FTB - 1st viewing advice

meanmachine_2

To give you some genuine advice, ask some or all of the following:

Is the property leasehold? If so, how long is the lease?
Why is the vendor moving?
What is the price per sq footage (that always stumps EAs)
What is the position of the vendor - are they going to be in a chain?
Is the vendor flexible on price? And if so, what would secure the sale? The EA will at this point knock five grand of the asking price. That is the maximum you'll want to pay.
Tell the EA you're a FTBer, with mortgage agreed in principle.
Tell the EA you'll think it over and ring them the next day. Do this out of courtesy anyway, even if the place was a dump.
Never make a decision on the day. Always sleep on it.
Never be rude about the property if the vendor is present.
Remember the agent is acting on behalf of the vendor. They are NOT your friend. But always treat them as if they're professionals (even when they're idiots in cheap suits)

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Debras_Angel

I think she should be friendly!

I said 'not too friendly', I have made the mistake of being too friendly and lost out on the one I wanted because I gave too much away!

Debs

frugglewump

Well it went ok.

The seller wasn't there - he's in ireland apparently. It's a house that was being rented - needs painting but no major work & carpets are being left behind.

We found out 2 other people have been to see the house. This explains what I thought was weird behaviour on the part of the EA - asking if i wanted to make an offer when i called for an appointment: apparently one woman has practically the same surname as me.

My OH remember to tell me the house next door (end of terrace) had a sign go up on the same day (26th) - that one is now sold, but was probably in better condition.

Meanmachine - you were totally right the price dropped 5k to 170k on asking that question.

We need to go back in daylight to see the flat roof on the kitchen extension. OH & I are not talking about it to each other until tomorrow so we don't discuss ourselves into a decision without proper thinking time. Will call EA back anyway to arrange daylight viewing for early Tues morning.

meanmachine_2

Ah, you see? I saved you five grand already. No need to give me 10%.

You seem to be doing everything right so far.

Do keep us posted.

Robert_Sterling

This can't be stressed tooo often so here goes again.

The estate agent is working for the vendor and for the estate agency.
Do not forget this.

Doozergirl

The estate agent is working for the estate agency

meanmachine_2

AH, but they're very good at making you think they're doing you a favour.

Had a call today from a particularly pushy agent. Wanted to give me the heads up on a property that hadn't even gone onto their website yet. He could get me in to see it first!

I had to be quick though, cos he'd arranged half a dozen other buyers to see it as well.

I told him if he already had so many interested buyers he didn't need to drag my sorry !!!!!! out on a cold winter's day.

Good night!

frugglewump

Second viewing 8am Monday morning - I get a lie in

Am I right in thinking that the surveyor's report happens after the offer is accepted?
The property is "period" - basically a bit older than 1900 which makes me wonder if we need to go the whole way for a structural not just a home-buyer surveyor's report.

EA is very lightly trying to make us feel pressured for time due to other 2 viewings.

Looked online today - it seems i'm eligible for the keyworker homebuy scheme, but i don't really like the terms.

Ian_W

Hi Frugglewump [love the user name - whatever it means!!],

Am I right in thinking that the surveyor's report happens after the offer is accepted?

That's right. If you offer and it's accepted make it conditional on the property coming off the market before you commit money to a survey. If they agree, arrange it, personally, for an older house [more than 30/40 yrs old] I'd go for a full survey but be prepared for some problems to be found - older props always have things wrong with them. So long as they're reasonably minor no problems, if they're more serious consider negotiating the price down to help cover fixing them.
If you're going to have a mortgage valuation done by your lender you can often arrange for them to do a survey at the same time which, in theory, saves money.
BoL with your viewing.

frugglewump

Well we have talked about the house today and assuming nothing is a problem at the Monday morning viewing we are going to offer at 167,500, probably on Tuesday. I know we could offer lower, but:
- that amount feels fair considering the local market
- freehold property is actually quite rare around here
- we want the house

If they come back to us with a rejection then I suppose we'll go up to the 170k. I won't go above that though - the flat we rent is a very good price for the area (and quality) and we can afford to just sit back and wait for something else while a deposit builds up.

I have a recommendation for a local conveyancing solicitors from a friend who completed her move this summer. Also she works with a fair number the local solicitor firms so I trust her judgement.