Scotland FTB - buying outright, advice needed.

fart

Update:

Went to see it - the place is grossly undervalued in my opinion.

It looks a bit run down but in reality the shell and interior walls + roof are solid, sturdy and without need of a repair at all.

I'm also sceptical about the surveyer - he stated the wooden window ledges would need replacing even though they're concrete, and he claimed the roof needs redoing even though it's in tip top condition inside and out.

Valued at £57k, on the market for £55k, i think it's actually worth about £65k when comparing it to other similar properties on the market. We're preparing a bid but we're not sure what to go in at. It was a 'group' viewing with maybe 10 other couples there, and everybody really liked it. I'm thinking about going straight in at the £55k, and the estate agent said it will go to sealed bids with a closing date if there's lots of interest. Fingers crossed!

WellKnownSid

fart wrote: »

Update:

Went to see it - the place is grossly undervalued in my opinion.

It looks a bit run down but in reality the shell and interior walls + roof are solid, sturdy and without need of a repair at all.

Sounds great, don't fall in love just yet! People can genuinely undervalue places that are in need of work, but don't then think you can do a 'homes under the hammer' and add £40k worth of value slapping on a couple of tins of F&B.

fart wrote: »

I'm also sceptical about the surveyer - he stated the wooden window ledges would need replacing even though they're concrete, and he claimed the roof needs redoing even though it's in tip top condition inside and out.

Are you a qualified surveyor? Yes, he will be covering his back - but he also does this all day and will be able to see signs where things haven't been as tip-top as you would think...

fart wrote: »

Valued at £57k, on the market for £55k, i think it's actually worth about £65k when comparing it to other similar properties on the market. We're preparing a bid but we're not sure what to go in at. It was a 'group' viewing with maybe 10 other couples there, and everybody really liked it. I'm thinking about going straight in at the £55k, and the estate agent said it will go to sealed bids with a closing date if there's lots of interest. Fingers crossed!

I don't get this. You think it's worth £65k but you're only offering £55k? If it goes to sealed bids and it is as good as you claim then others could bid all day up to the HR valuation without any real difficulty.

If it's a repo, as long as the finances can be in place quickly, then I would hope the bank would go with the highest bidder to protect their shareholders' interests, cash or mortgage.

fart

WellKnownSid wrote: »

Sounds great, don't fall in love just yet! People can genuinely undervalue places that are in need of work, but don't then think you can do a 'homes under the hammer' and add £40k worth of value slapping on a couple of tins of F&B.

Nah, it needs cosmetic work but i'm under no illusion that will add millions on. We're not really bothered about adding value anyway, we're more interested in being mortgage/debt/rent free :beer:

Are you a qualified surveyor? Yes, he will be covering his back - but he also does this all day and will be able to see signs where things haven't been as tip-top as you would think...

No, but i've worked in the building trade all my life as a labourer/handyman and my Dad is a very good builder. I'm just surprised that someone who's done a degree, then had to do three years worth of monitored on-site training to become qualified can't tell what material something is. I've got no building qualifications and i could tell right away that they were moulded concrete sills - he's put them down on the survey as rotting timber :huh: Houses on the street average around the £65-80k mark in fixed up condition, and the house definitely doesn't need anything except cosmetic work done. As per the above comment i think it's worth £65k cause that's the minimum anything else in the area is going for.

I think it's lost value in the valuers eyes because of things like the kitchen being really outdated - just needs new fronts on everything because the shells are sturdy. There's no carpet throughout but we would have pulled carpet up and sanded the floors down anyway so saves us a job, even though to someone else it looks like it needs loads of carpets putting in. Ceilings are artexed which is undesirable to a lot of people - but i'm a trained plasterer so that's easy for me to sort. It definitely looks at first glance that it needs a full cosmetic make over but in reality some paint, varnish, kitchen fronts and hard graft is all it needs. I've already budgetted in for the repairs etc and it comes to less than £1000 purely because me and my old man can do all the work ourselves.

I also got in the loft and took photos of the roof space after inspecting them with a torch close up - sent these pictures onto my Dad who says there's nothing wrong with it so that's good enough for me - i trust him over someone who doesn't know the difference between timber and concrete.

