Make offer to buy house from Bank

James_87

Hi,

I have being looking at a house,on first viewing EA tells me it has being repossesed from previous owner who owned several houses in the area.
House was first put on maket 6 months ago at 165K, two months ago it was reduced to 120K, EA obviously wants to sell it since the reduce in price and telling me it is now owned by a bank.
Bank want to sell to due to asking price, just wondering what do you think would be a good place to start with an offer, EA also said no offer has being made in the 6 months.

I was going to start at 90- 95K, but my Dad tells me to start at 70 -75K and chance my arm.
Is their anything negative that could happen by starting too low, EA not take me seriously...

pawnacide

James_87 wrote: »

Hi,


I was going to start at 90- 95K, but my Dad tells me to start at 70 -75K and chance my arm.
Is their anything negative that could happen by starting too low, EA not take me seriously...

Absolutely nothing negative could happen, you might disappoint the agent a bit but that's about all. Dealing with banks is not the same as individuals, they're a heartless edifice. Just bear in mind this property is one of hundreds and will have been discussed at various meetings and somewhere there is a piece of paper with a figure on it that they probably won't go below .. without having another meeting.

What bank is it ? .. I ask coz the English banks are quicker to make decisions. Sub prime banks aint so good to deal with and Irish banks are a nightmare (not in terms of price but in terms of time to make decisions). We went from a time when nobody was watching anything to every decision being signed of at 100 different levels.

James_87

Not sure which bank it is,
EA did say it could take three weeks to hear back if an offer is accepted...
Its not going to hurt the bank if i go in at a low offer, Banks are probably more likly to stick to their asking price than private sellers I guess...

wetdufflecoats

James_87 wrote: »

Not sure which bank it is,
EA did say it could take three weeks to hear back if an offer is accepted...
Its not going to hurt the bank if i go in at a low offer, Banks are probably more likly to stick to their asking price than private sellers I guess...

Hope theres no panic on you moving in?Took from last October to a few weeks ago for me to get sale agreed on a similar property in Galway.

James_87

wetdufflecoats, Did you buy from a Bank, how much less than asking did you offer, did you have to pay close to asking price...

wetdufflecoats

James_87 wrote: »

wetdufflecoats, Did you buy from a Bank, how much less than asking did you offer, did you have to pay close to asking price...

Its being bought from UB....contracts still to be signed as there are problems still outstanding with maps etc. The property was on the market for 137k and has now gone sale agreed for 110k....! originally offered 105k but this was rejected.

James_87

You got it for 80% of asking then, I would be happy with that.
But I think I will start low and see what happens, if its a different bank AIB or BOI their threshold may be lower, or higher...

StillWaters

Worse that can happen is wait a couple of weeks for the bank to decide to reject your offer, place another offer, wait etc.

I bought from a UK bank who accepted a very low ball offer. So I say take your dad's advice.

ShadowHearth

I had experience with repossed properties and if I will buy house in future. Will walk away from repossed properties no matter how good it looks.

Now keep in mind that you will be giving offers to some office bank worker, not some owner who wants to sell it. That worker has to sell that house and get that money. He does not give a **** of that house will sit on the market for years, it's not his property.

I had given offers and was refused even 1k eu off the price. In the other property estate agent himself was making bank to drop price so I could buy it, they even sent out one more evaluator before even considering what estate agent is saying them.

You have more luck droping price in private sale then bank. Anyway, best of luck, maybe you will get more luck then I did.

jethrothe2nd

James - we bought a repossessed property from the bank -my experience is that there is some room for negotiation, so I would go in with a low enough offer and see what the response is. Be realistic though - presumably the bank will be losing a lot on the house, so the amount they will be willing to drop will not be any where near as much as on a private sale. We ended up with an 8% drop on the initial asking price.

PM me if you want any more info

gigino

James_87 wrote: »

Hi,

I have being looking at a house,on first viewing EA tells me it has being repossesed from previous owner who owned several houses in the area.
House was first put on maket 6 months ago at 165K, two months ago it was reduced to 120K, EA obviously wants to sell it since the reduce in price and telling me it is now owned by a bank.
Bank want to sell to due to asking price, just wondering what do you think would be a good place to start with an offer, EA also said no offer has being made in the 6 months.

I was going to start at 90- 95K, but my Dad tells me to start at 70 -75K and chance my arm.
Is their anything negative that could happen by starting too low, EA not take me seriously...

