Lost out on another house that's gone for over asking price

startingout2016

The downside is that it is currently too expensive, and that the vendor would rather put it up for rent whilst they wait for a suitable offer to come through rather than accept slightly less from us who want to move quickly.

Tomby1

Hemel is one of the areas we looked at and even with a budget of £350k (so about 10% higher) we found it hard to find what we wanted, in the areas of Hemel we liked. We were the same as you - we'd rather have a not-so-nice house in a great area than a great house in an area we aren't comfortable in.

I would agree with everyone else, that you want to see properties as soon as they become available. At the very least, set an instant email alert on RightMove (and other property sites) so you can see properties as soon as possible.

We ended up finding our property through Rightmove and within 8 hours had seen the property and had an offer accepted at full asking price, on the basis that they did not have any further viewings or entertain any further offers, which they agreed to. It may not always work but did for us, which was perfect as we literally couldn't have afforded a penny more with deposit & mortgage.

Also worth noting that everyone we know who has ever owned/rented a property with a downstairs bathroom has said it's really hard to live with day-to-day. It always seems like a small price to pay but there is a good reason it's a big no-no for a lot of people!

startingout2016

Tomby1 wrote: »

Hemel is one of the areas we looked at and even with a budget of £350k (so about 10% higher) we found it hard to find what we wanted, in the areas of Hemel we liked. We were the same as you - we'd rather have a not-so-nice house in a great area than a great house in an area we aren't comfortable in.

I would agree with everyone else, that you want to see properties as soon as they become available. At the very least, set an instant email alert on RightMove (and other property sites) so you can see properties as soon as possible.

We ended up finding our property through Rightmove and within 8 hours had seen the property and had an offer accepted at full asking price, on the basis that they did not have any further viewings or entertain any further offers, which they agreed to. It may not always work but did for us, which was perfect as we literally couldn't have afforded a penny more with deposit & mortgage.

Also worth noting that everyone we know who has ever owned/rented a property with a downstairs bathroom has said it's really hard to live with day-to-day. It always seems like a small price to pay but there is a good reason it's a big no-no for a lot of people!

Thank you. We often say 'if only we had a budget of £350k we would find it so much easier', but im sure once you get to that point there are other things you need in a house and can't quite find at that budget.

I think I'm considering the house with the downstairs bathroom a good option due to the other plus points.
Along with not wanting to end up in a 3 bed property. All the houses I have owned that I've loved have been small quirky 2 bed cottages. To me I am more comfortable in a smaller property than a larger one and don't want to end up in a 3 bed in a bad location just because it happens to be a few £k cheaper than a small 2 bed. We would be happy with a 1 double / 1 single really.

We have started to look further afield in Tring / Northchurch where there are 2 bed cottages galore and all for reasonable prices, but the parking in those areas seem to be so much worse and when we have viewed properties its taken 15 mins of driving around just to get a spot a long walk away.

I think we both are still really sad about the sellers pulling out of the first house which we really loved. It was this 2 bed terrace: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55220416.html

We wrote the owners a letter to say if they ever changed their mind that we would still love to buy their house. We didnt actually know why they pulled out at the time, but they sent a lovely card back with a message to say that if they decide to sell again they will certainly be in touch and the reason they pulled out was that the agent had told them that we were starting to look elsewhere as they hadn't found somewhere to buy yet. Which obviously wasnt true, and we would have happily waited.

Purplepenguin88

We also live in HH, and are looking to start searching for somewhere early next year. The market seems to move really quickly, except for properties that seem vastly overpriced. Good luck! I don't have anything helpful to say except that I hope it goes OK for you eventually!

[Deleted User]

There does seem to be loads of houses in Hemel within your budget.. I'm guessing you're being ultra-choosy about location?

We're a junction away on the M1 and you'd be lucky to find a house priced under £400k unless you considered Watford? Abbots Langley is quite nice.

startingout2016

Thanks PP.

Im sure something will come up to suit eventually. Its hard to be patient sometimes.

Good luck for your search when you get there

startingout2016

Abbots Langley seems to have cheapest property at around £330k and upwards.

You need to be picky with areas in Hemel. There are a few nice parts and the rest really isn't somewhere Id want to be buying at all.
Not to mention the wrong side of town for my family and our work.

Cakeguts

startingout2016 wrote: »

Abbots Langley seems to have cheapest property at around £330k and upwards.

You need to be picky with areas in Hemel. There are a few nice parts and the rest really isn't somewhere Id want to be buying at all.
Not to mention the wrong side of town for my family and our work.

It is absolutely fine to be very picky but you do have to realise that if you have a low budget for a particular area you aren't going to get a choice of the best properties in that area. Your budget for the areas you are looking in looks to be a bit lower than most properties go for so it is possible that you will never find anything that you like that you can afford. It might be a good idea to consider that you aren't going to find anything in these areas so that you can consider houses that might be suitable in other areas?

startingout2016

It seems so!
Have been emailed trough a few apartments. It's just not ideal wth a baby on the way.
And I'm trying to get my other half to agree to look at the cheaper villages surrounding HH which we could easily afford, but means we will be further away from the childcare we have been offered if we are in HH.
Meaning we may be able to afford elsewhere but come time for maternity leave to finish and we will struggle even more

startingout2016

We emailed the agent yesterday of the house thats slightly above budget but the one we want to ask if seeing as the house hasnt sold yet if the vendor may be considering offers now.

We have just had the following response from the agent:

***** who has been dealing with your negotiations & our vendor is out of
the office today & apologies spent most of the day yesterday on external
appointments, so I am afraid did not get to see her emails.

On her return to the office tomorrow I am sure she will respond with an
update to you.

Please bear with us.


Does this sound like the Vendor works for the estate agent?