Diary of a House Search

Thebestmumalive

Thank you - you've said everything I thought - but you do begin to doubt yourself.

I did tell the EA that the offer remained on the table, so you never know.

(thebestmumalive - my son wanted something years ago, and set my name up for me! )

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely peeps.

I'm up with the larks. the sun is shining and all is well in my little world, apart from my darling OH of course. Sad to say the drug trial has been unsuccessful so we are back to square one. A crushing blow I'm afraid but then tbh it is pretty much the result I expected.

Anyway a quick update and something to share with you.

DS2's offer has been accepted as you know and we are just waiting to see which mortgage we are going to go for. As you know this house is to be a development project. We are going back to see it today and have a general poke about. The house is empty. We are hoping to "add value" by adding a third bedroom and ensuite in the loft, so we are going to take a ladder and he can poke his head up there and have a ferret around and see what's what.

DS1's house is progressing nicely, mortgage offer now received, all searches done etc, contracts nearly ready for signing.

I must tell you about the survey.....This was just the lenders valuation. What a complete waste of time and money that was.....Their guy obviously hasn't a clue about old buildings.

He missed stuff we had spotted and prattled on about inconsequential bits of little importance such as the boundary garden wall.

I have spoken to a specialist surveyor and we will be having the "Full Monty" once we have moved in so that we can talk through everything with him. I have already had a chat with the conservation officer and we have gone over everything with a fine tooth comb with the vendors so I have no concerns.

I spoke to the Vendors the other evening to discuss a couple of points the survey had raised - no problem the issues had been dealt with long ago.

But listen to this. She told me that they had visited the property and whilst her husband was clearing out the workshop (yes it even has a proper workshop:j) she spent a couple of hours weeding and tidying the garden so that it didn't get out of hand. How kind and thoughtful was that. It is such a pleasure to deal with such lovely poeple, which is more than can be said about the EA's acting in DS2's house.

As for the Vendor.......I don't think I want to deal with her. I can't make up my mind whether she is just plain stupid or what, she is certainly very greedy. She tried to play off the purchasers one against the other, eventually the EA told her in no uncertain terms to stop it and take our offer because it was a damn good one. I had already made it clear that it was our final offer and that we would walk away if she didn't stop messing about.

Anyway we'll have the last laugh. By the time we've done with it it will be a very desirable house in a very fashionable area. It should sell well.

"Bestmumalive"

How are you getting on. Have you heard any more about the house you were interested in.

Yorkie1

Thanks for the update but sorry to hear about your OH.

lessonlearned

Good morning all

I have just spotted someone on another thread on the house buying section describing my little diary as "glib". Oh dear, is "glib" how I really come over. Professional and experienced is not the same as glib surely.

This thread was meant to be a light hearted look at EA's, with me sharing my thoughts on current practice etc. Along the way I have also tried to advise and guide one or two people - especially FTB's through what can be a confusing maze.

Oh well I guess it just goes to prove the old adage "You can't please all of the people all of the time".

I consider myself to be professional and knowledgeable, more to the point honest and ethical. Slick maybe, glib never.

Anyway ........The good news......

First house purchase - The "Walton House" :rotfl: - The one we are going to share for a while.

We are aiming for exchange on Friday, to legally complete the following Friday - about 3 to 4 weeks earlier than I anticipated. This is great for us because we can now terminate our rental contracts a bit earlier and save ourselves some money on rent.

So - my verdict on this particular EA. First class:T:T
Same with broker and solicitor. Sterling service from everyone concerned.

So that's one down, one to go......

Second house - the "fixer upper" - EA not nearly so on the ball. Still awaiting some answers to a few questions we had.

Went back for another viewing on Friday - took a ladder to inspect the roof void. Needs work!!!! Will see what the surveyor has to say.
Luckily the Vendor's son was at home so we were able to get some info from him. He was more than happy to exchange contact numbers so my guess is he is not that enamoured with the EA firm either;)

He showed me a file that his sister has compiled for us, with various instructions and guarantees etc. - so at least they are reasonably well organised.

The EA firm is very lacklustre and has a tendancy to try and bully purchasers. My FTB son has been upset by them a couple of times. Luckily yours truly has waded in like John Wayne and sorted things out.

The negotiator who has showed us round on both occasions has been very helpful and obliging. She doesn't bluff or blag when she doesn't know the answer. Another one worth head-hunting if I ever set up my own firm. She is far too good for this firm.

Still not sure what is going to happen with my parents' property. We've had valuations done. I think they are a bit optimistic. The house needs a lot of work and I think the EA's were a bit blinded by the house's obvious charm and it's desirable location. I think a survey might tell a rather different story. :rotfl:

I think we either need to do the remedial works first or put it on at a more realistic asking price.

However, it is all rather academic at the moment because Mum has now had to go into a nursing home. That particular house move has been put on hold for the time being whilst Dad has time to rethink things and get his head around it all. He is still a bit in shock and far too emotionally fragile to contemplate a house move.

