new here..ftb queries!

sambi_2

Hi, i havent posted on here before..but am a bit clueless and could do with some advice!

We are FTB's and after viewing only one other house have found the perfect house, and put an offer in. It was on at £180,000, which seemed a bit high and as we are in a good position (no house to sell, big deposit, mortgage agreed in principle) we put in a cheeky offer of £155,000..which was rejected...we upped it to 162,000 and still a no. Asked how much she was willing to accept and the agent said £170,000...

Not sure what to do now, we could afford to go to £170k but we have no idea what we are doing, is it worth negotiating further for a few thousand off, or playing the waiting game for a bit? Every bit of advice we get seems to be suggesting we play some sort of game, which is frustrating!

Also, what are the next steps after this? Once we have an offer accepted, do we just instruct a solicitor and the mortgage lenders and then its all down to them?

We ideally want this all wrapped up by august as that's when our rental contract ends...seems possible since the seller has found a house she likes and will be mortgage free, and those people have found a house they want which is currently vacant...am i being too optimistic?

thanks for any replies
Sam

princessamy86

What do you think it is worth? If you think it is worth £170k, then by all means let them negotiate with you. Just be careful that you don't end up paying over the odds, do your homework and find out what similar properties have sold for in the area. If similar properties aren't achieving £170k then don't pay that much! What about offering a bit higher- £165k perhaps? As long as they feel they have squeezed every penny out of you then they might come down a bit to secure the sale. How long has it been on the market for and has the vendor reduced at all?

Once your offer is accepted you will need to instruct solicitors and sign up for your mortgage, then sort the survey out.

p00hsticks

sambi wrote: »

after viewing only one other house have found the perfect house, and put an offer in.

Personally I'd say keep on viewing other properties, and let the vendor think about it for a bit. After you've seen a couple of dozen more you'll have a) a much clearer idea of whether property number 2 really is 'the perfect house' and b) whether the price being asked/you're prepared to pay is realistic or not.

cattie

If you want it all wrapped up by August, then you haven't really got the option of playing the waiting game. In my experience the time scale for legals etc between offer & completion is 12-14 weeks. This has been on sales to ftb's & moving into properties with no forward chain.

You can try a lower offer & dont choose rounded up amounts, choosing a figure of say £167, 643 sounds so much more than £167,500 & gives the impression that you have really offered your limit with the odd unrounded amount.

danielanthony

I'm in the same position as the OP, just buying my 1st place now. What i have done so far:

1. Got a mortgage promise from Halifax via a mortgage broker.
2. Put offer in on house, accepted
3. Next day, instructed a solicitor to work for us, they contacted the EA and mortgage guy. Solicitors details need to be on the mortgage application - i didnt know that.

And thats as far as I've got so far. Next Thursday we're meeting the broker to go through the full application, should be ok. Looking to exchange in 4-5 weeks and complete in 8-10.

Good luck

Dan

caljoemor

Do you like the house?
Would you be dissappointed if it sold to someone else?
Can you afford £170,000?
Do you think it is worth £170,000?

If the answer to the above is yes then there you go, I don't believe in the games and can understand how it would be frustrating.

If you can afford it and you want this particular house and you think it's a fair price then go for it if not then look elsewhere.

Either way good luck!

Soot2006

We viewed about 20 houses, and made offers three times - refused to play the bidding game and continued viewing as offers were rejected (although did up our offer to what we considered reasonable). Third time lucky, *fingers crossed*, we had an offer accepted. By then we had spoken to bank and got a AIP and also had chosen a solicitor. When the offer was accepted we actually saw a different broker who found us a better deal than the bank, so again *fingers crossed* that it works out OK. I've been told to expect a lot of radio silence for a while!!

superfran_uk

If you have only looked at one house, and you admit you are clueless, how do you know it is overpriced??

Ditto

superfran_uk wrote: »

If you have only looked at one house, and you admit you are clueless, how do you know it is overpriced??

maybe because everyone on here says houses are over priced and need to come down more?

sambi_2

thanks for all the replies!

my boyfriend has put in an offer of 169k as the estate agents rang and said someone else was really interested and had arranged a second viewing. I think he panicked a little as we do really want the house, and yes, would be very disappointed not to get it. Maybe we could've gone in a bit lower, but hopefully this might swing it..fingers crossed.

We are pretty clueless when it comes to the actual process of buying a house..it seems very complicated, but we have done our homework when it comes to house prices and it's definitely not worth £180k when you compare what it was sold for in 2006, and the average % decrease in house prices in this area...and what similar houses are on for now. £170k is more in line with that. Plus, mortgage repayments at if we paid £180k would just be too high for comfort!!

just got to wait now i suppose..

caljoemor

:beer:Good luck!