which house?

pink_muppet

'scuse the long post but have a dilemma which I need help with

have just sold our house for £220k (v happy with) and have approx £33k equity for new house, we have a mortgage in place in principle

originally we wanted to buy my best friends house in the next village to us as they are buying a brand new one in the same village, their house is up for £250k and the house they want is £320k, no leeway on the price with it being new (builder won't budge), their current mortgage is only £20k but they say they can't reduce the price of their house at all as they need at least £245k to buy the new one, however, both have good jobs (he owns own restaurant which does very well) and they both have loads of shares, investments etc and have access to endless cash (or so it seems)

We don't want to increase our mortgage again (although we could) as its already high and their house although big needs lots of attention, new bathrooms/garage door etc, my husband said he would give them £235k max for it but they just laughed and said no way (they have had loads of viewings but no offers), my friends husband even asked my hubby to sell his car so we could give them their £245k!!!!

My friend told me that the estate agents originally valued their house at between £250 and £270k back at beginning of June but they put it on at £250 for a quick sale so won't accept any less, the house next door to them last year sold for £215k although that one doesn't have a conservatory or open views.

We put ours up with same estate agents in August for £225k (ours is only 4yrs old so in relative brand new condition) and we were told we should expect offers of around £210k and accept that, so £220 is just great!

We have now accepted that we won't get their house at the price we want and can realistically afford so are looking elsewhere and have seen a couple of houses we like, but now have found out my friend thinks she is realistically only going to get around £225k for hers but could accept that if the builder would drop his house to £300k!!!

now I don't know what to do, houses in our villages just aren't selling, most are on the market for over a year with virtually no interest, even the new houses my friend is buying from have been started for the last 2 years and only hers is reserved

the 2 houses we have looked at are both very different but nearer our parents, one is a beautiful cottage fully renovated and needs no work which I love, it was originally up for £250k, reduced to £225k but they have accepted our offer of £218k the other is a victorian terrace very big, up for £185k but needs complete renovation, we offered £140k for this but was told it was far too low, we won't offer any more as it needs too much work and has been completely neglected by the owners (they bought it 5 years ago for £55k)

I still love my friends house and in an ideal world would give her £225k for it but need some advice, should we just go for the cottage we have an offer accepted on instead?

izzwizz_2

I can't really understand why you want to move. It doesn't sound as if you really want any of these houses, if you're making offers when you haven't decided whether you want the house or not.

It's not usually a good idea to get into business / financial arrangements with friends. If you really want to move, I'd go with the

beautiful cottage fully renovated and needs no work which I love

.

Good luck whatever you decide.

IHateDida

Are you sure your friend is telling you the complete truth? I find it difficult to believe that their builder won't budge on a £320k house - when nothing else in the road has been reserved - most builders will allow at least a 10% discount in those circumstances, especially for a near cash sale!

I reckon your friend is telling a few porkies in the hope of getting the top whack for their house - this is one of the problems you will have buying from friends - knowing what to believe and what not to. I too would go for the cottage and let your friend try and get their obviously too high asking price (has to be otherwise it would have sold) from somewhere else. Good luck!

tinker15

I purchased a brand new house 3 years ago when the market was busy, but managed to get the builder to pay for the stamp duty, which on 300K is nearly £10,000. It may be worth going to the builder and seeing what they would offer you as a potential buyer.
I have also known carpets to be included as well, but I think they knew we were keen to have the house.
Good luck.

pink_muppet

the builder is living in cloud cuckoo land, he was originally going to offer to part ex my friends house at her full asking price (which I found hard to believe) but then when it transpired he would part ex hers for 210k and drop the price of the house to 310k which she said was unacceptable as they could only increase their mortgage by 70k (their restaurant business is worth £500k, they have £55k saved and have an insurance policy about to mature for between £8k and £20k which he is going to buy a subaru impreza with!!!!!!!!!, also she has a horse which is worth £10k and pays £140 a week livery fees for so they're not short, yet we are asked to sell a car to give them their asking price

the builder has just slowed down on the project and says he will wait the market out, his houses are vastly overpriced for our area anyway, she received a letter from him last week saying the house will be ready on 19th Jan albeit for fitting of the bathrooms and kitchen, which he is requesting £5k from her before he will fit them

