Tactics for buying a house with lots of interest?

electrodent

Hi All, hoping the sages in the forum could offer advice I'm a first time buyer and have seen a house (probably 1950s) which I like a lot. Two problems with it - there's lots of interest in it and the general state of it.

In terms of lots of interest the house was originally up in late Sept/early Oct and before I could even get a viewing in someone had made an offer with another potential interested party. That sale fell through due to buyer's finance with house is back on the market. I've made two visits and the estate agent said there is someone coming back for a second viewing. Plus they said the originally interested buyer's finances should improve by the end of November to come back again with another offer. So that's potentially three interested parties.

Second problem is the state of the house. One of the current owners is some sort of builder and you can see his handiwork all over the house. But it's a bit rough and ready - carpets and doors not quite snug, plastering a bit loose, some jobs started but not properly finished, new lawn which will die out very quickly (clearly poor garden drainage), etc.

So my thoughts are to put an offer, but I want to attach conditions to it. Namely that the price is dependent on a survey I pay for.

Firstly can I do that? Secondly what are the sellers likely reaction to that be? Thirdly how do I get rid of the other interested parties? Fourthly - how much to bid?! If there was no interest in the house I would have quite happily made a ludicrously low bid and inched my way up until they accepted. I don't think I can do that now.

Any advice or stories on similar experiences gratefully received - either if you were the buyer or the seller.

BitterAndTwisted

Do not believe a word that the agent is telling you about the previous buyer's finances being sorted. In all likelihood they pulled out either after seeing the survey or costing up rectifying the mes the current owners have made of their bodged jobs, or both.

All offers are made to vendors "subject to survey" and many buyers reduce their offer once they've scrutinised the survey or pull out completely.

How confident are you that putting right what needs to be done can be adequately estimated and budgeted for? It's not something I'd recommend a first-time buyer would take on unless they have mates in the trade, have really good contacts or are confident they can do a fair bit themselves.

krlyr

Who has told you there's a lot of interest? Remember that the estate agents are being paid to sell the property, and the more they sell it for, the more commission they'll get. Therefore it's in their best interests to sell for the highest amount they can get. If there was the hint of a lot of competition, this could spur you on to make a higher offer.

electrodent

Thanks for your comments.

I'm confident that some of the minor stuff I can live with. I'm confident that I can deal with some of the other minor stuff. I've identified some stuff - e.g. rear guttering - that needs to be done. It's the stuff I haven't identified or I'm not competent to identify whether they're ok or not (looks like he's added some power sockets) that I'm worried about.

I'm not competent to do anything other than basic jobs. I've got friends who could help out but there'd be a limit to their good will. I do have a budget that's bigger than the average first time buyer so I could budget for some repairs. It's how big the "some" is.

electrodent

krlyr wrote: »

Who has told you there's a lot of interest? Remember that the estate agents are being paid to sell the property, and the more they sell it for, the more commission they'll get. Therefore it's in their best interests to sell for the highest amount they can get. If there was the hint of a lot of competition, this could spur you on to make a higher offer.

Yes, it was the estate agent who said there's a lot of interest. But backed up with some evidence - the house was on the market for a few weeks in September before an offer on it was made.

BitterAndTwisted

Eh, if the property was that desirable there would have been another potential buyer in the wings once the first buyer dropped out.

What I would be worried about is that there could be all sorts on non-obvious things wrong with this place which could take a lifetime to sort out properly. Or maybe a fortnight but you're going to have to spend a grand in order to find out some of the things.

"Some sort of builder" should mean that they would have had decent contacts to take on work at mate's rates but he was too cheap to get a competent chippy to hang some doors. God only knows what other corners may have been cut. Any internal walls been removed? Chimney breast gone?

electrodent

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Eh, if the property was that desirable there would have been another potential buyer in the wings once the first buyer dropped out.

Ah OK. I guess I've been guaging "desirability" at the wrong level!

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What I would be worried about is that there could be all sorts on non-obvious things wrong with this place which could take a lifetime to sort out properly. Or maybe a fortnight but you're going to have to spend a grand in order to find out some of the things.

So question for me is whether I think a grand spent to find things out is worth it compared to a grand spent on a house in better order? What sort of things would a survey not pick up?

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

"Some sort of builder" should mean that they would have had decent contacts to take on work at mate's rates but he was too cheap to get a competent chippy to hang some doors. God only knows what other corners may have been cut. Any internal walls been removed? Chimney breast gone?

No to internal walls. No to chimney breast. He started work on converting the loft by changing the access to it. Eventually, to put some stairs in, it'll mean an internal wall going but he never got that far. I did have a search for planning applications and it looks like he didn't make any.