FTB - Are there any out there?

tux130582

hi where abouts in bristol was the house?

IvanDrago

im an FTB looking at a house that is on the market for 98k, it has no gas supply and needs completely redecorating but in is habitable.

my question is: as it is being sold by the family of a lady who died of old age and needs a bit of work how much do you think i could negotiate on the price? i think they might have taken it into account though as it is a 3 bed with a cellar aswell. i was think ing going in at 90k

mr.broderick

IvanDrago wrote: »

im an FTB looking at a house that is on the market for 98k, it has no gas supply and needs completely redecorating but in is habitable.

my question is: as it is being sold by the family of a lady who died of old age and needs a bit of work how much do you think i could negotiate on the price? i think they might have taken it into account though as it is a 3 bed with a cellar aswell. i was think ing going in at 90k

Our house didn't have a gas supply if i remember it cost us £600 to have it connected. Redecorate? £1500 tops. Why don't you try at £80k and see what happens?

Fire_Fox

IvanDrago wrote: »

im an FTB looking at a house that is on the market for 98k, it has no gas supply and needs completely redecorating but in is habitable.

my question is: as it is being sold by the family of a lady who died of old age and needs a bit of work how much do you think i could negotiate on the price? i think they might have taken it into account though as it is a 3 bed with a cellar aswell. i was think ing going in at 90k

What have other houses in the street sold for this year? Have you properly priced up the work that needs doing (?central heating, ?kitchen, ?bathroom, ?windows, ?roof)? Make sure you get realistic prices for having this done by a professional even if in reality you intend to do a lot yourself. Remember there are far more houses on the market than serious buyers, so you hold all the cards. Don't consider how much you can afford, consider how little you can get away with.

If the vendors bite your hand off you will be gutted you went in too high. Even in the good times, it's traditional in most areas for the vendor to refuse the first offer ... which means you need room to negotiate upwards if you really want the house.

My parents taught me a valuable lesson that has never failed to get me a good deal (or those I advised of it). Instead of verbally offering type up a letter. State in your letter that
you are a first time buyer, no chain (gold dust!)
you have a deposit of, for example, 15%
firm mortgage offer from bank x (do NOT say how much!)
your timescale for completion
what your offer is based upon (sale prices in the street, state of the market, amount of work required, specify prices of each)
that your offer is subject to survey and contracts
the contact details of your conveyancer.

Most FTBs don't have that much knowledge so this sort of letter impresses - it pegs you as a serious contender. It also means you can't be swayed by anything said by the estate agents when you telephone/ go into the office to make the offer - and they can't see you to judge how keen you are.

Basically I am saying go in low, but make it a figure you can justify. If the vendors refuse the offer, tell the estate agent the offer stands but you will not be increasing it. Then go away and think about it for a few days, you are VERY unlikely to lose the house in this market and you will put the wind up 'em!! If you come straight back with a second offer they will immediately know you have more funds available and estate agents will say anything to make you go higher.

Fire_Fox

Your address

The date

To whom it may concern

Re: Address of Property

Further to our viewings on [dates], we are pleased to be in a position to offer to purchase the freehold on the above property for £x ([offer in words] pounds sterling). This offer is on the basis that the property is taken off the market immediately and is subject to survey and valuation.

Our offer reflects the poor condition of the internal/ external [delete as appropriate] fabric of the building, the falling property market and our strong position as prospective purchasers. Given that [address] will be vacant over the winter months, I trust our desire for a swift completion will recommend this offer to the vendor.

Stagnant Property Market
As you are no doubt aware property prices have fallen substantially in recent months and continue to do so. [Now specify prices of houses in the street that have sold, and refer to the large number still for sale in the vicinity].

Essential Repair Works
[address] is in a poor state of repair/ poor decorative order [delete as appropriate] and requires substantial capital input to bring it up to a habitable standard. Discussions with a local builder suggest that it will cost at least £x to replace the windows/ re-plaster/ modernise the kitchen/ install gas central heating [delete as appropriate].

Position of Purchasers
We confirm that we are first time buyers and thus in a chain-free position. Our finances are in place and we have instructed a local solicitor to act on our behalf in any property purchase. As a result we would be able to complete a sale quickly.

Should this offer be acceptable, our conveyancer’s contact details are
Name
Address

[If you have any questions relating to the condition or contents of the property ask them here]. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.

Yours faithfully

Your full names

mrstinchcombe

tux130582 wrote: »

hi where abouts in bristol was the house?