I do love the cottage, it's just it's moving away from the area nearer to parents so kids will have to go to new schools etc, I would prefer to buy my friends house and stay in same area but I'm not willing to skin ourselves just so they can have what they want when they are much financially better off than us

pink_muppet

they are lucky, she bought her 4 bed detatched house for cash 10 years ago with an inheritance and has never had to work for money, they took a mortgage out 2 years ago for 60k to pay off debts and get a new kitchen and conservatory and paid £40k of it off last month with yet another insurance policy they had

Doozergirl

Does your friend know that you've had an offer accepted? I too find it hard to believe that a builder won't budge at all; you don't make any money if you don't sell; every developer with have some movement unless they're really not very good at budgeting!

You can't really tell your friend to their face, but £250-270k are just non-valuations. Very few houses sell just above £250,000 because of the Stamp Duty Threshold. The EAs would simply have been trying to win business by valuing higher.

Once you find somewhere else, your friends are without buyers altogether. If I were them, I'd take what you're offering. £235k on £250k isn't exactly a kick in the teeth.

If that's the house you really want, then I'd give it one last shot. Tell them you absolutely have to move now you have found a buyer and so why don't they give it one last shot with the developer. If it doesn't work, then you can buy the other house knowing it was never meant to be.

Doozergirl

pink_muppet wrote: »

they are lucky, she bought her 4 bed detatched house for cash 10 years ago with an inheritance and has never had to work for money, they took a mortgage out 2 years ago for 60k to pay off debts and get a new kitchen and conservatory and paid £40k of it off last month with yet another insurance policy they had

It doesn't really have anything to do with it though, does it? They want the best price for their house, so do you. You don't 'deserve' the house any more because you think they have money Those remortgages might be a bit bigger than you think. People like to talk about how much stuff they have, they aren't necessarily so eager to talk about how much they owe. £60k is a lot of money for just a kitchen and conservatory

nearlyrich

To be honest their financial situation doesn't really come into it, it's business transaction .
What is important here is that both parties are happy with the final deal or it will affect the friendship long term.

Only you and you DH can decide where you want to live, and how much you want to or can afford to pay, good luck.

pink_muppet

Doozergirl - no my friend doesn't know yet, she told me that her hubby still thinks we will buy their house (at their asking price) despite the fact we really can't afford it, with it being xmas I decided to just leave it before telling her

she keeps telling me that they need their asking price or they can't afford the house they want (which is rubbish) so they just won't move if they don't sell at their asking price

I agree that the original valuations were wrong, I told her at the time to market her house at 260k with stamp duty paid to entice more buyers which she thought was a good idea but ea advised against it and said they would get 250k, but now they can't get over the fact that their house is worth 270k and whoever buys it at 250k will already be getting a bargain

the builder has said he will reduce the house to 310k but thats it, my friend has said that they still won't drop to 235k despite that

I think we will just sell up and rent!!!!

Melissa177

I really wouldn't get involved with friends on houses - you will end without a friendship, it sounds like you're already starting to resent her.

If the builder "wouldn't budge" at 320K, but suddenly drops his price by 10K, that tells me there is room for movement. Your friend is uncomfortable at negotiating with the builder, and is thus using you instead as her buffer.

Do you really want her house? You say you have an offer in on another house that has been accepted - why did you put that one it? I think you need to honestly think about whether you are buying this property to help your friend, or whether you'd be happier elsewhere.

Good luck with whatever you decide. If you really want your friends house, work together to bring down the builder, and stick to your guns on the 235K because that is all you can afford.