How long does it take to find a house in Cambridge?

hanifaplv

I am FTB and would like to know other's experiences. I am trying to find a decent house in my budget in Cambridge (south and east mostly) for around a month but It seems like there are few houses coming to the market which makes me feel I have to settle on one of these available options which are OK but definitely worse than the place that I am renting right now. How was your experience with house hunting in Cambridge? I find many attractive properties in my budget with Sold tag though:)) which makes me not happy with the available ones:(

to_be_FTB

I always think if there are properties listed as sold that look good to you and are in your budget, then it's somewhat of a good sign! When I first started to look a while back, anything that I could afford, sold or not sold, was way-way below what I was able to rent...  
None of this helps with your direct question, but it sounds like you would be best of renting while regularly checking the listings to snatch one of these properties that are attractive to you? These are likely to disappear quickly wherever one is based, so it might be worth checking daily or setting up some alerts... 

Keep_pedalling

I don’t think there is any problem with houses coming on the market, it just that within a few days of the for sale sign going up someone is back to put the sold sign over it. As least that is what happens in my part of town.

Persian_DG

hanifaplv said:

I am FTB and would like to know other's experiences. I am trying to find a decent house in my budget in Cambridge (south and east mostly) for around a month but It seems like there are few houses coming to the market which makes me feel I have to settle on one of these available options which are OK but definitely worse than the place that I am renting right now. How was your experience with house hunting in Cambridge? I find many attractive properties in my budget with Sold tag though:)) which makes me not happy with the available ones:(

Have you tried looking at properties over your budget? Have a look for some and see if there are any that have been listed for a long time (whatever that means in todays market haha). If they are not selling, it could be because they're overpriced which, the vendors may welcome an offer of some sort that fits within your budget... I.e. find the ones that aren't selling, find out why and maybe try take advantage

newsgroupmonkey_

Have you registered with the local agents? It may be that many people have and realistically, the houses are being sold before they ever hit the market. You'll need to be prepared to jump quickly.

I'm guessing here that you have Mortgage-in-principle and so-on lined up? As a FTB (even if you're not, you are in terms of chain), you're somewhat desirable. As someone else in another thread said, if there are 2 people offering the same amount for a property, then it's going to come down to who is most proceedable. IMHO, that would be cash buyer first, no-chain second, everyone else third (there are probably some in-betweens, but you get my point).

AdrianC

hanifaplv said:

I am FTB and would like to know other's experiences. I am trying to find a decent house in my budget in Cambridge (south and east mostly) for around a month but It seems like there are few houses coming to the market which makes me feel I have to settle on one of these available options which are OK but definitely worse than the place that I am renting right now. How was your experience with house hunting in Cambridge? I find many attractive properties in my budget with Sold tag though:)) which makes me not happy with the available ones:(

It depends entirely how picky you are.

If you're not even remotely picky, and your budget and expectations align, then you could easily have something sorted by the end of today.

On the other hand, you could be waiting until hell freezes over for the EXACT property which simply doesn't exist and - if it did - you couldn't afford it anyway.

Yes, the best value places at any price point sell quickly...
Remember, somebody was the first to view them. Why wasn't it you?
Why aren't the EAs phoning you to say "Hey, @hanifaplv, we've just got an instruction for this place - <address, price> - no, no more details yet, but we think it's exactly what you're after... Can you view today? Great!"

hanifaplv

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

Have you registered with the local agents? It may be that many people have and realistically, the houses are being sold before they ever hit the market. You'll need to be prepared to jump quickly.

I'm guessing here that you have Mortgage-in-principle and so-on lined up? As a FTB (even if you're not, you are in terms of chain), you're somewhat desirable. As someone else in another thread said, if there are 2 people offering the same amount for a property, then it's going to come down to who is most proceedable. IMHO, that would be cash buyer first, no-chain second, everyone else third (there are probably some in-betweens, but you get my point).

Thank you so much for that tip. No, I have not registered with any agent. So is it common here? I sometimes find good properties and Email right after it appears on rightmove but EA tells me that since they received many viewings they do not book anymore!!! So maybe they show good houses to their premium customers:( I liked the first house I viewed. I offered the asking price but someone else offered 10% above asking; I could also do that but since it was first offer I made I was worried that I may be paying too much; especially when I compared the price with sold prices nearby; the asking was already 10% above last year sold prices. Now, I kind of regret I lost it. I do not know...But many thanks everyone for your comments

Cakeguts

They aren't premium customers that the agents offer the houses to. They just send an email out to all the people that they have on their list of people looking in a particular area. This is why it is a good idea to register your interest with the agents.

MysteryMe

If it's feasible I would actually go into the EA offices to register your interest and talk over what you are looking for. You want to try and build up a relationship with the EA so that if a new property comes in, you are one of the people they give the first call too.  Pop in on a regular basis or call them. Be proactive. 

moneysavinghero

Took me about a minute to find a house in Cambridge. I did not check the 'include houses STC' tick box and so did not see any houses that were marked as sold. How long it would take to find a house you would actually want to buy depends on how fussy you are. The fact that you are including sold houses in your search suggest you may be fussier than most (nothing wrong with that), so it might take some time.

Drawingaline

When you talk to agents mention ones they have recently sold, that you loved the look of that one so they have an idea of what you are after. Also if it falls through maybe they will remember and call you up to make a viewing.

I know that when we lost our buyer our EA was on the phone to all the people who had previously been booked in and were still looking. 

We got our house before it hit the market as we had the EA round for a valuation. They asked what we were looking for, said we have one going on RM tonight, we can get you in today for a viewing, if you like it market with us and we will try and get the vendors to allow you a week to sell with us. Stressful, but it worked! (This was last summer about a month before it all went bonkers around here!)

As someone else said set your RM prices higher as well, it's always worthwhile. Maybe view one and at feedback state it's a bit high and if it hangs about and it is reduced, again agent may remember you.

Good luck.