So what's to procedure here?

evansmummy

Ok so I've made the fatal error of looking at houses before selling mine (I can hear the boos from the booers from here )

The situation is I've instructed the EA today who are taking photos and putting on right move early next week.
We've seen a house we like and we explained the situation to the vendor. Their situation is selling their house to buy with Mother-In-Law (who's already sold hers). She said she's happy to move her M-I-L in if it comes to it until they find something. Then later in the viewing (when talking schools) she said she's going to rent somewhere in the immediate area so she can get her youngest into the local school.
I have sorta taken this as they wouldn't be in a massive rush to move as it could mean they don't have to rent as long.
Anyway....How would I approach showing interest to the EA? I would like the house and am actually happy to pay the asking price. I don't expect them to take it off the market (I understand I'm not in the best position not having sold mine) but just to let them know we are interested.
What's your thoughts?

B_Blank

Doesnt matter because the whole market is in lock down before the crash. Will take ages for a big chain move to go through unless you get insanely lucky.

PasturesNew

My thoughts are that if you indicate you're interested, then that'll keep their hopes up of getting the price it's on for now. It'll delay any thoughts they have of dropping the price.

If you don't say anything, then by the time you're in a position to buy you'll be in a better position to bargain as they'll be thinking nobody'll want it.

You lose nothing by not offering/declaring your hand.

If, on the other hand, you do say "lovely house, I want it" .... then another person comes along that CAN buy it, you'd be dropped anyway. So you can't "save your place in the queue" by expressing interest.

Resist the urge to view until people have offered on yours.

evansmummy

PasturesNew wrote: »

My thoughts are that if you indicate you're interested, then that'll keep their hopes up of getting the price it's on for now. It'll delay any thoughts they have of dropping the price.

If you don't say anything, then by the time you're in a position to buy you'll be in a better position to bargain as they'll be thinking nobody'll want it.

You lose nothing by not offering/declaring your hand.

If, on the other hand, you do say "lovely house, I want it" .... then another person comes along that CAN buy it, you'd be dropped anyway. So you can't "save your place in the queue" by expressing interest.

Resist the urge to view until people have offered on yours.

I can see your point. Might just hang on a bit until I've had a couple of viewers on my place

geoffky

play the cards you get dealt...you might win without showing your hand.

womble12345

Maybe there is mileage in offering very near asking price on the house, this will make the vendors think the house is worth lots of money and make them less likely to accept a lower offer from someone else. Then when you sell your house you can go back and say you had to accept less than you hoped and want to reduce your offer.... this tactic may have bought you enough time to get the house..... It does go against my moral code but I have heard of it happening.

tyllwyd

I would just give positive feedback to the EA (because everybody likes it if you say you like their house so the vendors will be more kindly disposed towards you) and say that you are putting your house on the market so you can't go any further forward at the moment, but you will be back in touch when you are in a better position. That's what everyone who has viewed our house has done (and never been seen again). There's not much more you can do - if you start offering now, it puts everyone in a false position especially in the current market where if it takes six months for you to sell, prices could potentially have changed significantly by the time you are in a position to start making offers.

anoneemouse

My two pennorth is that I would have thought tactics vary according to how saleable your own house is.

I am keeping a lookout now for a better house to move to and my situation is that I will (might!) find the better house I require first. I will then immediately put my house on the market.

My reasoning is that I am being so specific about what I want to move to and am restricted as to how much I can pay for it that I really have to find the next one first or I might find myself in a situation of getting a house that was only a tiny bit better than what I currently have.

My current house was bought originally with a view to it being a very saleable type of house in a saleable area. This is still the case. Houses in my area don't seem to stay on the market for long and I have one of the biggest of my type, so I dont anticipate any problems in selling it. Previously a house like mine would have sold in a matter of a few hours, a few days at the most. These days it will take a bit longer, but it shouldnt take longer than a few weeks (that is both my own estimate and an estate agents estimate on that).

Therefore I think that it's "horses for courses". If your house is a difficult to sell one, then you have to sell it first and buy the next one later. If your house is an easy to sell one, then you look for the next one first.

O.P. doesn't say whether their house is, of itself:
- hard to sell (ie no-one would want it except at a very good price)
- medium difficulty to sell (ie will go pretty quickly in a "normal" market and will maybe take a couple of months or so in this "market")
- easy to sell (ie will go quickly, even in this "market").

Doozergirl

anoneemouse, you can throw your old rule book out of the window. Play it that way but however long you think it will take, unless you're prepared to compromise on the asking price, you might be disappointed. There is no 'normal' any more, and there was never a pecking order of what kind of house sells quickly and what sells slowly. Overpriced houses sell slowly, keenly priced ones sell quickly - it's the buyers that make up their minds as to what is sensible, and ultimately how long it takes, not the vendors unfortunately. Tthat's the only thing you can rely on. You cut your coat to suit your cloth; any house will sell in a day if priced correctly.

Agents will say the right things to get you onto the books. I wish I knew how long it took to sell each house, it would make my job a lot easier.

evansmummy

Thanks for your advice guys and everything people have said has made sense in one way or another.
My house is a three story weavers cottage which we've decorated to high spec (new bathroom, feature fireplaces, beams in the master bedroom, a walk in wardrobe) so I'm hoping that the high spec and the 5 metre bedroom sizes makes people want to buy it straight away but like everyone's said who knows in this market.
Time will tell in the next couple of weeks if we get any interest.
I would love the house we've seen but I'm trying to take my feelings out of the equation as I know we might miss out on it.