House buying - how can I get more info before making an offer

becci747

Hello,

I'm rarely here other than to use the tips but we have found a house that we are quite keen on and have a couple of qualms.

The house itself is owned by an older couple who are looking to downsize due to ill health. The chap is quite open about that fact that he doesn't want to move but that they feel they have to, particularly for his wife.

The house is a 30's build, dated inside and needs some TLC which we are happy to do, but obviously means we intend to offer quite a way below the asking price as we think it's priced high. The neighbours in one direction have several dogs, but that really doesn't bother us too much.

With this in mind, we asked them at a viewing today if they had had any previous offers / sales fall through. Apparently 4 sales have now fallen through, and they have certainly had a survey done by at least two of the possible buyers. When pressed they indicated that the buyers had pulled out because of either the dogs or the garden being too demanding. I asked if they were aware of any problems a survey might show up and they said no.

They have recently moved to a new agent, none of the offers that have been made have been with the new one.

We would like to find out more accurately why these people didn't proceed, whether they were actually all potential sales, and if there is more to it. It seems to me that if you knew you didn't want a garden or didn't like the neighbours dogs you wouldn't put an offer in in the first place!

Does anyone have any tips how I might find out more or are we just going to have to risk paying for a survey ourselves assuming they accept our offer.

Can I approach the previous agent or not?

Thanks in advance for your help.

kingstreet

I suspect the former agent will not disclose any information to you.

You appear to have little choice but to go ahead and risk a fee or two, or find something else.

Wanton

How long was the property on the market with the previous agent? And have the vendors got somewhere to move to?

I've seen a similar case before where the vendor didn't really want to move but had to and was looking for the perfect house to move to in the perfect area at the perfect price. They kept accepting offers on their property but couldn't find anywhere to move to, thus sales kept falling through.

Loanranger

Why not just talk to the vendor about your concern about why so many sales had fallen through and whether they are seriously motivated to move? Tell him you're interested but concerned.
Seems to me that you're looking for others to ask rather than the direct approach.

SG27

Loanranger wrote: »

Why not just talk to the vendor about your concern about why so many sales had fallen through and whether they are seriously motivated to move? Tell him you're interested but concerned.
Seems to me that you're looking for others to ask rather than the direct approach.

They have already done this. No gaurantee that they are telling the truth.

becci747

Loanranger wrote: »

Why not just talk to the vendor about your concern about why so many sales had fallen through and whether they are seriously motivated to move? Tell him you're interested but concerned.
Seems to me that you're looking for others to ask rather than the direct approach.

We did ask today and he told us that they had to move for health reasons and the only reason the other sales fell through were for the dogs / garden reason. It just doesn't quite sit right somehow, call it instinct if you will.

I guess that we will have to take a bit of a punt. We are probably going to put in a silly low offer and see what comes from it.

somethingcorporate

Everyone's reason is personal so the reasons the previous offerors could have given may have been lies too - they may have had mortgage offers fall through, lost buyers themselves, not been able to raise finance, lost jobs etc but give stock answers to save face with the vendor.

There is nothing you can do but your own research and at the end of the day this is the only thing that matters.

Good luck but don't expect much give unless they are very motivated and you are in a great position.

Ivana_Tinkle

You should keep digging around to find out if there's problems with the house or the neighbours, but it does sound a bit like the 4 sales that have "fallen through" might actually just be 4 viewings which went no further. (In particular, the comment about the garden sounds more like the kind of thing you say as feedback to an EA than a reason for pulling out of the sale.) I wonder if the vendor is just a bit confused about the terminology.