To those BUYING in these difficult times....

Pupnik

We had our offer accepted on Tuesday so now I feel like the stressful part is beginning. We have our mortgage in principle but haven't been able to speak to our mortgage advisor as he is on holiday- I really hope it all goes through okay, I am worrying because we were told that my income can't be included as I am on a temporary contract so we are just using my boyfriend's income, we don't need to borrow that much (around £40k) but I am still fretting that me not having a 'proper' job will hamper things. I'm also worrying that the survey will come back with loads of problems as it is a fairly old property. I know the cellar has some damp but as far as I know that is common for a cellar, I'm hoping there aren't any other problems. We are already going to have some extra costs as there is a bit of work I want to do to it and we are going to try to either buy the freehold or extend the lease. I want to be excited but I feel like I am waiting for the worst!

Taiko

Had my offer accepted as a FTB, living with parents currently. Managed to get the vendor to drop their price.

Living with parent at the moment, and reason I'm buying is that they are being forced to sell and relocate. Just sprung on me this afternoon after getting home from work the other party want a completion date of the 24th June. That gives me two weeks to get survey, exchange and complete on mine. If I try and hurry my vendor, they'll probably drop out I reckon. I don't think they've actually instructed their solicitors, as they were getting quotes on Wednesday! Argh!

spend_thrift

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Possibly a really silly question BUT...

How do you all arrange your viewings? ....

So you dictate what time you want to see something (i.e. EA1 gets 12pm or 1pm, EA2 gets 2pm or 3pm) , or do we really have to wait for each one to come back to us?

Hi Skint_Catt,

I find that being honest about your situation with the EAs seems to help, that and making sure you phone them rather than email. When I speak to one to arrange a viewing I tell them that I am making a special trip because I don't live in the area, and I also tell them what other plans I have for the day so we can find an appointment time that will slot in nicely.

Obviously I don't go into detail about the other properties I have lined up to view or the other EAs I am using, but since most EAs will want you to buy from them rather than the competition, they're usually pretty good about arranging a time for a viewing that suits you.

My best day yet was a mammoth 6 properties with about 4 agents and everything timed perfectly so I got from one to the next with a max of 15 minutes waiting around time. I started in the morning on the Saturday and finished around 6pm.

One word of advice - don't line up too many all at once. I found that after my long day of viewing a lot of the details of the properties blended into one. I couldn't remember things like which one was share of freehold, or which one had a maintenance charge of £xxx for example. Six in one day is probably too many :rotfl:

Make the most of your day but be realistic about how many places you can see. Especially if you're tired from being pregnant.

Good luck

The_Drama_Llama

Congrats on finally completing, Grimbal!

We exchanged yesterday and have a completion date of 20th June. Then the really stressful part starts : the builders. Place needs a new kitchen, bathroom, fell redecoration, floors and part of the staircase needs replacing. Sigh.

Grimbal

cheers DL - not quite yet at completion yet tho - is next Friday. We've probably jinxed things now though as we went out today & bought a fridge freezer........

Your place sounds very much like the state ours is in - needs pretty much everything doing to it. We're hoping to get the existing building up to scratch in the couple of months whilst we're still in rental, then do the extension around September time. We're very lucky that we can stay in our rental until the place is rewired & re-plumbed: do you have that luxury or are you doing the "big move" from one place straight into the other?

The_Drama_Llama

No, we're lucky too...staying in our rental (5 mins round the corner) whilst it's all made lovely. Phew...I've hear some right horror stories about trying to live without a kitchen/bathroom!

Just hoping I can find a good (not too slow) builder...

Grimbal

ah, that's good then - like you, the thought of having no bathroom whilst the new one was installed was scaring me silly ! We're actually off this morning to try and get a firm quote for the bathroom & to talk likely timescales. We're hoping that 6 weeks notice should be enough - what do you think?

The_Drama_Llama

I would have thought so...I have no yardstick though. Since a loft conversion takes 4-5 weeks, I can't imagine just replacing a bathroom takes longer.

Thefunkygibbons

Agreed a purchase today.

New build so quite straight forward

Now all I need to somewhere to rent for 8/9 weeks

Skint_Catt

Oh I'm sooo disappointed!!!

We found a beautiful house several weeks ago with loads more space than we ever could have imagined for our money. Sadly that night my husband 'decided' that he didn't want to live in that town (where I grew up & close to my parents) so we continued to look in the other three towns we'd earmarked though my heart is only in one of those (& typically in which the market just isn't moving a jot).

He finally came round to the idea of my home town last night - phoned to make an offer this morning (with me mentally moving in for the past few hours) when the EA calls me (accidentally instead of my husband) and tells me the vendors have decided not to move. Ok, so it's not as bad as someone putting in a bigger offer that we can't beat, but I'm devestated! I accept that it's par for the course in buying a house and worse things could have happened but as a FTB I was so excited (as were my parents!)

Now hubby's phoning two others we viewed on Saturday to make offers but my hearts not in them anymore - especially the one 600ft from the motorway....

*sigh*