Debate House Prices
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Advice Needed - Almost ready to exchange but thinking of pulling out

abdulh
Posts: 25 Forumite
I need some advice from you guys. I have spent quite some time reading posts on here and other places but my situation is a bit different.
I sold my 3 bed semi in November last year for £230,000 leaving me with a £170,000 deposit for a future house.
I have found a house on a nice cul de sac which is a three bed detached in need of some work. It has almost as much room on the side as the existing house so I could extend it to a decent size 5 bedroom house. I live in Bucks which has always had strong house prices.
I am getting the house for £280,000 where similar houses would be selling for about £325,000 without the extra land (but done up unlike this one).
I estimate it would cost around £20k to do it up. On the downside the house is not in a good school catchment area (we dont have kids at the moment).
We are close to exchanging but I am having second thoughts. I have three options, go ahead with the sale, ask for money off the price (how much) or pull out.
The house has great potential to extend which could add value.
your input would be greatly appreciated.
I sold my 3 bed semi in November last year for £230,000 leaving me with a £170,000 deposit for a future house.
I have found a house on a nice cul de sac which is a three bed detached in need of some work. It has almost as much room on the side as the existing house so I could extend it to a decent size 5 bedroom house. I live in Bucks which has always had strong house prices.
I am getting the house for £280,000 where similar houses would be selling for about £325,000 without the extra land (but done up unlike this one).
I estimate it would cost around £20k to do it up. On the downside the house is not in a good school catchment area (we dont have kids at the moment).
We are close to exchanging but I am having second thoughts. I have three options, go ahead with the sale, ask for money off the price (how much) or pull out.
The house has great potential to extend which could add value.
your input would be greatly appreciated.
What should I Do 18 votes
Go ahead with the sale as is
50%
9 votes
Renegotiate the price
16%
3 votes
Pull out and wait
33%
6 votes
0
Comments
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I need some advice from you guys. I have spent quite some time reading posts on here and other places but my situation is a bit different.
I sold my 3 bed semi in November last year for £230,000 leaving me with a £170,000 deposit for a future house.
I have found a house on a nice cul de sac which is a three bed detached in need of some work. It has almost as much room on the side as the existing house so I could extend it to a decent size 5 bedroom house. I live in Bucks which has always had strong house prices.
I am getting the house for £280,000 where similar houses would be selling for about £325,000 without the extra land (but done up unlike this one).
I estimate it would cost around £20k to do it up. On the downside the house is not in a good school catchment area (we dont have kids at the moment).
We are close to exchanging but I am having second thoughts. I have three options, go ahead with the sale, ask for money off the price (how much) or pull out.
The house has great potential to extend which could add value.
your input would be greatly appreciated.
It's your money. Only you can really say whether you want to buy.
General points to consider:
Chances are that prices are set to take a tumble. If you are buying now with the intention of making a profit in the near to medium term then it's not a good idea.
If you can easily afford to buy (ie comfortably meet repayments with provision for unforeseen circumstances) and you like the place then go ahead but do so knowing that you could probably get a better deal on a similar property in 12 months time.
If you have to stretch yourself to buy, not a good idea.--
Every pound less borrowed (to buy a house) is more than two pounds less to repay and more than three pounds less to earn, over the course of a typical mortgage.0 -
I need some advice from you guys. I have spent quite some time reading posts on here and other places but my situation is a bit different.
I sold my 3 bed semi in November last year for £230,000 leaving me with a £170,000 deposit for a future house.
I have found a house on a nice cul de sac which is a three bed detached in need of some work. It has almost as much room on the side as the existing house so I could extend it to a decent size 5 bedroom house. I live in Bucks which has always had strong house prices.
I am getting the house for £280,000 where similar houses would be selling for about £325,000 without the extra land (but done up unlike this one).
I estimate it would cost around £20k to do it up. On the downside the house is not in a good school catchment area (we dont have kids at the moment).
We are close to exchanging but I am having second thoughts. I have three options, go ahead with the sale, ask for money off the price (how much) or pull out.
The house has great potential to extend which could add value.
your input would be greatly appreciated.
You may have sold your house at the right time. You are buying at an uncertain time, which means you may be getting the house for a better price than when you sold, so you are in a good position at the moment.
