The 'what did you pay thread'.

Mrs_Z

FTB in July 1996 - bought a 2bed house in SouthEast. Advertised for £72,950, paid £70,500. (Still living here.... although looking to 'upgrade').

Nov 2010 bought a 1bed BTL flat, again in SouthEast. Advertised for £159,950 - offer accepted at £156,000, later reduced and accepted at £153,000 after survey. Spent another £15,000 on re-wiring, new kitchen, new bathroom. Successfully let out to a young couple who have now renewed for the 3rd year.

Mylo_The_Moggy

• FTB in 2012
• 2 bed 1938 semi in Yorkshire
• On market for £100k
• Offered 93, declined
• Offered 95, declined
• Offered 98, accepted
• Survey valued at £85k even though there was
  no issues with house, down to area
• Offered £90k, accepted.
  
  Worked in our favour in the end! :T

sleepymans

My house history is a bit long, sorry!!

When I bought my current house I particularly wanted it because the position was perfect and I fancied a renovation project. The EA was a personal friend of the vendor which I discovered after I became suspicious of the bidding war I got into in order to secure the house. However, it was too late, the price agreed we went ahead anyway. The place has been a bit of a money pit and certain works are still outstanding...:(. However I have loved living here as the location is the most important factor still.

Here are the figures and dates anyway....


1975 bought 2 bed maisonette (Sussex) £6750

1978 sold “ “ “ £7995

1978 bought 3 bed detached house (Sussex) £13000

1979 sold “ “ “ £16000

1980 bought 1 bed converted flat (Sussex) £11250

1982 sold “ “ “ £13500

1982 bought 3 bedsemi detached (Sussex) £16500

1982 sold “ “ “ £23000

1985 bought 3 bed semi detatched (Kent) £32500

1985 sold “ “ “ £60000

1985 bought 3 bed detached bungalow (Cambs) £36000

1988 sold “ “ “ “ £67500

1988 bought 2 bed semicottage (Mid Wales) £35000 *

1997 bought 3 bed semi cottage (Mid Wales) £70000 (this is current home & on market for £230,000)

2001 sold 2 bedsemi cottage (Mid Wales) £55000*

2001 bought 2 bedterrace (BTL) (Shrops) £40500

2007 sold “ “ “ “ £85000

Lesson learned - if you get into a biddng war then make sure you get the EA to put the facts in writing - I believe I got conned by "ghost" competing bids.

kkgree1

"Second steppers" bought Nov 2010 for 209k, asking price was 225k having been reduced from 250k (3 bed semi on Cambs/Herts border).

I would advise doing your research and we used the fact that we'd taken a 10% hit on our previous house and expected similar with this. It had been on the market over a year with 3 separate agents and we knew nothing else in the street had sold for over 210k so used this as bargaining tool.

My first house I paid 2k over the asking price for. Looking back I could have got it for less but at the time there were so few Shared Ownership properties (1999) and vendor said he would take the first offer he got!

LeafGreen

FTB last summer. Good size 3 bed detached in Norfolk on small quiet development, built 2006. Only work required is to re-paint the pink wall in the main bedroom a more manly colour, still haven't done it yet though!

House had been on market for a while, so I knew I was in a good position. However vendor claimed to need a minimum amount to move. Originally on at £230k it came down eventually to £200k then OIEO £195k. I offered 190 then 192 on the basis that I was proceedable and chain free etc but both rejected. Though if I held at 192 it would eventually get accepted but as there was nothing else I liked the look if I went to 195 which was accepted. Recently saw another house the exact same shape as mine round the corner asking 215 which has gone sold pretty quickly so Ivthink I got a reasonable deal in the end.

bigchrissyg

Location: Cambridge village < 2miles from city limit.
4 bed detatched 1950's extended.
Asking: £449,950
Paid: £457,000
Feb 13

It seems cambridge is a sellers market if location is correct.

We had 40% deposit as sold our previous house and rented it back to preserve our buyer. Thought we would be in best position. We were in bidding war with several others in similar positions.

Pretty hot here!

Our previous house was:
Cambridge City North
3bed semi 1930's concrete build (big garden)
Brought Oct 08
Asking: £215,000
Paid: £213,000 (repo)

Modernised this with complete refit of fixtures and fittings
Sold Dec 12
Asking: £299,995
Sold at: £290,000

(Originally sold at £299,000 but pulledout due to concerns with concrete build)

Tips:

Sell your position as a buyer

Meet the owners for 2nd viewing

Accept a house has imperfections and they are of no real value to price, just preference.

AFK_Matrix

FTB 2011 - West Sussex
Asking - Offers over 160k
Bought for - £153k

The house was in good condition but needed a bit of decorating, not had the money to do a lot but did change the neon pink in the main bedroom!!

They were in a hurry as they had had people pull out and already had their house lined up, 153k was all i could do and after a bit of thought they said yes. Had a good relationship with the vendor which helped a lot and I also lived round the corner renting a flat which also helped.

Tip: When viewing houses/flats with agent don't get all excited and enthusiastic in front of agent. Stay cool, unemotional and ask questions. They hate this and it really got up the nose of one agent as they had no idea what I thought of the place. Oh and also take a camera and take pics, I actually videoed the places I looked at and had no issues with doing this.

KennyH1

Previous House - 2bed semi - Coventry
Bought May 2002 - £66,000
Modernised and extended over 10 years.
Sold Aug 2012 - £113,250

Current House - 3bed semi - Kirby Muxloe
Asking Value Nov 2012 £174,950
Bought Nov 2012 - £174,950
No work needed as in good condition but will extend over time.

Neighbouring houses just sold Aug 2013 - £210,000 and needs fully modernising.

rosyw

Also longish history

1977 bought a 3 bed terrace in Cambridge £4000, sold in 1979 for £12,000 and bought 3 bed grade 2 listed cottage in Ely for £10,000 sold it in 1983 for £32,000
Bought a 4 bed Victorian detached in Norfolk village for £27,500 sold in 1985 for £74,000 then bought a very large (6/7 beds) farmhouse for £72,000
Sold in 2009 £300,000, would have been more if not for proposed building of massive incinerator a mile down the road :mad:
Current 3 bed chalet in N. Norfolk bought for £190,000, original asking price was £249,500

Tip: If possible negotiate with vendor rather than EA thus cutting out most of the BS! also handy to have direct contact with vendor to sort out any little niggles along the way.

hazyjo

Last house info:

Bought in April 2013 in E4 - first viewed in around Oct/Nov 2012 (had to wait for a buyer on mine), offer finally agreed in around Feb (after weeks of having an offer on mine - EA weren't playing ball and were incredibly obstructive).

House had been on market a while, previous buyer dropped out. Up for £300k (thereabouts). Offered £250k - rejected. After several weeks I finally had an offer agreed at £274k. Got a bargain I think - pretty sure I could get over £300k for it now. Have modified/improved somewhat.

Jx