Purchase an Abandoned Property (Rural Location)

Greenspot2020

Hi All, I’m looking for some advice on below. There is an old cottage close to where I lived (rural area) growing up and I’ve always had my eye on it as project to do up and something to return home to. It’s been abandoned for years and for so long it is now near impossible to establish who owns it. I’ve spoken to several older people who have lived for many years in the area and nobody can shed light on the ownership. I’ve check land register, registry of deeds and all to no avail. As the years pass by this cottage goes further into disrepair, windows and door are broken, it has been vandalised internally, ridge tiles are missing and there is water ingress and dampness. No one has come near the place in years and by all accounts it is just abandoned. I guess I could just fix it up and move in but I’m not interested in pursuing adverse possession. I would really like an opportunity to make an offer to purchase this property and if it turns out its not for sale then I forget about it and find another project but the truth be told my heart is set on this one and I’ll like to exhaust all avenues before giving up. Has anyone any suggestions on what I could do next or how I could try locate the property owner? Thanks in advance.

kieranhr

Greenspot2020 wrote: »

Hi All, I’m looking for some advice on below. There is an old cottage close to where I lived (rural area) growing up and I’ve always had my eye on it as project to do up and something to return home to. It’s been abandoned for years and for so long it is now near impossible to establish who owns it. I’ve spoken to several older people who have lived for many years in the area and nobody can shed light on the ownership. I’ve check land register, registry of deeds and all to no avail. As the years pass by this cottage goes further into disrepair, windows and door are broken, it has been vandalised internally, ridge tiles are missing and there is water ingress and dampness. No one has come near the place in years and by all accounts it is just abandoned. I guess I could just fix it up and move in but I’m not interested in pursuing adverse possession. I would really like an opportunity to make an offer to purchase this property and if it turns out its not for sale then I forget about it and find another project but the truth be told my heart is set on this one and I’ll like to exhaust all avenues before giving up. Has anyone any suggestions on what I could do next or how I could try locate the property owner? Thanks in advance.

If you've already talked to all the neighbours, and nobody knows who owns it, maybe your only avenue left is to move in and see if somebody shows up.

bogwarrior

If you get it knock it , you will not fix this to any standard without wasting to much cash , Every thing from floor to roof will need fixing , better to knock it and build . Strim the grass and park car there you Will soon find out who owns it . Lots of property is owned by people overseas , but some one will be keeping an eye on it .if they died and no family you could be onto something .

sydthebeat

When you say "I've checked land registry" do you mean that you engaged a solicitor to do an investigation into the ownership....

fergus1001

sydthebeat wrote:

When you say "I've checked land registry" do you mean that you engaged a solicitor to do an investigation into the ownership....

send me a pm with a drop pin for the property and I'll tell you this morning

sydthebeat

fergus1001 wrote: »

send me a pm with a drop pin for the property and I'll tell you this morning

??
What are you saying here?

fergus1001

sydthebeat wrote:

?? What are you saying here?

if you send me a drop pin for where the property is I will look it up on land registry and tell you who owns it so you can approach them and see if they would sell it to you

Mrsmum

Rural areas must differ alot. The one where I grew up people would know who everyone's twentieth cousins were so definitely they would know who has a claim on this property. It's surprising to me that no one knows locally. Best of luck with it anyways. Sounds like you have a genuine fondness for this old place.

sydthebeat

fergus1001 wrote: »

if you send me a drop pin for where the property is I will look it up on land registry and tell you who owns it so you can approach them and see if they would sell it to you

How would you do that on unregistered land?

fergus1001

oh well I can if its registered (or on folio) if it's not you will have to go up to the registry of deeds in dublin

it's either on folio or title deeds I dont think there is any land in the country that's unregistered

sydthebeat

fergus1001 wrote: »

oh well I can if its registered (or on folio) if it's not you will have to go up to the registry of deeds in dublin

it's either on folio or title deeds I dont think there is any land in the country that's unregistered

There is huge amounts of land unregistered.
Owned, but not registered.

arctictree

I can think of a good few abandoned properties near me. In fact, I own one of them! There are lots of reasons why this happens to a property. Sometimes, the legal costs of fixing it are just too much and the owner doesn't bother.

kadman

arctictree wrote: »

I can think of a good few abandoned properties near me. In fact, I own one of them! There are lots of reasons why this happens to a property. Sometimes, the legal costs of fixing it are just too much and the owner doesn't bother.

