How to choose best Buyer?

ironlady2022

This is the first time I'll be in a chain and selling a house. In readiness for offers to come in as my property is desirable.

What type of Buyer is the most reliable and won't break the chain?

- Is it anything to do with age? Young/old?
- FTBs with mortgage - though BOE rates are probably set to rise to control inflation. And house moving is taking a long time and DIPs usually expire in 6 months.
- Choose Mortgage Buyers with a higher deposit.
- Cash Buyers
- Buy to Let Investors - but will they try and pull a fast one and ask for discount just before exchange?

I'd like to carefully choose my buyers when the offers come in.

Carrot007

You can't without questioning the buyer and that will automatically put people off.

To your points.

mayling03 said:

- Is it anything to do with age? Young/old?

Both can be bad as can anyone.

mayling03 said:

- FTBs with mortgage - though BOE rates are probably set to rise to control inflation. And house moving is taking a long time and DIPs usually expire in 6 months.

You want to take over 6 months. FTB's can be a pain, sold to one last as asking price and no issues, beyond wanting to end on a perfect rental point where I said sorrt it is out of my hands having noted your dates I will do my best try asking your landlord for a betetr turn around also.

mayling03 said:

- Choose Mortgage Buyers with a higher deposit.

May help, may not, people with money in hand can demand more, or not.

mayling03 said:

- Cash Buyers

Unless your property is unmortgageable means little. Also see above.

mayling03 said:

- Buy to Let Investors - but will they try and pull a fast one and ask for discount just before exchange?

They will likely ask for many discounts, tell them you will pull out if they do and do so.

Gavin83

mayling03 said:

This is the first time I'll be in a chain and selling a house. In readiness for offers to come in as my property is desirable.

What type of Buyer is the most reliable and won't break the chain?

- Is it anything to do with age? Young/old?
- FTBs with mortgage - though BOE rates are probably set to rise to control inflation. And house moving is taking a long time and DIPs usually expire in 6 months.
- Choose Mortgage Buyers with a higher deposit.
- Cash Buyers
- Buy to Let Investors - but will they try and pull a fast one and ask for discount just before exchange?

I'd like to carefully choose my buyers when the offers come in.

There's positives and negatives to all categories of buyer and you can get timewasters/unreasonable people from all backgrounds. If you really pushed me to pick, out of the groups you've listed and all other things being equal I'd probably choose a mortgage buyer with a higher deposit.

Personally if I was selling I'd rather sell to someone who was fairly desperate to move and needed to be in by a certain date. They're far more likely to make rash decisions and far less likely to let the house go so you can be a lot more resistant to things like price negotiations further down the line.

Carrot007

Gavin83 said:

Personally if I was selling I'd rather sell to someone who was fairly desperate to move and needed to be in by a certain date. They're far more likely to make rash decisions and far less likely to let the house go so you can be a lot more resistant to things like price negotiations further down the line.

By a cerain date which may make it fll though if unrealistic? Sounds like a bad bet to me. ASAP, yes. By X, No.

babyblade41

Trust me I've had them all & probably without exception they have all been painful...having said that I always like a full cash buyer but those have been the ones that have been the most tedious & problematic.

My current sale was first under offer December 1st by a cash buyer , first week all systems go ..then nothing, zilch . Finally got some enquiries about mid Jan, then more viewings , there own survey (pokes head in loft) , another viewing.

Finally agree to exchange then they back out a day before .

Second buyer is mortgaged , lives locally in rented (just around the corner literally)  full survey undertaken, solicitors enquiries sent ahead of survey & so far progressing . My second buyer has large deposit & I priced my house to sell & accepted a 10k below asking .

Fingers crossed it carries on positively, we have decided not to buy as plans have changed so just my buyer & me 

propertyhunter

There are no clear demographic characteristics that really identify a bad buyer from a good one.

Perhaps you can tell those who are serious if they have a DIP and have been viewing with the EA for some time and lost out on other homes they have offered on. Offers that are accompanied with solicitor details and a AIP show you they can substantiate their offer, move quickly, and that they are proactive.

You don't want to go with someone who offers high, and then cuts it down if their lender values it correctly at a lower-than-offered price. You can reduce the chances of this by going with a buyer who has a high deposit (e.g. 30-40+%).

lookstraightahead

Are you moving out swiftly or expecting them to wait while you find a property? 

No chain would be preferable for me as a vendor, but as a buyer I only look at properties where the vendor is also not expecting me to wait. It does work both ways.

Sorry edit to say if you want to wait over six months you might not have much choice unless you are telling people this up front (eg, my purchase was with a big deposit and no chain, but I didn't look round houses where the vendor wanted a slow process).

steve866

I would pick a cash buyer all day long. You are argue theory over the different risk for each category but the simple fact is, a cash buyer doesn't have an additional risk factor of a mortgage offer not getting approved, offer expiring, down valued etc.

jonnydeppiwish!

I had a cash buyer who was just as naïve as a FTB as they hadn’t bought a property for 37 years - took 4 months.

We then bought a property cash, completed in 10 weeks. But then we didn’t have a survey and didn’t try to reduce our offer the day before exchange.

ironlady2022

Update - my chosen Buyer wishes to meet and come for second house viewing.

What should i ask/discuss? 

babyblade41

Answer any questions they ask & that's about it ,