Thoughts from a potential buyer

meanmachine_2

An excellent post Lush.

A lot of it is common sense and decency - letting people know that you cannot attend a viewing.

I guess being honest and communicative is the key.

The problem is that most buyers and vendors don't buy and "vend" that often in their lives, so they're a bit clueless.

So: visit the area
See EAs in person
Be honest about your circumstances
And tell the EA if you cannot attend or have changed you mind.

The only criticism I would make is that some photos are highly misleading and naturally make a property appear to be in a more desirable position than it is - and only going in person can nail the truth.

However, with rightmove and co now including map locations, that does help.

lush_walrus

meanmachine wrote:

An excellent post Lush.

A lot of it is common sense and decency - letting people know that you cannot attend a viewing.

I guess being honest and communicative is the key.

The problem is that most buyers and vendors don't buy and "vend" that often in their lives, so they're a bit clueless.

So: visit the area
See EAs in person
Be honest about your circumstances
And tell the EA if you cannot attend or have changed you mind.

The only criticism I would make is that some photos are highly misleading and naturally make a property appear to be in a more desirable position than it is - and only going in person can nail the truth.

However, with rightmove and co now including map locations, that does help.

Yep in a nutshell meanmachine!!! Keep on talking to the EAs, its the key to finding what you want, same as job agencies really the favourite people get the best treatment!

I completely agree that buyers and vendors are a lot less experienced, but somehow the stress of buying/selling can bring out the worst in some people, although of course the majority are great to deal with.

I agree on the photos and EAs do have to represent the property as realistic as possible but the problem EAs face is that some properties just arent desirable!! But there is a price for everything so as long as the price is right then people will eventually buy even the nastiest of properties!

The only other thing I would recommend is to be realistic in what you personally can and cant live with. If parking is important and you do get home late in the evening, dont fall in love with a property with poor parking, as it will drive you up the wall!

And always try to get an idea who is living around the area, if you arent sure if the area is dodgy or not, just take a look along the road. Bad areas generally have cars being fixed hanging around the road, nets flying out the window and the front in poor repair. Areas where you are most likely to live in peace are those that have gardens that are loved, windows that are painted etc. Unless of course you are speculating then be really careful on that, just because something is priced low and a gorgeous house doesnt take away the fact that the neighbours will drive you up the wall and local hoodlems are being sick in your garden!

Im sure you will find exactly what you are looking for when the right time comes MeanMachine you strike me as someone with their head screwed on!

rizla01

Hi Lush,

Re your comments on the time wasters.

And not forgetting, of course, the lovely vendors with highly inflated ideas about the true worth of their property and will not listen to reason, thinking that they know better than you.

Then after the 12 week period take it elsewhere because you weren't able to move it for them and on the advice of the new EA...............they DROP the asking price and get a sale.

meanmachine_2

Yes the vendors are a problem, but with the mainstream media now reporting that the house price rises of the last 8 years are potentially at an end, most vendors are perhaps willing to be less intransigent.

After all, if you'd heard your friends boasting of big rises year on year, wouldn't you assume that the only way is up?

It's tough coming round to the idea that, actually, prices can go down. For a lot of homeowners it's uncharted territory. And that's why it takes years for any shift in direction to take hold.

By the mid 90s, people were of the opinion that house prices would never go UP - because, for years, they had only gone down. How bizarre does that seem right now?

lush_walrus

Oh yes very true rizla01 and Meanmachine those types of vendors are very frustrating!!!

We had a vendor about 6 weeks ago who after our guys valuing it at £320,000 and getting a couple of other EAs around recommending simular, they called us and asked us to put it up for sale for £390,000. I told the guys to tell them that we wouldnt market it for that price and that they should try elsewhere as when the price they expect is so different there really is no point marketing it. After all you just loose money on advertising, time on dealing with copious calls asking why no one has been to view and most importantly you loose your reputation as everyone spots the ridiculously priced property!

NervousYetFeisty

if you are buying get to know the EAs in the area you are looking. Rather than sending emails or enquiries from rightmove, go in in person and try to get them to remember you.

OK, well I did actually visit a couple of EAs and being there in person made all the difference. I also now feel less inhibited about booking viewings. They pointed out (as Lush has, thank you!) that it takes time for the vendor to find somewhere, so really there is nothing stopping us. Apart from serious jitters about the market, but we've reconciled ourselves to the fact that prices will probably go down after we've bought and just have to deal with it. Besides, that's a whole different thread :rolleyes:

Fondue_2

We had problems with 2 'buyers' when selling our house.

The first woman, OH was concerned that she was a bit odd as she wanted to sit on the sofa for half an hour during the first viewing to 'get a feel' for the house. But she offered £1.5k less than the asking price (yes, really, we live in the NW where the market is still reasonably bouyant) so we accepted. She said she wanted to complete in 4 weeks, so we started to think about renting for a couple of months as the couple we were buying from weren't going to be ready that quickly. We then heard nothing for 2 weeks so got EA to chase up. Couldn't get hold of her, so phoned sols whose response was 'Which house?' Apparently she had offered on 4 properties without the intention to buy any of them!

Second couple wanted it as a buy to let. They offered £7.5k less, which we refused, then upped this to £2.5k less so we accepted. They got a survey which came back that the mortgage-to-rent ratio was too high so had to drop out. Apparently this should have been obvious to their mortgage broker but he had failed to tell them.

Luckily for us, we now have an offer for £1.5k under the asking price from first time buyers and, touch wood, everything is going smoothly. We did lose out on the house we were going to buy, but that's actually worked out well for us as we have found a brilliant renovation property and have just agreed a £30k reduction on the agreed price for all the work it needs.

meanmachine_2

Yes, if you have the option, always go with FTBers, as they're less likely to be "players", and more likely to be honest buyers.

Sadly, for most homeowners, FTBers were priced out of the market some years ago. Whoops!

I wouldn't fancy selling my home to a BTL chancer, but I guess you sometimes have no choice.

tomstickland

Interesting post. Seems like there are lot of people out there, both buyers and sellers who are full of crap. Must be frustrating.

I've been viewing a few rental properties recently and I think it's basic good manners to phone up and confirm viewings and update them if there is going to be a problem making a viewing etc.

I sell a fair few things via Ebay and internet forums and the number of times people have said "yes I'll take that, I'll send the money" and nothing happens. I now doubt everyone until the money arrives.