Struggling to find house to buy

GingerLs

Really struggling to find a suitable house to buy! Been looking for the best part of 18 months with 1 sale falling through. 

We have a good deposit, chain free. I dont feel like we're being overly picky and can get what we want for our budget in our area. The problem is that theres not much coming up for sale and when it does there is a lot of interest and they are often going way over asking price. 

Starting to wonder if we should just settle for something or keep looking for something we love that ticks most of our boxes. 

I'm really sick of renting now as I hate the house were in and want to think about starting a family etc so getting frustrated at being at a standstill for so long. 

Does anyone think the house demand will settle or having similar problems?

[Deleted User]

GingerLs said:

Really struggling to find a suitable house to buy! Been looking for the best part of 18 months with 1 sale falling through. 

We have a good deposit, chain free. I dont feel like we're being overly picky and can get what we want for our budget in our area. The problem is that theres not much coming up for sale and when it does there is a lot of interest and they are often going way over asking price. 

Starting to wonder if we should just settle for something or keep looking for something we love that ticks most of our boxes. 

I'm really sick of renting now as I hate the house were in and want to think about starting a family etc so getting frustrated at being at a standstill for so long. 

Does anyone think the house demand will settle or having similar problems?

Still..? 😉

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6252481/struggling-to-find-a-house-to-buy

You say that you can get what you want for your budget and then go on to say the properties get lots of interest and go over asking. Can you afford to offer more than the asking prices? 

Shirley21

I have the same issue here. There is not many properties on the market at the moment. Those good one went really fast and there is a few properties which on the market for a long time, but I did my own research on some of them, and noticed they potentially have issues. (That’s probably why they are on market for long). 

I’ve had enough for bidding wars and people go way much over asking price which I personally think it is not worth. Even I really like the property, I am not going over my budget and it will put myself in a risk. 

I have been viewing properties for ages, pretty much every weekend. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the market, just hope more properties could pop up. 

But my main principle is: Never rush to buy a property. I should buy a property which I like rather than worrying about I can’t get a property. 

Hope the market can cool down soon. 

Also, remember to do some research yourself on planning and building control of the property. I saw one of the properties on market  which I really like and it meets my budget but then I found out there is a big and long dispute between the freeholder and leaseholders. 

Good luck and hope we all will find our dream property shortly! 

goodwithsaving

Don't lose heart. My sale fell through after over 2 months and within an hour I had reoffered to somebody who had offered considerably less, but whose offer I wanted to accept in the first place - all that time ago - just because of their position, and fact I could relate.
That buyer had nearly given up hope so, although it makes things financially difficult for me, I do feel as though it was meant to be for her.
What I'm saying is, you never know what is around the corner. Sometimes the unexpected happens and the world has better plans.

AdrianC

The last 18 months have not exactly been normal times... Maybe wait until the world's sorted itself out a bit?

getmore4less

GingerLs said:

Really struggling to find a suitable house to buy! Been looking for the best part of 18 months with 1 sale falling through. 

We have a good deposit, chain free. I dont feel like we're being overly picky and can get what we want for our budget in our area. The problem is that theres not much coming up for sale and when it does there is a lot of interest and they are often going way over asking price. 

Starting to wonder if we should just settle for something or keep looking for something we love that ticks most of our boxes. 

I'm really sick of renting now as I hate the house were in and want to think about starting a family etc so getting frustrated at being at a standstill for so long. 

Does anyone think the house demand will settle or having similar problems?

If your budget won't stretch to those prices and they are the ones you want your budget is not enough for what you want.

Reset expectations.

The real issue is seller expectations will take a while to reset as the selling prices filter through to the land reg that sets the trend.

zpargo

Started my search a couple of months ago. Properties I thought were affordable based on asking prices are gone in a day or two for 10-20k over the asking price. I've had to shift location to ensure I will stand a chance at getting something.

comeandgo

18 months is an extremely long time to look.  Are you setting your sights too high for a first house?  You say you have deposit but do you have anything as a cushion for offers over valuation?  18 months rented must have cost you thousands.  I would either accept you are going to be in rented for a while and wait to see if prices drop or get on the housing ladder and buy something that is acceptable for a few years and then upgrade.

Cakeguts

You may need to work out how much over the asking prices they go for and then expect this to happen.  You then look at houses that you can afford when you have paid over the asking price.  House are worth what someone will pay for them so if in your area it is normal for people to offer 5% over the asking price you have to look at houses that allow you to offer that percentage more for them.  At the moment it sounds as if you are continually looking at houses that you can't afford.

davilown

Reset your expectations - we looked at only detached houses up to £650k in the end but nothing suitable came/or we refused to get into a bidding war for them.

In the end we started to look at smaller properties including semi’s. We’re now hopefully completing next month on one in a really good and quiet location, with the bonus of being mortgage free.

dangermouse1977

We are having the same problem. 
We accepted an offer on ours 9wks ago and exactly the same as you,  everything we want ends in a bidding war we can't compete in 😭