The ludicrous situation of stitching up FTB's

Angelicdevil

Took me nearly a year to find, and have an offer accepted, on my perfect 1st home....

Had offers accepted and then vendors changing their minds about selling/the price they actually wanted etc before I found the one I eventually bought.

In life you just need to have a little patience

propertyman

In the same way Loads of money was a product of the 80's,the OP is a typical product of the 90's and New labour;

"I want to do something I can't so someone must to be to blame".

They overlook that no one wanted the Conservatives but then no one exactly wanted the other two either :rotfl:

Being underbid by cash buyers is also that they are educated and knowledgeable so their offer is unlikely to be complicated with last minute reductions for a trivial matter, and are likely to complete far sooner. The vendor is in a stronger position as a buyer as a result.

And of course the agent might have the chance of picking up the letting instruction on the sale.

On a personal note EA's react to a person, if you come across one way, say as a moaner, they think " trouble" and go with the safer option. Think about your tack, perhaps "all business all the time"?

jee

Being underbid by cash buyers is also that they are educated and knowledgeable so their offer is unlikely to be complicated with last minute reductions for a trivial matter, and are likely to complete far sooner. The vendor is in a stronger position as a buyer as a result.

This sums it up perfectly OP.

GDB2222

fimonkey wrote: »

Bitter! The problem is the system - not individuals (you, me, investors etc,) and I am having a moan about it cos it has upset me 3 times!!! - If you don't like it don't read it. - simples ( you have an ironic name from someone who doesn't like bitterness btw).

I am really sorry to join in with the group saying that it must be something to do with you personally. It feels a bit like bullying in the playground, everybody joining in to give you a hard time, so my apologies!

I am afraid that mortgage approvals in principle are not really worth very much at all. However, if you have been offering significantly more than other buyers, it does seem surprising that you have not had more success. With 2 buyers offering the same amount, it hardly seems surprising that the cash buyers get priority, but you are saying that you are offering significantly more. You may just have had bad luck, with sellers who really needed to exchange urgently.

Failing that, all I can suggest is that you put your credentials on the line at a very early stage in the of the buying process, giving details of how much deposit you have available, your earnings, the type of job you do and how long you have been it, etc.

kingstreet

fimonkey wrote: »

the vendor has chosen a MUCH lower offer from a cash buyer

As it's unusual for the vendor or his/her agent to disclose successful offers, how did you find out the amount involved?

Did you wait for the Land Reg figures to be updated?

Ivana_Tinkle

We turned down an offer on our house which was only fractionally lower than we would have been willing to accept because the FTB was, in our EA's words, "seriously hard work". He refused to speak to their financial person to prove he was in a proceedable position, and was hugely offended by the EA's questions about how the sale was to be funded. He said that it was none of her business and that he was a FTB so, effectively, we should be bending over backwards to accept his offer. Also, he presented his offer as "take it or leave it" and said from the outset that if we didn't accept it he was walking away, so we took him at his word and didn't bother asking for the extra 1-2% we were looking for.

I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but this guy clearly thought he was terribly savvy and it cost him the house, in an area with a shortage of properties for sale, where prices are therefore rising.

(As it happens, the FTBs whose offer we eventually accepted have also turned out to be seriously hard work, so we might not have made the right decision, although they paid a bit more!)

bubblesmoney

I cant understand the bit about it being the govts fault. Guess just a fed up rant.

Anyway can be the EAs involved were dodgy? A few years ago when i was buying as a FTB in the UK, i had offered on few properties and one in particular my offer wasnt even accepted as an offer as apparently they couldnt accept the offer as i hadnt viewed the property. I was a FTB amd well placed and probably had full price that i had offered as cash but wasnt willing to put everything into a house and was going the mortgage route with almost 75% deposit. But my offer on a house was rejected as i said as i hadnt viewed the property. And later found out it was sold for almost 30-40k less than my offer. Dont remember the exact price it was sold for. I found this out from a colleague/neighbour who knew one of the sellers. Guess they werent told about my offer being 30-40k higher. There are enough dodgy EAs about who screw sellers and buyers alike and funnel sales towards their cash buyer buddies for quid pro quos. Part of the house buying selling game. Welcome to reality.

ps: bought same house (4B detached with front and back gardens)for 135k) a road away in a month or two from another agent / seller for 30-40k more but still a bargain as far as i am concerned. but obviously the other dodgy EA ripped off the seller by 40k or so.

Thrugelmir

bubblesmoney wrote: »

But my offer on a house was rejected as i said as i hadnt viewed the property.

Do you really expect to be taken seriously ?

GDB2222

He may not have been allowed to view, so it could go through to the EA's mate. These things happen, you know.

bubblesmoney

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Do you really expect to be taken seriously ?

YES. I had shown the EA my deposit money available in bank account as they were playing hard ball when i made the offer. i showed them my mortgage offer in principle for more than twice the price of the house i made the offer for. I had a decent job as did my wife, both working full time, both with savings and FTBs. We were having a baby and wanted to move before the baby was born. We were renting and ready to buy any vacant house that suited our needs and budget. I had told the EAs to only show me houses that suited our needs as i didnt want to waste my time seeing other houses.

BTW i did buy a house for exactly the same price, just a minutes walk away in the same estate with a bigger garden and in a better state within a month or two and moved in soon after.

I had viewed a few other properties in the same development built by the same developer and were 7.5- 8y old properties with NHBC guaranty still valid. My offer was taken seriously by other EAs as other EAs were pestering me then to view houses even those that i wasnt interested in as they knew i was a serious buyer.

My spiel to the EAs then was to only show me 4b detached houses that were empty and in a condition to move in immediately and near a train station with garden for my target price as described earlier. And for the EA not to waste my time if the owner wouldnt accept my price range. Often they would ask me to view houses marketted at 170k and i even saw houses in same estate marketted at 195k. Guess some sellers didnt want to sell and were looking for the price they needed than the price the market was offering and others needed to sell.

ps: i had called a few times to view property but wasnt allowed to view by EA and never got the chance then was told house off the market by EA after they allowed me to view (another agent who was showing property too) even when on rightmove then was told by colleague who lives a few houses away that her friend owned the property with her ex and house sold in distress for 30-40k less than i had offered.