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FTB with a number of questions
Istinne
Posts: 13 Forumite
Hi Everyone,
My partner and I are starting to look at houses to buy. I have been keeping an eye on the local market for a while and saving properties I like the look of on Rightmove, and my partner has now decided that he'd be quite happy to proceed if we found something we both like and could comfortably afford.
We are currently renting a 2 bed ground floor flat on a nice development, built around 2007/8. The majority of the houses around us are big, 5 bed detached monsters, with those on our particular street a combination of flats, townhouses and semis. We love the area and while I'm quite happy to lower my expectations and look further afield for something cheaper, pretty much everywhere else I show my partner he turns his nose up. He seems to have set his heart to living on our current development.
A 3-bed, 3 story townhouse has come up for sale on our street and we are both quite keen to view - even my partner who until now has said that 'terraces' are a no-go. The house would give us more than enough space, with a small garden with access to private parking to the rear and a garage. The house is for the most part ready to move into, except for some minor redecoration in children's bedrooms. My only real reservation with the house is that it isn't clear if the parking is communal between all the townhouses or allocated - my car will fit in the garage but my partner's, not so much.
The house is currently being marketed for £163,000 with two estate agents, these listings were put up in mid-February. Having snooped on Zoopla, I can see that it was previously advertised for sale in October 2018 for offers in the region of £175,000. I can also see that the current owners bought it new just before the financial crash for £184,000 (ouch).
Having had a look at sold prices for other townhouses on the same block, one sold in December 2018 for £157,000, another for £158,000 in August 2018. With this in mind, would an offer of around £153,000 with a view to meeting in the middle seem reasonable to test the waters?
Also, I've noticed that Estate Agents seem to really emphasise if a property has no chain and there's nothing mentioned about a chain in the listings for this property at all. I presume this means that the vendors are in a chain themselves?
In the case of chains, what is a reasonable timescale for completion? I've seen a lot of people say 8-12 weeks for a Freehold house purchase but I presumed that was if all things go well and there's no hiccups. In practice I suppose it's how long is a piece of string?
I can't say I'd be super pushy to get a completion date asap, although we have plenty of furniture from our flat we don't have any large appliances as they are built in, so the longer we had until completion the longer we could build up a bit extra to pay for things like that. The only other large item we'd need to purchase would be wardrobes. Alternatively, is it quite common to make an offer for the vendor's appliances at a reduced price?
Thank you in advance!
My partner and I are starting to look at houses to buy. I have been keeping an eye on the local market for a while and saving properties I like the look of on Rightmove, and my partner has now decided that he'd be quite happy to proceed if we found something we both like and could comfortably afford.
We are currently renting a 2 bed ground floor flat on a nice development, built around 2007/8. The majority of the houses around us are big, 5 bed detached monsters, with those on our particular street a combination of flats, townhouses and semis. We love the area and while I'm quite happy to lower my expectations and look further afield for something cheaper, pretty much everywhere else I show my partner he turns his nose up. He seems to have set his heart to living on our current development.
A 3-bed, 3 story townhouse has come up for sale on our street and we are both quite keen to view - even my partner who until now has said that 'terraces' are a no-go. The house would give us more than enough space, with a small garden with access to private parking to the rear and a garage. The house is for the most part ready to move into, except for some minor redecoration in children's bedrooms. My only real reservation with the house is that it isn't clear if the parking is communal between all the townhouses or allocated - my car will fit in the garage but my partner's, not so much.
The house is currently being marketed for £163,000 with two estate agents, these listings were put up in mid-February. Having snooped on Zoopla, I can see that it was previously advertised for sale in October 2018 for offers in the region of £175,000. I can also see that the current owners bought it new just before the financial crash for £184,000 (ouch).
Having had a look at sold prices for other townhouses on the same block, one sold in December 2018 for £157,000, another for £158,000 in August 2018. With this in mind, would an offer of around £153,000 with a view to meeting in the middle seem reasonable to test the waters?
Also, I've noticed that Estate Agents seem to really emphasise if a property has no chain and there's nothing mentioned about a chain in the listings for this property at all. I presume this means that the vendors are in a chain themselves?
In the case of chains, what is a reasonable timescale for completion? I've seen a lot of people say 8-12 weeks for a Freehold house purchase but I presumed that was if all things go well and there's no hiccups. In practice I suppose it's how long is a piece of string?
I can't say I'd be super pushy to get a completion date asap, although we have plenty of furniture from our flat we don't have any large appliances as they are built in, so the longer we had until completion the longer we could build up a bit extra to pay for things like that. The only other large item we'd need to purchase would be wardrobes. Alternatively, is it quite common to make an offer for the vendor's appliances at a reduced price?
Thank you in advance!
0
Comments
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offer what you think is worth, completion is indeed how long is a piece of string but expect around 3 months"It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"
G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP0
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