First time buyer....need your suggestions please.

CloudCuckooLand

Do not agree to pay £5k for the extra items. You risk a big tax bill after the fact, when HMRC spot the transaction.

The EA should have prepared the seller for the difficulties at this price due to SDLT, just stick to your guns...

geoffky

do not pay the 5k but tell them your offer is on the table for a WEEK then will be 5k lower after that..i think paying 250k in this climate is also mad...bargin hard and think of the money in your pocket,,,,as someone said on here,,"its not as if your buying a ipod,you are buying the most expensive thing you will ever buy,,,,work very very hard to get more money off,,ask to see other houses with the one who is selling ..let them think you are looking at others...ect ect....do not look too keen

Flat_Eric

edward_scissorhands wrote: »

Hi again,

Thank you for all your replies.

Received a call from the EA today afternoon (who by the way have been helpful with our house search). The seller has agreed to lower the price to 255,000. Since we are FTB’s, he has said that we pay 250,000 for the house and 5,000 for the disposable items (to avoid the stamp duty). When I enquired what these disposable items were….they said it would be the curtains (plus the heat resistant blinds for the conservatory…which was apparently worth £4,000 at the time of purchase a few yrs ago), carpets & lightings.

I am not clear whether these items would be categorised as disposable items, probably the curtains & blinds would, but not the carpets and lightings. He has said that the solicitor would be fine with it and it is not illegal. We don’t want to do anything illegal knowingly or unknowingly that would be categorised as tax evasion or avoidance.

We haven’t given our answer as yet…and have said to them that we do need time to think about it.

Kindly do help us with your advise.

Many thanks in advance.

E Scissorhands.

As first time buyers, you are in a unique position that is unlikely ever to be repeated in your house buying life. The sellers should be biting your hands off. Sit down and work out how much you can afford to pay for this house and offer that sum. If you feel the house is worth paying £255,000.00 for because it is the house of your dreams then dig deep into your pockets but work out your monies to the last penny first. I don't recommend that you apportion the purchase price as to £250,000.00 for the property and £5,000.00 for the contents. Firstly, how can you be sure that the contents are indeed worth £5,000 ? Secondly, your solicitor will have to fill in a Stamp Duty Land Tax Return and thus it will be obvious to the Inland Revenue that the price has been apportioned. Inland Revenue are wise to this kind of thing and no doubt look closely at transactions where the sale price is borderline £250,000.00 but "extras" have been paid.

This is not a sellers market. It is a buyers market. If it really is the house of your dreams and you know you would regret for evermore not buying it then you will need to have a good hard think if the sellers refuse to budge on the £255,000.00 price but I would be inclined, especially with the forthcoming xmas break and the likelihood that things are probably not going to pick up house price wise until the Spring? to offer below the £250,000 mark. As first time buyers, you don't want to stretch yourself as there are always surprises round the corner that involve digging into your pocket and thus any cash that can be saved is a good thing.

The more the house sells for, the more commission the estate agent will get so its in their interests for the house to go for as much as possible. Remember that when they next phone you up. They might appear to be your best friend but sadly I suspect they are bias to the seller.

edward_scissorhands

Thank you all for your valuable advice. Much appreciated.

Will keep you all updated.

Kind regards,

E Scissorhands.

hazyjo

PS made to measure conservatory blinds are worthless and should be included in the sale of the house. Were they mentioned on the EA's sale particulars? Unless they're moving somewhere they're going to have the exact same size conservatory fitted, they're good for nothing, and more hassle getting down than leaving up. I bet they leave them anyway, even if you don't pay. If they're not there, they'll be on a rubbish tip out of spite (but can't see that happening, tbh).

Jx

edward_scissorhands

Dear all,

Finally the seller has agreed to sell the house for £250,000/- a few days ago. We have accepted. We are happy and satisfied.

We were in touch with our independent mortgage advisors (apparently rated the best in the UK) and they have offered us a mortgage from Woolich (which is part of Barclays): 3.39% fixed for 2 yrs and variable of 2.99% for the remaining term of 25yrs.

The additional costs are:
Conveyance solicitors: £1301/- (all inclusive)
Home Buyers report: £555/-
Since we are FTB, we won’t be paying any stamp duty.
The mortgage advisors are paid by the lenders.

Is there anything else that I need to be aware of?

Thank you all for your support

Kind regards,

Edward.

myhouse_2

edward_scissorhands wrote: »

Dear all,

Finally the seller has agreed to sell the house for £250,000/- a few days ago. We have accepted. We are happy and satisfied.

Is there anything else that I need to be aware of?

Thank you all for your support

Kind regards,

Edward.

Yes, you need to be aware that you did the right thing:beer: (with a little help from those on the forum). Calling their bluff was the right thing to do as no one in their right mind would pay 255k.
Just be aware that when you come to sell you will likely face the same issue with stamp duty threshold.

geoffky

Well done...

cheekychappy

edward_scissorhands wrote: »

Dear all,

Finally the seller has agreed to sell the house for £250,000/- a few days ago. We have accepted. We are happy and satisfied.

We were in touch with our independent mortgage advisors (apparently rated the best in the UK) and they have offered us a mortgage from Woolich (which is part of Barclays): 3.39% fixed for 2 yrs and variable of 2.99% for the remaining term of 25yrs.

The additional costs are:
Conveyance solicitors: £1301/- (all inclusive)
Home Buyers report: £555/-
Since we are FTB, we won’t be paying any stamp duty.
The mortgage advisors are paid by the lenders.

Is there anything else that I need to be aware of?

Thank you all for your support

Kind regards,

Edward.

who are the mortgage advisors?