Tactics In a Fast Moving Housing Market

starsky27

Hi all,
After the elation of getting an offer on our property in three days im now starting to get frustrated trying to buy our next property. We live in London and the market has gone crazy due to the lack of stock available. Has anyone got any tips on extra tactics needed to secure a property in this type of market.

One thing im going to do is leaflet the roads we are interested.

Any other tips or advice would be welcomed.


Thanks,
Mark

robatwork

Be prepared to move into rented accomodation
Be prepared to offer asking price on same day as viewing
Have mortgage agreement sorted (if you need one)
Insist house comes off market once your offer is accepted

Good luck finding your new Hutch.

starsky27

Hi Robatwork,
Thanks for replying and the advice.
I think the renting option was one we said we would never consider but it's starting to look a sensible one at the moment.

Cheers,
Mark

ognum

My advice

make friends with the EAs so they contact you when a house comes to market.

take time of work to view straight away

Know your limits on funding.

Be prepared to be a second class citizen if you are not a cash buyer

Look below your price range for a house you can improve

Put notes through letter boxes asking if anyone wants to sell in your chosen area.

Try not to get over emotional about a particular house.

Comprimise.



Hope that helps

lessonlearned

As above. Some great tips.

Your buzzword is flexibility - be prepared to change all plans so you can strike quickly, especially with the viewings.

Don't mess about with low offers. If your local market is hot you need to make an offer which is attractive to the vendor.

Our local market has definitely notched up a gear - the good stuff is being snapped up.

I realised several months ago that we were "on the cusp" of change so I urged my boys who are first time buyers to get cracking this year.

Sold the family home and we are now in rented. This made them in a strong position so that they could pounce when the right property came along.

Good luck - stay focussed and be pro-active.

starsky27

Thanks for the excellent advice Lessonlearned and Ognum.

We are going to a second viewing on Tues with a view to putting a full asking price offer in straight away if the builder confirms a couple of details.

Cheers,
Mark

Ivana_Tinkle

If you understand that the market's moving fast then you're halfway there, if you see what I mean, because the rest is common sense - view as quickly as you can, don't bother putting in daft offers, get your finance sorted etc. It's the people who don't do their research, automatically offer 10% under asking, call the agent a liar when they say there's other buyers interested etc etc who have problems!

[Deleted User]

Agree with all of the above. I'm buying in London and almost everything seems to be going at above asking price at the moment. I started looking in February, have put in four offers - one not accepted (it ended up going for about £15k above asking price), two accepted but gazumped, this latest one has been proceeding for a couple of months but looking like it might fall through.

If I were you I'd seriously consider moved into rented - it's a total pain, but I don't know how I would have coped if it weren't for the fact that I'm renting at the moment (I'm a FTB) and have that flexibility.

starsky27

Thanks for the replies.
Doesn't help with viewings that I work shifts. We are now doing viewings separately so we don't have to wait around for us to be off from work at the same time.
The current housing market in London is in serious need of an injection of decent stock. Once this happens all the current madness might ease up. Hopefully all the press releases regarding the improving market will persuade some homeowners to market their properties.

Cheers,
Mark

ognum

many like you can sell but can't buy so they stay put!

lessonlearned

This is a very good point.

If the market in your area is truly going crazy then it would be better to stay put if you cannot secure a new property.

There is a danger with going into rental in a red hot market. If prices run away you could get left behind, especially if you have to commit to a 6 month lease. (Unless of course you are prepared to overlap and pay both mortgage and rent).

It all depends just how "hot" things are in your area.