Should I put in an offer?

booey_2

I saw a flat today and I really like it. It's a one bedroom flat, the area is ok and there is parking.

It has vacant possesion and is on for £79,950.

I like it a lot but there is no flooring down (just floorboards and concrete) so I would need to put all that in. It needs a kitchen and there is no central heating. Apart from the flooring it would be ok to live in for a while until the heating and kitchen was done.

My ABSOLUTE limit is £75,000. I have no more than that, though my credit cards are clear in case of an emergency.

I asked the EA how long it had been on the market for, she said not long. A previous sale had fallen through but she said she didn't know why.

Should I put a bid in and what should that bid be?

I am a FTB.

Doozergirl

You have to decide what the property is worth in comaparison to others on the market. If you think it's worth the full asking price, then in your position,
I'd let the agent know I was interested and organise a second viewing to make sure the vendor recognises my name and to try and build a rapport with the agent.

Then, I'd go to the EA in person with a straight first and final offer of £75,000 ask them to phone through the offer there and then (with the hope they'd be nicer about me if I'm there watching) and keep my fingers crossed!

Good Luck.

booey_2

Thanks Doozergirl

I personally don't think it's worth anymore than £75,000 because it needs so much done but it does have parking which is a big deal as it's very close to town centre and it's the only place I've seen that has allocated parking in that area.

I don't think the EA liked me much, she seemed to want to rush me out of there and was unable to answer any questions. She either didn't like me or she couldn't have cared less if the flat sold or not. Her attitude was quite puzzling.

Doozergirl

A lot of the time, people don't really care. She probably makes her money trying to refer people to their mortgage advisor, rather than selling the flat. She's probably a snob too and only talks to people spending a certain amount. Silly moo.

I'd definately go in person to make your offer. At least they might try to sound a little less disinterested if you're right there!

Ian_W

Hi booey,
You haven't said but the fact that it has no central heating, and a mix of floorboards/concrete flooring suggests it may be a conversion rather than a reasonably modern purpose built flat. Nothing wrong with that, there are some really nice conversions but if it's an older building there may be some problems that showed up in a survey and that could be why the previous sale fell through.

With a budget of £75K you don't want to spend on a survey to find major problems so as well as arranging a second viewing, I'd ask the EA outright whether a survey has been done? She should tell you, though she may not and probably should not disclose any details. If she says she doesn't know ask her to check the file, they are after all selling it and WILL know. If she tries not to disclose I think it's a safe bet one has been done and not been too clever. If that's the case, rather than just my nasty suspicious mind kicking in, walk away.

If it proves not to be and you still like it after the 2nd viewing, I'd offer just over £70K, listing the things that need doing and your strengths as a FTBer. You, hopefully, may get it for under £75K giving you a bit of leaway with the work that needs doing.

BoL.

Doozergirl

We were lucky enough to buy a flat where the sale had fallen through and we even managed to a copy of the Homebuyers report from the EA. The previous buyer must have given them a copy. Much MoneySaved there!

Good idea asking about surveys. If you can't get anything out of them on that question, ask why the last sale fell through. Definately ask about the survey first though.

Ian_W

Hope you contacted the previous non-buyer and offered them half the cost, Doozer ?

sophistica

What?It has no central heating, flooring and kitchen and you are a FTB? And you have no spare money? Do you know how much it costs to do this work? A lot. You would be better off getting a more expensive property IMO which requires no work and pay for it on a mortgage - otherwise you will need to borrow about 5-10k for heating 2k for kitchen and 1k for flooring and pay a lot of credit card interest.

richgirl

Put a bid in for what you can afford i.e. £75k, its not as though its binding (excluding scotland).

Then get the flat checked out to see if your bid stacks up with the facts of the property.

raymond

sophistica wrote:

you will need to borrow about 5-10k for heating 2k for kitchen and 1k for flooring

Sorry but that is total crap, it will cost nowhere near even half of that amount except maybe the kitchen.

Doozergirl

Ian_W wrote:

Hope you contacted the previous non-buyer and offered them half the cost, Doozer ?

Absolutely. Plus half the money we made on it after a year :A

Lucky, lucky people.