First time buyer - baby on the way

angel1976

MrChips Sorry to hear but sit tight, you never know. They could be calling your bluff and hoping you will come back and offer more. Won't be surprised if you get a call a few days from now saying they couldn't proceed with the other seller for blah blah blah reasons. Things happen for a reason. We just had our first offer rejected at £470k and pondering our next move...

angel1976

MrChips In reply to your question in the other forum, yes, from overseas and former Brit colony.

The vendor turned down our offer for £470k. Apparently there's been an offer for over £500k and the agent asked if we are willing to go over that and we said no, we just don't think it's worth that much! Hmmm... I'm not sure this 'sudden' interested party exists but we are prepared to walk away as we knew £500k was the top end of our budget.

MrChips

Sounds like our situation, although it seems our rival does exist!

Still, who knows maybe we will find somewhere better, or house prices will plummet in the meantime

MrChips

Hi all - time for another update.

In the end, a third buyer made a no strings offer of £515,000 which was accepted. I guess we were sort of relieved in the end that we didn't miss out by such a small margin. We started looking at places to rent and found a 2-bed flat nearby that would be great for the short term.

However...today I got a call from the agent to say the £515k offer had fallen through as that purchaser's chain had broken. Would we be interested in making a £500 + £10k F&F offer which "might" be accepted because of our strong position?

We are now in a bit of a quandry. We were disappointed to miss out but we have finally got used to the idea and we found a nice flat which we could move into in about 3 weeks time. With the house, the agent says moving in before Xmas is a real possibility but I have my doubts.

We decided to offer £500k + £5k F&F again and see what happens. The agent as good as told us that the owners would say yes to £500k + £10k but he wasn't sure about £500k + £5k. He also said that if the offer was £500k + £10k, that £5k would be fixtures and fittings and the other £5k would be "a personal agreement between us and the vendors". Is that estate agent code for a brown paper bag of £50 notes? What are the implications of this?

In my profession, I would be likely to lose my job if I got into trouble with HMRC!

Just got a call to say no to £500k + £5k, but that it would be a yes to £500k + £10k.

This is really doing my head in!

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Stick to your original offer. Funny how the two previous offers fell through!! I would preceed with your plan of renting for now and see what the new year brings, apart from the patter of tiny feet. Don't get mucked around by these vendors anymore.

AMD

westlondonbuyer

MrChips wrote: »

In my profession, I would be likely to lose my job if I got into trouble with HMRC!

There's your answer. The downside to this deal is not the additional £10k paid to the vendor in brown paper bags, it's losing your livelihood.

However unlikely that downside, it's not one you can afford to ignore.

Tell the agent it's £500k or nothing.

If I were into betting, I'd put money on this being accepted within about 5 days if you avoid contact;)

Renting is fine by the way - been doing it all year and it's not been a problem at all. My top tip - ask your prospective landlord if they can supply contact details for the previous tenant; then contact that tenant to get a reference about the landlord...

MrChips

Thanks for the replies.

Re landlord tip, we were actually lucky that the current tenant showed us round the flat and was very happy to provide honest feedback, even going so far as to tell us what rent he was paying!

Re house, it does make me feel uneasy and I wouldn't mind speaking to a solicitor about it to find out what it all means. We might be able to play it to our advantage by offering either £500k + what fixtures and fittings are actually worth (subject to max £10k) or agree to their offer subject to it being legal and above board! Talking of solicitors, how does one actually get a good solicitor - is it a question of getting some recommendations from friends and family?

MrChips

Decided to give HMRC a call. They say the additional £5k personal agreement would attract stamp duty in any case if it was paid as a condition of buying the house. So that's a non-starter for us.

I guess we could offer £495k, plus £5k F+F plus £5k personal agreement if they are so keen on some sort of cash in a bag, but then I can't really see the difference between that and my original offer...

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Nah, stick to your guns. What if the valuation come in under your offer price. What will you do then? You need to leave yourself some room for further negotiation, do not tie youself in too much and make sure you say that this offer is subject to valuation.

AMD

neverdespairgirl

MrChips wrote: »

I guess we could offer £495k, plus £5k F+F plus £5k personal agreement if they are so keen on some sort of cash in a bag, but then I can't really see the difference between that and my original offer...

Avoid anything about "personal arrangements", it smells.