Frustrated FTB

TripleH

When we bought, we sat down first and worked out what were essentials we needed from a property and what we're desirable.

Eg minimum no of bed rooms / toilets. How many car spaces you need (why have 4 if you only need 4 for 3 nights a year and the rest of the time you need only 1).

We needed 2 offices and a bedroom, but I only have a small floorspace so would take the biggest bedroom and use as my office and it doubles as a guest room or buy a good quality sofa bed / inflatable mattress I'd you only have guests a few nights a year.

When in a seller's market you need to be realistic about what you need on a day to day basis. There is no point planning for extra rooms for the 2 nights a year you might use them. This opens up a wider range of properties to you.

Also before you look to view, review the floor plan and work out if the property does meet your needs.

TripleH

The house we now live in was chosen because it met our minimum requirements (it has 1 bedroom than we need) but we'd never have considered viewing it normally. We had looked at some properties that looked great online but reality was different. This was better in person than the advert.

Good luck.

C1996

Thank you, I think I need to be more realistic in terms of what I need now and maybe view properties that I may not have considered just from photos. Thanks for the advice again 😊

jak

I’ve been looking for 1.5 yrs as a FTB. Had a flat fall through due to valuation problems in the summer last year. Only just had an offer accepted on a house last week. I have made ‘friends’ with All the estate agents round here and have stayed in touch to find out about properties regularly. 

What had helped me is literally considering anything that remotely might work. Also so many of the photos online can be misleading- often in a bad way so go and view as many places as possible. Also check Rightmove etc like a crazy person so you’re one of the first to phone up to view. That’s what I did lol. 

TBH I think the estate agents are as pleased as I am that I’ve finally had an offer accepted mainly so I’ll !!!!!! off and leave them alone now… 

GixerKate

What is your criteria and what are you plugging into Rightmove?  My recommendation would be to widen your search as much as possible and view everything you can.  The last 2 houses I've bought I initially didn't view as I assumed they weren't suitable (for one the advert was almost all pics of countryside and barely anything of the actually house which made me suspicious) but when I viewed them it was completely different.

Good luck finding your home.

Bluebell1000

I see occasional posts on our local Facebook group from people asking if anyone is thinking of selling - it might help to get you at the front of a queue or even get in before they're listed with an agency.

C1996

jak said:

I’ve been looking for 1.5 yrs as a FTB. Had a flat fall through due to valuation problems in the summer last year. Only just had an offer accepted on a house last week. I have made ‘friends’ with All the estate agents round here and have stayed in touch to find out about properties regularly. 

What had helped me is literally considering anything that remotely might work. Also so many of the photos online can be misleading- often in a bad way so go and view as many places as possible. Also check Rightmove etc like a crazy person so you’re one of the first to phone up to view. That’s what I did lol. 

TBH I think the estate agents are as pleased as I am that I’ve finally had an offer accepted mainly so I’ll !!!!!! off and leave them alone now… 

I’m glad you’ve finally found a home! Congratulations. I think now the estate agents are open I’m going to make the effort to actually go into the estate agents as well. 

I have started to widen my search as well so hopefully they will help. 

Thank you for the advice, all the best 

C1996

Bluebell1000 said:

I see occasional posts on our local Facebook group from people asking if anyone is thinking of selling - it might help to get you at the front of a queue or even get in before they're listed with an agency.

That’s a good idea, I’ll have a look in my local fb groups 

C1996

GixerKate said:

What is your criteria and what are you plugging into Rightmove?  My recommendation would be to widen your search as much as possible and view everything you can.  The last 2 houses I've bought I initially didn't view as I assumed they weren't suitable (for one the advert was almost all pics of countryside and barely anything of the actually house which made me suspicious) but when I viewed them it was completely different.

Good luck finding your home.

When I go onto Rightmove I put in houses detached, semi etc for up to 150k in all areas of Derby. I occasionally set it to plus 5 miles away from Derby to see if there’s anything in the surrounding areas but unfortunately I’ve still not been able to find anything at the moment. 

Hopefully I find something soon, thank you 

[Deleted User]

ABFG said:

I was in the same position, losing bids and not even getting to see properties last year despite all my best efforts last year (Summer into Autumn). Then suddenly it all came together, although admittedly your 2 years trumps my 6 moth search. There's some good advice on here, I have a couple extra to add:

• If you haven't, get a mortgage broker lined up and an AIP in your hand. Be ready to press the go button as soon as offer is accepted. Make it obvious you're ready to the EAs.

• When searching on Rightmove/Zoopla, look for places just above your budget (one bracket up) and then sort by length of time on the market. Some of the ones in the bracket above there for a long time are ripe for an affordable offer. Obviously, do your due diligence as there may be a reason for a sale falling through, but it might be unrealistic pricing and no more (as the one I bought was).

• Pick priorities - decide the key things that will impact your happiness, and try to focus on those. Often, it is the things you can't change that really matter - how good/close is the parking, garden size, overall size, location etc. Much can be changed in a property fairly easily or at a later date, for example my new place has a bit of a naff kitchen, but with a new hob and oven it is serviceable for a few years and that sacrifice secured me a lovely location with good parking.

All the best and good luck.

In my experience number 2 is a waste of time. If it's been on the market for a long time it's usually because mortgages fall through, meaning they won't want an FTB. They will want a cash buyer, and no discounts.