What Should I Do?

Margaret_Skinner

I'm in Scotland and have offered £175,000 for a 2 bedroom terraced house which has only been on the market a week. I would say it's probably worth between £170-£180,000. Through solicitors, the seller has indicated it's a good offer but he's had 3 notes of interest so said if I offered £180,000 he'd accept.

That's a hell of a jump and I think he's chancing it and probably going higher than he expects me to go - at least I'm hoping that! I've said to my solicitor to try £177,000 & see what he says. If he doesn't take that it will go to a closing date and I'll then be in a bidding war.

Thing is I'm really scraping the barrel to get that amount together as it is but I'm worried he'll say make it £178,000 and we'll accept. Is it worth desperately trying to get together another thousand if that happens to save the whole closing-date-&-bidding-against-others process and the stress of waiting to see if we've been successful?

littleredhen

have you asked yourself

do you really want the house??

the seller only has notes of interest - not actual offers

i would say that if you are struggling to make the amount it might be better to lower the starting price of properties you are looking for as it is so hard to miss out when you really like a property - stick to your budget and don't go over it - hope this helps

Margaret_Skinner

I do really want the house. It's been a bit of a minefield because I'm splitting from my husband and the decision was taken last September. I'm getting inheritance money but it's been delayed since August last year so this whole process has been dragged out a bit.

I started out looking at flats but there's going to be myself and my daughter plus 2 cats and we found we were really compromising on space with the flats we saw in the area we wanted so started looking at small houses.

The other strand to this is that 6 people in the family have all got the same inheritance money and have said they will help out if necessary if I get stuck so scraping the barrel isn't quite the nightmare it might be otherwise and I don't think I would even entertain it if it wasn't for that.

But it's just there has to be a limit & when you really want somewhere that limit just keeps on being stretched!!

clutton_2

work out how much you can afford to repay on a mortgage - and then add on £50 a month for possible interest rate rises and see if you still can afford it. If you cant, then dont buy this house - it will become a financial millstone round your neck.

Jonbvn

I thought that in Scotland everthing was done by sealed bids, which are legally binding? This is meant to avoid the situation you are decribing.

sleepless_saver

It's been on the market for a week and already has 3 notes of interest, so if it came to sealed bids it could go for a lot. Only you can say what your true maximum is, but you've nothing to lose by putting in your true best offer now and keeping your fingers crossed it's good enough for the seller. (Best, in this context, means something that won't keep you awake at night worrying about how to afford it for years to come.;) ) If you don't get it, then you've put in your best shot, and you can always rebid if it does come down to sealed bids.

merlinthehappypig

Jonbvn wrote: »

I thought that in Scotland everthing was done by sealed bids, which are legally binding? This is meant to avoid the situation you are decribing.

It only goes to sealed bids if more than one person has indicated that they want to make an offer and the seller reckons that they will get the best price by getting people to outbid each other. The seller can accept an offer at any time without sealed bids, as in England.

In a situation like this the seller would have nothing to lose by setting a closing date for bids. They have a decent offer on the table and three other notes of interest. At worst they will get what the OP has offered - at best they might get more. Their willingness to accept £180000 indicates to me that the notes of interest are not as good as the seller is making out. They may well be from people who are interested, but unable to proceed yet.

Despite it being much praised in the English media, the Scottish system is heavily weighted in the interests of sellers and can be a costly nightmare for buyers.

The offer is only legally binding when the missives have been concluded, usually around 2-3 weeks after the offer is accepted. Until that point either party can walk away without penalty. Even then, the buyer has a number of get outs, such as result of searches.

Margaret_Skinner

clutton wrote: »

work out how much you can afford to repay on a mortgage - and then add on £50 a month for possible interest rate rises and see if you still can afford it. If you cant, then dont buy this house - it will become a financial millstone round your neck.

I have done a likely Income/Expenditure budget and been to see how much of a mortgage I could get - haven't got a mortgage promise yet but it was agreed I could do interest only payments because there's a chance my situation could change in a couple of years.

I'm also adding a £10,000 loan into the mix but can afford the minimum monthly payments. It's all very cut to the bone but it's the unknown figures that are stressing me out - total of solicitor's fees (I have a quote for the property fees so that gives me some idea) i.e. property fee plus separation agreement and taking my name of the title deeds fees; the final total of the inheritance money which we won't know until after April (I've been quoted a figure to go on but told it will be more than that) and all the hidden extras then tend to pop up & hit you between the eyes!

I also know nothing is legally binding until the contract is signed as merlin says so even if they accept it's not cut & dried yet.

I'm also wondering if he's worked out or realises that one of the noted interests is mine! I put in a noted interest initially just to see if anyone else had expressed interest in the property then put in an offer after that so if it goes to a closing date I could be up against 2 other people potentially.

It's just not knowing whether to sink all my money into the house and then be able to start moving on with my life (albeit on the broke side) or whether to try to be patient and maybe find somewhere else bearing in mind the market has slowed down considerably and I will be under more & more of a strain in the meantime.

God this is a stressful business!