Offering during/immediately after viewing - anyone else reluctant to do this or am I too cautious?

ss2020jd

I understand the market is still bonkers at the moment but I saw a property I was interested in, although with some potential issues that I wanted to check first. After the viewing, the estate agent called to say someone had made an offer and the vendor was going to accept so if we wanted it we would have to offer now. My husband wasn’t convinced and thought it might be a pressurising tactic.

 Anyway, I didn’t feel I could offer until I was satisfied the issues weren’t serious and to ensure it was a serious committed offer, rather than offering and pulling out when, or if, I found out later that the renovation next door was going to be a new hotel or dog kennels, for example. Or that the lovely original feature boundary wall was owned by the neighbouring property and in fact there were plans to demolish it and rebuild much higher which would have had an impact on the garden.

So am I one of the few buyers who finds it hard to offer within 15 minutes of viewing? I try to do as much research as possible before, but I think it’s wise to visit at different times of the day etc and wander round the area if it’s not that familiar. Maybe I haven’t found the right place yet but I’d be interested to hear anyone’s experience of doing this (or not).

yllop1101

I think perhaps you have to play the game and offer and check those things out after (before you spend money on surveys etc). You could always raise the questions with you offer/make them conditions. 

ss2020jd

yllop1101 said:

I think perhaps you have to play the game and offer and check those things out after (before you spend money on surveys etc). You could always raise the questions with you offer/make them conditions. 

Yes, I suppose that’s an option. I always try to check before but some things come to light during the viewing. In this case I am glad I took the time, as I did discover the plans to demolish the wall which would have been a nightmare. 

eddddy

ss2020jd said:

 Anyway, I didn’t feel I could offer until I was satisfied the issues weren’t serious and to ensure it was a serious committed offer, rather than offering and pulling out when, or if, I found out later that the renovation next door was going to be a new hotel or dog kennels, for example. Or that the lovely original feature boundary wall was owned by the neighbouring property and in fact there were plans to demolish it and rebuild much higher which would have had an impact on the garden.

Are those real examples - or hypothetical ones?  How would you do your research?

It's a bit of a 'chicken and egg' question.  If your best offer was going to be, say, £250k - maybe you want to know if the seller would accept £250k, before you potentially waste a lot of time doing research about the property next door and the wall.

One approach might be to ask the seller those questions, and maybe mention that your offer is based on the seller's answers being correct. Then, if you do your research and find that the seller misled you - it's reasonable to reduce your offer, or withdraw it.

Thrugelmir

I've always viewed twice before offering. You notice a lot more the second time. 

ss2020jd

eddddy said:

ss2020jd said:

 Anyway, I didn’t feel I could offer until I was satisfied the issues weren’t serious and to ensure it was a serious committed offer, rather than offering and pulling out when, or if, I found out later that the renovation next door was going to be a new hotel or dog kennels, for example. Or that the lovely original feature boundary wall was owned by the neighbouring property and in fact there were plans to demolish it and rebuild much higher which would have had an impact on the garden.

Are those real examples - or hypothetical ones?  How would you do your research?

It's a bit of a 'chicken and egg' question.  If your best offer was going to be, say, £250k - maybe you want to know if the seller would accept £250k, before you potentially waste a lot of time doing research about the property next door and the wall.

One approach might be to ask the seller those questions, and maybe mention that your offer is based on the seller's answers being correct. Then, if you do your research and find that the seller misled you - it's reasonable to reduce your offer, or withdraw it.

Thanks for the reply. These are real examples. The place next door is being restored and renovated. We asked the vendor a few questions but the answers were vague and non-committal so we had a few reservations. The estate agent made a point of telling us the wall was owned by the next door house and that it was undergoing plans to extend and renovate. So I looked up the plans online and also found out it was bought by a company.
 

It is exactly a ‘chicken and egg’ situation. Forearmed is forewarned and all that...

ss2020jd

Thrugelmir said:

I've always viewed twice before offering. You notice a lot more the second time. 

So have I in the past. Exactly. But in this climate that seems to be an impossibility. 

Lavendyr

It depends. We offered on our hosue within 15 mins of viewing because we knew it was perfect for our needs. There were no other significant things to cause us concern in the area and if there were any serious concerns then those are things that come up on searches and so forth. We also wandered around the area prior to and after viewing at different times. 

It's hard at the moment as the market is so fast moving. I think there is an element of needing to put your stake in the ground and make a committed offer - a lot of time will pass during which you can feel out any potential issues. But if you know the area then that shouldn't be too tough. And even if you don't (as we didn't) - you can get a sense by visiting. 

You sound a little too anxious in all honesty. The things you say might concern you are not things you will find out at offer. They are things that will come up in the buying process. The market is fierce right now but it could well calm down. I wouldn't be surprised if the EA's call was in fact not a tactic, in this market. So your situation really just depends on how long you are prepared to wait. 

AnotherJoe

OP the trouble is you've gone from an extreme of specific very unusual things that affect the property you are looking at, to the general case which will not have those issues. How many houses for example are likely to have a hotel built next door? Or a feature wall that's highly attractive that's shared with next door who have control over its building? 

Those things you mentioned would give me cause to wait and check though  I suspect in your case you will as a result lose out. (Let us know but I bet it wasn't the EA pulling a fast one, that's a dangerous tactic to employ  ).But losing out may have been a good thing in this very specific very unusual case. The seller really doesnt know if a hotel is being built next door?? !
 But in the general case of an ordinary house in an unremarkable location, you snooze you lose at the moment. And the things you cannot do research on immediately, you can during the buying process surveys searches etc.  If you do those before offering you'll never buy anything.  I'm not saying offer immediately and unless you are smitten immediately and there are twenty viewings lined up, dont do a second viewing, but the sort of things you mention are so far from the norm they don't serve as good examples for the general case. 

MovingForwards

Find a property on whatever sales platform you're looking at.
Use Earth to view gardens, boundaries etc.
Check council planning site.
Do a few internet searches for other things which may concern you.
Buy title deeds £3 each and read them.

If everything meets requirements, view property. 

There's a lot of readily available information online.  It's not as if a property pops up and 5 minutes later you're at the door, you've got a bit of time before viewing.  Even if you book the viewing, do some of the above, then view (or cancel), it all gives you a head start. Alternatively, wait until the property market calms (whenever that will be), then look for somewhere. 

I did offer a couple of hours after viewing, would have done so after walking out the door but had to visit someone. This was a few months before the pandemic, but I still did a lot of research on the run up to being ready to buy.

ss2020jd

Thanks for all the replies. It does sound like I need to adapt my attitude a bit and my husband needs to be a bit less cynical! 

It wasn’t a tactic. The place was under offer that afternoon so it definitely was a case of you snooze, you lose.  

I think I have been a bit over-anxious  @Lavendyr, focusing on the potential negative and all the nightmare stories I may have heard in the past. Putting my stake in the ground is something I need to start doing, that’s true. 

Very true @AnotherJoe, this would not be the norm, I agree. I did lose out but in this case it was the right move from what I have seen so far. The place next door is a huge farm with loads of land and massive farmhouse which the owners (a company - which made me think it would not be residential) are restoring, potentially dwarfing the little barn conversion I was looking at. But as you say I don’t need to know everything before I offer and if issues come to light later down the line then I could always reconsider if it’s serious.

Thanks @MovingForwards after doing all that I should be able to know if I want to take the plunge. Who knows when the madness is going to end so I don’t want to wait forever. 

I have to accept that I can’t check everything. And even if I do there’s no guarantee things won’t change after I’ve moved in. I need to read more positive stories, I think! 

I appreciate all the advice and hearing your experiences. That’s very helpful.