FTB - is it too early to view?

li21rv

Hi everyone!
Thank you for reading this - i'm new to this website.

Basically i'm a FTB (living with my parents at the moment) - i start a job (my first after i graduate from post grad in June) in Surrey on 1st September next year. I have my mortgage in principle sorted out.

Basically i've seen some properties i like now, is it too early to go to view them now? Or should i wait until after xmas - i do not want to complete (i.e move in until the very end of June at the earliest - i won't be able to pay the mortgage whilst i'm still at uni as i have no job) until the end of June 06 at the earliest.

I don't want to waste vendors times at the moment if it is too early? Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks again!

Any other related advice will also help - as i haven't got any practical knowledge on buying houses (yet!) but i understand all the legal implications etc.

Thanks again
li21rv

Ian_W

Hi li & welcome,
It probably is too early. For starters you may see a prop you like but your interest wouldn't be taken seriously if you can't proceed for another 6 months. Secondly, what's on the market now may well not be by June. I would say start viewing from Feb/March when more props are likely to come onto the market - but start researching now. You'll know all about researching being post grad and all!!
First off start to think of the areas of Surrey you'd like to live, see whether they're affordable, if not what's acceptable close by that is. Then register with all the EA's that cover the area specifying the type of prop you want and your max spend. Then start checking props on https://www.rightmove.co.uk & https://www.fish4homes.co.uk, you'll find most agents use one or both of these portals so you should see most props on offer in the area.
That should keep you busy until February and give you a good idea of what's within your price range in your chosen area.
BoL.

nmiah786

I think its a bit too early as well.

But by all means keep a close eye on the properties in the area that you would be likely to be buying in next year. I'm sure that if you keep a close eye on the properties you'll be in a better position to assesing the prices of properties in the area when you eventually do start viewing and hopefully making offers and securing a home at a good price.

Keep monitoring and start viewing properties more closer to the time when you want to move (at least two months before).

flossy_splodge

Don't agree at all. Never too early. If you tell the owners of any property you're interested in what your time scale is you might well find it suits them too. Most people hate the showing round etc so the chance to get this over quickly might well be acceptable. Also, by Feb March lots of people will be starting to look to move in the better weather so you will have more competition. Also if house prices should start to move you will notice first if you have been viewing and know what you get for your money. I say go look. You never know what you might find NOW!!
Good luck

gentlepurr

hi! i agree with flossy.

having moved house 8 times so far (i know i should have a caravan!) i would say you never know what position the vendors are in, eg having to wait for a new house to be built, moving out of area with a company bridging loan etc. Xmas is a particularly GOOD time for a buyer, as the housing market is slow, and you're more likely to grab a bargain. also, property prices tend to take a hike upwards in the spring as traditionally thats when buyers start to look for a new home. The other thing is, you need to see property in the flesh so to speak, to assess what to expect for your money, and beleive me, internally, property looks alot different at a real viewing than it does with any pics on the web, what with the wide angle lens that estate agents use etc. put it this way, the estate agent is never gonna photograph the bad points of a property is he?
i would say that viewing now is part and parcel of your research, and if you find a bargain on the way, so much the better!

btw, even when you have completed, its usually 6-8 weeks before your first mortgage repayment will be due, altho you will ahve to pay solicitors on completion.

hope this helps, and happy house hunting! xx

zag2me

Just out of interest, how can you afford to buy a place in surrey after just graduating? It took me 4 years to save a deposit after leaving uni. Wish I had bought one straight away now as house prices doubled in the those 4 years

calleyw

Personally I would say it is a little to early. The comment about you never the vendors situation.

No you don't, but I would have been very hacked off when selling my flat in march of this year to have someone make an offer and then say I don't want to complete until christmas. I would be like :mad: don't darken my door again. Reason being we had found the house we wanted and would have lost it as we needed the money from the flat to be able buy a new one.

And I would have felt they where wasting my time.

If you where buying off the plan then I would say that is fine. As they can take months to be built and no one really wants to live on a building site.

Look and if you see something you must just have, then approach the estate agent and ask what state the vendor is in. And how quickly they want to complete the sale.

But would say I think that you are setting yourself up to be disapointed. More so if you find somewhere and fall in love with it.

Yours

Calley

li21rv

Thank you all very much for the advice!

I agree with all the comments - and the estate agents i have spoken to - i've told about my situation etc so hopefully i won't upset or annoy any vendors. So i would be honest upfront. There are a few new developments in the area - which i'm going to look at next week. But i am concerned about not wanting to waste anyone's time, including mine own etc.

I'm worried about how much the prices may rise, especially with the buy to let landlords buying!

I can afford to buy as my parents are helping me - my dad is joining me in the mortgage - thankfully!!! think they just want rid of me really! ;-) xx

Anyway, thanks for all the advice everyone - i will pop into the estate agents in the area and see what they suggest.

Thanks again
Love lir1rv

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I'd start looking now because that's how you'll be able to narrow down what you like and what you don't like then you've got a baseline for when you start looking more seriously. Don't worry about the vendor's feelings - not your problem, you won't be wasting anyone's time as you're a customer in the market looking round.

calleyw

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

I'd start looking now because that's how you'll be able to narrow down what you like and what you don't like then you've got a baseline for when you start looking more seriously. Don't worry about the vendor's feelings - not your problem, you won't be wasting anyone's time as you're a customer in the market looking round.

Sorry I don't agree that vendors feelings are not your problem. Maybe you feel like that. But how would you feel if you kept getting people looking around your house just because they had nothing better to do on a saturday afternoon because they where thinking about moving in the next 6 months.

To me that is very rude. And has no respect for the vendor. Selling/Buying a house is stressful enough with out a bunch of time wasters making it worse.

Everytime someone comes to look at your house as a seller you are hoping that is the one. Also an Estate agent at the start might be happy with it. But after a while is going to get really hacked off as he is not making any money because you are not in a real position to buy anything that he shows you.

As said look at the market in general fine. Closely watch https://www.rightmove.com to see what comes on the market, what price and how long it takes to sale.

That is what I did when we knew that going to put the house on the market. But we never booked any appointments to view properties until ours was on the market. Because I did not want to mess anyone about or cause anyone hassle.

Yours

Calley

li21rv

Thanks for the advice again.

However, I'm not sure I agree with your comments about wasting vendors time etc. I’m sorry that’s how you feel, and it obviously seems to have happened to you. Knowing about conveyancing in the legal sense I know it can take months for completion to actually occur, and if I do find "the house" I could probably beg steal and borrow the first month or two's mortgage repayments. To be fair I doubt I would see any properties until Mid January now anyway as I have exams at the beginning of Jan and with Xmas and New Year would feel bit harsh visiting someones home at such a hectic time of the year anyway.

Just because I said I don't want to move in until June / July doesn't mean exchange can't take place sooner if everyone is in the position to do that. The average time to completion is approx 8 weeks, if there is a chain involved it can be much longer (my parents house took 7 months).

I have arranged to go and see some "plots" on a new development which isn't even completed yet. It does bother me slightly, that people suggest waiting for the vendors sake and not to annoy them, however if I leave it until March when all the buy to let monsters are around I wouldn't be able to afford their property anyway because I will no doubt be outbid (which no doubt they would prefer, but maybe there are some human vendors out there who appreciate the FTBs situation  !). I'm not enjoying this process already and I’m only looking at houses on the internet. I was so excited at the beginning, all that seems to have fizzled out.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks again everyone! I’ll see what all the estate agents say next week as they’ve all been ringing me non-stop already (which is quite a shock as they all know I don’t want to complete until July, maybe the market is slow there (or the solicitors are slow )

Li21rv xx