Unusual proposal to sell my house

Houseseller - Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
We are considering selling our bungalow in the UK and find all the advice on here very useful.
Hope you sell yours soon.

Yes you are right I just thought if I can get something in writing I will have something to go with. Thanks for all your help it's probably time to put this to put the subject to bed.

By the way I think that you will find that the responses on here have been about having your best interests at heart rather than thinking you might be a fool.

However your comment that you "just want to see how far people will go" is somewhat disturbing - to what end might you do that? It does seem rather pointless as far as I can see.

Trading standards are definitely the way to go and sooner rather than later.

Hilda I have just noticed your last comment, I am doing no such thing as trying to get someone to do this. I am no fool I just want to see how far people will go. I don't deserve to be spoken to like that. I appreciate what your husband said and have taken it on board. I may well go to the trading standards once I have more information

Houseller, This will be my last message on this subject as I find this all very troubling. You may be getting yourself into some serious trouble here, I do hope you have someone you can call on to back you up....such people as I believe you are dealing with, do not like being messed about.

Hi Hilda, you misunderstand me I am not going through with it just curious what they come up with. It's my project now just for interest.

P.S. to be honest ...being a sad old cynic..... I am beginning to think you are actually trying to sell this proposal to the unwary, rather than honestly asking our opinions and advise.

Houseseller, I cannot believe you are continuing to think positively about this. You have been given so much good advise. Why do you believe everything you are being told by these people? I am seriously worried that you are being scammed. You must step back say NO and if they do not leave you alone contact the police and Trading Standards.

There could be capital gains tax implications as well, which the developer is trying to dodge and pass on to you.

It also appears the developer is Australian and this method is widely used in Australia

Really Houseseller? I have not heard of it, will ask my Australian relatives. There are some very dodgy deals and 'wealth-creating' schemes going on in Australia (or were), which sound like American-style imports.

Houseseller Don't touch this idea from your Estate Agent with a barge pole,what he is suggesting is not at all an idea any reputable estate Agent would suggest,get other Agents in to give you valuations on both your home and the building plot as individual sales.
Please do not proceed with this idea it is an upset waiting to happen and I do think you are being taken for a ride by this Agent.

Hi all, thanks for all your comments much appreciated.
I decided to let these people look around just to see what gives.
They recon that they have done about 50 projects using this method. I asked if I could talk to them. I then asked what deposit they would put down and was told it would be minimal around a £1. At that I nearly choked. I asked about insurance should anything go wrong and was assured this would be in place. It also appears the developer is Australian and this method is widely used in Australia . It will be interesting what comes back.

Tricia is right.....your own Home and contents insurance would be null and void.

I agree with others - don't do it!
Another point against - if something went badly wrong with the renovations, your house insurers could well refuse to pay out.
Also, once in, the other person might simply refuse to move out or pay you. Then it would mean an expensive court case.
I've heard cases of both these examples.

Can you get to your nearest Age Concern centre and ask them for advice. I sincerery hope you won't go ahead unless you check this absolutely thoroughly.

The problem with selling house is that if something does go wrong...dishonest agent, bogus solicitor etc etc..., even when you have been scammed, its a huge battle to get any monies back and you NEVER get back your piece of mind.

What you have to sell...a property with extra land...is very attractive even in these straightened times. The only way you must do this is through a reputable high street Estate agent with a decent office, manned by several staff and with an unblemished local reputation. As others have posted, there are organisation they can belong to but if its a small operation and it does go to the wall you will have the devil's own job getting any money back.
Getting a quote from an agent is easy enough....and if their valuations vary wildly go for the middle price. A decent Estate agent will have local knowledge and will usually have a fair idea about value. There will be commission to pay but that's just a fact of life...never go for anyone who offers to 'get around' that.

If you really are desperate to sell an un-modernised property I'd even look into having it put up for Auction with an Agent that specialises in that. You can state a firm reserve and even if that seems lower that what is being offered by others remember a you can only really compare two firm offers not vague quotes.

