To those BUYING in these difficult times....

JuniorSherlock

sonastin wrote: »

Have you lowered your offer now that they're offering to sell you less land?

We will do. But at the moment, as they are not in until next Tuesday there is little we can do. I shall instruct my solicitors to put in a lower offer, but not before I see my local MP tomorrow afternoon to see what he can do. Most MPs do sit on the board of HAs so I'm hoping he can use his clout on our behalf.

So many delays though. We're fed up of people asking us when are we going to move. It just seems as though we'll never get there. We solve one problem just to be faced with another.

sonastin

JuniorSherlock wrote: »

So many delays though. We're fed up of people asking us when are we going to move. It just seems as though we'll never get there. We solve one problem just to be faced with another.

Now that is a feeling I can symapthise with. I've been trying to buy a repossession since August. Completely and utterly chain-free in both directions and its still taken 6 months so far. I've lost count of the number of times I've said "that's it, there's nothing more that they can come up with to delay this sale. They've got to sell it to me now"! I still marvel at the creativity that lets them think up new ways to slow things down. I've got 3 weeks until my mortgage offer expires, they now know that there is a serious amount of work that needs doing to get the building regs approval for the garage, they know that the loft conversion also needs building regs approval and they know how much I'm willing to pay to just buy it in this state (which is more than they'd likely get at auction for it). Surely now there's nothing more that they can come up with to delay the sale. Surely they must be ready to sell it to me now?! This time...?

JuniorSherlock

sonastin wrote: »

Now that is a feeling I can symapthise with. I've been trying to buy a repossession since August. Completely and utterly chain-free in both directions and its still taken 6 months so far. I've lost count of the number of times I've said "that's it, there's nothing more that they can come up with to delay this sale. They've got to sell it to me now"! I still marvel at the creativity that lets them think up new ways to slow things down. I've got 3 weeks until my mortgage offer expires, they now know that there is a serious amount of work that needs doing to get the building regs approval for the garage, they know that the loft conversion also needs building regs approval and they know how much I'm willing to pay to just buy it in this state (which is more than they'd likely get at auction for it). Surely now there's nothing more that they can come up with to delay the sale. Surely they must be ready to sell it to me now?! This time...?

I recommend you see your MP. I was told that many Housing Associations have boards and that your local MP is most likely to be a member of that board. Explain all the delays to him/her and that your mortgage offer is due to expire and ask them to step in and get involved on your behalf.

I shall let you know how much they can do when I see our MP tomorrow.

It's a long-running nightmare isn't it? You begin to wonder if they actually want to sell the house at all. They're losing money on it every day and yet they do all they can to hold up the sale.

Even the kids are now getting fearful that we may never move. We do try not to discuss it in front of them, but that's hard to do and they have had issues at home with anxiety just recently. I can't help but wonder if that stems down to all this palava.

So huge sympathies to you mate, I know exactly what you are going through.

vesper

hi I am getting really fed up with the whole process of buying a house and am only right at the beginning. My partner and me have had a Mortgage offer which with the deposit we have will take us up to £97,000. We have also found the house that we want (although it does have its difficulties). Unfortunatly the house has been inherited by one of the most stubborn people I have ever met in my life. He is one of these people that has a price in his head (£100,000) and will not budge on that! The house has been on the market for 6 months now and does need quite a bit of work doing to it, plus the fact that it has no parking at all, do needs a driveway constructing (another problem as it turns out the house is in a conservation area and we would need permission for this- waiting for some official answers on this).
So far the process is driving me mad! EA wouldn't give us a second viewing first of all, managed to get someone to show us in the end. One the first viewing the EA told us that there was it was a coal fired hot water heater and that the gas fires had been dangerous because they were so old. Turns out that there is a proper electric water heater and that the gas fires are less than a year old, one never used and all of the certificates were there and they are fine.
The fact is that our mortgage off runs out soon. The mortgage offer is in place, we have a solicitor in place, Building and Valuation servey is happening next week, deposit is all there in the bank. There is no chain. But without the owner budging on the price its a no go. I really think we are going to end up having to walk away from this one, unforunatly houses around where we live hardly come up for sale and if they do they are very highly priced, way out of our league, especially one we love so much.

azkaban420

Hi vesper, I hope it all works out for you, I am just so worried about finding the right house which has taken long enough as it is, and then having fa too many hurdles to overcome to buy it. Good luck.

azkaban420

Just a quick question, as I'm still in negotiations about a house - how much value do you think a bigger garden and own large private driveway (4-5 cars) would add to a house, versus an identical one which has much smaller garden and smaller (2 cars) shared driveway?

What would you pay as extra for these two things do you think?

Thanks,

Az

Catatonia

I think it depends on how much the houses are on for. Basically you're buying a bigger bit of land, so it would depend on how much you're paying for the rest of the land if you see what I mean? Also on land prices in the area - eg extra land in the middle of a city would probably command a higher premium than out in the country.

sonastin

We're effectively looking for a large garage with a bit of a house attached. 2 off-road car spaces + garage is an absolute minimum for us, more parking + double garage would be preferable. So I guess I would be prepared to pay whatever % below asking for the large drive/garden place and nothing for the shared drive place. That puts the extra I'd pay at somewhere close to the asking price for me, but I guess that's not quite what you're asking, is it?

azkaban420

Thanks, am comparing the house to the one that sold next door for £250k (yes, still on about that one!). They want above the SD threshold and we're now prepared to go over this, but I just wondered how much extra value having those two things would add for someone. We are prepared to pay more, as we've got a big family, so lots of visitors/need the extra parking. Large garden is a bonus for potential extension etc.

Az

Catatonia

Hmmm, it's hard to say without knowing how much bigger the garden is (sorry for asking you even more questions!) but I would say that it would maybe add about £10-15k on a house of that price. I am plucking figures out of the air a bit to be honest though! That's probably what I'd be prepared to pay as a maximum though.