Councils dont bother either. My own house has a parcel of land that was taken by the council for road widening prior to me buying it 40 years ago.

When i bought it, the land was still marked on my title as mine, but my solicitor says its not, and the council still owns it and just diid not re register the title.

Greenspot2020

kieranhr wrote: »

If you've already talked to all the neighbours, and nobody knows who owns it, maybe your only avenue left is to move in and see if somebody shows up.

Thanks Kieran, but I couldn’t move in, even if I could convince myself I don’t think any of the neighbours would agree with my reasoning....I want to find the owner and make an offer to buy it. It’s a cleaner process.

Greenspot2020

bogwarrior wrote: »

If you get it knock it , you will not fix this to any standard without wasting to much cash , Every thing from floor to roof will need fixing , better to knock it and build . Strim the grass and park car there you Will soon find out who owns it . Lots of property is owned by people overseas , but some one will be keeping an eye on it .if they died and no family you could be onto something .

Thanks Bog Warrior but no, if I was lucky enough to buy it I wouldn’t knock it. It will require lots of work and cash but that’s what I’m willing to sign up to. It’s a lovely little cottage and dates back over 170 years.... all would be lost if it was knocked. Including my interest in the place.

Greenspot2020

Mrsmum wrote: »

Rural areas must differ alot. The one where I grew up people would know who everyone's twentieth cousins were so definitely they would know who has a claim on this property. It's surprising to me that no one knows locally. Best of luck with it anyways. Sounds like you have a genuine fondness for this old place.

Thanks, yes it proving difficult but there is probably a few more people to enquire with yet. It’s changed hands so many times over the years and so many have died off I don’t believe anyone knows who owns it now.

Greenspot2020

sydthebeat wrote: »

There is huge amounts of land unregistered.
Owned, but not registered.

Thanks all and no it not registered. I wish it was as my investigation would be a lot easier.

Turbohymac

Hi op..unfortunately I agree fully with the previous poster. Bogwarrior. I've renovated a 90 year old cottage a few years back ..total moneypit.. room sizes far too small..crap floors ..fortunately for me it was concrete block walls..the cottage u speak of will be all stone..clay and lime mortar.. a million times cheaper to build from a bare site..
Good luck dreaming..theres easier projects than your idea..

Greenspot2020

arctictree wrote: »

I can think of a good few abandoned properties near me. In fact, I own one of them! There are lots of reasons why this happens to a property. Sometimes, the legal costs of fixing it are just too much and the owner doesn't bother.

Thanks Arctictree, that’s probably the reason but it’s a shame to see it fall away especially if there are people that are interested in restoring as I’m sure I’m not the only one who has expressed an interest in this place over the years.

Mrsmum

You know that programme on TV called Cheap Irish Homes. The lady's name is Maggie something. She seems a bit of an authority on old, run down, maybe abandoned houses, total passion of hers. The programme are currently looking for people who would like to buy old cheap houses. Heard her on the radio a week or two ago. Long shot because you have already found the house you want but maybe you could email her your issue and out of the goodness of her heart she might have ideas for you on how to trace the owner.

spurious

Can you find it on the Griffith's valuations, see what family were renting/owned it then and move forward from that to try find owners?

Greenspot2020

spurious wrote: »

Can you find it on the Griffith's valuations, see what family were renting/owned it then and move forward from that to try find owners?

Thanks Spurious, I actually started that process over the weekend. I’ve hit a few stumbling blocks but with a bit of luck I might I’ll fill in the blanks and move forward. Cheers for the suggestion.

Greenspot2020

Mrsmum wrote: »

You know that programme on TV called Cheap Irish Homes. The lady's name is Maggie something. She seems a bit of an authority on old, run down, maybe abandoned houses, total passion of hers. The programme are currently looking for people who would like to buy old cheap houses. Heard her on the radio a week or two ago. Long shot because you have already found the house you want but maybe you could email her your issue and out of the goodness of her heart she might have ideas for you on how to trace the owner.

Thanks for the suggestion, no harm in trying that route. I’ll send her an email. Cheers again.

