Diary of a House Search

fawny

Hi,

Loving your diary:) Just a quick question, how often would you chase your EA about viewings? We just went on the market yesterday & wondered how long to leave it before I ring EA & ask why no viewing if we don't get any? Would you ring every few days & ask what they are doing?

Thanks:)

lessonlearned

Jibby - great news there. Good to hear that you had some face to face time with the Vendor. I am so glad you told her about the daft nonsense about the boiler. The poor vendor does need to know what has been going on.

I really do not think that you can beat getting down and dirty with the vendors (no I'm no talking about dirty sex here:rotfl::rotfl:) I am talking about getting to the niitty gritty. EA's have their place of course but only if they really are on the ball. When it comes down to thrashing out a deal the Vendors and the Purchaser should really be able to sort out it out between them.

Why are we Brits so bad at haggling. Watch foreigners do it, they are not nearly so squeamish.

If you really haven't got the stomach for it, just make your position very clear to the EA, be firm but flexible. What you are aiming for is that magic win-win conclusion where everybody gets what they want and everyone is happy.

Me - I like to see the whites of their eyes:rotfl: If they are not banging the table in outrage then I have offered too much........

A couple of months ago I bought a brand new bed from a developer (it had been used in the show-house as display and it was still in the wrappings).

I offered the developer £100, he wanted £250 - we eventually settled on £150 - its rrp was £1200.

Now that was a deal - the bed is very comfy;)

Now don't all start jumping up and down and yelling at me but I do not think that the Vendor was either naive or stupid. Not one bit. All she has done here is lay her cards on the table.

Oh if only more people would do this - just play it straight and stop poncing about.....

She has told you what she needs and she has told you what she wants. Now it's your turn. She will settle for something in between.

You want the lowest price and she wants the highest price, natch.

Go in as low as you dare, but above her lowest price. Then if necessary increase your offer.

For arguments sake. Her lowest price is £100K, she wants £110K You will be looking to settle for £105K

Start at £102K, then £103K, then you say £105K third and final offer and mean it. Be prepared to walk away to show her you are serious. If you really, really, want it and don't want to take any risks then you may need to get nearer to the £110K.

One thing is very much in your favour here.

This is a probate sale, the house is empty costing the family money to keep it running, council tax, services, water rates, upkeep, perhaps gardening will be required now that spring is on the way. There is a risk of break ins.

There might be outstanding debts and funeral expenses to pay.

Without wishing to sound too brutal all this works in your favour.

The family will want to get rid of the property as quickly as possible and get on with their own lives. In such cases as this the house is just a burden to them.

This family will be motivated sellers and are likely to be reasonable and realistic t when it comes to negotiating offers.

Good luck.

lessonlearned

[QUyouOTE=fawny;60106403]Hi,

Loving your diary:) Just a quick question, how often would you chase your EA about viewings? We just went on the market yesterday & wondered how long to leave it before I ring EA & ask why no viewing if we don't get any? Would you ring every few days & ask what they are doing?

Thanks:)[/QUOTE]

Your EA should be phoning you not vice-versa:rotfl: At least once a week.

You tell them you want a weekly update. If not you keep chasing them until they learn how to play ball.

Don't be soft on them and don't be embarrassed. Make them work.

lessonlearned

I have been mulling things over and have decided to rule out apartments from my search.

I had booked some viewings for Friday and Saturday and felt it was only fair to ring the EA's to cancel, so that they wouldn't be left waiting at the property.

So I rang them up. I have to say I was surprised by the reaction I got.

1. In both cases the person taking the call seemed really surprised that I had taken the trouble to ring them to cancel. Apparently no shows are common, apparently few people bother to ring up to cancel - they just don't turn up.

Since when did the great British public become so rude and inconsiderate.

My local GP surgery also post up stats of no-shows. The figures are astonishing.

Have we Brits completely lost all sense of decency.

2. When I cancelled, I explained that I had decided to change the focus of my search. I told them I had decided against a flat. I did not say that I was no longer house-hunting.

To my utter amazement, they simply thanked me profusely for letting them know and left it at that. :eek:

They made no attempt to engage me in further conversation, to ask what kind of properties I am now interested in, how could they help me in my search. Nothing.

I am gob-smacked at this. This is not how you sell properties. If you have a "prospect" on the phone you damn well engage them in conversation and you do your utmost to find out how you can interest them in any other properties you may have on your books.
You do not just thank them for their call and let them slip through your fingers.

Who is training these people.:eek:

I don't get it. I have money burning a hole in my pocket and no-one seems in a hurry to take it off me.:rotfl:

No wonder Vendors are struggling to sell their properties. The EA's can't recognise a buying signal when it slaps them in the face.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've noticed the number of "no shows" indicated at my doctors surgery as well and, if there is an equivalent amount of that for viewings, then whew:eek:

It is only courtesy to say if you know you are no longer going to be able to make/want to make an appointment of any description. I was going to make a special trip to Desired Location to view a particular house (and any other possibles whilst there) - but when I realised (a bit belatedly:whistle:) that the house has a particular problem I duly rang the estate agent who had booked the viewings and explained/apologised/cancelled viewings. Hopefully, that estate agent at least did their job well enough to ring the other "possible" houses and tell them - rather than them thinking that it was ME that was letting them down:cool:

I'm also surprised at your EA's reaction to your "not looking at apartments any more" comment. I would have thought they should have taken that exactly at face value and enquired exactly what you ARE looking at then and could they interest you in a nice easy-to-run little terrace house they have on their books instead to check out whether you still are looking - but just at a different type of property. I know the main estate agent in area I am looking at gave no reaction at all when I said I am now including small village near small town I want on my "radar" and looking there too and think I'd actually prefer the small village. I was wondering whether they'd instantly go "We have a nice property there we think you might like". I mean to say - it's easy enough to read the signals as to just what property I might favour. But at least one of their estate agents is on the ball there (Mr Transatlantic Accent from a smaller agency there).

lessonlearned

Yes Money this is my point. They had a "prospect" in front of them (well in my case on the phone) and simply let that prospect slip through their fingers.

A hanging offence in my books.

Davesnave

lessonlearned wrote: »

Yes Money this is my point. They had a "prospect" in front of them (well in my case on the phone) and simply let that prospect slip through their fingers.

A hanging offence in my books.

My DD, funds her student activities by working in a well known shoe shop. She and number of buddies regularly take over £10k a week, for which they're paid £7.50 an hour, or thereabouts.

They'd never let someone out of the shop without trying to sell two pairs, never mind one! :rotfl: The point is, they go the extra mile, find out what the customer really likes and then meet that requirement, rather than waste valuable time trying to foist unwanted stuff on them.

Some other staff might manage £5k a week.

Although she is about to graduate in Fine Art, DD doesn't know it yet, but she's already trained to do extremely well in in estate agency, where I'm sure the rewards will be considerably higher!;)

googler

lessonlearned wrote: »

Who is training these people.

Not the Americans, that's for sure.

lessonlearned

Davesnave wrote: »

Although she is about to graduate in Fine Art, DD doesn't know it yet, but she's already trained to do extremely well in in estate agency, where I'm sure the rewards will be considerably higher!;)

If she fancies this then tell her to investigate working for a new build developer. Redrow do a very good training scheme. They start at around £12K to £14K as a training rate, but within 6 months to a year they are easily notching up £30K.

With her shoe shop experience, (well done her!!!) and her Fine Art degree she would do very well.

My degree is in Visual Cultures (art, fashion, design, photography, architecture, advertising) and I found it invaluable in helping me help people with their design choices, especially when selling off-plan.

Reading architectural drawings and then being to "paint the picture" for the purchaser is an art in itself. Although some developers now use computer programmes to show people what the finished house will look like.

EA negotiators are not that well paid, a basic salary and then some commission. On a new build there is still a basic salary but the commissions are much more generous.

It has to be said that the work is more interesting too, especially for someone who is a bit "arty".

Sounds like whatever she does she is going to do well. Sounds like she is made of the "right stuff".

If she turns out to be really good, she will be fast tracked to management.

Despite it's reputation for being a male dominated world, the construction industry is very female friendly and women can do very well. There are few glass ceilings and there are a lot of women at board level.

Running a sales complex and a couple of show-houses is great fun. You are given a lot of autonomy and as I mentioned before I treated the exercise as if it was my own business. I loved it and made good money.

lessonlearned

Right here we are at the end of my first week.

3 viewings under my belt, enough to help me reassess what I'm looking for. Apartments are now discounted for the following reasons.

1. Leases
a) I've never been happy with leasehold, too many restrictions.
b) Lenders do not like short leases. Less than 50 years left to run and they start getting twitchy. My preferred block of flats was built in the early 70's, Original lease was 99 years so 40 years gone already. No problem for me - it would see me out, but could prove difficult to sell, especially for any heirs to my estate if I popped my clogs.

2. Noise - most flats can have noise issues. OK if you have considerate neighbours but life can be miserable if you have the neighbours from hell.

3. Maintenance and management companies. Some are good, some are dreadful. Both apartment blocks I viewed gave cause for concern.

Complex 1, the 40 year old one, still had problems with condensation. That had been an ongoing problem since the complex was built and has never been addressed. (Probably not possible to fix - the problem is likely to be in the building's design and construction).

Complex 2 had gardens which were neglected and full of litter. The communal areas were not cleaned properly and needed refurbishment. Obviously the management company are not doing a very good job.

In both cases all of the apartments I viewed, apart from the one stuck in the 70's time warp, were in more or less turnkey condition.

It is easy to be tempted by a property that appears to need little work and which you can more or less move straight into. However, it pays to think it through a little deeper.

In other words, when house hunting, don't be dazzled by appearances and don't be tempted by the obvious easy option.

Tread carefully, especially with apartments.