FTB - putting an offer in on a house - some advice please

rachy86

Hi All,

Ok, well basically myself and my partner have found a house that is absolutely perfect for us! Massive garden, drive, quiet street, near to a lot of his family. However it does need a LOT of work as it was rented out for a while and the work that was carried out was done quite shoddily and half the house was left unfinished..ie no skirting board in the dining room, dining room floor absolutely covered in paint and dirt (they obviously never got around to putting a new floor in), new kitchen required as the worktops are the same ones my parents had when they first bought their house over 20years ago!

Anyway, its on the market for 90k (two bed semi) but due to all the work required we arent prepared to pay more than 78k (80k at a real push). After our 2nd viewing on Saturday, (during which my dad photographed absolutely everything that needs work), the EA called me Monday dinner time and i put in an offer of £68k. she then called back yesterday saying the seller had rejected the offer and was looking for closer to the asking price, but was open to negotiation. I said ok well ill have to havea think and a chat to my OH but id call her later in a few days...I then check the EA website last night to find that the price has been dropped by £8k to £82k! Perfect!!!

However I'm not not sure what my next move should be. I need to call later to request the HIP and i need to find out what year the house was built (for the mortgage AIP..have spoken to the bank who have said they would offer me one but i cant get an AIP without the year of build).
My OH thinks that i should offer £75k, but my parents say go up in £1k offers. I however think that i would be better off offering say £72k next, and then if thats rejected offering £74k, then going up slowly from there. i think they wont take an offer below £70k seriously and will get annoyed at the 1k increases.

What would you all advise? Im a FTB and the house has been on the market for 3-4 months now (its empty though). Getting a bit flabbergasted with all this house buying malarky really!!!

Thanks!
Rachel

prudentsaving42

As the current asking price is £82,000, I would offer £72,000, if the offer is rejected DO NOT offer straight after... let them be anxious for a while and then increase it by only £1,000.

rachy86

thanks, do you think i should put in another offer today when i call about the HIP though? or should i wait another few days.

Im considering waiting until Sat and arranging another viewing but getting my OHs dad(whos a builder) to come and look inside to give us a quote on the work that needs doing. (hes currently on holiday).If i did that I wouldnt be putting another offer in unitll Monday..is that too long to wait?? I dont know how these things work and how quickly they should move

Jorgan_2

What are you hoping to see in the HIP?

What have other properties sold for in the area, in both good and bad condition?

tradetime

£72k sounds like a reasonable next step, not sure I'd want to ask for the HIP at this stage, as it suggests you have already made up your mind, but then I've never bought a property under the HIP thingy yet, so I don't know if its normal at this stage. You wouldn't do your survey at this point, you agree a price and if the survey shows any problems you use them to negotiate the price down further, so I'd imagine the HIP should be similar.

penedawn

Rachel you need to get someone qualified to check the place for you first to make sure there are no hidden surprises or any gain you make might be a great loss. The huge amount of work you will have to do you might be doing whilst you are living in it and that might mean it does not get done! You MUST get a surveyor to check the house thoroughtly or a problem might crop up that wont make it any sort of bargain. Don't just go for the cheapest or simplest survey or rely only on the mortgage company's guy. You can find someone qualified by checking online and your council should have a website with suitable people. They do not recommend buy you can follow up the recommendations. HIPS are not the be all and end all, your solicitor will have to go through the same stuff and more anyway. The year of the house you can get from the land registry online or from your council, or ask one of the neighbours, they will probably know. Just key in the postcode and various websites will come up that you can join and you will be able to find the year and other stuff. Speak to the neighbours, one of them will know and they might tell you something that is important. It is a pity it has been finished that way, unfortunatly some people really think they have done a good job, but because of that I would worry more about what has been left undone for years that you cannot see. Dry/wet rob behind a washing machine. Worm in floor boards. Rainwater drains made into waste water drains (can't get a mortgage with that) for this was done a lot and was acceptable at the time. Rain and waste water is dealt with seperately and rain water often goes into a local stream/river and that can be a huge job to deal with as often the whole lot has been concreted over by a patio or made into an additional room. You may only find out when the pipes burst and you have sewage of other stuff in the house. Even a surveyor might not find this sort of thing. Lower chimney breasts removed, upper ones left hanging. Attic spaces with all sorts of ancient pipework, old boilers, lead pipes underfloor, wiring too old, and/or can't take electric cookers. You get my point. Careful with the mortgage thing. I am sure you have looked into it and done your sums but your 70 or 80k can end up a great deal more than that with the problems surrounding mortgages at the moment. Maybe don't concentrate so much on how little you can get the house for rather minimise possible losses with a survey and he should be able to advise you on the worth of the house too as well as telling you if it is mortgageable, dependent on what he finds. Good luck.

