First Time Buyer Advice

firstimebuyer1

Hi all,

Myself and recently married wife are looking for some advice on our first home.

We have viewed 4 properties that are not perfect and we have seen one on right move which ticks literally ALL of the boxes.

We have a viewing booked this weekend and have been told we are one of 4 viewing.

We have a mortgage decision in principle already and live with parents which I believe puts us in a good position as we have no chain and can move straight in.

The house was only put up last Saturday and this is the first round of viewings (houses in the area sell very fast), my parents have said still go a little below the asking price, whereas my wifes parents have said we just bid £5K over straight away.

What do you think is the best suggestion for us? I personally think we should go straight in with the full asking price and go from there.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

ellie27

Depends what you think the house is worth to you?

What would be your max on it?

What have similar houses sold for recently?

Dont want you to worry or anything but if houses sell very fast then it could be sold already!

firstimebuyer1

thanks for your reply!

Its marketed for £220K but realistically we can go to £230K

Similar houses are selling for around the same figure anywhere between £220-230K

Not sold yet as I called the agents today and asked if there was anyway we could view before Saturday but the seller can only do weekend viewings

Dan-Dan

firstimebuyer1 wrote: »

Hi all,

Myself and recently married wife are looking for some advice on our first home.

We have viewed 4 properties that are not perfect and we have seen one on right move which ticks literally ALL of the boxes.

We have a viewing booked this weekend and have been told we are one of 4 viewing.

We have a mortgage decision in principle already and live with parents which I believe puts us in a good position as we have no chain and can move straight in.

The house was only put up last Saturday and this is the first round of viewings (houses in the area sell very fast), my parents have said still go a little below the asking price, whereas my wifes parents have said we just bid £5K over straight away.

What do you think is the best suggestion for us? I personally think we should go straight in with the full asking price and go from there.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

The parents obviously want to keep you around

HouseBuyer77

What's the market like in your area? If it's likely they'll be multiple offers then an offer below asking may not get you anywhere.

A starting offer of asking price with a view to raising it to your real price could be the best way forward (in the event of multiple offers the EA may well ask for best&final offers by date X).

Alternatively if you don't think it's likely they'll be multiple offers an offer of a bit below asking may be quickly accepted.

Make sure the EA understands your position and that you're able to move quickly.

Bear in mind what ellie27 says about prices. Don't pay more than it's worth (or worth to you), though beware in a fast moving market to get a desirable property you'll almost certainly end up paying a high price.

Rosetinted

While it's great to think tactics, I would wait until you've actually viewed the property first before setting your heart on it! Sometimes you get to those 'perfect on paper' properties and find when you arrive to view that they're near a sewage works or the road's really busy or simply that the photos make it seem better than it is. Don't fall in love with the idea of it. Get through the door and really analyse the pros and cons, whether you want to live there and whether it's really worth the asking price. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of competing to get a place, which is precisely why EAs book viewings to overlap just a little bit.

If properties of this type are moving fast and you think it's worth the asking price when you've viewed, I'd personally offer asking price and emphasise that you're in a great position to move forward, FTB, mortgage agreement in place, etc. Say that you want the property off the market and no more viewings if your offer's accepted.

Also, I'd advise getting quotes from a few solicitors or conveyancers, as well as a surveyor (if you're planning to have a survey) and then emphasising that you have those lined up as well. The better you can 'sell' the concept of you as an organised, ready to go buyer, the better your chances against any possible competition.

A word of caution: as others have said, sometimes things enter into a bidding war and go for more than they're worth. A house I offered asking price for a couple of weeks back went for 25k above that. It wasn't worth it and I walked away once we got to 5k above asking price (my maximum budget). It's important to decide at what point you're going to walk away and stick to that.