Any tips on how to stand out when house hunting?

eddddy

If you want to 'play the game' a bit more cynically, when you make your offer, you can make yourself stand out to the EA by saying things like:

- "I don't have a solicitor, can you recommend a good one?"

- "I've got an AIP, but I'm not sure if it's the best deal. If the offer is accepted, can I talk to your broker?"

Some EAs would push your offer harder to the vendor, because of the potential extra referral fees they could get,

And if the offer is accepted, then change your mind and use your own solicitor and broker.


(It's probably not the type of strategy you had in mind, but realistically, it's probably more likely to make a difference.)

andre_xs

Your area seems to have a very hot market, so I don't know whether the following does apply to your circumstances: Quite a few EAs keep "headstart" or "premium" lists of potential buyers. These potential buyers are then informed more quickly, e.g. immediately after they get information on a property and before it appears even on their homepage or on Rightmove etc. You may also get the chance for an earlier viewing.

If they are common in your area, try to get on these type of lists. For this you often have to meet their mortgage broker (be aware, too many mortgage "applications" in too short time can affect credit rating), but sometimes it is just fine to give them regular proactive phonecalls whether they have something new on the market.

I know exactly your situation of being just able to afford the cheapest available property... We were close to giving up, but then found something which looks quite run down from inside, but is structurally fine. New wallpapers and carpets, plus a few other minor things, and we can move in. However, this state of the property resulted in a considerably lower price than for comparable properties in a better state (where you can directly move in), so that we were able to afford it.

DaftyDuck

Davesnave wrote: »

....

Now, I'd sell to Vladimir Putin, so long as he had the readies!.....

I think you'd end up selling to sweet Vladi even if he didn't have the readies to hand..... :eek:

SailorSam

If only ....... If only ......... If only i had a queue of people outside who all wanted to buy.

Healthnut.2012

Not sure this is "legal". Viewed a house Monday 9am, and whilst there made an offer for the asking price, and asked it to be removed from sale. Was told there was another viewing in the afternoon and I had to wait. So basically this morning (tuesday am) had to go to a sealed bid. So I offered £500 over what ever the others put in. This sent the poor agents into a quandry as suddenly they lost power and kept saying its probably not legal. Seemed a bit stiff to me, as not sure its "legal" to tell me to wait for another 2nd viewing. By they way we are ready to go, nothing to sell and all necessary in place. Willing to exchange in 2 weeks. So the result is we lost though apparently we both put in the same bid and were in the same position. Even though they had already been round when the price was higher and their 2nd viewing was following this previous rejection. Not sure there was anything else I could do. I sell new builds and its rather like me saying to one of my customers, yes I know you want it, and at list price but no you have to wait till somone else has a look too. I told them it was unfair and should have been first come first served, not my fault she couldnt get there till the afternoon. I assume its because its in the Estate Agents interest for all this and not particularly the vendor, if he even knew anything about it. Unfortunately he is not there so cant go and ask.
This system needs to be tightened up!

Cakeguts

Making an offer doesn't mean anything. You can't ask for the house to be removed from the market until your offer has been accepted by the vendor. It sounds as if your offer was never accepted because they said you had to wait until the vendor had had another viewing take place. So so far there is nothing that shouldn't have happened. You and another person were interested in the same property and the vendor hadn't decided who to sell it to.

You put in your sealed bid and the vendor decided to sell to the other person. What is wrong with that? Someone was going to lose out. This is nothing to do with the EA. The EA works for the vendor and it is ultimately the decision of the vendor who to sell the house to.

You can't make if first come first served or you take the choice away from the person selling the house. The first person would always make a low offer.

shortcrust

Healthnut.2012 wrote: »

Not sure this is "legal". Viewed a house Monday 9am, and whilst there made an offer for the asking price, and asked it to be removed from sale. Was told there was another viewing in the afternoon and I had to wait. So basically this morning (tuesday am) had to go to a sealed bid. So I offered £500 over what ever the others put in. This sent the poor agents into a quandry as suddenly they lost power and kept saying its probably not legal. Seemed a bit stiff to me, as not sure its "legal" to tell me to wait for another 2nd viewing. By they way we are ready to go, nothing to sell and all necessary in place. Willing to exchange in 2 weeks. So the result is we lost though apparently we both put in the same bid and were in the same position. Even though they had already been round when the price was higher and their 2nd viewing was following this previous rejection. Not sure there was anything else I could do. I sell new builds and its rather like me saying to one of my customers, yes I know you want it, and at list price but no you have to wait till somone else has a look too. I told them it was unfair and should have been first come first served, not my fault she couldnt get there till the afternoon. I assume its because its in the Estate Agents interest for all this and not particularly the vendor, if he even knew anything about it. Unfortunately he is not there so cant go and ask.
This system needs to be tightened up!

I’ve read this twice and still don’t really understand. Perhaps I’m just tired?

eddddy

Healthnut.2012 wrote: »

Not sure this is "legal".
<snip>

You should have started a new thread as this is a new topic.

But anyway... based on your post, nobody has done anything illegal.

The seller can accept whatever offer they choose - it doesn't have to be the first offer they get, or the highest offer they get.

For example, the seller might have chosen not to accept your offer because they thought you seemed like a 'difficult' buyer. (TBH, your post does make you sound a bit like a 'difficult' buyer.)

Cakeguts

shortcrust wrote: »

I’ve read this twice and still don’t really understand. Perhaps I’m just tired?

Put the word entitled in front of it and then read it again. Some people come from families where their parents gave them everything that the parents didn't have when they were children. It makes it very difficult for people to adjust when the rest of the world doesn't recognise that this person gets whatever they want.

NaughtiusMaximus

Cakeguts wrote: »

Put the word entitled in front of it and then read it again. Some people come from families where their parents gave them everything that the parents didn't have when they were children. It makes it very difficult for people to adjust when the rest of the world doesn't recognise that this person gets whatever they want.

Entitled and pushy, which imo translates into a PITA to do business with. If they came across that way in person too and I was the seller, I'd happily take £500 less and sell to the next highest bidder.