Please, please dismiss this proposal...its unethical, deeply problematic and probably illegal.

Houseseller - if you hear alarm bells ringing (which you are or you wouldn't have posted the question), listen to them.

I sold a property of ours in Spain a couple of years ago and allowed the prospective buyers (who'd had to sign a contract that if they moved out before completion, the deposit was forfeit) to move in. I let them have the use of all my furniture and possessions until their own arrived (turned out to be a few months later). They then tried to charge me several thousand euros for disposing of my property! A reminder to them that they had no permission to dispose of my property let alone remove it from the house would land them in court. You can never be sure what people will do once they are living there.

I think that janerowena has given you a very good idea to look into given that land is at a premium now. Ask your solicitor to look into selling the land as an available building plot.

Is the estate agent a member of The National Association of Estate Agents, which looks like the biggest trade association?

If so, the Association has a code of conduct, part of which says

"Rule 2(2)
No member shall do any act (whether in the business of estate agency or
otherwise) which:
(a) involves dishonesty or deceitful behaviour: or
(b) involves unprofessional practice or practices that is unfair to members of the public; or
(c) in any other way brings the Association into disrepute."

And if he is indeed acting in cahoots with the buyer, he would be disciplined by the Association. However, I don't think there is any obligation to belong to this, so he may not be. You also have to show that he IS being deceitful, which could be difficult.

The best plan is to find some other agents, checking that they belong to a trade organisation (The Association of Estate agents www.naea.co.uk/ or the National Federation of Property Professionals www.nfopp.co.uk/ There may be others)

It's such a huge gamble, please don't do it. My inlaws have just sold their house, finally, after four years on the market, please don't give up hope just yet. I have moved 12 times over the past 21 years, and the stories I haveheard along the way are just awful. Some estate agents really can't be trusted, most of them, we discovered, will say to the buyer 'they are asking for £300,000 but offer them £280.000' because they want a quick sale and the commission - most are on commission only.

I bet if you do what he wants, he will be on a very big fat commission from the builder. Your house and land is probably worth far more as building plots, which are extremely scarce. Your house may be hard to sell, but knocked down, with a whole load of small terraced properties on it, it would be a goldmine. We tried to buy a 1/4 of an acre plot in the inlaws' village, for just one house, but were outbid - the developer managed to squeeze a dozen homes into that space.

Houseseller, if contracts are exchanged and he can't complete then the deposit would be forfeited but whether that would be enough to put the house back to its original condition is another matter. You would have to find a builder to do this and restoring something to its original state costs a lot more than ripping something out and starting again. Most deposits are only 10% and in my experience would not be enough to get the work done.

I think I would consider reporting this to the appropriate trade organisation - is there one for estate agents? I shall have a google (after I have gone to put the bread into the oven - I hear from the timer that it is risen)

Yes, I think the estate agent is in cahoots with the developer.

Do be very careful. An elderly couple I heard of were selling their largish house and were buying a friend's bungalow. They were in a chain. The person buying the elderly couple's house was a developer and at the very last minute on completion day the developer could not come up with the total amount of money (apparently) and bulldozed the elderly couple into accepting £10,000 less than originally offered.
They did agree to the drop in price but it caused problems all through the chain because there was a delay of two weeks whilst this was sorted.

Do not do this. This estate agent, however pleasant, is not your friend, he is in business and sounds as if he is getting a kick back from the developer. My husband is an architect so knows about planning permission and such. Have you considered putting the house along with the plot through auction? That way you get your money very quickly.

Stay well clear and dump this agent straight away!

Get legal advice as soon as you can.

Have you gout outline planning consent on the building plot? IMO that would be well worth doing as it will increase the value of your house.

I have never considered a property 'sold' until contracts have been exchanged and then never released the keys until my solicitor has confirmed that all monies have been received and we have moved a lot.

This sounds just like the sort of scam I hear about on programmes like YOu and Yours.