Found a house we possibly want, have a few questions

skinnyman9000

Evening all,

Me and the missus have been hunting for our first home for the past month, and today we viewed a very nice one. The house is in a location on our short list, and for the price, is very large. We have two concerns though:

Firstly, it was built in 2006/2007. My concern is that these were the boom years, and the quality of the build has to be questioned. Things such as the double glazing, the frames are wooden and not uPVC, should this be a concern? Secondly, a few of the doors seemed to close on there own, could this be a sign or sloping/dodgy construction?

Also, the house has been on the market since August 2011, with 2 different agents. Agent 1 (who we viewed with today) has told us that an offer has been made with agent 2. I am inclined to believe that this is a bluff, they're hoping we'll offer more than this other "offer" with them, I'm assuming. My gut feeling is that it's unlikely to be under offer now when it's sat unsold since last August. They also say that if an offer is made the house will remain on the market until completion. This doesn't sound normal to me? I was under the impression that a house is usually marked as sold once an offer has been accepted? The house is not a repossession either. So I'm a little confused with the under offer situation.

Any opinions on the above?

jackomdj

Re the closing doors, did they have the safety chain on? A lot of new builds do, we took ours off as worried they would shut on the childrens hands.

I would say the build would be no better or worse just because of the age (IMO)

If you make an offer ensure you state that any offer if subject to it being removed from the Market. Also just offer what you want not based on some other, unknown, person. If they turn you down don't go back in with another offer right away. Not marketing it does not mean someone who has previously seen it can't come in with an offer but hopefully cuts out people who have not seen it yet.

G_M

It cannot stay on the market till Completion - once you Exchange Contracts bothsides are legally commited. Or do you mean 'Exchange'?

If it were a repossession (are you sure?) this is normal. Otherwise it's unusual. Make it a condition of your offer that the seller remove it from the market with all agents.

The age makes neither more nor less likely to be of suspect quality. The doors do not necessarily indicate an issue, but ask your surveyor to comment. Since my guess is you are not a confident DIYer or similar, I would ensure you get a decent survey and use that to assess the quality rather than a bunch of amateurs on a public forum who have not seen the property!

skinnyman9000

First impressions were repossession (only 2 poor photos in the ad and all the carpets removed from the house) but the agent said no, the owners have simply moved onto their next home.

Exchange sounds more likely than completion.

I'm fairly confident in terms of my DIY skills, I haven't had too do much house DIY as this will be my first property, but I'm happy to get my hands dirty. Just wanted to know if anyone else had had issues with wooden framed windows, or doors that seem to close on their own. We're currently weighing up whether to make an offer based on the work that needs to be done. The entire house needs flooring and redecorating top to bottom. But we wanted to get experiences from others before we make an offer and possibly the expense of a detailed survey.

inmypocketnottheirs

The property should still have the balance of the NHBC 10 year guarantee.

junglejim2

Wooden window frames will need to be maintained and painted/stained every 2/3 years, upvc just needs cleaning.
As a previous poster said are the doors on self closing chains?
If not, something is making them close ie gravity, so not level somewhere.

craigsville_2

Ignore the "offer" with the other agent, standard transparent agent tricks. The property has been on a while so therefore they will be keen for a sale, on with 2 agents shows desperation (there is never a good reason to have 2 agents). I'd go in with a low offer, unless they have an offer with a CASH buyer, you are the best they can get. Even if you offer less than the other imaginary offer, you are in a great position. I'm a property developer so do this for a living and believe me, most people are clued up enough to know that a slightly lower offer from a good (ie no chain) buyer is far better than a long chain.

Totally agree with previous replies- offer subject to removal from market (check they do it too, it takes 24hrs max to remove from rightmove regardless of what they tell you, I worked as an agent for a while and its standard to let it hang around on there in case a better offer comes through). If it hasn't got the remainder of the NHBC guarantee then there needs to be a damn good reason why!

really be prepared to walk away if the agents muck you about, they will soon chase you as they want their commission. Remember its definitely a buyers market and theirs so much choice out there. Good luck!

pinkteapot

I prefer the look of wooden frames personally, but they do need more maintenance - repainting/staining every few years. Most people whose houses were built with wood-framed windows eventually change them to uPVC these days, so you may want to factor in financially the fact that it's something you might want to do in the future. However, if the wood is in good condition now you won't be able to haggle on the basis that the windows need changing.

If you have any particular concerns you can let your surveyor know before the survey is done (definitely upgrade from the lender's valuation report) and ask him to have a look.

girl_withno_name

Be wary though, we made an offer on a property that had been on the market for 6 months with only a few viewers and assumed the other interested party to be fictitious... Seems they weren't and these things can indeed be coincidental sometimes!!

blackshirtuk

just some thoughts:-

doors self closing - badly fitted, warped doors warped frames, draft, open window.
marketed till exchange- offer from other person is real and been accepted but you can offer more because they haven't exchanged, so it would be a race to exchange, if not a real offer, this scenario could happen to you!