out of 2 bank sales due to the length of it. It can take some time to get a response for the smallest of questions. Your solicitor would be the person the query anything but they may not get all the answers.

seldduca2012

Thank you for your reply @hairyslug.

Has anyone utilised a buyer's agent to assist (my partner is north american where buyers agents are commonly employed)?

Has anyone attempted to approach the neighbours? Even just to find out about the neighbourhood.

hairyslug

seldduca2012 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply @hairyslug.

Has anyone utilised a buyer's agent to assist (my partner is north american where buyers agents are commonly employed)?

Has anyone attempted to approach the neighbours? Even just to find out about the neighbourhood.

Don't know anything about buyers agents but as for asking the neighbours, we made the mistake of not doing that for our first house, for our house now, we asked at the local shops, neighbours, on boards, just to get an idea.

There can be some great bargains on bank sales, it can just be a little more frustrating.

DublinDilbert

seldduca2012 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply @hairyslug.

Has anyone utilised a buyer's agent to assist (my partner is north american where buyers agents are commonly employed)?

Has anyone attempted to approach the neighbours? Even just to find out about the neighbourhood.

You will only be able to talk to the estate agent, they typically won't tell you who the liquidator or bank are. Yes there's no harm in chatting with the potential future neighbors, i did exactly that over Christmas last year.

Graham

seldduca2012 wrote: »

Has anyone utilised a buyer's agent to assist (my partner is north american where buyers agents are commonly employed)?

Has anyone attempted to approach the neighbours? Even just to find out about the neighbourhood.

Buyers agents are almost unheard of in Ireland, even if you were to find one there's not a huge amount they would be able to assist with other than adding another layer into any communication.

Probably a good idea to talk to the neighbours, as well as spending some time in/around the area, see what its like during the evening/weekends etc.

Although most posts discussing purchases from a bank mention the process can be incredibly slow, don't count on it. They can also happen incredibly quickly (by Irish standards).

You could probably find out who the bank are by checking the land registry records, probably not much point as there's little chance they will talk to you directly.

riclad

is the price reasonable ,.?
I know 2 people who bought homes ,.bank sales ,they had no problem.
Many people simply give the house back to bank ,as the loan is too high ,
relative to the house value , and the bank may write off part of the loan ,
if the house is vacated .

Teeley

How do find houses that are bank sales? Is there a register? Thanks.

riclad

Most bank sales the house will be empty ,no one living there .
at least 5 years old.theres no register of bank sales, they are sold by
the local estate agents .

EmmaMurray2016

seldduca2012 wrote: »

Thank you for your reply @hairyslug.

Has anyone utilised a buyer's agent to assist (my partner is north american where buyers agents are commonly employed)?

Has anyone attempted to approach the neighbours? Even just to find out about the neighbourhood.

Pop into the local guards station see if there is a community guard and have a chat with him

seldduca2012

Thank you everyone for your answers and help

riclad

I Think rich people employ an agent to look for a house for them,
eg i want a 1 million house in area x, 4 bed rooms , etc house could be empty for months before bank puts it on sale.

Snakeweasel

Some of you may be aware of the fun times I am having with an auctioneer messing me about as I am trying to buy a house.

Well I have heard a rumour that a house in the estate that I am looking at has been repossessed by the bank. Does anyone know the usual time it would take a repossessed property to come to the market? Also, even if it comes to market in a short time, is it as complicated and drawn out to purchase one as this forum seems to make out?

Flatzie_poo

I was sale agreed on a repossession.

It really depends on how much the former owner drags his/her heels throughout the process.

Mine took an age to go through the courts as the were blocking any attempts to this sale.

In the end the bank obtained an injunction against any interference of the sale against the former owner. This was then appealed to the high court by the former owner, which lost, and then the supreme, which they also lost.

Immensely messy.

He failed in all of these and then challenged the validity of the banks' receiver appointed again through the courts...

I pulled out in the end as their (the banks') solicitor wanted me to sign the contract whilst this case was ongoing. My solicitor advised however, if the former owner won he case against the validity of the receiver appointed, I wouldn't have been a protected buyer anymore. If I signed I could lose my deposit placed.

In my experience I'd tell you to run a mile, but I have heard of them going through.

My solicitor advised me in the that I should think about how much of a bargain I'm getting. If that outweighs the cost/risk then go ahead. But they wouldn't advise to go ahead with that sale in any case..

I pulled out of the sale and after a few letdowns/rage against Estate Agents i found a great bargain which surpassed the above.

Solicitors acting on behalf of banks are notoriously slow in most cases (from what I've heard ) also.

Just weigh up the potential risk/costs and see if it's for you.


Best of luck. I had none, but I'd hope it's a little more easier for you if you go ahead.

Get a damn good solicitor if you do!

ciarawalshey

We are sale agreed for the past 4 weeks. The vendors on the house we are purchasing are Pepper Finance Corporation.

Our solicitor received some contracts last week but is querying some items in the contracts.

Anyone here bought a house where Pepper Finance were involved - what are you experiences? Or similar bank vendors and your experience? How long does it usually take from sale agreed to getting keys.

kodak

ciarawalshey wrote: »

We are sale agreed for the past 4 weeks. The vendors on the house we are purchasing are Pepper Finance Corporation.

Our solicitor received some contracts last week but is querying some items in the contracts.

Anyone here bought a house where Pepper Finance were involved - what are you experiences? Or similar bank vendors and your experience? How long does it usually take from sale agreed to getting keys.

Just finished with said company, acting as asset managers. To be honest, they were pretty good but the receiver + their solicitor were very slow. Wouldn't remove non-applicable contract clauses & it's very one sided in their favour (as you would expect!). Took at least two weeks to get an answer about a query and then another one would come up.

All in all, 7 months from the day we agreed a price to the day the sale closed.

I'd say every transaction is unique but that was my experience.

If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me.

ciarawalshey

Wow 7 months seems very long! Was there anything in particular that caused delays?

Is the receiver the person who released the house to the asset management?