To those BUYING in these difficult times....

Kez100

We bought in the last difficult market in the mid 90's. After viewing a lot of property where vendors wouldn't budge on price (their perogative) we resorted to repossessions. There were a lot of repos around then.

We did end up buying from an owner but a second home which they were prepared to negotiate on. It was hard work finding them though. Never looked at so many properties!

Although prices continued to fall another 10% (they had already fallen 20%!), the reduction we secured more than covered it.

redstararnie76

Hi, can I join please?
We're currently in a strange new twilight world(not the film/book - although there are vampires/aka estate agents!) .

We're selling our shared ownership property and we have a buyer approved - hopefully aiming to exchange in the first week of November.
We've had an offer accepted on a house; area we like, 1950s three bed terrace house, they rejected our first offer but accepted our 2nd - £10,000 below asking price, nearly 6%.
Just had our mortgage approved - 89%, signing the papers tomorrow.

We're now trying to find our way in the dark, and are too aware of everything that can go wrong to get excited . I really feel apprehensive and unsure. Just hope we're doing 'the right thing'. Think we need a homebuyers survey, so I'm getting quotes but don't really know how to go about choosing one - unfortunately we don't know anyone who can recommend one for us. Trying to fill out questionnaires for the solicitor, chasing estate agents who are suddenly too busy to talk to me and generally despairing of ever actually living in the house!

sonastin

Well my estate agent told me that the vendors had arranged for the work to be carried out on the house I want to buy and it should be starting on the 11th and would take 2-3 weeks (better guess than 7-10 days!)

Drove up to the house on Monday afternoon to see if we could find out from the builders what work they'd been asked to carry out and there was no sign of any work starting (OK I know its not that unusual for builders to not show up when they say they will!)

I'm beginning to wonder if this house is ever going to be in a saleable condition. I'm also acutely conscious that Christmas is coming fast and my mortgage offer is going to expire at the beginning of Feb. By the time the work is done and the building regs gets signed off, I might not be in a position to buy it! Then again, if the news is gonna keep running stories of price drops, a new mortgage application could be a good excuse for a new offer too!

tawse57

I was looking to buy in Wales in the coming months but I am reconsidering that now in light of the coming public sector job cuts.

If house prices crash as a result I will buy otherwise I will start looking outside of Wales as I fear it will become a very poor place jobwise in the next 10 years.

JuniorSherlock

redstararnie76 wrote: »

We're now trying to find our way in the dark, and are too aware of everything that can go wrong to get excited . I really feel apprehensive and unsure. Just hope we're doing 'the right thing'. Think we need a homebuyers survey, so I'm getting quotes but don't really know how to go about choosing one - unfortunately we don't know anyone who can recommend one for us. Trying to fill out questionnaires for the solicitor, chasing estate agents who are suddenly too busy to talk to me and generally despairing of ever actually living in the house!

Don't worry, it's a minefield from what I remember. Generally the advice is to get three quotes and go for the middle one! You don't want a quote that is too cheap because they might miss something, but neither do you want to pay through the teeth. Should they find anything, that's your chance to revise your offer.

Getting hold of everyone can seem suddenly very difficult, so the best thing to do is to send an email or letter stating when you will call and what your call will be about, asking them to re-arrange if this is not convenient. That gives them a chance to prepare for your questions and it saves you a lot of chasing down blind alleys. Same with the solicitors - I remember ours was very forgetful, he used to get us mixed up with his other clients! The only way we could get any sense out of him was to arrange to meet him in his office. Once we were there, in front of him, he was fantastic.

It's hard work. The best advice is to prepare for whatever can go wrong. If it does then go wrong you've got plans in place to deal with it and if it doesn't, that's a nice bonus.

Best of luck!

(Oh and rentals have just gone up down here to £800pcm now. We're in Wiltshire. I guess the further you are from London the cheaper it gets.)

aggi

hi all,
ftb as well. got offer accepted, mortgage on a good way, waiting for results of a survey, but neither me or my husband feel any joy. is something wrong with us or property or joy will come when we going to get keys?
themarket situation doesnt help as well. but if we wont get mortgage now we wont be able to get on the ladder for some time unless prices fall down by 20-30%. age and affordability issue.
oh....

JuniorSherlock

aggi wrote: »

hi all,
ftb as well. got offer accepted, mortgage on a good way, waiting for results of a survey, but neither me or my husband feel any joy. is something wrong with us or property or joy will come when we going to get keys?
themarket situation doesnt help as well. but if we wont get mortgage now we wont be able to get on the ladder for some time unless prices fall down by 20-30%. age and affordability issue.
oh....

I feel the same way. Age is against us too. We've yet to hear if our offer has been accepted. I refuse to get excited because so many things can go wrong - they could have a higher offer, the survey could throw up something, everything you hear about house buying is doom and gloom, it's bound to affect you.

You are being cautious by not feeling excited. Once all is done you will feel an overwhelming sense of relief and an urge to break out the champers! You reall will, trust me. But for now your brain accepts that you are not out of the woods yet.

lauraland

lauraland wrote: »

eek - just submitted an offer on a flat - now just have to wait to hear back! It will be my first property purchase and i'm sooo nervous about it all!

Heard this morning that my offer has been accepted! woohoo! cant believe i've just bought my first home :j:j:j

beccad

lauraland wrote: »

Heard this morning that my offer has been accepted! woohoo! cant believe i've just bought my first home :j:j:j

:jCongrats!

(although technically you've not bought it yet - you've got all that joy to come :eek: All I would say is get a good solicitor and call them every day!)

shupufski_2

JuniorSherlock wrote: »

I feel the same way. Age is against us too. We've yet to hear if our offer has been accepted. I refuse to get excited because so many things can go wrong - they could have a higher offer, the survey could throw up something, everything you hear about house buying is doom and gloom, it's bound to affect you.

You are being cautious by not feeling excited. Once all is done you will feel an overwhelming sense of relief and an urge to break out the champers! You reall will, trust me. But for now your brain accepts that you are not out of the woods yet.

I think the correct term for this is called Buyer's Remorse - I had it when I bought my first home many years ago.