Heh :-) My parents are acting (I'm in my 30's, by the way!) as cynics armed with cold water, ta.
I *think* it's option 1, based on what I've pulled from the Land Registry on the property. Looks to have been bought a few years ago, then possibly remortgaged a while later, then involvement from a third party (loan secured on it?) when it's feasible repossession proceedings started, and finally eviction seems to have happened a month or so ago.
I have an open mind on it though - the place looks to have had quite a lot spent on it recently - new kitchen, new bathroom, new central heating (all within the last 2-3 years, heating possibly a bit more recent than that). Possible that was all done as an attempt to tart up and sell with deeper problem underlying, but my gut feeling (right or wrong) is someone getting in over their head with doing up an old property - there's similar just up the road I viewed that would need exactly those things doing to it to bring it up to a liveable standard
- freeing up capital to do work and then getting into trouble with the repayments for that.
I've budgeted sensible survey costs into the 'can I afford to buy a house' equation, and I realise that while I might spend more money on this one on the survey I probably won't be looking at the cost of a new cooker (I've rented unfurnished for years and years so that's the only thing in a kitchen I've never actually had to buy) - but I'm trying to find one that's ok and has the added bonus of also having built in cooker :-)
I know if I don't buy now I'll never manage it, you see. Despite earning a decent wage, and despite having hefty rent going out each month (thus knowing I can afford a mortgage not just now but also if rates go up), my salary is not and will not keep pace with property price rises. The only places I can afford to buy the sort of place I'm after are small pockets in the south where property started at a lower price than the rest of it, and consequentially % rises in value have meant a lower amount in terms of thousands of =A3's. Those pockets, unless there is a massive crash in the housing market, will also be out of my reach before long. There will be others in the same position as me, so while the rest of the SE may plateau and stall, I am optimistic (but not foolhardy enough to think it's a dead cert) that these small pockets may continue a slow but steady increase in value.
At the end of the day I'm not doing this because I want to make money by flogging it in three years time, I'm doing it because I'm fed up with my pathetic landlady who hasn't got a clue about anything let alone her legal responsibilities, and I want a roof over my head, the stability that will provide, and the ability to do important maintenance on my own terms, even if at my own cost. I hate moving, a home is very important to me, which is why despite problems with prior landlord to the current, I've actually ended up renting the same place for 12 and a half years...
Rant over :-)