There's literally nothing inside the actual house that needs mending, it's all bits and bobs of snagging work - the structure including internal walls and floors are as the inspection says - solid, sturdy and in fine condition.

I don't get this. You think it's worth £65k but you're only offering £55k? If it goes to sealed bids and it is as good as you claim then others could bid all day up to the HR valuation without any real difficulty.

If it goes to sealed bids i'll just offer what i think it's worth i reckon - i don't want to mess about and potentially lose it for the sake of a few grand.

If it's a repo, as long as the finances can be in place quickly, then I would hope the bank would go with the highest bidder to protect their shareholders' interests, cash or mortgage.

Finances are in my bank account ready to go.

fart

Update 2 - sod's law; the house has been available for viewing since Friday and someone's already put an offer in and the estate agent says they would look to going to a closing date.

Any advice on what this would entail? I'd personally rather just keep outbidding the other person until i'm at our maximum. Would a closing date basically be a bid whereby we offer our absolute maximum and then just hope we get accepted?

beecher2

fart wrote: »

Update 2 - sod's law; the house has been available for viewing since Friday and someone's already put an offer in and the estate agent says they would look to going to a closing date.

Any advice on what this would entail? I'd personally rather just keep outbidding the other person until i'm at our maximum. Would a closing date basically be a bid whereby we offer our absolute maximum and then just hope we get accepted?

You won't know what the other person has bid - you just have to go into it blind and hope for the best really. Offer what you're prepared to pay for it - your solicitor should offer guidance here. Good luck.

fart

beecher2 wrote: »

You won't know what the other person has bid - you just have to go into it blind and hope for the best really. Offer what you're prepared to pay for it - your solicitor should offer guidance here. Good luck.

Cheers pal - i've just sorted the solicitor who's currently putting in our opening bid.

Pretty sure we've gone in higher than someone else would have done, but even though this may be the case, would they still choose to go to a closing date to encourage a bidding 'war'?

Ie, if they offered 3K less than us, will they chance their arm hoping to squeeze a bit more or would they just accept ours because it's more?

beecher2

fart wrote: »

Cheers pal - i've just sorted the solicitor who's currently putting in our opening bid.

Pretty sure we've gone in higher than someone else would have done, but even though this may be the case, would they still choose to go to a closing date to encourage a bidding 'war'?

Ie, if they offered 3K less than us, will they chance their arm hoping to squeeze a bit more or would they just accept ours because it's more?

Chances are they will go to a closing date since they have two offers, especially as it only just went on sale. There may well be others who will bid too. Closing dates are horrible - just make sure you don't get carried away and offer more than you want to.

fart

beecher2 wrote: »

Chances are they will go to a closing date since they have two offers, especially as it only just went on sale. There may well be others who will bid too. Closing dates are horrible - just make sure you don't get carried away and offer more than you want to.

Yeh these sorts of houses are selling well round here.

There were loads of other couples there viewing and a lot seemed really interested. I've set a completion date of 3 weeks (as that's how long the conveyancer will take and obviously i already have the dosh ready) so i'm hoping the other offer has been from someone who's gotten a mortgage and will have miles more paper work to wade through. However, if it does go to closing date for offers will this even matter? Eg, if closing date is next Friday for example, will it matter if it's 3 weeks from closing date or 3 weeks from now that an offer of completion goes in? If they bother going to closing then obviously they're more worried about the size of the offer than the length of time to complete?

beecher2

you're going to have to try to switch off a wee bit from it as you can't second guess what the bank are going to do. Going to a closing date is normal but it doesn't always mean they choose the highest bid - they might choose the one they think is the strongest. Just not sure how likely that is when it is a repo though.

fart

beecher2 wrote: »

you're going to have to try to switch off a wee bit from it as you can't second guess what the bank are going to do. Going to a closing date is normal but it doesn't always mean they choose the highest bid - they might choose the one they think is the strongest. Just not sure how likely that is when it is a repo though.

When you say 'strongest' what do you mean? We can obviously prove via accounts etc that we have the dosh waiting - does this make our offer strong etc as the cash is readily available?