To those BUYING in these difficult times....

Blodwen

Sorry to hear that Grimbal. We're having buying issues (too depressing to bother talking about on here!) but nothing compared to yours I really hope things manage to go more smoothly and the title guarantee gets sorted out.

happy_2008

3 properties in one development all sold within a couple of days here.

Property A - Up for sale on Thursday so we viewed on Saturday
Property B - Up for sale on Friday so viewed on Sunday and decided to go for this over property A but got outbidded by someone who went straight in at asking price
Property C - Up for sale last Thursday and sold by Saturday.

Luckily we went back and got an offer accepted on Property A

Davesnave

Grimbal wrote: »

We placed my old house on the market in August/Sept 2009, and here we are nearly June 2011 still trying to buy together.

Sounds like you had our sort of luck, but it can all work out in the end. When I look back at a couple of the places we thought we'd be buying (before things fell through - 3 times!) it seems we were lucky in escaping them all. I can't think what was in our minds now, but changes in markets can have a large influence.:o

We started selling in September 2007 and, thanks to all sorts of unlikely issues, it wasn't until after going into rented, as you've done, that we pitched up here, almost 2 years later. In effect, we swapped a semi in a city for a 5 acre smallholding in Devon, but it took a lot of hassle getting here.

Would I do it again? Yes, but not for a good while. DW says 'No!'

We'll see.

Hope your buying troubles have a happy ending soon.

spend_thrift

That sounds awful Grimbal - what bad luck! I hope things improve for you.

I was at a wedding at the weekend and ran into an old friend and was telling him about the property I saw that needs all the work. He warned me that he took on a "project" and it took him all of his disposable income for 8 years before it was finished. He's on £50k - double my salary. :eek:

I spoke to another friend who lived with him for a couple of years and she put a different slant on it. He's very high maintenance, and a perfectionist, and she has a good friend who has done her place up herself more in line with my tastes and budget, so it can be done. I'll just have to do without the bespoke sofa built to my exact measurements that my male friend had :rotfl:

So now I'm really not sure what to do.

Added to that, I have my parents' view on the place. They bought an Edwardian house and they're still doing it up 30 years later. I'm typing this sat by some lovely, but draughty, original french doors while my Mum is in the kitchen painting window frames that were stripped back to paint 2 years ago.

My parents have lived here quite happily for 30 years without replacing the windows or fixing the roof or doing any number of jobs on the place, so who's to say that I can't do the same in that lovely flat?

OK we have no damp here and the wiring is good.... do I just make sure I have enough money in hand to do the big jobs when I move in and accept the cosmetic stuff as "charm" and live with it like they have?

This is turning into more of a ramble than I had intended, but if you've been in my shoes feel free to jump in. There's so few properties of this kind to choose from out there that I really don't know what to do.

leanneb010

Joining this thread.

I recently decided to join the grown up world of home-owners, found a flat I loved that had been on the market for a year, only 4 views and 1 prior offer, put in an offer 9% below asking price. Rejected. Another offer 6% below. Rejected. Another one 3%. Rejected. Put in at 0.8% (£500) less than asking and was accepted, subject to survey. Survey came back showing the possibility of damp, had to get the vendor to have a damp specialist company who treated the previous damp to do another survey. Came back that yes there was damp, but it wasn't covered by her previous work as it was in different areas. She so generously offered £250 towards the £2000+ work. We suspect she re-plastered the flat to try and cover this up in a survey, but due to a horrific winter it seeped through quicker than expected. :mad:
All the while the EA still advertised in their window, on GSPC, Zoopla, RM and the vendor was even advertising on Gumtree.

Pulled out the sale and looking at different properties now. :j

spend_thrift

leanneb010 wrote: »

Pulled out the sale and looking at different properties now. :j

Good for you - it sounds like a narrow escape

spend_thrift

The EA has just called to get my feedback after the second viewing on Friday. She wanted to get my feedback before calling the vendor.

I asked her if she had any further information for me, but she didn't. She still doesn't even know how long the lease is! Since she has given up on the hard sell (after the first viewing she insisted that someone else had put in an offer and I needed to make up my mind asap, this time she just sounded bored) I figure that I'm the only fish currently on the line.

Someone else viewing at the same time as me let slip that she thought she'd seen the property on the market last summer - is there any way I can find out if it was? :think: :search:

Davesnave

spend_thrift wrote: »

Someone else viewing at the same time as me let slip that she thought she'd seen the property on the market last summer - is there any way I can find out if it was? :think: :search:

Have you got Property Bee? It only works as an add-on to the Firefox browser, I think, but it can do history of places marketed on Rightmove. Not sure that it can handle it if places are withdrawn & remarketed though.

If the place you like is sound, not damp and has reasonably modern wiring & plumbing, then the rest is cosmetic and can take as long as you like really. If it hasn't bothered your parents, not being 'finished,' then perhaps it need not bother you. Some people actually don't like reaching the end of a big project. Too often, it can mean boredom and the start of a new project! :rotfl:

spend_thrift

Davesnave wrote: »

Have you got Property Bee?

Yes - I got it after a recommendation on MSE. It's a brilliant bit of kit

I checked the listing and it was only put on last month, so if it was on last year they used a different advert.

The thing is, the pictures look quite different to how the place looks now, and the EA wouldn't tell me when they were taken, so it could be quite likely that it was on the market last year as well.

Davesnave wrote: »

If the place you like is sound, not damp and has reasonably modern wiring & plumbing, then the rest is cosmetic and can take as long as you like really.

I'm not sure how sound it is - I know it has damp in the bedroom from an outside wall, although looking at the outside of the house it looks like that might have been fixed recently. I have no idea about the wiring or the plumbing.

I suppose I can't really tell what state it is in without getting a survey... ?

spend_thrift

Went on the land registry website and downloaded the title register for the flat... turns out the lease is only 66 years. No wonder the EA has been reluctant to get it confirmed! :eek: