Advice on cash purchase of a house appreciated please.

silvercar

We were seen as the buyer of choice, having offered the same as another potential buyer but not having a property to sell. We also marketed ourselves as being efficient and prepared to move quickly.

Not needing a mortgage meant that we could move quicker because there turned out to be some bits of legals that a lender would have insisted be found before a mortgage offer was released, whereas we could decide to proceed without them.

getmore4less

Everyone is a cash buyer it is just down to where the funds are coming from.

How you can proceed to exchange and completion is the imprtant information to be focused on.

As a buyer that is not just the funds as most other things are optional in transfering a house, survey, searches, how picky you get on the fixtures and fixings list, how much time it takes to analyse the deeds, the more checks you want to do the more likley they would take longer than any funding.


For the OP and their dad buying an old house.

I would survey

Check the deeds for any issues like covenents right of access etc.

Local planning policy if the area is not know any anything happening nearby.

If the property is sitting there with no interest might as well get on with some negotiations, but thta is upto you dad how much time and effort is spent, if he is relatively comfortable he might just be happy with the easy life for the sake of a few £K, it may be that the vendor is not in a hurry so any offer will just sit there anyway.

Just check the local market for realistic value, if you know the place you can do this.

Nobbie1967

Go ahead and put in an offer now, but just explain your dad's situation fully to the Estate Agent. Terms like 'cash buyer' mean different things to different people and don't really help. Also a true 'cash buyer' with the money sat in their bank account maybe able to complete without any 3rd party's delaying things, but they are also able to play hardball as they have little skin in the game upto exchange as they don't have to invest in searches, surveys and mortgage fees. If I was selling, a cash buyer wouldn't necessarily be my first choice unless I knew a bit more about them. In your case that would seem to be a 'good' cash buyer as opposed to an investor for whom it's just an asset to be acquired at the lowest possible cost.

arlywarly

Thanks everyone for your input - most helpful. We're guessing that any offer, lower than the asking price, will be put forward by the agent to the vendor with the agent telling them to hold out for more. Trouble is, we can't compare its price to other houses as it's an unusual property. Am sure it'll all work out...despite moving house being one of the most stressful things ever!

Mardle

From personal experience I would suggest that you wait until you have an actual date that the solicitor will release funds for the house purchase before putting in an offer.

The sale of my late mother's house was completed in June last year but the solicitor didn't release the funds until September.

We made our offer as soon as we had a definite date the funds would be released. As we were buying an old house we had a full building survey done and employed a solicitor to handle the purchase.

jacko74

Good luck with it, let us know how you get on.
As it's been on the market 8 months you might have a bit better luck than I've managed so far!

I think my mistake so far may have been making my first offer my 'best and only' which I thought was a more no nonsense approach... but I'm guessing vendors and EA's prefer you to play the silly game of offering well below what you're prepared to pay and then gradually creeping up to what you're actually prepared to pay.

I suppose if that's what it takes to massage their egos and allow them to think they've 'won the game' then I suppose that's what I'll have to do with future offers.

arlywarly

jacko74 wrote: »

Good luck with it, let us know how you get on.
As it's been on the market 8 months you might have a bit better luck than I've managed so far!

I think my mistake so far may have been making my first offer my 'best and only' which I thought was a more no nonsense approach... but I'm guessing vendors and EA's prefer you to play the silly game of offering well below what you're prepared to pay and then gradually creeping up to what you're actually prepared to pay.

I suppose if that's what it takes to massage their egos and allow them to think they've 'won the game' then I suppose that's what I'll have to do with future offers.

Good luck to you too. Just a shame my dad is the world's worst negotiator! Think I'll get him to call the solicitor first to see if they can give him a date, and we'll take it from there.

arlywarly

An update. Sale of my grandfather's house completed yesterday BUT the solicitors cannot release any of the funds for a few weeks (they have to submit all the figures to the powers that be to ensure all correct taxes paid). My dad, in the meantime, had an offer accepted on the house he wanted. I managed to speak to the solicitor dealing with my grandfather's estate and they have agreed to release the funds needed to purchase the house (hope that makes sense!). So...fingers crossed, it'll all work out and he'll be able to move in a few weeks.

Nobbie1967

arlywarly wrote: »

An update. Sale of my grandfather's house completed yesterday BUT the solicitors cannot release any of the funds for a few weeks (they have to submit all the figures to the powers that be to ensure all correct taxes paid). My dad, in the meantime, had an offer accepted on the house he wanted. I managed to speak to the solicitor dealing with my grandfather's estate and they have agreed to release the funds needed to purchase the house (hope that makes sense!). So...fingers crossed, it'll all work out and he'll be able to move in a few weeks.

Well done, hope it all goes smoothly. Thanks for the update. If we can be nosy, was there any negotiation on the price and what % of asking did they accept?