Anyone else finding it impossible to buy right now?

mortgage_noob

Trying to buy in Sheffield and the market is totally crazy. Been to best and final a few times, few times had a viewing booked only for it to be sold before I even get a chance to view.  I refresh rightmove all day and half the time when I go to book they're already full for the first slots and we have to wait another day. It's so so disheartening.  

Anyone got tips for buying in a buoyant market, at this point I'm considering making offers without a viewing

Trebor2013

Same here in Norfolk. I'm on Rightmove/Zoopla looking daily, normally with the 'Include Sold STC' option unticked when i do my search. Then every now and again I'll tick the button and see quite a few listings that didn't appear to make it on the website before being 'Sold STC'.

Not sure if your house is on the market or not, or if you're a FTB, but from experience of a couple of friends of ours. They put their house on the market and gave the Estate Agent an idea of what they were looking to buy. With that in mind, the Estate Agent kept them in the loop of any new sellers that came through them, with houses that met some/most of the criteria that our friends were looking for.

They then got to view a couple of houses prior to them appearing on the market. They didn't go with either, but I wonder if thats why so many are getting viewings booked up so quickly before they make it onto Rightmove, etc? Not sure if they 'legally' have to advertise the house or not, but presumably not, and if their job is to sell the house and they can do it quickly, i guess it's better for them and the seller.

Appreciate this doesn't offer any advice necessarily, but perhaps get in touch with a few local Estate Agents and see what they suggest.

soozym71

Yes. Exactly the same in Bolton. Got to best and final on a few.  Even put in an extra 11k on a 130k house and still didn’t get it. It’s absolutely mental at the moment. I tried to put an offer on a house without viewing but was told I wasn’t allowed to. Probably best, to be honest,  but I was just getting desperate. 

firsttimesellerldn

We’re trying to buy in Brighton and it’s proving.. challenging. Very little new coming on the market.  Am selling my flat and am planning on moving into rental if necessary so am hoping we won’t be stuck there for ages. Just have to keep at it! 

juliedee4663

Yes, same here, anything decent is being snapped up in days. We sold a month ago and are really struggling to find something. It's even proving equally difficult to find a decent rental. Saw one we liked, and were prepared to commit to even before we exchange on our property and there were 5 other people interested in it, and the landlord wanted a minimum of 12 month contract!

starrybee

Same in Cardiff. All the nice starter homes are selling within 24 hours for over the asking price - even getting booked in for a viewing before it sells is proving hard work.

JJR45

We completed our sale in December and could not find anything so have rented since.
People are going mad but seeing a few fall through now, I think best bet is new build with a decent completion date.
Seems like people at the moment are willing to pay £xx,xxx more to save a few thousand on stamp duty, madness.
There are going to be a lot of people who find out they have over paid in a year or so time.

David2710

Anyone remember 1992 and Black Wednesday? Yes, plenty of cash around, no doubt, but much of it is foreign money and cash rich pensioners looking for easy money in the Btl market. First time buyers are finding it almost impossible to buy unless they have wealthy parents, can find the 25% cash deposit or are looking to purchase a shared ownership. I remember the days when anyone could get a 'no status' mortgage provided they own a home or can find a large deposit. They're still available but under the table nudge nudge wink wink. Anyone investing in the UK housing market right now and 25 years worth of debt must be completely mad. Cash rich pensioners not so much as long as they understand prices can go down as well as up. 

Octothorpe

Yup, in S.E. Going within days.
Silly money too! Not even time for second viewings on the decent houses 🙄

FTB_Help

Im pretty sure some of these properties that are being snapped up and going well over asking may at some point come back on the market, esp if they've gone well over market value so may end up getting down valued at some point in the process.

There's also been a few posts here about buyers regret and looking to pull out as they got ahead of themselves in the bidding war and paid more than they wanted to.

My advice is to hold on there will always be more to come in the market, im sure there are plenty people trying to buy right now and settle on a property just to save SD

justworriedabit

mortgage_noob said:

Trying to buy in Sheffield and the market is totally crazy. Been to best and final a few times, few times had a viewing booked only for it to be sold before I even get a chance to view.  I refresh rightmove all day and half the time when I go to book they're already full for the first slots and we have to wait another day. It's so so disheartening.  

Anyone got tips for buying in a buoyant market, at this point I'm considering making offers without a viewing

T
Be cash ready ie cash ready or mortgage ready and be prpared to pay asking price and then a bit more when buyer backs out.
Cash is king as well as you having no chain
We've only bought property that is chain free and only sell to chain free, ie sold to those cash rich, mortgage cash ready and no chain etc and our properties are not FTB types. We may get a few k's less but not worth the guess work, risks with a moving market that can quiet easily go down

The highest, best prices are often ok to good locations where  rarely more than a few properties look alike.