Do not be afraid to go in low and stay low. With prices dropping, more emigration,austerity,interest rate increases and property taxes to come, I would play hard ball. The bank knows it will be worth less in 6 or 12 months than it is now. I know of one new semi-detached 3 bedroom house sold by a bank for €55,000, after the developer went bust. Just because the house may have sold for €210,000 five years ago means nothing now.
If properties are left empty windows can get broken, they deteriorate and banks do not want the hassle of maintaining them in a declining market.
Bid low and do not worry if you do not get that house, there will be a lot more houses at probably better value. In other markets after property crashes the banks sooner or later have to start offloading their repossessed properties ...with something like 1 in 7 mortgages in arrears that has not really started to happen in a sizeable way yet, but happen it will, and it will cause prices to tumble more. I'll bet that in a year or 2 you'll be glad you saved 25% of the price at least.

gigino

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

Be realistic though - presumably the bank will be losing a lot on the house,

They know they will lose more if it remains empty / unsold, so that is why they are doing quiet deals in parts of the country now for €55,000 etc.

skooterblue2

Seriously get a book on Negotiating. Do your professional work first. So many people dont get proper advice like Priory Hall. That was neither structurally sound and was built by people with a dodgy history.

If you think the house is worth 80k to day then Offer 60k. If they accept then wonder what they would have taken!!! Dont appear eager and remember they need to sell it before you need to buy it!

James_87

In this case it looks like the bank want to get rid of it, on market for 6 months with no offers, they then reduced price by 45k, I think I will get it for less than 100k, I would pay this, if I was buying privately I would offer 95k, just think in this case the bank want to sell, maybe if I play hardball I will get it for less...
Have a second viewing tomorrow night with ea,
Should I mention an offer to ea tomorrow or wait a couple of days....

skooterblue2

`Do nothing of the sort. The housing market still has a long way to fall. Dont "Put in an offer", That would seem too keen. It doesnt matter what his offer is he can always do better. If he thinks he can close a deal he will do what he can to close it.

pawnacide

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I had given offers and was refused even 1k eu off the price. In the other property estate agent himself was making bank to drop price so I could buy it, they even sent out one more evaluator before even considering what estate agent is saying them.

This is because they must achieve the price agreed with the valuing agent (may not be the same as the selling agent btw, though often is) as it is currently sitting on the banks balance sheet as being worth the valuation and much discussion and agreement is required to change that figure.

As I said before this process takes time, a lot of it but some banks are better than others.

pawnacide

James_87 wrote: »

Have a second viewing tomorrow night with ea,
Should I mention an offer to ea tomorrow or wait a couple of days....

You'll be doing enough waiting, get the ball rolling whatever ur offer is.

pawnacide

skooterblue2 wrote: »

`Do nothing of the sort. The housing market still has a long way to fall. Dont "Put in an offer", That would seem too keen. It doesnt matter what his offer is he can always do better. If he thinks he can close a deal he will do what he can to close it.

Seem too keen to who, the bank? you? the dog pissing against the bank wall?.
A decision will be made on his offer by someone who will never meet him, probably never even know his name and who certainly won't care when he made the offer.

Sry about the multi replies.

skooterblue2

pawnacide wrote: »

Seem too keen to who, the bank? you?

What I meant was The banks have 900 houses they have repossessed. They have a terrible mess on their hands.

Dont be the first to mention a figure. let them make the first move when numbers are concerned. If the agent wants to close early with "my bottom offer" there is still a bit more give there. If you put in an initial offer and it is straight way accepted, what number do you think he might have settled with after a bit of haggling?

All I am saying is dont be too quick to settle. there is a lot of play let in the market and house prices and other property (with the exception of agricultural land) have a long way to fall before we get back to a competitive state.

Ritchi

skooterblue2 wrote: »

Seriously get a book on Negotiating. Do your professional work first. So many people dont get proper advice like Priory Hall. That was neither structurally sound and was built by people with a dodgy history.

If you think the house is worth 80k to day then Offer 60k. If they accept then wonder what they would have taken!!! Dont appear eager and remember they need to sell it before you need to buy it!

Any recommendations?

skooterblue2

Unfortunately I left mine at home, I am in College. Either try your local library or College Library. The ones I read are simple like rule books and with tangible examples. I am heading to college today and I'll repost a few titles for you.

