Buying our first home help

cazmcf

Hi all

We have two questions we would like your help on please...

We are first time buyer's and have been in to our bank and have a mortgage approved in principle.
We are in rented accommodation at the minute, so no house to sell and so on.
We have found a brand new house in a recent development for sale @ £115000 it has been on the market since august 2014. It was first advertised at £125000 to start then reduced to £115000 in October it is turnkey finish.
We had a viewing and spoke briefly with the AE and he said he would need the asking price for the house, which I am sure he would say that just to keep potential bits up
We are thinking of making an offer but not sure what offer we should make?


Question 1
So if it was you how much would you offer?


Question 2
How long does the whole process normally take from an offer being accepted until you get the keys I know this can vary a bit,
Maybe someone who was in our position can help?

Thanks in advance
Cazmcf

plumfin

We were in the same position this time last year. House was new to the market at £125K on 4th Jan. I offered £118K to begin with on 10th Jan, but had already told their EA that I could afford £125K, my mistake.

They rejected the offer, I reoffered £120K which was accepted 2 days later. Longest 2 days of my life!

Their house was empty as they had moved already, we had a rented property. We had already warned the owners we were moving and they were exceptionally flexible with us in the end, saving me £500 in rent as they let me honour my original notice date of 20th Jan.

We moved in on 13th Feb - very quick as neither of us had any chain. We also hand delivered all documents to the brokers as they were local, and I chased them often for updates. We also ended up using the same Solicitors. Ours was recommended by our broker as he handled her house purchase, so it was luck, but we signed a Conflict agreement and again, as they were in Wrexham where my husband works, all documents were hand delivered. It also helped using a smaller firm, as I regularly talked to the Solicitor himself and he worked weekends.

It is a horrible time of indecision and limbo. My best advice is to get all your documents ready and photocopied for your records as the bank/broker will probably need the originals. If you have a gifted deposit, get the letters ready or at least warn the people they will have to provide ID as well as you. We found with our mortgage company that every time we had to send docs in, we went to the bottom of the pile as I think is common.

Research insurance using cashback sites if possible and decide what level out cover you need. We had to provide proof before the offer was issued and the insurance company happily provided me with a letter for the mortgage company.

Work out your period of notice you have to give you landlord - my understanding is that it is not always the rent date, but someone else would need to confirm. I think it is the first day you moved in, but not sure on this. If you are on good terms, they may be as helpful as mine was.

Start cleaning, the house is always worse than you think!

Good luck and hope it goes ok for you.

CLAPTON

cazmcf wrote: »

Hi all

We have two questions we would like your help on please...

We are first time buyer's and have been in to our bank and have a mortgage approved in principle.
We are in rented accommodation at the minute, so no house to sell and so on.
We have found a brand new house in a recent development for sale @ £115000 it has been on the market since august 2014. It was first advertised at £125000 to start then reduced to £115000 in October it is turnkey finish.
We had a viewing and spoke briefly with the AE and he said he would need the asking price for the house, which I am sure he would say that just to keep potential bits up
We are thinking of making an offer but not sure what offer we should make?


Question 1
So if it was you how much would you offer?


Question 2
How long does the whole process normally take from an offer being accepted until you get the keys I know this can vary a bit,
Maybe someone who was in our position can help?

Thanks in advance
Cazmcf

what is the price for comparable properties in your area?

kinger101

If it's been £115K since October, then I'd go in below this. The EA is obliged to pass on offers no matter how low they are, unless vendor has instructed them otherwise.

Maybe a £105K initial offer, with a view to sealing at £110K. Explain you have MIP and no chain.

cazmcf

Hi there Clapton
thanks for the reply

We think the house is priced reasonably enough. There are two new developments being build in the area with an option to buy off plan finished to a similar standard as the one we are looking at. These are priced @ 125K but they are 1093 s/feet, The house were looking at is 1280 s/feet.

hope this helps
Cazmcf

cazmcf

Hi Plumfin

Thank you for taking the time to give us such a comprehensive answer, you also answered a questions we never knew we had. We are going for a 2nd viewing next week so will see how it goes

Cazmcf

cazmcf

kinger101

Thanks for your help good info..

Cazmcf