Buying Brothers House - Advice Please

vrs_tom

Hi Everyone,
I'm contemplating buying my brothers old house from him.
He built a new house and has this currently rented to friend but wants to sell it.
It turns out that the timing works out well as I'm getting married next year and we are in the market. There are a couple of things i need advice on.
(1) Can anyone assist me in watching out for any legal or monetary pitfalls associated with purchasing a house from a family sibling.


(2) As part of selling the house, is he required to provide me with a BER rating? The insulation needs to improved in the house in terms of pumping the cavities and possibly between the rafters. I just don't want to be left with spending a tonne of money.

(3) He has a price in mind but there are a couple of things that I'd like completed or accounted for in the price as they are significant costs.
(3a) Asphalt - No Tarmac or Asphalt, just stone / maintenance around the house since built. Would drive me crazy with people bringing dirt and dust into the house.
(3b) Insulation - House is not greatly insulated. The Cavities will need to be pumped. He says i will get a grant for this. I have no clue. Should he be doing this before he sells it as the BER rating of the house should be reflected in the price?
(3c) Roof - there was an issue with the roof where water water getting blown under the tiles on one gable and totted the outside rafter. The pointing on the roof was crap essentially. I can see the same happening to the garage now where the pointing is coming away and the outside rafters at each of the four corners are visible and exposed to the elements. Can i challenge the price of the house using an Engineers Report ?

Much appreciated for any advice.
Tom

jmBuildExt

Generally speaking, you buy a second hand house "as seen", regardless of the relationship with seller.

To answer your qs...
He must provide a BER cert before the sale. He is not obliged to get the house to a particular BER rating before the sale. Its purpose is simply to give you, the buyer, an indication of the house's energy efficiency.

You agree a price based on
a. How much he is willing to sell it for and
b. How much you think it is worth (taking into account its condition, BER, whether or not its haunted etc etc)

regarding getting the drive tarmacked or having the roof fixed you can take 2 approaches...

Reflect these issues in the amount you offer for the house.
OR
Make him an offer on the basis he fixes them and buy the house AFTER they are done.

re legal issues; If he sells to you for e.g way below the market price, the difference between sale price and current market price could be considered a gift from him to you and could be liable for tax.

If it were me, the main thing I'd want to achieve is make sure he gets a fair price, I get what I pay for, and we have no reason to fall out afterwards.

vrs_tom

Thanks for that, yes that would be a critical thing for both of us, that it wouldn't cause any problems. 
So the plan would be to:
Get an Engineer's Report
Get a BER rating 
Get an independent valuation 
Reflect these issues in the amount offered for the house.
Make him an offer on the basis he fixes them and buy the house after they are done.

Tell me how

It's hard to cover everything in an engineers assessment, which you will be getting but make sure it is as comprehensive as possible.

Just a word of caution. In a years time, or 2 or 3 or 5 or whatever, if something happens like the chimney breast cracking or floorboards lifting then you need to deal with it as if the person you bought the house off is no longer alive.
Once you do due diligence and buy it, it's yours. Problems and all (IF they exist).

No surer way to mess up a family relationship than fighting over responsibility for a property.

vrs_tom

Thanks, that's good advice.

ustari

Yes agree, you see too often people crabbing about purchases and it causing issues for one or both parties.

Would proceed very carefully here, can repair a house but may not be able to repair some family relationships.

If you do and have done your due diligence then you are on the hook for every subsequent issue and should not even mention it with the brother in my opinion.

Money and family are often a poor mix.

Metric Tensor

I echo all of the above.

It may be tough to do but you have to remember that your relationship with your brother is more valuable than the house.

That means a price that everyone is content with must be selected (rather than hard bargaining/haggling) and once you buy it you never mention any work that has to be done or problems ever again.

dev100

vrs_tom wrote:

Hi Everyone, I'm contemplating buying my brothers old house from him. He built a new house and has this currently rented to friend but wants to sell it. It turns out that the timing works out well as I'm getting married next year and we are in the market. There are a couple of things i need advice on. (1) Can anyone assist me in watching out for any legal or monetary pitfalls associated with purchasing a house from a family sibling.

Treat it like any financial transaction with due care and attention . I presume you are getting a mortgage and will need to get reports done to satisfy the bank. Get an engineers report and make him a market rate offer that reflects all the defects. I would assume he wants to sell as seen. If you get him to make good all the problems you will be paying a higher market value for it.