Using a property finder service to negotiate?

MoneyJuggler

We are looking at moving to a completely new area about 200 miles away.

I've done as much research as I can on sold prices -land registry, Zoopla sold prices, etc and been on rightmove with Property Bee pretty much daily for about 9 months.

However, the area we are moving to is more rural, so most properties are different from each other, so getting a good idea on prices is a bit tricky for me. Also not knowing area is making me worry I won't have the full picture -for example only recently found out that one of the areas we were looking at had proposals to reopen a quarry, increasing traffic of heavy trucks etc.

In addition, have only bought one house, and am unsure of how to present an offer in the best light - i.e. the fact that we will probably have a chain behind us, but have finances in place etc etc.

Ideally we would move and rent, but this is impractical as I need to port mortgage as is good rate, and also with children in school would rather just make the one move.

So with all the above in mind I am thinking of possibly using a property finder service in the area, partly to help with the search (haven't found anywhere yet, but will be under pressure when we accept an offer on our house), but also to conduct negotiations - for example one of the companies I looked at charged 1% of sale price plus 10 % of any saving on the asking price.

We are I guess quite specific in the type of property and location -eg away from busy road as son has asthma, schools are important etc etc, so our thinking is a service like this may well pay for itself in local knowledge?

Would really appreciate any thoughts/opinions and/or experiences!

Thank you in advance.

Doozergirl

You could try us - we're free and every time someone asks about local knowledge, there's someone that knows the area.

As for negotiating, well, it just takes gumption. You can pay someone to try and get you a better price, or you could just try and do it yourself! There's enough knowledge on this board to help you, I bet.

MoneyJuggler

Doozergirl wrote: »

You could try us - we're free and every time someone asks about local knowledge, there's someone that knows the area.

As for negotiating, well, it just takes gumption. You can pay someone to try and get you a better price, or you could just try and do it yourself! There's enough knowledge on this board to help you, I bet.

Thanks, that's a good idea - I know it's a forum, but I'm still getting the hang of it, and would worry about asking a whole string of questions! But you're right, I will definitely use the forum more as I get used to it and the situation develops!

MoneyJuggler

Anyone actually used a property finder service at all?

Any hints on what questions to ask , or how to tell which one might be best?

Thanks for any replies!