What you do depends how you view the house. Do you really want it, in which case you may need to be careful in playing silly bu99ers with the vendor. If you are happy to lose the house, then go for a reduction in price.
This is gazumping in reverse, and is morally no better. How do you feel about that? I'm just playing Devil's advocate on that one by the way.
By the way, I voted for "Go ahead with the sale". Because they are winning. Come on you reds!0 -
You mention schools. This affects future selling too. If it is a house that appeals to famllies, then can make it difficult to sell in the future.
As you have no kids yet, this isn't a concern for you for at least another 6 or 7 years.
We traded bad schools for large living space and paid for schools instead. It was some years back that we made that decision.
Do you love the house?
Does the thought of the work excite you (that sounds wrong...but you know what I mean?)
Can you afford it with a little slack should times get a bit tight?0 -
Thanks for your advice guys.
I have something else to throw into the mix (didnt want to bombard you with info straight away).
One of the reasons we are going for this house is its potential to extend. I have elderly parents who will be moving in with us so we need the space. I intend on spending about £80-£90k to do a major extension on the property which should add about £50k extra in value.
To fund the extension my parents will be selling their house. The thing is that if they can sell their house in the next couple of months then we don't have a problem as we will have sold at a high price and will be buying at a high price. However if house prices fall significantly in the next six months (more then 10%) then we will loose because we are buying this house when prices are high and selling my parents when prices have dropped.
I suppose the real question is how much are prices likely to drop in my area. Its close to London and has always had strong property prices.
The location of the house is very good in terms of being close to other family members and the house we will end up with (after a lot of work) will be quite nice.
I have to say I am surprised, I was expecting to be flamed down for even thinking of buying a house at this time.
One last thing, would I be right in saying that the biggest drop will be in flats and small houses because first time buyers will hold off buying and not in larger properties as people are already on the property market so the property they are selling goes up and down by the same percentage.0 -
It sounds like a reasonable deal, and there is only so much you can second guess the markets. I didn't vote in your poll because it's so clearly a decision only you can make.
The main niggle I would have would be bad local schools, as this affects prices a lot and would put off a lot of families. But that said, if there are good local fee-paying schools, that may not matter as much. If you are planning to have kids there yourself, then I would put that high on your list; it may seem irrelevant now but could matter in due course (obviously, depending on your priorities, but a good education for their kids is important to most people).
That said, you've been lucky enough to benefit from rising prices to date, so I don't think you need to be overly worried about losing out from falling prices, particularly if you think that is already factored in to the price you'd be buying at.0 -
Get parents house on the market at 'A price to sell' and hope for the best.
Be flexible and there are EA's on this board who have said that buyers want a deal but, as sellers, expect to sell high.
Get them to be 'realistic' (whatever that may be?) .
Sounds like that your life circumstances take priority over trying to 2nd guess the market so, as long as the sums add up, I would do what is best for the family.0 -
Thanks for your advice guys.
I have something else to throw into the mix (didnt want to bombard you with info straight away).
One of the reasons we are going for this house is its potential to extend. I have elderly parents who will be moving in with us so we need the space. I intend on spending about £80-£90k to do a major extension on the property which should add about £50k extra in value.
To fund the extension my parents will be selling their house. The thing is that if they can sell their house in the next couple of months then we don't have a problem as we will have sold at a high price and will be buying at a high price. However if house prices fall significantly in the next six months (more then 10%) then we will loose because we are buying this house when prices are high and selling my parents when prices have dropped.
I suppose the real question is how much are prices likely to drop in my area. Its close to London and has always had strong property prices.
The location of the house is very good in terms of being close to other family members and the house we will end up with (after a lot of work) will be quite nice.
I have to say I am surprised, I was expecting to be flamed down for even thinking of buying a house at this time.
One last thing, would I be right in saying that the biggest drop will be in flats and small houses because first time buyers will hold off buying and not in larger properties as people are already on the property market so the property they are selling goes up and down by the same percentage.
This is very sensible IMO. There really isn't much of a problem buying an overpriced house if almost all of the purchase is being financed by selling an overpriced house!
I'd go ahead with the purchase but might be tempted to try to shave a few quid off the price I'm paying because I'm quite mean like that.0
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