Potential Houses...

Hi guys,

As the threads in this forum will reveal I am in the market for a new property. Instead of creating a new thread for each house I see, i was going to use this thread and get peoples opinions on them.

Reason for asking is that with future resale value, and the collective experience of other users I want to make sure we don't over look something when it comes to buying a property. There is also the bonus of you never know who might read this. My previous thread was about a house identical to one a forum member actually lived in. Would have been great having insider info into it...had it not sold a week after our initial offer was rejected.

The house in question is below. Now, having recently found out I am inheriting some money I have been able to increase our budget somewhat. Unfortunately I didn't find this out until after I missed out on the first property we liked! This one again would force us to make a low offer to bring it within budget. Owner is a single lady, who has lost 2 previous buyers by accepting low offers (£300k mark) then struggling to find somewhere to live herself. As we are in no rush to move (5 months until partner finishes school year) this would work for us - providing the contracts were signed in respectable time frames.

My concern is that with a new build, future re-sale values might be weaker then a house we can do up/modernise and sell on ourselves (around 20-25 odd years old). There are also rumours of a new estate being built a couple of miles away, right on the doorstep to a motorway. This wont help property values in the area in a few years time I imagine, but that could to said for any place in the area?

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/det...ac5ef9dbdf9e30

What do people think? :)

Viewing the property this evening. Any owners of new build properties (<10 years) have any suggestions on what to look out for? :)

Paperwork for any warranties the house supposedly has. No paperwork no warranty.

Best offer we can do was 96% of the asking price, as cash buyers and able to give her 4 months to pack up & move out...and she refused saying she wanted asking price! Estate Agents were more surprised then I was. Utterly gutted all over again. Loved the place and despite offering every penny to our name she wanted to hold out for an extra few grand!

Estate Agent explained she had been on/off the market for 2 years and had accepted 2 offers 'near' asking price in that time frame - one who fell through due to chain collapsing and other they pulled out as she wasn't able to move in their time frame.... When we spoke to her/viewed she over over joyed over the prospect of us giving her 4 months to move out, and that she was utterly fed up of the whole process!

She is a loon. :(

Perhaps it is for the best then chap - plenty of nice houses out there I'm sure :)

She probably thinks you'll up your offer, not realising you've offered your limit. She might reconsider given time. Let her stew.

Some sellers are strange.

We had two viewings of our current house.

1st one we weren't allowed to go into the garden as she has some huge beast of a dog out there. My wife doesn't even remember that as she dismissed it straight away as the woman was a bit loopy.

2nd one (after she took it off the market then put it back on again) she talked about how "If I don't sell I'm going to paint these walls/decorate this/blah blah" - oh, thanks for that.

It is a mine field, even now I have met only a single Estate Agent firm (Wigwam) who have dealt with me courteously and professionally on all the occasions I have been in contact with them. I would say at least 90% of my other interactions with Agents in/around Banbury has left me wholly disappointed. I have been hung up on, asked if I am serious, told I'd have to call them back when they are less busy etc.. and I have not received a single phone call telling me about a house they think I might be interested in/see if they can tempt me with one!

If I had a property to sell, and was stuck in limbo, I could understand some not bothering to entice me...but I have sold my property, have the money in my bank account and am stuck in a ropey two-bit flat AND having to pay £200+ a month to store my belongings. I have also made it crystal clear I am also willing to buy now, sign the paperwork and move in in 2-3 months time if it helps entice the buyers into accepting my offer.

As industries goes, I have a vast dislike for the entire Estate Agent/Lettings industry...

The Estate Agent works for the seller not you.

Of course, but who is going to buy the house if the Estate Agents do such a poor job of it? I am clearly not alone from speaking to a few sellers who have changed estate agents due to poor feedback. It is not a job which is exactly rocket science and only requires a polite, amenable character who can work well with others. I am a cash buyer, flexible on time and able to view a house with only a day or twos notice. How much of a better 'buyer' could they ask for!?

Why is it so hard!? Original house posted above..

We buckled and put an offer in for £310k after another buyer had put the same offer in and she had accepted...then changed her mind 3 days later due to them not being cash buyers. We figured three offers in 2 years being accepted (@ asking price more or less) meant the house was worth the money....only for her to decline our offer because she wanted more money (ie...£315k!).

She is unbelievable!! The Estate Agent 'handling' me has told me that I was the last offer they were dealing with as he had already petitioned their sales director to have her removed from their books due to her accepting the offers, then changing her mind a few days/weeks later. She had also been rude to two other sales assistances for being too 'pushy' trying to arrange viewings for her and that she was going to move agents!

