Repossessions - A Cautionary Tale

[Kaz]

Hi Everyone

This is my first post so will try not to waffle too much.

As a very new 'developer', I just wanted to pass on an experience I had with my 2nd property (1st one on my own) to other 'newbies' of what can happen when buying a repossession.
It is, apparently, not unheard of for people who have had their homes repossessed to cause some damage before leaving. On my first day in the property, I turned the water back on at the stopcock downstairs only to discover some little while later that the pipe leading from the water tank in the loft to the tank in the airing cupboard upstairs had been deliberately cut through thus causing water to flood out To make matters worse, they also opened all the valves on the upstairs radiators so had water spouting out of those too Apart from being a right royal pain, it meant that I had to fork out for a B&B until it was fixed.
Another trick to watch out for is hiding something like prawns inside hollow curtain poles so that you spend what seems like forever trying to track down the awful smell
Anyway, as I said, I just wanted to warn others. If anyone knows of any other pitfalls to look out for, can they please share them as I for one would be very grateful.
Kaz
(ok, I admit it, i am rather fond of the EEK icons)

[gordano]

I have heard of tihs before ... but dont you get to see the property before you buy?

[AshfieldFOCUS.com]

My first house that I bought when I was 18 was in a bit of a mess. That was a repossession (sp) as well. The kitchen was just a solitary double cupboard with the sink on. There was a hole drilled into the water pipe that fed the hot water header tank, so we had to be careful with water until that was fixed.

Also, the electic meter and consumer unit had been taken. Other than that, not much real damage, though the previous owners had made a bit of a DIY mess. (Pulling the living room ceiling down to expose the beams, removed the chimney in the kitchen without removing it from upstairs as well, removing the wall from between the living room and the stairs (thereby weakening the stair case and one day, my lodger was walking down and the stair case collapsed underneath him. Doh!!!))

[Kaz]

Originally Posted by gordano

I have heard of tihs before ... but dont you get to see the property before you buy?

Yes I did view the property before I bought it but, at the time, it didn't occur to me to check that sort of thing either due to my inexperience of maybe I'm just thick!

Sorry to hear about the staircase collapsing hope the lodger wasn't hurt

Kaz

[AshfieldFOCUS.com]

Oh yes, he was fine, though he did have a little laugh about it. It was the middle of the night and he was creaping down so as not to wake the house hold and boom. A great crash.

My dad helped me to temp fix it whilst waiting for the insurance co. They deemed it was not broken and wouldn't pay up. (I am bitter about that... we had a collapsed staircase and was paying for the insurance.)