I know this sounds like crazy idea but Get the deeds check out by your solicitor AND get an Engineers report done. You dont know what you are buying until they have seen it. subsidance, mould, wills not made, poor foundations, unqualified carpenters putting on roofs ....... the list goes on and on.

I am going to PM you finer details about Priory Hall. Good luck and never concede anything without getting something in return first. Remember He needs to sell it more than you need to buy it.

jackal

skooterblue2 wrote: »

What I meant was The banks have 900 houses they have repossessed. They have a terrible mess on their hands.

Dont be the first to mention a figure. let them make the first move when numbers are concerned. If the agent wants to close early with "my bottom offer" there is still a bit more give there. If you put in an initial offer and it is straight way accepted, what number do you think he might have settled with after a bit of haggling?

All I am saying is dont be too quick to settle. there is a lot of play let in the market and house prices and other property (with the exception of agricultural land) have a long way to fall before we get back to a competitive state.

Ludicrous advice! I think you are overplaying your hand after reading "negotiation 101" there. The old chestnut about not being the first to mention a figure is applicable in some situations -i.e. salary negotiation, but here it is quite clear the seller has already mentioned a figure - the asking price! That puts the ball in the buyers court - make an offer.

With regards to the other advice, the asking price in isolation is meaningless, the asking price compared to the original price is also meaningless. It may have been way overpriced originally.. or well priced.

What you have to ask is are they priced to sell? If they are already priced very keenly you are unlikely to secure a further large discount and should not feel you have a right to get one just because its a repossession.

James_87

jackal wrote: »

It may have been way overpriced originally.. or well priced.

What you have to ask is are they priced to sell? If they are already priced very keenly you are unlikely to secure a further large discount and should not feel you have a right to get one just because its a repossession.

Jackal, you are coming from a similar point of view to myself...
The house is probably worth 100-120k, but no offers since the house reduced two months ago to 120K.
Value/worth is what someone is willing to pay for something, if no one wants to pay 120k its no worth 120k.

I dont feel I have a right to get a large discount because its a repossession, but why not? We should always try to get the largest discount we can, Im not made of money and will be taking out a mortgage to purchase the house from the BANK...

Trying for the largest discount I can is a good thing, but does not mean I will get any..

skooterblue2

Ritchi wrote: »

Any recommendations?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-Negotiable-Gavin-Kennedy/dp/0091530709/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330619788&sr=1-4

This is what I am reading at the minute. Its been reprinted several times

skooterblue2

James_87 wrote: »

I dont feel I have a right to get a large discount because its a repossession, but why not? We should always try to get the largest discount we can, Im not made of money and will be taking out a mortgage to purchase the house from the BANK...

Trying for the largest discount I can is a good thing, but does not mean I will get any..

Look its a dog eat dog world out there. Banks have no hesitation about throwing people out on their ear on Friday and renting back to them on Monday. Look at the market. this country is overstock with vacant property and most of it in the area demanded. Banks want to get property off the books. If you have cash and want to buy all very well.

Me? I think the market has a long way to fall yet. I would hold onto my money for another 12-18 months to see what happens

skooterblue2

hang onto your cash the market is due to fall another 10-15% next year

poker--addict

best place to find these properties is by speaking directly with bank????

podge018

Yeah I'd be interested in knowing, can I walk into a bank and ask them for a list of repossessed properties they have for sale?

StillWaters

This is a good place to start

http://www.insolvencyjournal.ie/Distressed.aspx

yoga nation

Hi, Ive seen a 4 bed detached house in a ghost estate (70% of the estate is finished) and the house I like is 1 of 8 that are all unfinished, closed off to the rest of the estate, no pavements, lighting etc and have been lying up there for the last 6 years. I want to put in an offer of €30,000 to the bank as Ive just heard they took them over last week from the property developer. Its the AIB and they are going through an EA to sell them. Would I contact the AIB directly or give my offer to the EA? I know the EA obviously wants to make commission and im worried they may not even pass my offer on. What angle would we take on this? Is €30,000 a ridiculous offer? Its a cash offer, first time buyer and means they dont need to finish that particular property to a builders standard. Any advice appreiciated! Thanks a million!

skooterblue2

It depends ......
where is the location, is it near a hospital,college university etc?
If it is in Ballygobackwards 20 miles from industry or the city leave it alone.
if it doesnt work out can your resell it?
How much more work needs to be done?
Is there pyrite?
Have you got an experienced builder/engineer in?

