FTB - Putting an offer in - how much?

ftb-soon

This concerns both the mortgage and the process of buying a house so feel free to move it if required.

I am a first time buyer and have been saving for a deposit for the last 9 months and am just about there. I will have the required amount before I have to pay my deposit with enough for fees etc as a backup. I have spoke to a financial advisor who gave me some good advice, although the best mortgage he could find for me, based on a 10% deposit, didn't seem as attractive as the one my bank (Natwest) is currently offering.

So I went to see the bank yesterday to have a chat about whether obtaining this deal from them would be possible, and the woman I saw said I would have no problems getting a mortgage from them. The house I am looking at is on the market for £95k, my salary is £36k so is affordable. Because I'm an advantage gold customer I would get a rate of 4.64% which is the lowest I can find for a 10% deposit, it also has no arrangement fee which is a bonus.

I asked the advisor "what happens next?" and she said to find a property, which I kind of have (going for a second viewing tonight) and put an offer in, then go back to the bank if it's accepted. From what I have read, I thought I would need an agreement in principle. Does this seem right before I put an offer in?

Secondly, the house I am looking at is on for 95k. It has been on the market since April last year with no offers from 8 viewings, I can't understand why! It's a really nice house, I hope it is just the way the market is rather than something fundamentally wrong which I'm missing! The town I live in hasn't really suffered as part of the drop in prices, but nothing has been selling, the same houses from Aug/Sep last year are still on the market.

Given that they've had no offers and they are wanting to go travelling in the summer, how do I pitch my offer?

Obviously there'll be differing opinions on this one, just trying to gauge what people would think is a sensible offer.

Thanks
S

TrickyDicky

I know where I live, in most areas, houses that are nice and within the price range we are looking at are going for close to asking price within days of going on the market. If it really is a nice house, there must have been something to put the viewers off.

Ive not been asked for an AIP at all - I think most of the time its more for you too see what house you could afford. Only after you've had the offer accepted, go through the full credit score and the house valuation will you know exactly how much you can borrow (they will lend 90% based on THEIR valuation or your offer, whichever is lower). Ive seen a few nice houses come back on the market, I assume because the valuations have been coming in too low (sellers commonly seem to be optimistic). To mitigate this, its best to have around 15% in cash to make up the shortfall if the valuation comes in low and you still really want to buy the house.

Theres nothing to stop you going in low and raising your offer till they accept. If you can speak to the owners, ask them why they're selling - it might give you a gage of how eager they are to move/sell.

ftb-soon

Can I negotiate my offer after the banks valuation?

They are wanting to go travelling in the summer so think I'm in quite a good position