Does anyone want to join me waiting to find a house to buy?

startingout2016 · 11 October 2016 at 2:27PM

We are still waiting. We have been searching since beginning of august and offered on a few places. Last house we offered on we offered £10k under asking and they are still holding out for asking price and rejected our offer(its still not sold).

We are having a baby next year so starting to panic

hazyjo · 11 October 2016 at 3:44PM

Aww sorry to hear that, Kilby! Have you tried leafleting? Has worked for people on here before. (May have missed it - the thread's long!)

Jx

copperjar · 11 October 2016 at 8:48PM

kilby_007 wrote: »

I don't feel like it will! We sold up a year ago, saved to get a decent deposit and rented so we didn't have a chain, yet we still get railroaded on price! I'm really hoping there's a decent price correction going into next year. There's another property we've seen with similar renovation potential but is nowhere near as good (less parking, smaller garden) and is 100K more (325K). 6 months on the market and they still haven't twigged that they're being ridiculous...

I know what you mean. Some of the pricing is way off. A house we offered on which was rejected outright has been reduced and still on market...and still over priced!

Sometimes you just need a bit of luck. The one we are buying we nearly didn't view. Was out of price range and looked like it needed a lot of work doing. Terrible pictures, kitchen looked tiny, lounge/diner which we didn't want. But we made ourselves because getting desperate.

Are there any in your area/price range that you haven't viewed yet but could give a try?

kilby_007 · 11 October 2016 at 9:39PM

copperjar wrote: »

I know what you mean. Some of the pricing is way off. A house we offered on which was rejected outright has been reduced and still on market...and still over priced!

Sometimes you just need a bit of luck. The one we are buying we nearly didn't view. Was out of price range and looked like it needed a lot of work doing. Terrible pictures, kitchen looked tiny, lounge/diner which we didn't want. But we made ourselves because getting desperate.

Are there any in your area/price range that you haven't viewed yet but could give a try?

We've got a fairly rigid set of criteria (we're Kirsty & Phil's worst nightmare) so we're quite limited. Whenever a property comes up I check things in the following order:-

1) Check the area - we are looking at 4 quite specific areas in the catchment of good schools and near to the villages, so this further reduces the pool of properties.

2) Satellite view - how big is the garden in relation to the house - is there potential to expand and still have a good sized garden, workshop and greenhouse?

3) Floorplan - is it workable? We saw a property last month where the photos looked lovely but the floorplan was contrary (triangle and 'L' shaped rooms and botched extensions) so we knew it was a write off (although as we were desperate we did view it, just confirmed our thoughts!)

4) Value for money - taking the above into account.

5) Flood risk. This was the subject of considerable research with our most recent viewing.

6) Photos - quite low down on the list and we take very little notice of them because they can be vastly misleading (wide angle lenses allow you to see the whole room or garden but also make them look astronomically large!) but sometimes careful scrutinisation will flag up something major which you can then check out when viewing.

Ultimately the satellite view rules out an awful lot of houses for us due to the plot size which is why it's so high up on my list when searching. To answer your question, there's a couple of properties that fall into the "maybe" category that we could go and see, but they are vastly overpriced and in need of renovation, so it feels like a pointless exercise because we'd need them to come down 15-20% to make them worth the effort.

copperjar · 11 October 2016 at 10:12PM

Well at least you are very clear on what you want. Are there any compromises at all in that list? Location? Size of plot? We've ended up staying in the same village we are in now which was a no go for me at first! But the house was worth the compromise in the end.

I guess you never know what situation the vendors are in. Could view and try a low bid if you genuinely think over priced. We offered £17k less on the house we have bought and got it for £15k under. Similar price range to you I think. I do wonder if we could have gone in and secured it even lower once I found out the couple had separated and were desperate for a quick sale.

Maybe it's worth a go? They can only say no.

sukavi2011 · 11 October 2016 at 10:29PM

Hi all, glad I found this thread, tho not had chance to read all replies. I am a first time seller after 30 yrs in same property and doing it alone. I accepted offer on house at end Sept and I am struggling to find anything I like. I thought I was taking too long but reading some of the posts it seems Im not.. Can it really take many months to find new place without EA or buyer getting annoyed as long as i keep them informed? Its taken me best part of 3 weeks completing and sorting forms for the solicitor, which I intend to send back this week, but I was/am on verge of backing out because nothing out there for me. Never been in this situation before and I think I am worrying too much.

kilby_007 · 11 October 2016 at 10:36PM

copperjar wrote: »

Well at least you are very clear on what you want. Are there any compromises at all in that list? Location? Size of plot? We've ended up staying in the same village we are in now which was a no go for me at first! But the house was worth the compromise in the end.

I guess you never know what situation the vendors are in. Could view and try a low bid if you genuinely think over priced. We offered £17k less on the house we have bought and got it for £15k under. Similar price range to you I think. I do wonder if we could have gone in and secured it even lower once I found out the couple had separated and were desperate for a quick sale.

Maybe it's worth a go? They can only say no.

Honestly I think it's a waste of time. We're talking houses that need renovating asking around the 300k mark. We'd have to be talking 40K off their asking price to make it viable. There's a reason they've been on the market for months or years, and until they entertain the idea of re-pricing I think it's pointless trying, but I might just call the EA and see if they're thinking of repricing.

kilby_007 · 11 October 2016 at 10:38PM

sukavi2011 wrote: »

Hi all, glad I found this thread, tho not had chance to read all replies. I am a first time seller after 30 yrs in same property and doing it alone. I accepted offer on house at end Sept and I am struggling to find anything I like. I thought I was taking too long but reading some of the posts it seems Im not.. Can it really take many months to find new place without EA or buyer getting annoyed as long as i keep them informed? Its taken me best part of 3 weeks completing and sorting forms for the solicitor, which I intend to send back this week, but I was/am on verge of backing out because nothing out there for me. Never been in this situation before and I think I am worrying too much.

It's a stressful time. We tried and failed to find somewhere so ended up renting. 1 year in Nov since we started looking!

copperjar · 11 October 2016 at 11:01PM

kilby_007 wrote: »

Honestly I think it's a waste of time. We're talking houses that need renovating asking around the 300k mark. We'd have to be talking 40K off their asking price to make it viable. There's a reason they've been on the market for months or years, and until they entertain the idea of re-pricing I think it's pointless trying, but I might just call the EA and see if they're thinking of repricing.

Frustrating to see houses just sat there over priced. Might be worth a chat with the EA like you say. I really feel for you. I think 10% over your best price is definitely worth looking at.

copperjar · 11 October 2016 at 11:05PM

sukavi2011 wrote: »

Hi all, glad I found this thread, tho not had chance to read all replies. I am a first time seller after 30 yrs in same property and doing it alone. I accepted offer on house at end Sept and I am struggling to find anything I like. I thought I was taking too long but reading some of the posts it seems Im not.. Can it really take many months to find new place without EA or buyer getting annoyed as long as i keep them informed? Its taken me best part of 3 weeks completing and sorting forms for the solicitor, which I intend to send back this week, but I was/am on verge of backing out because nothing out there for me. Never been in this situation before and I think I am worrying too much.

We sold on 4th August and didn't find anything until last week in September. We were starting to worry but had been honest with our buyers that we needed some time. I had provisionally given them end of Sept as a date and in our minds if we'd got to mid October without anywhere coming up would probably have pulled out of the sale of asked them if they would continue to wait.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Does anyone want to join me waiting to find a house to buy?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free