House Buying - Moneysaving Tips

kiwid

I NEED HELP QUICKLY

I have a flat available to buy below me, it was owned by a lovely old lady who passed away back in October. Her daughters have not been in the property much since she died, as it's too emotional for them. They however have come to the time where they want to sell, I have said that we are interested in it and they have come back to me with a price of £182,000, they said a agent told them it was worth about 195,000. I have looked at house's of the same in the area and all the properties that are price around that mark have been completed refurbished. The flat they are offering needs complete gutting bathroom, Kitchen, Ceilings as they have tiles that are currently illegal in them. Boiler the works. I have had a few estimates from builders/electricans/awaiting plasterer going into the thousands for the refurb. I have also just found out that a flat in the same condition which actually is bigger as it is a first floor flat went for £175000. After looking at costings, time and effort to redo the whole thing I am planning to offer £172,000, do you think that this will be insulting considering they think they are giving me a bargin. I dont think they have actually done any research they are just going by what the local real estate agents are saying and those guys just want to get the house to put on there books I'm sure thats way they inflate the prices.

Rebob

kiwid wrote: »

I NEED HELP QUICKLY

I have had a few estimates from builders/electricans/awaiting plasterer going into the thousands for the refurb. I have also just found out that a flat in the same condition which actually is bigger as it is a first floor flat went for £175000. After looking at costings, time and effort to redo the whole thing I am planning to offer £172,000, do you think that this will be insulting considering they think they are giving me a bargin. I dont think they have actually done any research they are just going by what the local real estate agents are saying and those guys just want to get the house to put on there books I'm sure thats way they inflate the prices.

I would start by saying that you have been getting some prices for the work needed and would like to make an offer. Go on sites such as rightmove that can give you the actual prices paid as the price asked can sometimes be miles away from what they sell for.

travelbug_3

we had not planned to move until about September ,we have just found a retirement apartment on the internet ,which we like the look of and in the area we want to go to ,i have telephoned and we can view Monday .
the asking price is 125000 ,after looking at this site we should start by offering 113000 ,is that correct ?
also we have not got our house on the market yet
but i telephoned today to arrange for 3 estate agents to come and value the house next week
the question is can we put an offer for the retirement apartment before our house is on the market ,although i hope by this time next week it will be
also can we use the same solicitor for buying and the selling ?

hollyblue

Nothing to stop you putting an offer in, however, you are not in a strong position as not only do you need to sell you are not on the market yet. Unless of course you can afford to buy it without selling yours first.

Its not the end of the world however, if it were between you and another person they may be more inclined to accept an offer from someone who is ready to proceed. That said, it all depends on their circumstances they may not be in any hurry.

If you are definite about moving I would suggest you get your house on the market quickly to improve your situation.

A solicitor will be able to deal with both your sale and purchase - this is usualy practice and assists in co-ordinating the dates for exchange and completion. What you can't do is use the same solicitor as the person from whom you are buying as this is known as a conflict of interest. Hope that makes sense :-)

travelbug_3

thanks hollyblue
we will get the house on the market next week as soon as the EA's have been round to value it and we hopefully we get a good deal with one of them.
we will be going mad this weeked getting the house ready to sell ,doing all the small jobs which were left and never got done
the retirement apartment is empty and went on the market thursday ,we will put an offer in and see what happens
also thanks for advice about a solicitor

olliet_3

Hi - need some advice urgently

We had an offer on a house accepted back in Feb (we have a cash buyer)
Found out last week that we are in a chain of 7 & in the chain are teachers who are relocating, so will not move until the 23/7/07.

When we originally worked out our sums for the mortgage, we could have fixed at a good rate, that offer has expired & with the new rates the mortgage payments have increased by an additional £150 per month (approx)

We now don't know whether to go back to the estate agents & revise our offer based on the long delays & the increase of mortgage rate.

Any advice would be appreciated

AndrewSmith

Have you asked your lender to simply extend the mortgage offer for 2 months? SOmetimes they will do this and keep the original rate and deal that you were given.

olliet_3

We have tried but they have said no, we have a fixed mortgage with them at the moment & it would be to expensive to try & get out of it & move to another lender.

Really don't know it what to do as the house we are buying is in such a long chain & the people above seem to be making all the decisions & will not move any earlier.

Should I go back to the estate agents with a revised offer or walk away???

Natty_82

Hi Everyone, this looks like a really useful thread. I especially like the step by step guide at the beginning but i'm wondering if there is a Scottish equivalent anywhere? I'm hoping to buy a house in about a year and at the minute the Scottish system is seeming very scary and I don't have the foggiest where to start. Help! Please!

manrow

olliet, you sound to be in a position which you are not happy with. That would suggest you should pull out of the deal, as it seems you recognise that rising interest rates have destroyed your precarious budget.

It sounds painful but you will welcome the relief you will feel when you have made the decision and acted on it. As I am now retired I have made many deals on houses and would recommend always pulling out if sellers put up unreasonable conditions such as cannot move till school holidays etc.. There is always a better deal out there in my experience, with reasonable people selling!!