Paranoid or something up - buyer wanting measurements?

mark?_3

patricia..xx wrote: »

thanks all, I do feel a bit better. I just think all the reasons given above should be done before an offer is made as if you want to see the street at different times, worry about noise/neighbours those are things that you can't change and therefore you shouldn't agree to buy somewhere until you are happy with those issues.

I'm 33! Hope that doesn't make me middle aged - maybe I can buy your house moneystooshorttomention, seems like we would get on. And I love any biscuits ;-)

sadly, if the market is fast or it's your dream property, you just don't have time to do those things before you put in the offer.
I think moneyistooshorttomention has hit the mail on the head. I'm deff in the bratty late 20-somethings crowd!

lessonlearned

mark? wrote: »

sadly, if the market is fast or it's your dream property, you just don't have time to do those things before you put in the offer.
I think moneyistooshorttomention has hit the mail on the head. I'm deff in the bratty late 20-somethings crowd!

Mark That's a good point there.

If the market in your area is brisk and the house you are interested in has a lot of interest then multiple viewings before making an offer might be a bit of a risk too far. You may need to get your offer in fairly pronto.

We're in the process of buying two properties at the moment. One is a fixer upper, one is a "forever" house. On both properties just one viewing, then offered.

In both cases full asking price because they were fairly priced, they are in extremely desirable locations. The "forever" house is totally unique, listed and a complete one off original. There isn't another one like it in the city. Therefore some very stiff competition.

Offers accepted then back for a second viewings and a good poke about.

Then surveys.

The forever house survey showed no unexpected nasties so no need to re-negotiate the price. We've met with the vendors who ran through the renovation work they have done. We will be getting specialist advice for a couple of issues but because it is a listed building - it will be softly softly, working with the conservation officer etc.

Second house - the fixer upper. Awaiting survey so can't really comment yet, however we did go up into the loft and discovered that the roof is worse than it appears from the outside.

If it is just repair or replace the slates then we won't bother too much about trying to renegotiate. However, if water ingress has been ongoing for some time and the roof timbers need replacing and the damage is worse than it looks then we will be going back to renegotiate. We have made our position clear to the EA, whether he has prepared the Vendors for that eventuality is another matter.

If the Vendors are not prepared to renegotiate then we will walk away. This fixer upper is a business proposition. We have to make a profit so the figures have to stack up, no going over budget.:rotfl:

The vendors are family members of a lady who has gone into care. They are greedy and bone idle. they have allowed the house to fall into rack and ruin. If they had rolled up their sleeves and helped their mother to maintain the property it would have been worth a lot more.

The same old lethal combination - greed, arrogance and laziness has cost them a lot of money......

I have no problems whatsoever with purchasers who require multiple viewings and I am a 62 year old crone. :rotfl:

TBH I don't think this is an age issue at all. Some people need to revisit a property several times before they make a decision. I can make a snap decision but I appreciate that many people can't.

I certainly don't consider younger buyers to be unreasonable because they need to revisit their proposed purchase. They simply don't have the life experience needed to be able to make a firm quick decision.

It also has to be remembered that most people stretch themselves to their absolute limit when buying a house. For most of us a house purchase is the biggest single investment we will ever make.

Of course people should be able to take time and care, although having said that, I have known people spend longer choosing a car or a holiday than most people spend choosing a house.

patricia - if they are wanting to take measurements - then no worries - they are keen.

DRP

OP and moneyistooshorttomention: it is not the case that you are being generous or doing your buyers a favour in allowing them to buy your house.

These people are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds so it isn't surprising they want to do as much research as possible. You just have to grin and bear it.

Dan-Dan

I do love a good lurk!

giddypenguin

After we put offers on houses we would drive by if we were in the area, sometimes on our own but often friends would be asking us about the house, and if it was only 5 minutes away we'd detour to show them.

The house purchase that actually went through was an empty house, and we may have taken a friend into the back garden to give him a nose of the kitchen...

DaftyDuck

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I do love a good lurk!

Yes, but in your case, the police have told you not to visit the park after dark any more....

Dan-Dan

there are MANY parks in leafy leighton buzzard........!

DaftyDuck

Dan-Dan wrote: »

there are MANY parks in leafy leighton buzzard........!

And many, many, injunctions.... :D:D

DaftyDuck

When spending money on a house, it is wise to invest time on your purchase that's in keeping with the size of your investment.