Another lovely day here. I have been making the best of this fine spell tending my little "plant nursery". Specimen trees and shrubs are not cheap and landscaping a garden from scratch can be an expensive job.

A little tip. I bought some small plants, trees and shrubs last year and have lovingly nurtured them, growing them on in pots in readiness to plant them out in our new gardens. Today I am aiming to take cuttings to increase stock and start off the next batch.

I've also started scouring the charity shops for furniture to renovate and upscale. Picked up a lovely old oak chest and a bookcase - £15 each, some heavy tapestry curtains £10 - will cut them up and use the fabric to reupholster some chairs.

All very MSE;)

lessonlearned

Nearly there:D

DS1 - Exchanged yesterday. Legally complete tomorrow. 6 weeks start to finish. Nice and easy. EA said yesterday that we had been the "perfect buyers". I just laughed and said well after 30 years as an EA myself I had learned a thing or two.

DS2 - survey instructed at last. Still heard nothing from the solicitors. (Not our usual ones). DS2 house purchase is proving more problematical, just as I knew it would. This is because, in the end, I caved in and used their team, rather than my own very competent very trustworthy people.

Both my intuition and my experience told me not to do this but my son was more or less bullied into it. I would have held my ground and called their bluff but my poor son was so upset that I agreed to their terms.

They sold their services on the basis that we would be guaranteed a smooth transaction. Yes of course.!!! We all know the real reason why they wanted the business.;)

Frankly I don't overly care much about their greed. If they had given good customer service I could have swallowed it. I wouldn't have been so annoyed. However they have been abysmal.

Never again. I will trust my own instincts next time. I have already written a very strong letter of complaint and once, the transaction is complete, I shall be making a formal complaint to the FSA.

At one time my son wanted to just walk away. I pointed out that this would be cutting off his nose to spite his face because he had set his heart on the house. Plus of course it is a good investment. There is money to be made on this one.

My son has learned a valuable lesson. Mum really does know best:D

On a more serious level he has learned that not everyone is ethical in their business dealings, that not all professionals are professional, that he needs to be more careful and that sometimes he needs to be much much firmer.

Hopefully, assuming the survey isn't too dire, then we can wrap this one up too.

We can settle in to the "Walton House" and then get on with the refurbishment of DS2's fixer upper.

So it's on with the packing....

I hope you have enjoyed our journey and found it enlightening.

I have learned how it feels to be on "the other side" of the fence.

I have found being a buyer far more difficult that being a seller.

I think this is because when I sold my house I did the bulk of the work myself. I merely used the EA as an introducer. I did everything else, I held the reins and I was in complete control. As a buyer this was not possible. Even something as simple as getting a viewing in the first place was an obstacle course.

When I sell in future I will adopt the same approach - I will remain in control. I will probably use an online agent so that I can have access to Rightmove.

Buying I might have to try some kind of "direct action", thus avoiding EA's.

I need to find a good property finder. :rotfl:

lessonlearned

Update

DS2's house fell through. The survey was dire, the vendors were greedy and would not re-negoitiate, the EA's were dreadful, lazy, incompetent, rude and arrogant. In the end we walked away.

We continued our search, found another little property which was nicer, surveyed better, bigger and £15K cheaper. We completed just before Christmas and the renovations are under way. The EA's were good, especially the negotiator who helped my son, however, Santander, the lenders, were disastrous. It took them three attempts to get the mortgage offer right.

The poor vendor was really upset at the the delays and very anxious. She was a widow who hadn't ever had to deal with anything like this on her own before and was understandably nervous that the deal might fall through. My son and I kept in touch with her constantly to re-assure her that we were serious and were not messing her around.

It all came right in the end. So that's No 2 done and dusted.

Step 3 has now begun.

My mum is now permanently in a nursing home, and dad is over the worst of the shock and has been able to start planning a revised future for them.

We've found a retirement complex which consists of part sheltered accommodation and part nursing home. Hopefully Dad can move into one of the apartments and mum into the nursing complex. That way they can be close together when Dad can no longer drive. He shouldn't really still be driving now but that's another story.

He has put their little cottage on the market. Although Dad did see sense and did not go with last year's wildly optimistic valuations I still think the asking price is too high. I think it will not survey well, however, Dad has accepted the EA's "valuation".

Which brings me back to EA's again………..

Now I know that EA's are supposed to secure the best possible price for the Vendor, however, in this case I do not think they are being at all realistic.

Going in too high is not in my parent's best interests. They are in their late 80's and the last thing they need is complicated protracted negotiations, upsets, and delays.

Their cottage is likely to attract young FTB's, it will not survey well and FTB's are likely to either take fright or not have sufficient funds to undertake the renovation works required.

I can foresee offers being accepted, surveys being done and deals falling through. The EA's will not admit any of this to my Dad, just leading him on with false hopes for an easy ride.

We'll just have to wait and see.