Yes I think its a ridiculous offer but not as much as the banks and builders left the country is in. Whats the worst that can happen they say no? Tell them good luck with selling the rest of the properties. An introduction from someone in the bank would be a good idea to get to meet the right people. Its not just you cutting out the estate agent its the bank as well.

I wish you well and and you have nothing to lose but dont pursue this past the point of reason. If you are feeling you wont get a job in the area or cant complete it within budget then let it go. I believe the market has hit rock bottom right now. I dont believe it will rise for a good few years but it definitely wont sink any lower.

irishjulie

Hi,
my partner has put an offer in to buy a house through an ea which the banks are using, that was two weeks ago and he still has not heard anything back, just wondering if this is normal when buying from banks? He is a first time buyer so neither of us have any experience in buying houses!

D3PO

the process for certain will be much slower buying off a bank. The offer probably has to go by a committe who probably site maybe once a month and go through all offers made or whatnot.

id certainly be expecting to wait 4-6 weeks to hear anything before chasing to be honest.

irishjulie

Hello! My partner made an offer to bank and it was accepted and that was just about a month ago, we are now waiting on deeds being released from banks but estate agent does not have a time frame for when this could happen...has anyone any experience with buying a house from bank and how long did the process take?
Thanks

RATM

irishjulie wrote: »

Hello! My partner made an offer to bank and it was accepted and that was just about a month ago, we are now waiting on deeds being released from banks but estate agent does not have a time frame for when this could happen...has anyone any experience with buying a house from bank and how long did the process take?
Thanks

Going by what other posters have said on the thread buying from the banks is a slow process- one poster took 4 months from making the offer to actually moving in.

All you can do is to ring your solicitor for an update every couple of weeks.

Would be interested to hear how much the bank discounted the property by ?

irishjulie

Orignal asking price in 2009 was 169000, it dropped price over the years to 60000 asking price, he offered 55000 and it was accepted :-)

Standard Toaster

irishjulie wrote: »

... through an ea which the banks are using....

Hi,
Could you tell me what you mean by that? Does that ea have access to property not officially on the market?
I've been on the lookout myself for the last few months
Thanks

RATM

irishjulie wrote: »

Orignal asking price in 2009 was 169000, it dropped price over the years to 60000 asking price, he offered 55000 and it was accepted :-)

Sounds like you got a great deal, well done

irishjulie

Standard Toaster wrote: »

Hi,
Could you tell me what you mean by that? Does that ea have access to property not officially on the market?
I've been on the lookout myself for the last few months
Thanks

No the house was on the market but we did not know it was a bank house until about a week after putting in an offer. The ea only told us when I was questioning how come it was taking so long to get a reply! I also know of another person who bought a bank house but did not know it until contracts were signed! It seems ea are not telling people it is a bank property!

irishjulie

RATM wrote: »

Sounds like you got a great deal, well done

It is a great deal as it is in a small finished estate built about 12 years ago, no room for expansion of estate and house is structurally sound! Happy days :-D

dines08

Have many people bought successfully from the banks? It seems like there is value there but it takes an age to get it done.

irishjulie

dines08 wrote: »

Have many people bought successfully from the banks? It seems like there is value there but it takes an age to get it done.

I just know one person, through a friend...through a friend situation and it has worked out fine for her!

dines08

irishjulie wrote: »

I just know one person, through a friend...through a friend situation and it has worked out fine for her!

It seems to be based on individual circumstances. You can be lucky and you can get the run around. There's a house on my radar which ticks all the boxes for myself and the OH but it's been sitting idle and I want to know how much hassle it's going to be to pursue before getting horribly frustrated and hitting snags and dead ends.

irishjulie

dines08 wrote: »

It seems to be based on individual circumstances. You can be lucky and you can get the run around. There's a house on my radar which ticks all the boxes for myself and the OH but it's been sitting idle and I want to know how much hassle it's going to be to pursue before getting horribly frustrated and hitting snags and dead ends.

