House Buying - Moneysaving Tips

Optimisticpair

nykmedia wrote: »

snip> to get an estimate of current valuation once you know when and for how much the property sold. I've tried this for a couple of properties and found it surprisingly accurate - so much so that I'm beggining to wonder if this is how the 'surveyors' and valuers are pricing property.

Nykmedia: We had used those lists to make our own estimate for an attention grabbing asking price that we could negotiate down a bit from. Our estate agent valuer was waiting for us to tell her what we wanted to sell for though. She told us she couldn't find OH's flat listed so she thought it must have been bought before those records became available.

The listings show if you bought in a cheap or dear phase and imply how much is possibly still owing. I can't think why else she would be looking there if it wasn't to estimate a price that we would go for to get us on their books.

If buying you can pitch an offer that will be accepted if something has really taken your fancy and if selling what you want to start asking for compared to similar properties.

Frugaldom

How much money can be saved by doing as much of the housebuying process yourself?

Having compared conveyancing fees and finding as much as 100% difference between quotes from different solicitors, I think the best thing to do is the preparation work well in advance of either buying or selling, as it can mean an overall saving of hundreds, possibly thousands, of pounds. Is there a simple, step by step guide available that covers everything that buying a house entails so that buyers are full prepared and ready to take advantage of any particular circumstances that occur to help the process?

Works needing done - if these are remedial, can you feasibly do the repairs yourself? Is it cost effective to learn how to do them, as opposed to hiring someone in from the start? Can you cut down the overall costs of repairs even by helping make the tradesman's job easier and quicker? I am putting myself into the position of seeking to buy a house and the whole project MUST come in within a very specific budget. Where is the best place to source free advice?

Planning to build or convert - do preliminary drawings submitted to the planning committee (or whatever they are called now) HAVE to be prepared by a fully qualified architect and backed up by a qualified structural engineer?

I have about a million questions I'd like to ask and can further complicate things by needing answers relevant to Scottish law... any helful advice appreciated, thank I'm happy to share any newly gained knowledge with everyone else here.

Jaffa_Cake_UK

Hi,

I would appreciate some subjective views - more experienced people stepping into my shoes for a moment and answering my question "what would YOU do?".

Our position is that we're not experienced buyers at all - we've seen a house we like and are aware of a number of factors that might contribute to what we would offer the vendor, but are really not sure of what we're doing with this stage of the process - we just don't know what's a wise offer and do want to be taken seriously as buyers.

It's a 1960s 3 bed semi, 80ft garden and garage. Asking price £240k. However, we've viewed once and every room needs a lot of attention. Bathroom, kitchen - both need refitting; are just about functional but very very grim and old. Every room has mid-1990s patterned and mismatched decor with paper peeing off, carpets really grim and stained, and whole house very dirty. Also needs new skirtings, new banisters, some new floorboards - all sorts. Basically, how much do you think estate agents price houses with this sort of expenditure in mind and how much do they ignore it? In our inexperience, we were wondering if £200k (or less - £192k would be 20% below asking) is laughable. Whilst it's a new geographical area for us, we know other houses in the road have gone for between £250-£315k within the last few years. We've got to know the area and think this sort of place may be the only way we can get a 3 bed semi at all. Virtually all of the other houses in the road have had extensions, front porches etc, but this one has had nothing changed. Obviously this bodes well for future planning permission and long-term future value.

A plus is that the seller's the end of the chain, and it's possible we could be the other end. The seller's willing to rent if it all went through too fast for him, so I guess he's keen to go - he's relocating a long way away.

We have a portable mortgage. Also, with a very clean credit history we have extra lending agreed in principle, amounting to borrowing around 68% of the property's value in total. We have solicitors ready to get quotes from and choose from. We are not deterred by a project like this house - in fact it's the only way we could afford a 3 bed semi there.

How much clout would you feel you had in this position?

It's a major relocation for us and we're set on the town we're looking at, so we feel that hearing ideas from more experienced people is very valuable before we invest so much of ourselves in this process.

What would you do? How much would you offer?

Thanks for reading this?

Frugaldom

I would say multiply your guaranteed annual income by 3.5 and add on whatever cash deposit you have available. Deduct the amount your surveyor reckons it will cost to 'put right' any problems, deduct all the legal & other expenses and therein lies the first answer to the question, what is a realistic price to pay for your home?

Next, do a complete breakdown of all your expenses like a full statement of affairs (there's a free tool on MSE for doing this) and work out how much you can realistically afford to pay out each month whilst saving for whatever other things you spend on each year, allow for interest rate increases and any other debts you may have or incur. Bear in mind that the current interest rates are still less than half what they have been in the past. This will give you a figure to compare against the monthly costs of your first figure.

Hopefully, this makes sense and doesn't come across as completely loopy but interest rates, the global economy and natural resources are all a law unto themselves, so anything could happen. 'Be prepared' seems the best motto to me and don't offer more than you can realistically afford in the longterm

lilstar

I have viewed a house that is in an auction with a guide price of £110,000 but I have been told that the reserve is higher. The house was bought by a national building company in part exchange for a new build, has been in auction once but did not sell. The sale is on 3rd september but i would rather buy it out of auction. I offered £110k for it today and was told that they could not accept that as it is below reserve, I asked if they would accept £120k and she said they would take that but no lower (This is obviously the reserve) but has not yet made a formal offer to the company. Is there any point in putting in an offer lower than this or will they not negotiate on anything below the reserve? They have also said that i would have to complete by the day of the auction, is this realistic given that it is the 18th August today???

Thanks for your advise in advance

Lilstar (FIRST TIME BUYER)

lilstar

Its a 3 bed detatched with detatched garage. Identical house in same road going for £145k and other similar ones going privately for £160k or so. So it seems like a fantastic deal even if we did get it for 120!!!!!!

Frugaldom

Hi Lilstar, when you say similar properties are 'going' for £145-£165k in the same road, do you mean these have actually sold at those prices or that's the asking prices of them now? Could you feed the postcode into one of the previously mentioned sites and get actual selling prices, just to make sure?

I think the most important question, and one only you can answer, is concerning the funding if you go ahead with making the offer. Assuming that you really like & want this specific property, could you have the £120,000 in place within the next fortnight?

(Apologies if I have this all wrong, Scotland is different in that you need to have proof of the funds being available before you can submit the offer.)

Fortyfoot

I have just come across reallymoving.com which gives instant quotes.

Fortyfoot

Fortyfoot

This was the best one -

"Company Name: Parker Bird Gardner http://www.pbgardner.com
Purchase fee:£200.00
VAT:£35.00
Total:£235.00

To discuss this quote please contact Ross Mckay at Parker Bird Gardner on 01484 825200 or email [EMAIL="rmk@pbgardner.com"]rmk@pbgardner.com[/EMAIL]
Parker Bird Gardner are a determined and committed property team with the resource and experience to handle every different property transaction including our fast track remortgage. We have vast experience of dealing with a large and extensive caseload concerning all property transactions without ever compromising on the quality of our service. We guarantee the costs detailed to you at the outset of the transaction without any hidden extras, representing true value for money."

It certainly seems value for money. Has any body used this company?

Fortyfoot

mannytart

try and save a few quid on conveyancing by visiting https://www.compareconveyancing.com. it lets you compare price and service from local firms.