opinions on this bungalow

vegasvisitor

Sorry, didn't read that bit about the offer already rejected.

I'd say if they want to go to £105 then not to go straight there. Make it an odd amount. Maybe not do it too soon make it look like it has been thought about carefully. £102 maybe, or £103k? They will be saying they're holding out for £115, but might not really mean it. Depends how long it's been on the market though, and what other interest they've had. It's definitely a fixer upper though, so only a narrow segment of the market might be interested.

Keen to hear how they get on next.

SUESMITH_2

i like it, nothing there that a bit of work wouldn't sort. if they are ftb with nothing to sell i would stress that to the agents, and that their offer is a good offer.

the house were are in now was a wreck when we bought it, we put in a very low cheeky offer and worked up from there, oh even took our bankbook into the eas office to show how much cash we had (sold our first house for a good profit and invested the money) to show that we were serious. ours was an executers sale.

motherofstudents

It's been on the market for about a year and reduced from £129950 to £119950. I would take what the EA says with a pinch of salt. His wife (partner in EA) said they would take £110,000, he now says £115k. They have had one sale fall through when the buyer's sale fell apart. Then they say there was an offer last week where they could not meet what the vendor wanted. Anyway, our mission is to get it below £110k. Looking at sold prices, next door sold in 2007 for £142500 and according to zoopla is worth around £131k now so spending 20k on it would make it around the 111k mark. It belonged to an old couple who have since died and the EA says the family are in no hurry to sell. (I love estate agents !) My son is going to make an improved offer tomorrow and just see the response, stressing they are ftbs with deposit, mortgage, solicitor etc. Not much else they can do, will keep you informed, thanks.

dopester

Davesnave wrote: »

In a nutshell, that reaction is what can make doer-uppers a good buy.

I inherited a bungalow like this one. I'm sure nobody would have wanted it as it stood, except a developer. The application of £10k and a bit of hard graft made it a completely different proposition.

Do you think we should dispose of buildings after 40 years or so, just because of their cosmetic appearance?

Except it's got an asking price of £119,500 (Ali G: Is you mental?), in Bur'rr'y, for a 2 bed semi-detached bungalow.

What jobs do son and gf have? Safe and secure jobs with payrises ahead? I'm asking because of your belief that in a few years they'll be able to trade up.

vegasvisitor

We live in a dormer bungalow, although a 1960 one. I don't think there's asbestos around our eaves, as we've recently had all the guttering and soffits replaced and the guy never mentioned it. I'm sure he would have.

It might depend on the builder etc, but I just googled it to see and there's no major reference to asbestos in dormer bungalows.

I'm curious as to why this would be the case?

vegasvisitor

Good, that means I don't really need to worry about it.

They say it is safe if undisturbed, but I'd rather have a house without it!

motherofstudents

Well, they had an offer accepted today of £106000 which they are happy with BUT what the estate agent has said has left us wondering what on earth is going on. It is as I said, an old couple who have died, they have left a percentage of the sale of the house to several charities. In view of this a surveyor had to be appointed to value it so that the charities don't lose out. He valued it at £115000. The vendors have contacted their solicitor and said they want to accept £106000 and he has said they can override the valuation. Now, the bit that we are not too happy about - EA says get the mortgage application in for £115000 then when the valuation is carried out if they value it less there won't be a problem. If the mortgage application is done at £106k the valuation may be lower and then the sale would fall through. They said that when the mortgage is sorted to go into the office and they will say that it has been negotiated down to £106k. I think this is totally dodgy but as we are not experts on this just looking for advice and hope someone out there might know. We are trying to get some advice from solicitor tomorrow. They will not take it off the market but say they will not sell it to anyone else. Am I right to be worried or is this more common than we are aware of ? The estate agent is a well established local company with a good reputation, what's going on?

puddy

no such thing as an EA with a good reputation

106 is the max price your son wants to pay, if the valuation comes in lower then that is just tough for the vendor, they will have to accept the price

you say that the vendors solicitor valued it at 115, well how convenient, your son has to stay strong and not be beaten into paying more. remember that house prices are not guaranteed to go up in the near future or even next 5 years or so, so they wont necessarily be able to trad up in the future plus they have lots of costs to pay out to upgrade the property, so they need to keep the price as low as possible

motherofstudents

Sorry, dopester I didn't answer your questions, I was a bit shocked by what EA had said. Girlfriend works in a financial institution which is as secure as anyone can be these days. Son is chartered commercial building surveyor so he will hopefully treble his income over few years. Of course no one has a crystal ball that is why they thought this one would be more suitable than a bog standard terrace as it could be extended and have value added to it. Their long term plan is to self build but who knows if they will achieve that, but they have to start somewhere. About the altitude, I'm not sure - it certainly was cold last winter but wasn't everywhere ? Bury has just had £300m invested in town centre and is a good place to live. It is a much better prospect than Rochdale which desperately needs investment. South Manchester ? Nice but overpriced I think. Eee, it's grim oop north but we like it !
I think they are just going to tell EA it's £106k take it or leave it. Asbestos is always a possibility in anything pre 1990 but we have all the contacts to do an asbestos survey.

Thanks again for all comments, we take them all on board. It's never straighforward is it this house buying.

SUESMITH_2

bloomin eck, charities can be a nightmare over things like this. anyway lets hope it all goes well and in 6-8 weeks thay can get rid of those hideous carpets. i would have risked a punt on it if i was them. good luck