I have heard all the horror stories about sales falling through because people getting frustrated with the banks and all the messing that comes with them but I think if you go in prepared for it, it will be worth it in the end especially if your getting a good property at a good price! We are lucky in that we are renting a decent place and have the time to sit and wait for the banks to get their stuff together!

dines08

Can anyone who has successfully bought from the banks give me an idea of timeline involved? I've an offer made on a property since Thursday, I'm not in any sort of a rush but it would be good to know what to expect in terms of a reply time and where to go from there?

Woodville56

Having read the earlier postings in this thread, it appears that responses from banks to prospective buyers vary , depending on which bank is involved !
My partner and I are also prospective buyers and are interested in a house in a small development (half of which is occupied, the remainder completed to builders finish) and we were advised by the Estate Agent that the price advertised on property websites is not negotiable as the properties are now owned by " the bank" , we dont know which bank ?
The current prices quoted, depending on house size, vary from 100k- 110k and our own feeling is that we should enter an offer of (say) 75k and see where it goes from there - the houses were built about 4 or 5 years ago with a guide price then in the region of 220k, with few sales in past year .
Obviously we would be getting a structural review etc in advance of any firm committment to buy. A few questions arise on our part in this regard :
1. Is the EA required to transmit our offer to the bank concerned ? Can we find out which bank is involved if the EAs is'nt forthcoming with this information ?
2. Should our "conditional" offer be in writing to the EA and how will we know if the offer has been transmitted to be the bank by the EA, bearing in mind the lower commission earning capacity from a lower quote ?
3. Should we be asking from written confirmation from the EA/ the bank as to decision on our offer ?
4. Should we hold off on making an offer at all and see what happens to the remaining unsold properties in the development?
Any advice would be much appreciated
Woody

irishjulie

dines08 wrote: »

Can anyone who has successfully bought from the banks give me an idea of timeline involved? I've an offer made on a property since Thursday, I'm not in any sort of a rush but it would be good to know what to expect in terms of a reply time and where to go from there?

we have not finished buying house yet but so far it took 13 days until we got a reply with re offer and it then took nearly 5 weeks to get deeds released from banks. it took another 4 days for solicitor to recieve contracts (monday just gone) and there are, according to our solicitor, a lot of "holes" in contracts that need to be figured out- and that is where we are at, at the moment. our solicitor seems to think we will have keys in another 4-6 weeks...I am thinking it willl be longer!

Does anyone else who bought a bank house have any ideas on what happens to house contents, are they just dumped? does bank negotiate a price? thanks!

dines08

irishjulie wrote: »

we have not finished buying house yet but so far it took 13 days until we got a reply with re offer and it then took nearly 5 weeks to get deeds released from banks. it took another 4 days for solicitor to recieve contracts (monday just gone) and there are, according to our solicitor, a lot of "holes" in contracts that need to be figured out- and that is where we are at, at the moment. our solicitor seems to think we will have keys in another 4-6 weeks...I am thinking it willl be longer!

Does anyone else who bought a bank house have any ideas on what happens to house contents, are they just dumped? does bank negotiate a price? thanks!

Would you mind pm me the bank involved? We have an offer in on a property at the moment and its been a week without any indication of movement. I am trying not to come across too eager and annoy the estate agent but I'd like to know where I stand.

irishjulie

dines08 wrote: »

Would you mind pm me the bank involved? We have an offer in on a property at the moment and its been a week without any indication of movement. I am trying not to come across too eager and annoy the estate agent but I'd like to know where I stand.

I would if I knew it, EA will not tell us and we have asked people how to find out which bank as we want to try negociate a price for contents! I would ring EA and ask them when the bank board sits to discuss offers becase this only happens once a week or every 10days! You could say you have stopped another property you are interested in!

dines08

irishjulie wrote: »

I would if I knew it, EA will not tell us and we have asked people how to find out which bank as we want to try negociate a price for contents! I would ring EA and ask them when the bank board sits to discuss offers becase this only happens once a week or every 10days! You could say you have stopped another property you are interested in!

If you know the name of the developer or the builders company in our case as it was a builder who went into receivership then it is easy to find the appointed receivers and the bank that appointed them. Insolvencyjournal.ie

irishjulie

dines08 wrote: »

If you know the name of the developer or the builders company in our case as it was a builder who went into receivership then it is easy to find the appointed receivers and the bank that appointed them. Insolvencyjournal.ie

I will try that now but I doubt it will be up there beause our huse is inan estate thatis finished and is about 10-12yrs old!