Mortgage: How many properties did you look before..

[j.o.s.h.1408]

....Before you found the property you like?

Im going property hunting this weekend and one of the ones i am seeing sounds VERY promising.

its a 3 bedroom house with a conservatory( has one of the windows damaged by the looks of it and is borded up), a fully fledged loft conversion already done up, off street parking for what looks like two cars can fit infront of the house and all for 270k.

Someone has already made an offer for it though. for only 250k! If i like the place i may offer slightly more of course.

How long did it take for you to find the one you like? even if i like this, should keep on looking for more properties? Is this a good deal? In london by the way, Near the M25(about 3-4 miles away).

Is it common to offer 10-20k less then the properties asking value? How much lower have you offered on a property and been succesful?

[Smudger]

I guess if you like it, it doesn't matter which one it was that you looked at first. I would put an offer in, if you want it, but keep looking and visiting places you like until the deal is finalised. You may find something better, cheaper later, but at least you've pegged yourself in if you don't.

I think I took the 3rd place I looked at, but only cos the first two were rubbish.

As for what to offer, it's really up to you. Some people say start 10% below asking, but in your situation, there's already a marker so anything above the other offer will seem better to them. Sellers often take other things into account, like are you in a chain. If you've got 2 similar offers, but one buyer can move more quickly than the other, most will go with the latter.

[b0redom]

The £250k thing is because it's the stamp duty threshold.

£250k is (iirc 1%) and £250,000.01 is 3%.

That 1p makes a huge difference in purchase price (2.5k stamp duty vs 7.5k stamp duty).

[j.o.s.h.1408]

yea. im a first time buyer too so if i get a property before march 25th i dont pay no stamp duty at all. i think i will stick to 250k max but seeing as someone else has offered 250k, if i like the place, is it worth offering the same?

[Smudger]

I guess it depends if you can move quicker than the other people that have made an offer. If you've got the cash ready, they might choose you. If they utterly rejected the first offer though, they're unlikely to accept yours. Mind you, they must have priced it at £270k knowing that people would not want to go over the threshold...

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Well i can move in tomorrow! cash is ready mate and i am a first time buyer

[Smudger]

Well, whack the offer in, if you like it that much. Make sure you get the agent to emphasise the speed you can move. It won't cost you anything*, so you may as well. How many viewings have you done? I would say always do a second viewing, it's surprising what you miss first time around...


* Other than the 250k... I guess what I mean is if it gets rejected...

[Agent]

Start low. ALWAYS start low. The worst that can happen is they say no

It was 4 properties for me. I ended up buying the second one I saw and are still happily there.

Being a first time buyer gives you a lot of power - don't underestimate it. I actually put in an offer for another place first at 10K below the asking, making it clear I was a FTB and could move in tomorrow. They *really* wanted to get out of the place as they had no chain too.

They refused the offer, in an attempt to push it up. Fair enough - it was 10K below, but it wasn't an amazing place to be honest.

I put an offer in for the place I'm in now and it was accepted after only a minor bump. After a few days the estate agents from the first place were hounding me to raise the offer for only a little bit. Told them I wasn't interested (but not that I'd found somewhere else).
The cheeky gits then tried to put the sale through at my first offer. Phone calls, documentation....the full works.

One tip I would offer you though is take someone with you that owns their own place. Everything you see will be with rose tinted glasses. I fell in love with a place, which in all honesty wasn't great looking back on it. It was only after my dad pointed out to me what was wrong and needed doing that I saw it.

[Smudger]

Take agent's Dad with you!

[j.o.s.h.1408]

HAHA. anyways when i see one i like, i will go back there with my dad and my family friend who is a professional electrical guy who owns his own business. fixed electics for houses, offices, deals with heaters/boilers and does a bit of plumbing too.

[Rob_B]

I think we viewed 6 before buying this place, although this was the second viewing. We knew we were paying a little over what is is probably worth but we wanted in before Christmas and we wanted this area for the school. You're in a different position so just think what is important to you, do you need to move ASAP? As mentioned the FTB card works wonders so make sure people know you can move on things straight away.

[Andeh13]

I looked at several on the internet & street view, and then viewed 5-6 in person. I was having to travel for 3 hours to where I was looking so had to fit as many in as I could.

It was a fairly Marmite thing for me. I could tell if I liked the property or not fairly quickly.

Found one I really liked, started the ball rolling but a surveyor found a crack in a supporting wall and the sellers would not budge on price (price for me to fix it if I went ahead). My dad stepped in and warned me off the property. I was really gutted but kept looking.

Couple of weeks later found the house im in currently and really liked it. It was cheaper, bigger, in a similar-ish area (miner step down) and...had no cracks in the wall!

1 year on and I am still so pleased I avoided the first house!


TL: DR;

There isnt one house for everyone, and its not worth comprosming on the biggest purchase of your life. If in doubt, walk away - there are plenty more out there!

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Update.

Looked at two today. the one i fancied thats selling for 270k but someone offering 250k is a place where no one has lived there for ages. Lots of work needs to be done inside. wouldnt be able to just move in.

Owned by the bank as previous owner got kicked out for not paying mortgage. i would say that place is worth 200k max as it needs a lot of work from what i can see.

Anyways i saw another one thats 2 bedroom. no conservatory or anything and going for 249k. nice nifty house. a bit small though but we can practically move in straight away and nothing needs doing at all. Nice kitchen etc etc but as i said, a bit too small. The owner is desperate to sell as they are in a chain and have found a place they are looking for so if i like this i got the upper hand.

[peterb]

First time I bought it was the only house I looked at. Second move was similar. Ghe next one was to a new area and I think I looked at around 60 out of an initial short list of around 150. (and ended up in one of the first I looked at!)

The last move (two weeks ago!) I looked at about 5 in person, from a selection of about 30 on line, but the estate agent found it for me and sent me the details. I ooked at it and put in an offer within 24 hours.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Yea i saw two on saturday and one of them is nice but can see myself moving out there within 4+ years when i have childen etc etc. its a nice place for me and my missus alone but for kids its not as it is a bit too small.

2nd one i saw was a dump. asking for 270k is laughable. told my wife i would only offer 200k for it as i would need 50k+ to do it up so its livable.

Now my parents bought an absolute dump of a place years ago where we use to live next walthamstow station. It was a Huge house, 4-5 bedrooms. 2-3 floors etc and all for something like 60k give or take.

it was a right mess. No flooring done, no painting, walls cracked all over the place, and a HUGE hall on the floor from top floor right down(You could see the top floor from the kitchen lol).

it wasnt nice living there. was very dusty and i remember me and my parents where basically living in just the main master bedroom for a while. very dust. unlivable really. It took my parents a few years to get that place done up and at the end we moved out as the actual area was getting worse(my auntie got robbed in our street).

Now i could follow the same footsteps as my parents as i can still stay with my dad until my place is done up though.

Has anyone done this? bought a place that's unlivable and slowly done it up?

[oolon]

It is very common to offer under the asking price, it is a rooky mistake to pay the offer. It is considered normal to take up to 10% off the listing price. That happened when we sold our house a year ago, we got almost 10% off the listing price from the one we bough. Another house I were looking at was on the market for 550k, it went for 500k. 10% is the unwritten rule.

If they house is perfect and exactly what you want and you cannot do without it, pay the offer price and be happy to get what you want. If however there are a range of houses that might do, you can afford to shop arround for a bargin. Also pay attention to stamp duty levels, don;t do an offer that takes you into a new band.