Really confused about what I want :(

staffie1

Why don’t you offer to buy your current rental, build up some value in it, then look again in a couple of years where there’s more supply in the market? 

hazyjo

danlightbulb said:

Tiglet2 said:

With respect, danlightbulb, you have been asking for advice on this subject, on this forum, since around March 2019.  By now you could have been midway through some renovations as well as increasing your equity with every mortgage payment in your own home.  I think the EA have got wise to you and are no doubt aware that they are not going to be earning their commission by encouraging you to view any houses on their books.

Do you think this is excessive? Some posters here have said they've viewed 20+ properties and had repeat viewings three times before deciding.

Those posters usually view over a few months and find something - not two years. I usually view several before buying. But if you're not finding many to view (two or three in, what, a year?), then it's probably budget and your expectations. You can't always judge from looking online. You need to view more and make a strong commitment to buying, not just browse every few months. Have you set alerts to 'instant' on RM? If properties are going before you see them and the EAs aren't letting these other people know, then they are either acting quicker than you so you need to be more on the ball, or the EAs are lying (because they prob know you've been looking for 2 years and aren't taking you seriously, despite you saying it's not that).

danlightbulb

AdrianC said:

danlightbulb said:
I think the issue with the agents is that when the good houses come along they get swamped with viewing requests. I am unimportant to them, which is expected of course. As Ive said before, Dubberley's are getting a high proportion of the listings in this area at the moment, so from my point of view (and possibly theirs) Im always speaking to the same people.

So they know exactly what your requirements are, and are putting suggestions forward to you proactively, right...?

The last house I viewed, I knew for a fact it had a 36" water main running through the garden

And...?

They don't call me back. What can I do? Yes they know my requirements to a point, but even when they promise to call me back (for example on the house where the ill woman wouldn't do viewings) they don't. I do phone back myself, but its demoralising to keep chasing them all the time. @Tiglet2 says the agents aren't taking me seriously, @Slithery says im not pestering them enough, and you say that all agents have a  proactive list. I promise you that round here, at least in my experience looking for houses now, and searching for houses back when I was married (bought two, sold one prior to 2010), I have never ever had this happen.

re the water main - things like that have easement rights, guy said to me "be nice to put a conservatory out here", which wouldn't be allowed as the construction would be over the top of the pipe. It shows that you can't trust what they say, and in this case may have been a blatent lie.

Salemicus

Yes, your behaviour is completely excessive. Refusing to make a decision for 2 years is absurd. And it sounds like you've only viewed a dozen or so properties in that time, which is just sad. This is not how to conduct a house search.

NinjaTune

If you'e been looking for 2 years, does that mean you've been renewing your mortgage offer every 6 months as well?

Did you see the 2 bed I linked earlier?  Hideous decor but you said that wouldn't be a problem.

danlightbulb

Salemicus said:

Yes, your behaviour is completely excessive. Refusing to make a decision for 2 years is absurd. And it sounds like you've only viewed a dozen or so properties in that time, which is just sad. This is not how to conduct a house search.

You may be right but there is no point viewing more houses until I can get it into my head about relaxing my requirements, because then I'm just wasting their time.

I know there is a conflict between my budget, location and requirements but I need some help to overcome it, that's why I started this post yesterday.

AdrianC

danlightbulb said:

AdrianC said:

danlightbulb said:
I think the issue with the agents is that when the good houses come along they get swamped with viewing requests. I am unimportant to them, which is expected of course. As Ive said before, Dubberley's are getting a high proportion of the listings in this area at the moment, so from my point of view (and possibly theirs) Im always speaking to the same people.

So they know exactly what your requirements are, and are putting suggestions forward to you proactively, right...?

The last house I viewed, I knew for a fact it had a 36" water main running through the garden

And...?

They don't call me back.

They've given up on you as a credible buyer.

Forget "not calling back" on properties you're asking about - if they thought there was a cat-in-hell's of you actually buying, they'd be calling you to say "Hey, Dan - just got the instruction for this that seems to tick all your boxes. Pics to follow, but what do you think?"

Scotbot

danlightbulb said:

AdrianC said:

danlightbulb said:
I think the issue with the agents is that when the good houses come along they get swamped with viewing requests. I am unimportant to them, which is expected of course. As Ive said before, Dubberley's are getting a high proportion of the listings in this area at the moment, so from my point of view (and possibly theirs) Im always speaking to the same people.

So they know exactly what your requirements are, and are putting suggestions forward to you proactively, right...?

The last house I viewed, I knew for a fact it had a 36" water main running through the garden

And...?

They don't call me back. What can I do? Yes they know my requirements to a point, but even when they promise to call me back (for example on the house where the ill woman wouldn't do viewings) they don't. I do phone back myself, but its demoralising to keep chasing them all the time. @Tiglet2 says the agents aren't taking me seriously, @Slithery says im not pestering them enough, and you say that all agents have a  proactive list. I promise you that round here, at least in my experience looking for houses now, and searching for houses back when I was married (bought two, sold one prior to 2010), I have never ever had this happen.

re the water main - things like that have easement rights, guy said to me "be nice to put a conservatory out here", which wouldn't be allowed as the construction would be over the top of the pipe. It shows that you can't trust what they say, and in this case may have been a blatent lie.

I agree with Tiglet, they aren't taking you seriously but I  have to say EAs were not proactive when I was buying either. Demoralising it may be but you have to chase them particularly at tge moment when they are rushed off their feet.

RelievedSheff

danlightbulb said:

Salemicus said:

Yes, your behaviour is completely excessive. Refusing to make a decision for 2 years is absurd. And it sounds like you've only viewed a dozen or so properties in that time, which is just sad. This is not how to conduct a house search.

You may be right but there is no point viewing more houses until I can get it into my head about relaxing my requirements, because then I'm just wasting their time.

I know there is a conflict between my budget, location and requirements but I need some help to overcome it, that's why I started this post yesterday.

Quite the opposite. You need to be viewing more properties so that you can get a feel for what your budget gets you. Then you can make informed decisions about where the compromise has to be.

danlightbulb

AdrianC said:

Forget "not calling back" on properties you're asking about - if they thought there was a cat-in-hell's of you actually buying, they'd be calling you to say "Hey, Dan - just got the instruction for this that seems to tick all your boxes. Pics to follow, but what do you think?"

Sorry, no, this is not correct in my opinion. Not round here where I live. Perhaps some others can either agree or disagree with this because it would be interesting to see whether anyone else has had that kind of prompting in this area from these agents.