Repossessed Houses

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slattcs

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I've heard recently that repossessed houses are sold on by the bank for the value of the outstanding debt. Does anyone know if this is true?
 
Where did you hear this? I would assume that repossessed houses are sold for their market value although perhaps the bank would go for a quick sale over the best possible price in some cases. In any case how many houses are actually repossessed each year in Ireland? Very few I would imagine.
 
slattcs said:
I've heard recently that repossessed houses are sold on by the bank for the value of the outstanding debt. Does anyone know if this is true?

Can't imagine that makes much sense. The house will be sold at whatever the market supports. The bank will hardly sell for less than market value simply because that's what will cover the debt...
 
This happens in England more so than Ireland. The bank has the house valued and puts it to auction. The reserve on the house is set at the amount owed to the bank, so they get their money. If it goes over this the 'owners' are paid that amount.

Auction in England is different. Over there it is usually the houses which don't sell go to auction whereas here its the top end houses that are auctioned. However this is changing.

This was the situation, at any rate, a number of years ago when we lived in England for a while.
 
As far as I have heard, the market is pretty much tied by related parties, i.e. the staff of the bank or their solicitors.
 
Eurofan said:
Can't imagine that makes much sense. The house will be sold at whatever the market supports. The bank will hardly sell for less than market value simply because that's what will cover the debt...

In the absence of any regulations then they would have little incentive to hold on for the best price as the excess over the debt will go to the owner. If they are after a quick sale they might let it go for less than it could have got if it had been left on the market for a while. There may be a duty of care however for them to get the best price possible I'm not sure of the legal requirements.
 
Bank cannot seek less than market value.
The mortgagor can also sue if the Bank does an incompetent job of selling the property. In fact in Ireland, the standard required of the Bank is quite high - see the Supreme Court Decision in Holohan v. Friends Provident and Century Life Office [1966] IR I.
The Legal test is:
The mortgagee (i.e. the Bank) must act as a reasonable man in selling the mortgagor's property.

(that case was regarding whether the Bank had to get rid of tenants in the property before selling - if they did it would make a higher price, and would get extra money for the mortgagor - it was held that they should have got rid of the tenants).
 
I believe there were 20 repossesions last year in Ireland. Not much of a market. Stat was in one of the Sunday papers.

This sounds like the kind of question someone would ask after attending one of those property seminars promising the secrets of making your fortune in real estate. "Make money even in a falling market". "Find low low properties in a street JUST AROUND THE CORNER!".

These theories do somewhat work but only in much larger markets, ie: in the USA where they orriginated.
 
Howitzer said:
I believe there were 20 repossesions last year in Ireland. Not much of a market. Stat was in one of the Sunday papers.
Thanks Howitzer. Do you or anybody else have a link?
This sounds like the kind of question someone would ask after attending one of those property seminars promising the secrets of making your fortune in real estate. "Make money even in a falling market". "Find low low properties in a street JUST AROUND THE CORNER!".

These theories do somewhat work but only in much larger markets, ie: in the USA where they orriginated.
That thought also crossed my mind! :(
 
Howitzer said:
This sounds like the kind of question someone would ask after attending one of those property seminars promising the secrets of making your fortune in real estate. "Make money even in a falling market". "Find low low properties in a street JUST AROUND THE CORNER!".

Like Clubman the same thought was in my mind, "there be Gold in them there hills!"...
 
Interesting quote, and pretty much what I believe to be the case (from anecdotal evidence):

It has been suggested that there were about 470 possession orders issued last year,” said Dowling

However, less than 20 of those were implemented. Banks don’t want to repossess homes. It’s expensive and they abhor the publicity. However, with rates rising and segments of the population under pressure, it’s possible that the number of repossessions could increase by 2008
 
The statistics in that article are also only anecdotal and come from somebody with a vested interest in the market in question. I wonder if there are any more authoritative stats available elsewhere? In particular those applicable to PPRs only.
 
Myself and hubby were discussing repossession a few weeks ago, and I mentioned that I had heard in the past that due to the constitutional situation of the family home it really is a 'last resort' for banks to repossess.
He raised a good point that could we expect to see any difference in repossession going forward with the arrival of a number of non-Irish lenders?
After all the UK banks are 'used' to going the repossession route, so will they use this faster than we have been used to seeing in the past?
It wouldn't surprise me to start to hear more about rising numbers of repossession in the coming years.
 
I don't think that there are any constitutional rights protecting the family home from repossession in the event that the owner defaults on a loan secured on the property if that's what you mean? Before we hypothesise about whether or not the number of repossessions might rise in future years it would be useful to have a better idea of what the figures are today and in the recent past.
 
Think it takes the Bank about 2 years to actually re-possess a house. Huge admin. etc. AFAIK they are always open to suggestion on how to handle the problem. One thing is certain....they never lose out!
 
Another point is that a house is perceived as being worth less if repossessed and i'm sure that some people are forced into a position of selling themselves rather than allowing a repossession which would result in less money to them once the mortgage has been cleared.
 
Thrifty said:
Another point is that a house is perceived as being worth less if repossessed
Really?
and i'm sure that some people are forced into a position of selling themselves rather than allowing a repossession
I thought I noticed an increased in the number of FTBs loitering around Benburb Street these nights now that you mention it.
 
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