Selling Mother's Home

[janma221]

Have put my mother's house up for sale and had some interested buyers (she is self funding in a care home now). Unfortunately the surveyor discovered some subsidence in an extension she had built on her kitchen many years ago. I claimed from the insurance company but it will not cover the cost of the building work and engineer's drawings. I am worried about spending too much - I have LPA for her finances that I will be struggling with her care home fees. Her house needs to be sold to continue to finance her care but at the moment no prospective buyer would be able to get a mortgage.
Sleepless nights worrying about how to sort this one out. If anyone has any knowledge of this situation I would be extremely grateful. The builder is highly reputable and has kindly agreed that any excessive costs can wait until the house is sold but obviously I need to pay the Structural Engineer and materials costs.
Jan

 

[pippop1]

Can you put the house into a property auction? I believe it is common to do this with property that has problems e.g. a short lease or subsidence.

When the hammer goes down it is sold so no one can accuse you of spending or delaying and it gets the market price for the property without you spending more money on it.

 

[Nebiroth]

So long as everything is kept above board it sounds as though it should be OK.

Attorneys can spend money so long as it's to the benefit of the donor, and spending money for the upkeep of a property surely cannot be regarded as a Deprivation of Asset.

As attorney, you are spending money to render your mother's house a sellable asset. At the moment it is, in effect, worthless.

Fixing th eproblem is almost certainly going to eventually raise more money than it costs, and you're not doing it to move in yourself or to keep the profits.

So long as you get accredtted surveyors and a reputable builder, and keep all the paperowkr, I don;t see anything wrong.

You could contact the offic eof the public guardian for advice, but it all sounds and entirely appropriate way for an attorney to manage assets

 

[Nebiroth]

Can you put the house into a property auction? I believe it is common to do this with property that has problems e.g. a short lease or subsidence.

When the hammer goes down it is sold so no one can accuse you of spending or delaying and it gets the market price for the property without you spending more money on it.

Good point. Although of course an auction is a bit of a gamble, you'll almost certainly get a sale as lots of buyer around look for properties with problems like this that owners don;t want or can;t afford to fix up

 

[janma221]

Good point. Although of course an auction is a bit of a gamble, you'll almost certainly get a sale as lots of buyer around look for properties with problems like this that owners don;t want or can;t afford to fix up

Thanks for the advice. I live about 2 hours drive away and the house is empty but is in a nice area in reasonable condition so the estate agents are confident of a quick sale. The builder and structural engineer and both highly qualified people. The builder has many years experience and is very straight and as I mentioned will wait for any excess money until after the house sale. Just a bit worried about her money running out before the house is sold as her care costs over £2000 per month.