What next?

Baby_A

Ok I went to see a house today and am giving it some serious thought. It needs alot of work done but is a great price for the area where we are. To be honest I wanted a house that needed to be done up so I can do it the way I wanted and I saved on the selling price.

I have no idea how this process works as I am a first time buyer. I know what the maxium I can borrow is and this house is 9k over but I also know that the couple selling are desperate for a fast sell. They had sold the house but the couple buying it pulled out last minute, so they have all their stuff packed waiting to go.

If I decide to buy this house whats the steps that are to follow? Are there additional costs on top of the house price or does the vendor only pay these?

Thanks for your help, Id be lost without MSE!

[Deleted User]

I am afraid there are additional costs, like stamp duty if the property is more than £120K, mortgage arrangement fees, removal fees, home insurance, solicitor fees.... But you're in a great position being a FTB, also from what you say your Vendors are desperate to sell having lost their buyer at the last minute so if you play your cards right you can knock £££ off the asking price. Good luck!

canny_yorkshireman_2

well first thing is get that 9k reduced of the price and depending on the desperation of the seller you might get it especially at this time of year when buyers are hard to find. Ring the estate agent and tell them you are very intrested but at the current price it is slightly over your budget get a feel of what the agent regards as a acceptable offer. Of course you could be very blunt with the seller and if you have a mortgauge offer in place then it puts you in a strong position as you are a first time buyer with no luggage to add to the sale.Also try to find out why the other buyer pulled out could be innocent but there may be structural defects shown up by the survey in which you may need to address. Additional costs will be solicitors fees shop around as they basically do the same job but chargeout different rates,stamp duty(depending on price that is accepted) you will also have to pay along with a mortgauge arrangement fee.Find out if the property is leasehold or freehold as this will have an additional cost if it is leasehold.

meanmachine_2

Never make a decision on the day you see a property.

Always sleep on it first.

Then tomorrow, make a list of the plusses and minusssesses.

I should think that the sellers are keen to move, if they're selling at this chilly time of year. So yes, 9K is the minimum you have to knock off.

Good luck.

Baby_A

The House is 185k and my max is 175k, I spoke to the agent and he said that he reckons we can get the house for 170k-175k easily.

The couple that pulled out last week, apparently the wife liked it but the husband wasnt keen on it. Thats all I was told.

May be a silly question, but whats the difference between freehold and lease hold?

[Deleted User]

If you get the house for £170 and your max is £175, you'll be left with £5K to pay for the extra costs/fees - stamp duty would be £1,700, solicitors fees about £300-400, survey between £250-400, mortgage arrangement fees another few hundreds and the same for removal costs.... do your calculations as it's going to be very tight!

Doozergirl

It's awfully complicated and outdated but Freehold is where you own the house and the land it stands on. Leasehold is basically where someone else owns the land your house stands on and 'leases' it back to you for a period of time in return for a nominal ground rent - say £50 each year. Leases range from 99 to 999 years but you will get a mortgage on any property with more than 70 years left on the lease. There's a lot more to it than that, but I've tried to keep it simple!

Was the house marketed at £185k before the other couple put their offer in? If the agent has made it obvious that you can get it for £170k-£175k, then you should really be looking at paying no more than £170k. It's likely that the other couple negotiated the price down already and you should really expect to get a bit more off that. Play as hard as you can; get your mortgage agreed in principal, make your offer and wait.

If you want a second viewing, do it before you make your offer...it was obvious to me that my buyers would raise their offer when they viewed after I'd turned their offer down. They left it a week before raising again, but it was more than obvious!

Baby_A

Van1971 wrote:

If you get the house for £170 and your max is £175, you'll be left with £5K to pay for the extra costs/fees - stamp duty would be £1,700, solicitors fees about £300-400, survey between £250-400, mortgage arrangement fees another few hundreds and the same for removal costs.... do your calculations as it's going to be very tight!

I never realised there were so many other costs involved, and also they would come out of my agreed amount! This will leave me with no money to do the place up! There is alot to be done, some need to be done before we move in!

I live in London, so getting a house at this price would be impossible! Been browsing for a few months now and always come up with flats or masionettes!

Whos side would the agent be on? would I be wrong to show him that I am really interested in the place, would that be to my disadvantage as he is working on behalf of the vendor so wont haggle on a price for me?

jobbingmusician

The estate agent is supposed to be working on behalf of the vendor, who pays their fees. However, in the real world the estate agent is really only interested in themselves (which is completely immoral if you are the vendor paying their fees. But as you are the buyer you don't have to worry about that). The agent wants the commission for selling the place. Of course, if they sell it for more money, they get a bit more commission (the commission is usually on a percentage basis). But it's far more important to the agent to a) be the person who sells the property (very important if there is more than one agency potentially selling the house), and b) to sell the property at a convenient time - winter is coming, commission is getting thinner on the ground, and the agent will probably be exstatic (sp?) to get a sale.

So don't worry about the fact the agent isn't working for you, just negotiate hard, safe in the knowledge that what the agent really wants is some commission, not what's best for either the seller or buyer!

Doozergirl

We have this conversation a lot. The agent works for themselves. Their main aim is to get a sale - a few thousand difference in the asking price doesn't make enough of a financial impact on their personal bank balance to lose the sale completely.

Agents always seem to ask for the lowest I'm prepared to accept, even at valuation point and I will always say asking price as it keeps them working for the highest price. I'm sure they aim for the lowest common denominator in most situations.

BTW, any costs associated with your mortgage will be added to the cost of the loan - ie. valuation and arrangement fees. They don't come immediately out of your pocket.

Anywhere in London sounds good at that price, I think! Good luck if you choose to negotiate!