A couple of house buying questions

gazfocus

Buying a house is still a while off yet (about a year) but now that the end is in sight, we've started to seriously look at the property market to get an idea of what we can afford.

We've got a folder together and we are printing off property details for the properties we like now so that when we are ready to start viewing in about 9 months time we will have a better idea of what we want and what's important to us.

However, we have a couple of questions. When we see prices that are 'Offers In Excess Of', what sort of offers would the seller be expecting? Is there a general percentage rule?

The other thing is how soon would you start viewing? Would you wait until you have the full deposit or a month/2 months before, etc?

hazyjo

England/Wales/Ireland or Scotland? Very different when it comes to 'offers over'.

You will need the deposit on exchange, and you'll need to prove you have it, or will have it, by the time you're applying for your mortgage (presuming you need one).

The whole process will probably take around 3 months.

I think you're doing the wisest thing in keeping a close eye on the market, you will find your tastes and compromises will change over the next few months, but do try not to get emotionally attached to anything or view something that you think you've fallen in love with before you're in a position to make an offer.

Jx

GAH

Offers in excess can mean anything, it depends on each vendor. Every vendor will have a different agenda, ideally to make sure of a smoother transaction its best if a vendor is motivated to sell.

You can view properties when ever you want, but don't start making any offers until you have your fund/finances in order.

gazfocus

Thanks for the replies

I completely forgot to mention, we're looking in England (I even thought 'I need to put that' when I wrote the post...doh!)

What we've been doing is if we see houses we like, we go and drive round at night to see what the street/area are like. Then we have a map in the front of our folder to mark the areas we like and the areas we don't.

Yeah, the 2-3 months to complete is kinda what we were thinking so if we start viewing houses in around 9 months knowing we'll have the deposit saved by end of month 11, we should be ok.

I also know what you mean, hazyjo about getting emotionally attached - that's my biggest concern but just can't stop looking at houses on rightmove lol.

hazyjo

Also helpful to use these forums for things. Sometimes in a tiny radius, there'll be streets to avoid. The chances are someone will know the area or road.

As above, 'offers over' means different things to different people. Some will accept under, some are looking for £20k over that, some will take the bottom figure. It drives me and most of us insane, and some on here won't view an 'offers over' in England/Wales at all!

I've had my eye on some in the Southend area (just being v nosy at this stage) which say offers over at £250k which is absolutely ridiculous cos of the SD level. Dunno what the agents are on over there - or maybe it's all that sea air gone to their heads! I'd be walking in with offers way under that. Take it or leave it!

Jx