tradetime

Rachel you need to get someone qualified to check the place for you first to make sure there are no hidden surprises or any gain you make might be a great loss. The huge amount of work you will have to do you might be doing whilst you are living in it and that might mean it does not get done! You MUST get a surveyor to check the house thoroughtly or a problem might crop up that wont make it any sort of bargain.

You don't pay for a survey until you have agreed a purchase, the price can be re-negotiated once the results of the survey are in if necessary

rachy86

Thanks for all your replies!

We will be getting a full survey done on the house, if an offer is accepted it will be 'subject to full survey' and indeed, we may offer less based on anythign this may find! There were a few things on the outside of the house that will need looking at, so i am definately having a full survey done if we get accepted.

I've tried to find out online what year the house was built but no such luck, however my OHs dad lives in the area so the next time we speak to him we will of course ask. The reason i wanted the HIP is that i just want to see whats in it, its obviously been brought out for a reason, and the more information i can get on the house at this stage the better. Id prefer to find out sooner rather than later about any potential problems the house has (although i know a HIP wont really show much).

Does anyone know exactly what is in a HIP?

Any suggestions on how best to speak to the Estate Agent? Im not really experienced in these things so are there any Dos or Don'ts??

Thanks

Jorgan_2

The HIP contains
The energy performance certificate
Official copy of the title plan
Official copy ofthe individual register
Local searches


It does not contain any form of survey relating to the structure of the property.

It is of more use to your solicitor than to you, unless your a solicitor.

rachy86

Thanks Jorgan - no Im not a solicitor so i dont suppose it would be much use. the EA said that although i was welcome to go into look at the pack, they couldnt send it out to me at this stage.

Anyway, an update - wheni spoke to the EA earlier i offered £73,000. She replied "ill be honest with you here, i really dont think the seller will accept that. he has already lowered the price to £82,000, so he wont be accepting any offers that arent in the high £70,000s. I can put this offer to him, but im almost certain he wont accept an offer that low."

I said "i appreciate that he has lowered the price, but we are offering this bearing in mind that the house needs a fair deal of work to bring it up to stratch" etc etc.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, i have now offered £75k which she said she would put to the seller and get back to me today or tomorrw.

I don't know if this was the right thing to do, i didn't feel pressurised into offering more (as we intended our next offer to be 75k anyway as we were pretty sure 73k wouldnt be accepted. I am however in love with this house and the potential it has. If 75k is refused then i will offer 76k as a final offer, with 77k as an ABSOLUTE final offer if thats rejected..and if that is rejected then i really will move on from the house as im not prepared to pay more than i think it is worth.

telfordwhite

Rachy. If you keep going up every time the EA prompts you the vendor will keep rejecting in the knowledge that you will keep increasing your offer. you are going up in large increments which gives them confidence that you'll keep going. You need to put some doubt in their minds.

I have been in their position and believe me they will start to get cold feet if you leave it for a week (even 3 or 4 days if you're impatient). Once this period expires I would put the same offer to them again or maybe go up 1k as a final offer so they know the negotiating is over and they have to make a decision.

Of course it is easy for me to advise you in cold blood cos i'm not the one in love with the house but you do need to put the vendor under some pressure.