Repossessions
If purchasing a repossession property being sold by a Bank or Building Society then you should be aware that the lender will have a statutory right to consider any subsequent offers it receives for the property up to the time of exchange of contracts. It is therefore imperative that you are in a position to exchange contracts at the very earliest opportunity.
Once the sale has been agreed the lender will be required to serve a public notice in the local press informing the public that a repossession sale and sale price has been agreed and welcoming further offers for the property
Lenders or their asset managers will take numerous matters in to consideration when considering subsequent higher offers received by from an alternative purchaser, including the following:
- how much higher the subsequent offer is
- how far advanced the current buyer’s matter is progressed and when they are likely to be in a position to exchange contracts
- whether the new buyer requires a mortgage and can possibly exchange contracts before the existing buyer
A lender selling a property as a repossession will evaluate the relative strength of each party and the speed in which they can proceed to exchange of contracts against the difference in offers. An existing buyer would always be given the opportunity to increase their offer
Please note that the seller will have no knowledge of the property being sold and it is therefore extremely important that a buyer obtains a satisfactory survey of the property as it is a standard principle of law (caveat emptor) that it is for a buyer to satisfy themselves on the condition of the property and it is not for a seller to highlight and bring any defects with the property to a buyers attention
