How would you assess my very first buy and negotiation skills

amandacat

Maybe the EA was telling the truth and you have done well to negotiate and be the person who got agreement to buy the house.
On the other hand maybe they were lying... I experienced this on the other side as a seller about 5 years ago. I had loads of viewings in one week, according to the EA I had 4 asking price offers and she suggested I go with the FTBs as they were the best option. Things didn’t seem to be moving, EA kept telling me all is fine and they’re qualified buyers but don’t worry if anything goes wrong as other buyers are still desperate for your house. Shortly after it turns out buyer can’t get a mortgage- mortgage advisor has told her they’ve not been declaring all self employed income so on paper they don’t earn enough. It’s all ok the EA tells me as theres the other buyers to fall back on. Turns out these other 3 buyers potentially don’t exist. A month later I get a new asking price offer from a new buyer and again apparently lots of people bidding on house, turns out again to be BS, another buyer who can’t get a mortgage and the other interested party have turned to scotch mist. As you can imagine I ditched that EA.
I’ve also been drawn into bidding wars as a buyer and have walked away, only to find the property never goes to sale agreed and is on the market still months later. 

So in your situation I’m sceptical about what you were told but also accept I could be wrong and you’ve done well. But the main thing is if you like the property and are happy with the price you are paying then that’s great and I wish you a successfully and stress free house purchase. 

[Deleted User]

It was your very first,  so if you're happy with the house and the price, enjoy It and thanks for buying.
I would have given it to you for the asking price though .....

Windofchange

amandacat said:

I’ve also been drawn into bidding wars as a buyer and have walked away, only to find the property never goes to sale agreed and is on the market still months later. 

This basically. We must have seen some 20 houses since Xmas before making an offer on the one that we have, and

Every

Single

One 

Of them had a plethora of offers, loads of interest, people queuing out of the estate agent's doors to get a viewing. Act now or you'll miss out. Most of them are still on the market as I type. The old adage of you know an estate agent is lying the minute they open their mouth could not be more true!

g000444555

So far literally all of the properties I have shortlisted have been sold in a matter of a week.
It is very interesting to hear your views about the honesty of EAs though. I understand that it's their job to sell as quick as possible at the highest price possible. However, at the end of the day, it's irrelevant whether the other 9 offers were there or not. What matters is that I got what I wanted, at a price that I know is very reasonable.
On the other hand, as someone mentioned earlier, Zoopla estimates are flawed. I believe same applies to the EAs estimates for the reasonable asking price. I have seen some houses going as low as 20% of the initial asking price (I have a browser plugin that tracks values). Some other houses not only reduce their price but also sometimes increase it. Also, while some houses take 6+ months to be sold, other go in a matter of a week or even a day. The only explanation to the latter cases is that the estimated prices are incorrect, too high in some cases, too low in other, and just about right in the minority of cases.
There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so. Also, comparing this quantifiable data to all the properties I shortlisted within the last 3 months, adds to my confidence and makes me think that it's unlikely that a great deal like this would present itself in the following 3 months. With the latter being said, I am sure for someone patient enough to wait a year or so, there would be at least 1-2 similar opportunities down the line.

lees80

You'll know the price is very reasonable (or not) when the mortgage valuation is carried out.

You had absolutely zero strategy - please do stop trying to think otherwise.

What you take into account when valuing a property has no link at all to what the bank will consider. As for the Estate Agents - they will 99% of the time go with the price the seller wants to market at, just to get the initial business. Then after a lack of viewings surprisingly discuss dropping the price. All one big merry go round - strategy is all driven by them, not you. 

danlightbulb

g000444555 said:

There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so.

      

Darkslider

danlightbulb said:

g000444555 said:

There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so.

      

I'd be interested to hear a few of these factors and why you believe you're more qualified to see hidden value in a house than 90% of the population. Unless, like your negotiation procedure, that's a big secret too?

Purchasers like myself and Dan above pored over every miniscule detail of our properties before settling on them, I'm genuinely interested to see what I might have neglected?

davidmcn

Darkslider said:

danlightbulb said:

g000444555 said:

There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so.

      

I'd be interested to hear a few of these factors and why you believe you're more qualified to see hidden value in a house than 90% of the population. Unless, like your negotiation procedure, that's a big secret too?

Purchasers like myself and Dan above pored over every miniscule detail of our properties before settling on them, I'm genuinely interested to see what I might have neglected?

I'm guessing it's something to do with ley lines.

[Deleted User]

g000444555 said:

So far literally all of the properties I have shortlisted have been sold in a matter of a week.
It is very interesting to hear your views about the honesty of EAs though. I understand that it's their job to sell as quick as possible at the highest price possible. However, at the end of the day, it's irrelevant whether the other 9 offers were there or not. What matters is that I got what I wanted, at a price that I know is very reasonable.
On the other hand, as someone mentioned earlier, Zoopla estimates are flawed. I believe same applies to the EAs estimates for the reasonable asking price. I have seen some houses going as low as 20% of the initial asking price (I have a browser plugin that tracks values). Some other houses not only reduce their price but also sometimes increase it. Also, while some houses take 6+ months to be sold, other go in a matter of a week or even a day. The only explanation to the latter cases is that the estimated prices are incorrect, too high in some cases, too low in other, and just about right in the minority of cases.
There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so. Also, comparing this quantifiable data to all the properties I shortlisted within the last 3 months, adds to my confidence and makes me think that it's unlikely that a great deal like this would present itself in the following 3 months. With the latter being said, I am sure for someone patient enough to wait a year or so, there would be at least 1-2 similar opportunities down the line.

I doubt that is true.  Isn't the average time to complete the purchase of a property in England 3 months, possibly even longer?

NewShadow

g000444555 said:

There are several factors that I take into account while evaluating a property. Things that 90% of the viewers or even the readers in this thread do not even notice. Having that additional information gives me the confidence of bidding higher when I believe it is absolutely worth doing so. 

You are Donald Trump and I claim my £5!