Brislington

morg_monster

we are FTBs, originally had plans to buy summer 2008 way back before this whole saga kicked off but sitting tight for now. then planned to buy early 2009 but our deposit is only about 12-15% so think we will still be waiting for LTVs to get a bit friendlier to us! Getting hitched in July so will wait til after then, now my aim is to be in our own place for Christmas next year. Our landlord is making it easier for us to wait as he is a total star and also we are paying the same rent as we were when we signed our contract July 2006 (on AST now). Although rents are coming down a bit again now, they were higher in 2007 and he could have made us sign a new agreement then.
We are looking to buy in a fairly expensive part of greater london/surrey so at the moment prices of small houses rather than flats are coming into our price range which is great. our hope is that by next year nice houses will be in our reach, rather than having to make too much of a compromise between space and nice location.
Just need mortgage rates for us to come down a bit; I'm hopeful there'll be a drop in LIBOR after christmas which should help. Only other problem is I'm on a studentship and we may struggle to find a lender who will accept us... Oh well one problem at a time!

besonders1

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Your address

The date

To whom it may concern

Re: Address of Property

Further to our viewings on [dates], we are pleased to be in a position to offer to purchase the freehold on the above property for £x ([offer in words] pounds sterling). This offer is on the basis that the property is taken off the market immediately and is subject to survey and valuation.

Our offer reflects the poor condition of the internal/ external [delete as appropriate] fabric of the building, the falling property market and our strong position as prospective purchasers. Given that [address] will be vacant over the winter months, I trust our desire for a swift completion will recommend this offer to the vendor.

Stagnant Property Market
As you are no doubt aware property prices have fallen substantially in recent months and continue to do so. [Now specify prices of houses in the street that have sold, and refer to the large number still for sale in the vicinity].

Essential Repair Works
[address] is in a poor state of repair/ poor decorative order [delete as appropriate] and requires substantial capital input to bring it up to a habitable standard. Discussions with a local builder suggest that it will cost at least £x to replace the windows/ re-plaster/ modernise the kitchen/ install gas central heating [delete as appropriate].

Position of Purchasers
We confirm that we are first time buyers and thus in a chain-free position. Our finances are in place and we have instructed a local solicitor to act on our behalf in any property purchase. As a result we would be able to complete a sale quickly.

Should this offer be acceptable, our conveyancer’s contact details are
Name
Address

[If you have any questions relating to the condition or contents of the property ask them here]. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.

Yours faithfully

Your full names

I like the letter, well done. I might think about using this idea rather than making a verbal offer over the phone, at least you can get your point across to the seller/EA for your offer

caljoemor

We bought our home in Southport in April 2007 and paid £190,000 with a mortgage of £201,000 as we had no deposit. We now need to move to Manchester to be closer to work and have looked into renting, we had somebody willing to take our house but the worry of not getting paid every month and still having to pay rent wherever we live was too much and we backed out.

We have a Northern Rock mortgage and I believe we can move it so we got a valuation and were told it's worth £224,500. This would be great news if true but I am dubious (we have spent a lot on the house) do you think that selling ours and buying somewhere similar in Manchester is a good idea right now or should we hang on untill late next year?

And is it feasible that our house could have gone up in value with all this talk of crashes?

neverdespairgirl

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Your address

The date

To whom it may concern

Re: Address of Property

Further to our viewings on [dates], we are pleased to be in a position to offer to purchase the freehold on the above property for £x ([offer in words] pounds sterling). Having viewed this house on [dates] we are writing to make an offer of £X. This offer is on the basis that the property is taken off the market immediately and is subject to survey and valuation.

Our offer reflects the poor condition of the internal/ external [delete as appropriate] fabric of the building, the falling property market and our strong position as prospective purchasers. Given that [address] will be vacant over the winter months, I trust our desire for a swift completion will recommend this offer to the vendor.

Stagnant Property Market
As you are no doubt aware property prices have fallen substantially in recent months and continue to do so. Our offer is in the context of [then the list] [Now specify prices of houses in the street that have sold, and refer to the large number still for sale in the vicinity].

Essential Repair Works
[address] is in a poor state of repair/ poor decorative order [delete as appropriate] and requires substantial capital input to bring it up to a habitable standard. Discussions with a local builder suggest that it will cost at least £x to replace the windows/ re-plaster/ modernise the kitchen/ install gas central heating [delete as appropriate].

Position of Purchasers
We confirm that we are first time buyers and thus in a chain-free position. Our finances are in place and we have instructed a local solicitor to act on our behalf in any property purchase. As a result we would be able to complete a sale quickly.

Should this offer be acceptable, our conveyancer’s contact details are
Name
Address

[If you have any questions relating to the condition or contents of the property ask them here]. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest opportunity.

Yours faithfully

Your full names

My general view in all formal letters is to keep them polite and formal, but to avoid unnecessary verbiage. So I'd replace the bits I've put in blue with the bits in red. I also find "as you are no doubt aware" a phrase to be avoided.