keeping a level head when buying..?

richtung

Hi Folks,

After viewing 5 houses that turned out to be duds, we have been notified of a property that has come on the market very recently. It ticks all the boxes for mine and the wife's requirements (family home) and judging from the photo's, requires very little work / improvements.

The EA has just rang (i filled out an enquiry form) to get us booked in for a viewing. the fist viewings are available from this Saturday and its an open house. The EA gave us a choice of slots (ours is 10am) and went on to comment there already were people booked in and 3 others waiting for call backs to make bookings.

Now, i know the number 1 rule here is to never believe a word the EA says but this has undoubtedly planted a seed in my mind. I guess its activated the fear of missing out in my mind.

Obviously, im not asking whether the EA is making this up about the other viewings (impossible to to tell) but how do i keep a level head, not let outside influences (i.e the EA!) cloud my judgement, not let the fear from making rash decisions, not get drawn into a bidding war etc?

Im a a decent negotiator and not shy at all with haggling. However, this is something that we are committing to for the next 25 years of our lives and its difficult to maintain a nonchalant attitude.

Thanks

Rich

penguingirl

We are hopefully exchanging this week on a property that had 10 viewings in its first week, and 5 on the day we viewed (the Saturday). The EA wasn't lying as we have a mutual friend with the vendor who already knew they had loads of viewings booked before she knew we were one of them! We chose not to say much as we looked around the house, but didn't dither with an offer and had one accepted on the Sunday much to our surprise. I think the mutual friend went in our favour, even though it shouldn't make a difference! We also clearly stated why we made our (below asking) offers and made it clear we were selling to FTBs so not in a huge chain.

Good luck!

SuzieSue

It is very unlikely that the EA is lying about the other viewers as there is no need for him to lie at this stage.

theGrinch

treat is as true, but you can have 1 vieiwng and an offer or 20 or more and nothing. early days.

TranceNRG

As others have said EA is probably not lying about the number of other viewings but I reckon 98% of the lie when it comes to accepting offers.

Do your due diligence on the property. Checkout prices of similar properties in the area and come up with a maximum offer beyond which you'll walk away. If the offer is accepted, you have to act quickly to submit the mortgage application, book the survey so you can get the property off the market.

Good luck.

Hoploz

Depending on how much you want to torture yourself, you could hang out in your car up the road and watch the people going in and out of the house. I can tell you it really doesn't help!

Just do the viewing. Often things aren't as perfect in the flesh, so go in with an open mind.

I wanted a house really badly, we'd been looking for 2 years,tried to buy it and had it taken off the market when we offered. It came on again 6 months later and there were 10 viewings on the day we went.

Total nightmare to pull up and see someone else wandering around MY house it almost killed me.

We bought it (following the ensuing bidding war)

However, this house is very individual and rare in the area. If you don't get this one, will there be similar houses available that would also meet your needs? Only you know the answer.

richy999

Open houses are good at creating demand/competition amongst buyers. The estate agent was attempting to develp this climate by mentioning the existing bookings and the 'queue' of people still waiting for a time slot.

If it where me I would not make an offer on the day but would possibly express an interest in a 2nd viewing if you like the look of the place in the flesh.

I don't think you need to appear nonchalant, you won't win any favours with the vendor if you go around with your nose in the air :-)

I would arrange a viewing of another property in the afternoon with which to compare it too.

When I go to view a new car for instance, I try to arrange a viewing of another comparable car straight afterwards. This puts me in the mind set that I don't need to be too keen because and I have another, possibly better one to check out afterwards.

System

We had an open house and had 20 viewings. But the EA called each and every one. So everyone that viewed had a fair opportunity to provide feedback and an offer if they so wish.

Don't let this process cloud your judgement. Remember you will get your chance to make an offer. In this scenario only you can judge the situation. If the demand is high then you need to consider how you will approach the situation if you wish to offer. On the other hand you may see that the Ea is a master photographer and the house is in fact average. Again up to you to read the situation.

One thing a lot of people don't realise is that open houses that generate big interest take longer to have offers accepted because the EA contacts everyone and shortlists the offers, then does the rounds again and then again until only one offer is left.

Kynthia

Yes there are probably lots of viewings but that's no guarantee there will be other offers. I went to a busy open day and the house was in lovely condition in a hot market, yet for some reason it was still for sale months later. Who knows why but sometimes the price isn't right or the property has a deal breaker that prevents most people buying it.

Go see the place and judge carefully if it's for you. If it is then don't hang around and make the offer quickly, but don't feel pressured to make an offer if you wouldn't have without the pressure of many other viewers.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Well, the previous viewings should have given you a good idea of what you do and don't want in a property; judge this place by the same criteria and use those as a bench mark.

Pictures can look great, but you should also be checking the boring things that aren't on the online listing ie ease of parking, the state of the neighbours' gardens, age of the boiler, Council Tax band etc.

If you have an AIP and a solicitor lined up, and can move easily and flexibly this will make you more attractive to the vendor if they have multiple offers following the open house.

Leeds_House_Mover

All good advice. Don't worry about the other people. If you want to make an offer, do so but don't get carried away.

My one bit of advice is not to discuss it too much with friends and families. It's very easy for them to suggest how you should spend your money. We often heard, 'It's only £10,000 extra...don't mess around, go for it.' Just listen to you and your wife and go with what you can afford and want.