need advice on buying please

julie88_2

not moved for over 20 years so out of touch.

seen a house at £700,000 when i enter an online calculator it shows stamp duty payable at a massive £28,000 which is a morgage in itself is this correct? at first thought it was £2,800 till i had a closer look. [still in shock]

if the house is priced at £700,000 what would be a fair offer to make please.

also

not had a morgage for 3 years is it better to apply for a morgage as a first time buyer or not.

grimsalve

julie88 wrote: »

seen a house at £700,000 when i enter an online calculator it shows stamp duty payable at a massive £28,000 which is a morgage in itself is this correct? at first thought it was £2,800 till i had a closer look.

Unfortunately, yes. SDLT on houses sold for £500,001 or more is 4% :eek:

julie88 wrote: »

if the house is priced at £700,000 what would be a fair offer to make please.

What do you think the house is worth? How long has it been on the market? What condition is it in? Does it look like it needs any major work? (or you could post the RM link on here for a few frank opinions)

If you've been to view then did the vendor appear keen to sell?

julie88 wrote: »

not had a morgage for 3 years is it better to apply for a morgage as a first time buyer or not.

Unfortunately, I don't think you'd qualify for FTB. YMMV.

julie88_2

thanks for confirming the stamp duty was only looking at £50,000 morgage as we are retired, the massive stamp duty is a real spanner in the works must put so many people off buying, was this down to the brown/darling period.

i am now looking at offer of 650,000 for the house on sale at 700,000 would this be reasonable? do not want to offend the sellers.

the place seems ok, not surveyed but i would want a new kitchen/batroom suite as they are small a bit dated.

is oil based heating ok as it has no gas just a large oil tank, electric & sewage are mains

grimsalve

julie88 wrote: »

i am now looking at offer of 650,000 for the house on sale at 700,000 would this be reasonable? do not want to offend the sellers.

Unless they are friends of yours I wouldn't worry about offending them - you're buying their house not moving in with them! If you put in a low offer then all the EA/Vendor will do is say no. It's then your choice whether to offer a bit more, or let them stew a bit, or give up and look for somewhere else.

If you think the house is worth £650k (have you included the costs of updating the kitchen and bathroom in this?) then that's what you should offer - basic rule of "a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it" always applies.

Is the house on RM?

julie88 wrote: »

is oil based heating ok as it has no gas just a large oil tank, electric & sewage are mains

Having oil heating would really put me off buying it. Personally the first thing I'd do is find out how awkward it would be to install gas and get rid of the tank (or I'd just find another property that had a gas meter!). Each to their own though, maybe you don't see it as being a big problem?

julie88_2

is the oil burning really bad news

hethmar

Cor £700k - this must be something special? Not being offensive here, but as retirees, do you really want/need such an expensive house and a new mortgage? Personally Id buy something cheaper and spend, spend, spend.

If you are set on it, look on some of the sites that show how long its been on sale and if the price tag has dropped at all - also the price paid for the house and houses in the area. At that sort of price, in this climate Id want something amazing and Id still be looking for a big discount - there arent many buyers with that sort of money available. Where is this place?

smcqis

Oil burning wouldn't worry

kingstreet

smcqis wrote: »

Oil burning wouldn't worry

Me neither. If it's rural, there may be no mains gas, so it's oil or LPG.

m_13

I'd never have oil heating again. Having to fill a bunded tank at the price the oil company want to charge is no joke and the boilers are not as efficient either unless you spend a fortune. Our neighbour had an LPG tank that he used for his heating and his converted vehicle.

Nenen

julie88 wrote: »

is the oil burning really bad news

IMHO there are two problems with oil CH:
1) it is sooooo expensive and the price fluctuates constantly so is much more difficult to budget for. You also have to pay for what you use in advance of using it and cannot spread the cost over the year - hence bills in winter are horrendous!
2) You have to keep an eye on your oil tank and remember to order oil well in advance so you don't run out. If it is a rural property (and most oil CH places are as they only choose oil as they don't have the option of gas) then if weather prevents oil companies delivering you can be without heating during a freeze until roads clear.

We moved to a property with oil fired central heating about 19 months ago and our heating bills are now double what they were with gas (although it is a bigger property and a bungalow too). In the coldest part of this winter we the heating was costing us around £100 per week!:eek:

On a more positive note - if you have an open fire, or better still a wood burning stove and/or an aga, you can supplement the heating with that. You could also look into the cost of installing solar panels although I have no idea whether or not they generate enough power to heat a house.