Greenspot2020

Turbohymac wrote: »

Hi op..unfortunately I agree fully with the previous poster. Bogwarrior. I've renovated a 90 year old cottage a few years back ..total moneypit.. room sizes far too small..crap floors ..fortunately for me it was concrete block walls..the cottage u speak of will be all stone..clay and lime mortar.. a million times cheaper to build from a bare site..
Good luck dreaming..theres easier projects than your idea..

Hi Turbohymac, you’re dead right it’s a stone wall building, lime mortar, plenty of dampness, asbestos roof....the works . No doubt it would be cheaper to build from scratch but I’d be going in to this with my eyes open if I was fortunate enough to be able to buy the place.

muffler

Contact the local postman or postmaster in the nearest post office. If there was a previous / retired postman then look him up. Any rural postman worth his salt can tell you whats in your mail and who its from particularly government departments.

You could also contact local fuel/coal suppliers in the area and maybe a milkman...some rural areas still have daily milk deliveries. Just like the postman find out if there is a retired milkman and look him up.

Failing all that get a jcb and/or a tractor & trailer in for an hours work and leave it at that. Word gets around and the owner or their representative wont be long in looking for you.

Funsterdelux

Greenspot2020 wrote: »

Thanks Bog Warrior but no, if I was lucky enough to buy it I wouldn’t knock it. It will require lots of work and cash but that’s what I’m willing to sign up to. It’s a lovely little cottage and dates back over 170 years.... all would be lost if it was knocked. Including my interest in the place.

Hi GS,

Great to hear that you dont want to knock it. We bought an old farmhouse cottage 4 years ago, at least 200years old in parts of it!

Doing the work myself, I have some exp and come from a family of builders. Saves money but adds a lot of time to every job. I'm also limiting the use of cement and other conventional materials as they can be damaging to the fabric of an old stone building. Using lime and natural insulation materials, more costly when compared like for like with conventional insulation however natural materials create less waste, can be recycled or even composted. They're also nicer materials to work with.

Here's a website which has great photos of restorations, from beginning to end and how much of the work was done.

[Snip]

Greenspot2020

muffler wrote: »

Contact the local postman or postmaster in the nearest post office. If there was a previous / retired postman then look him up. Any rural postman worth his salt can tell you whats in your mail and who its from particularly government departments.

You could also contact local fuel/coal suppliers in the area and maybe a milkman...some rural areas still have daily milk deliveries. Just like the postman find out if there is a retired milkman and look him up.

Failing all that get a jcb and/or a tractor & trailer in for an hours work and leave it at that. Word gets around and the owner or their representative wont be long in looking for you.

Thanks @Muffler,

Tried the postman route, the man who would have known has since died and the man who took over (since retired) knows the house but doesn’t know who owned it.

I’ll have a think about the delivery man thing, maybe checking in with the local creamery might be an option.

As for the JCB, I’d defo get a reaction but not the one I’d want, I think it would just antagonise the neighbours and backfire on me in the long run. I’ve no idea if others are quietly interested and maybe also pursuing a similar expertise.

Thanks for replying, you’ve given me some ideas to think about.

Greenspot2020

Funsterdelux wrote: »

Hi GS,

Great to hear that you dont want to knock it. We bought an old farmhouse cottage 4 years ago, at least 200years old in parts of it!

Doing the work myself, I have some exp and come from a family of builders. Saves money but adds a lot of time to every job. I'm also limiting the use of cement and other conventional materials as they can be damaging to the fabric of an old stone building. Using lime and natural insulation materials, more costly when compared like for like with conventional insulation however natural materials create less waste, can be recycled or even composted. They're also nicer materials to work with.

Here's a website which has great photos of restorations, from beginning to end and how much of the work was done.

[snip]

Brilliant, similar to yourself I’d would like to do the lions share of the work myself. I’ll defo check out the link above. Best of luck with your project, sounds like your taking the right approach.

chooseusername

Greenspot2020 wrote: »

Thanks Spurious, I actually started that process over the weekend. I’ve hit a few stumbling blocks but with a bit of luck I might I’ll fill in the blanks and move forward. Cheers for the suggestion.

If you haven't tried already, maybe the 1901 ,1911 censuses might throw up something by a process of elimination.
Our townland only had 3 households at that time, still the same families now.

jenneyk19

you will find people know who owns it but they are not telling
you in Ireland everybody knows your business

the owner is probably in uk.America or Australia but family would still live nearby
go ask the church woman she knows everything

most people will not sell the old family home

you can look at census records