Many, many years ago, most of us might have moved from one street where we grew up, to another nearby where, maybe, our uncle lived, and wife's sister had recently moved from. Or, we moved within our village. Friends knew the neighbourhood, builders worked in the area they lived in, the coalman whistled, the milkman knew your first name (he was probably your dad) and life was all peachy and sweet.... Well, you get my general point.

Nowadays, you could be moving a few miles, or to another part of the country. You haven real ie of the house build quality, the builder is unknown to you, the new neighbours might murder your wife's sister, the "milkman" is slang for the local drug dealer, and you can whistle for a coalman, as he's long dead.

You have one chance to get this right. If you get it wrong, it will cost you tens of thousands of pounds to put right, and possibly cost you a year or two of life.

Some folk seem to begrudge an hour or two of their time to ensure the deal goes through. A third visit? NOw, I'm Middle Aged, and I like my Extra Viewings, capitalised, or not. I certainly view all the property I have bought at least three times. Oftentimes before survey as well. However, I do so with clarity and speed. Anyone I consider buying from knows I'm not messing them around. After all, I'm not going to waste my time just noseying around a house three times without clear interest in buying (or burglarizing) it.

Anyone who doesn't think this is reasonable is being a tad silly. The vendor has put their house on the market. They want to sell it. OK, in that case, if they want my money, they have to work for it. Show me the merchandise....:D

It's not long after I put my offer in that I'll be forking out several hundred pounds on a survey... only to find there are many problems with the house that I didn't notice, because I was only allowed one viewing - brief at that - and therefore I pull out. I'm down a few hundred quid, and the vendor is back at stage one... with a failed sale that the agent may well have to disclose. Bad news all round.

So, how do I pester my sellers? I make an appointment through the agent. I'm upfront, and say I want a good look round, not a hurried one. When there, I do indeed look inside cupboards (for damp, worm, also anything they might have hidden, airfresheners, paint they've just touched up with...). That means, when I leave, I can say I'm definitely not interested, (and not waste their time any more), or that I'm very interested, and arrange a viewing for a couple of days time. In those two days I'll do more homework (time that I'm expending, note to Money), beavering away on a computer, visiting the area in the evening, going to the local pub, finding out what schools are nearby, what planning applications are in, are approved in the past.... there's a lot of time invested on that. Oh, and "lurking" inside the car ("holding hands" with Dan-Dan in all likelihood ) to see if the local yobs lean against a lamppost or if there's any tramp around to steal a motor car. Oh me, Oh my! (lyrics: GF).

Then, for a second visit, I'll have invested time of my own. So, vendor, only fair you should do your bit. Just let me in your house. I don't actually care if it is polished the furniture to the nines, or if you've left your knickers on the radiator.... I hope you are taking them with you, and it's only really your vanity that makes you do such a tidy. It's your house I'm after. Oh, and i take a damp meter along (I will ask). And a digital meter for room sizes (never, ever, ever believe an estate agent; they are as honest on room sizes as us men are at measuring our private parts). I'll take a list of things to check... look at boiler, check water pressure, look in attic, look at all windows... do they open... any cracked glass... binoculars for outside... So, irritating? Well, if I pull out now, I've wasted a couple of hours of your (agent's) time but not taken your house off the market. Nor done anything to harm a future sale. If I'm buying, my solicitor's details will be on the agent's desk the next morning, and my surveyor will be on the phone in a day or two at most.... I don't want my time wasted here.. I don't want anyone else to put an offer in and spoil my chances...

Oh, and if I do try to reduce my offer after survey, it'll be because there is a problem... and if you don't agree, you can just say "no"... I'll either accept, or I'll pull out. Entirely your choice.

Oh, and since I've paid out a few hundred quid for a survey (and the seller has not), yes I want some "Extra Viewings"... I want my dirty great workmen to look round your property. You can say no.... but I might wonder why you aren't helping sell your property..... They won't take long, and they'll possibly be delighted if you leave your knickers on the radiator

If, on the other hand I was only to visit once, the put an offer in a few days later, then a week later maybe look round the neighbourhood, and two weeks later find there was no bus to the local school, then pull out.... well, that's a waste of everybody's time.

{and breathe..... and do some work to lower the old blood pressure... :D:D}

lessonlearned

:rotfl::rotfl:

Great post Dafty - bang on the nail. And I had a nice chuckle too.

Reminds me of that old chestnut about why women are so bad at parking cars.

(If you don't know it - because men try to brainwash us by telling us their member is 12 inches)........;)