Why is this so freaking difficult!?!? :(


edit; Ironically enough as well, these have been some of the most polite & helpful Estate Agents towards me to date... being very frank & honest with me from day one.

She sounds mental TBH. You've got 4 months to move and cash.

Hold your nerve, not many people can offer cash and be so flexible with terms I'm sure you could do better.

Yeah, with so few houses coming up - 1 a week in varying combinations of 4 bed detached/semi/garages/location/price - it is easy to get desperate and hung up on these things.

I should have stuck to my senses that if she has pulled out of 3 solid offers before, and the Estate Agents are loosing patience with her to the point they are telling buyers, that the likelyhood is that I would get burnt as well.

That and she was called Moirah (Welsh?) and had four cats and drove a decade old Nissan Micra, and wouldn't stop telling us of how she was tired of being pestered over selling the house. Alarm bells...WHERE WERE YOU!?

Had a call from the estate agent last night, after she had spoke to them, and she had told them that if I upped my offer to £325k-330k she would consider it! I am beyond disbelief, as was the Sales Director of this Estate Agency (he was the only agent she would speak to). He explained that it was the final straw and had removed her form their books, and to expect to see it with a different agent in a few weeks for around the £330k mark.

I love her house, but hate her! It is so frustrating knowing any other person selling that house and we would have been negotiating a move in date round about now!

Sorry, I needed to rant! :(

House in question;

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/17-...6-1we/17706858

Bit of an Oxfordshire thing too. A lot of people in this part of the world are a: eccentric and mad, and b: used to very easily shifting any property.

Don't rush and hold your nerve - and good luck :)

I think if you offered that lady £500k, she would still agree, then say 'if you could go to £525k, you can definitely have it.' Walk away, sometimes it's not worth the hassle. She clearly doesn't want to sell...

Yep, you guys couldn't be more right! I passed her my e-mail address over the weekend in case she ever changed her mind (I really liked the house! :() and she informed me it had been 'valued' by an estate agent at £350,000, and that she knew she wouldn't get that much but was willing to settle for £340,000 - £345,00. The justification was a ''similar'' property to hers had gone for £335k down the road, but it is very arguable that the other house was worth an easy £20k over hers.

I was beyond belief, and asked her (I had to...) how she felt the house was worth that much when she bought it for £300k 5 years ago especially as it had been on & off the market for 3 years with offers around £310k and that over the 8 properties on her street 4 had lost money, and 4 had gained 1-2%.

If a better property down the road went for £335,000 mortgaged? then why is she expecting £345,000 cash?

It takes a lot for an estate agent to remove a house from their books and that says it all really.

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/det...ccf8f601813dff

The above just came up, we love it! Same area as the first place, owners have moved out and it looks perfect for us...however it was sold 3 years ago for £295k and now they want £325k... £30k in 3 years!?

Any suggestions, comments? Seeing it tomorrow and thinking of starting at £310k as cash buyers, ready to move ASAP and see how it goes from there!

£325k, they probably know they're pushing it but if they've moved out they might not be in a rush. Go for the £310k offer and see what happens :D

Good luck

Always start at least 10% lower than asking. They will plan to bid you up and the perception that halfway is fair might play in your favour and get you the house for a little less. No harm in letting the batty seller know about this as there is nothing to stop you playing multiple offers of each other.

My only comment and I know it's not very helpful but why is it so hard to buy and sell houses in this country. They should make it like other countries where you agree a price, pay a deposit and then relax.

Probably because they're so expensive that everyone is worried about covering their rears.

Like the old 50 point check or gap insurance on a car, but taken up notches inline with the extra costs.

So how did it go?
Vacant possession meets cash buyer sounds ideal, and the photos look nice.

Keep at it, we were trying to move for well over a year and had more than our fair share of loonies. The estate agents are supposed to work for the benefit of the seller, their client, yet all seem to blatantly work for the benefit of themselves.

We got there in the end and it was worth it, try not to despair!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sabre74

My only comment and I know it's not very helpful but why is it so hard to buy and sell houses in this country. They should make it like other countries where you agree a price, pay a deposit and then relax.

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Couldn’t agree more. Why anyone would want to willingly partake in a chain purchase for example is beyond me. It’s just a bunch of people paying money out and hoping it all doesn’t fall into a heap. Hello…time for the UK to catch up with the rest of the civilized world and get some decent and fair property laws. Our current property was a triple party chain and that was painful enough (offer accepted in October, didn’t exchange until the following March). Makes me cringe when I hear about 8 party chains and beyond.