First time buyer...help!

[Hjb2410]

Hello

I'm a first time buyer and am after some advice really so hopefully you can help.

Me and my husband are currently in rented accommodation and the landlady has sold the house we are living in, so we have to be out of this property the week before Christmas.

We have been frantically house hunting over the last couple of weeks and have found a property which we love in a really popular area and ticks every box. Now it came on the market on Thursday and we were able to view the property the same day and decided to put an offer in on the Friday for the full asking price. I asked that if the offer was accepted for the arranged viewings to be cancelled and it be removed as for sale.

The estate agents came back to me that afternoon and explained that the vendors would like to keep the viewings scheduled for those in a similar situation and make a decision on Monday/ early this coming week.

I've been quite ill this last week so accepted it however the more I've been mulling it over this weekend it's got me quite frustrated, we have offered the asking price and are in an ideal situation what more do they want?
I really don't want to get into a price war over the property but feel that it may possibly end up as one.

Has any one experienced something similar or has any advice for me?
Very new to all this so will gravely appreciate it.
Thank you!

[Cel982]

House buying is really stressful

If you made an asking price offer the day after the house went on the market, the vendors now think they've underpriced it. So they're holding out for more viewings in the hope that someone will offer even more. It might have been more sensible to go in with a slightly lower offer first and work your way up to the asking price, but nobody tells you these things in advance.

Try not to get too invested in it. Leave your offer on the table and see what happens. Or you can of course withdraw it and see if they come chasing after you, but at this early stage they will want to explore all their options.

[Hjb2410]

@Cel982 thank you for your message. I agree house buying is stressful!

We spoke to our financial advisor who advised us to offer the asking price as we were in a dilemma on what to offer. That does make sense, we just didn't want to miss our chance of the property as we have scheduled viewings for other properties and the viewings have been cancelled due to an offer being accepted.

I hate waiting and want to know whether they are going to accept our offer or not.
We've viewed 26 houses and that is definitely the one; I want it so much!

I'm thinking of phoning up tomorrow to see if any other offers have been offered and see if they can tell us where we stand...x

[Cel982]

You're still in a good position as you're not in a chain and can proceed quickly. Definitely phone the agent and ask him/her to let you know about any other bids. Keep us posted!

[Hjb2410]

@Cel982
Had a phone call from the estate agents this afternoon another viewer has put an offer in and the venders have asked us both for our best and final offer.

Best and final offer given and everything crossed until tomorrow....I so want this house and will be devastated if we loose it because of being out bidded :(

[MissConductUS]

I've bought and sold several houses and our last one (before where we are now) was an almost identical situation to yours and we did get the house and were quite happy there for several years.

I've also spent months looking and bidding before finding what we wanted. Two bits of advice - it's a mistake to fall in love with a particular property. At the end of the day, a house is just a machine to keep the rain out and keep you warm and comfortable. There will always be others out there.

Second, buyers often have a better idea for what a house is worth than the seller because buyer spend days trudging around seeing what's being offered at what prices. Sellers may just be taking the advice of an estate agent, who is not always a disinterested party.

Sometimes being outbid is a good thing. Google "greater fool theory". Good luck and do let us know how it works out.

[KitKat1985]

Good luck Hjb2410.

I agree with cel982 that making a full asking price offer for a place that's just come on the market can backfire because the vendors may start to think that if it's that easy to get a full asking price offer then it may be worth leaving it on the market a few more days to see if it sparks a bidding war, which is what has happened in your case. Take it as a lesson learned for future purchases, and fingers crossed it goes your way tomorrow. x

[Lilmisskittykat]

Just thought I’d post as a disheartened house hunter myself. I understand how tough looking at houses and one not fitting what you want.

I really hope it works out well for you.

Good luck !

[Hjb2410]

@MissConductUS thank you for your message and your words of wisdom :) . I did google 'greater fool theory' and it definitely made sense! When my hubbie got home from work I read your comment and greater fool theory and we both agreed it made a lot of sense in this situation! We have decided that if it's meant to be it will happen, if it doesn't then yes I will be disappointed but it obviously wasn't meant to be. We haven't gone silly with what we offered we can comfortably afford repayments etc.

@KitKat1985 thank you for your message :) I'm definitely learning that we shouldn't have offered the full asking price so early on but we knew it was such a popular area that we would have had to have been very fortunate that anyone didn't put an offer in, and knew it would go fast regardless but I will definitely bear it in mind for future bidding.

@Lilmisskittykat thank you for commenting and I'm glad you did as I've definitely felt so alone with this at the moment.
Have you been looking long? I didn't think me and my hubbie were fussy but people seem to think we are when we say we have viewed 26 houses so far...
Wishing you good luck in your search :) x

[Argeles]

Property hunting is so stressful, and a really unfunny game.

We offered the full asking price for our flat, which was at the absolute top of our budget, but so had 3 other people. The only way that we eventually got our property, is that as first time buyers we weren’t part of a chain, whereas 2 of the others were. The seller told us and the other prospective buyer that whichever one of us would give him £5,000 extra, separate from the mortgage (would’ve really affected stamp duty amount), he would sell the flat to. We didn’t have this extra cash floating around, so had to ask family, who thankfully gave it to us.

We’d lost out on 2 flats beforehand due to stupid bloody price wars, and really couldn’t lose another one.

I honestly think that there should be one fixed price that a seller tries to sell their property for, and they shouldn’t be allowed to take any more money for it. The person who offers the asking price first, and who has a mortgage arranged etc, should be the person who gets the property.

[PasDevantLesElephants]

How did you get on @Hjb2410 ?

[Hjb2410]

The offer was accepted...

WE'VE GOT THE HOUSE 😁🎉

So so happy! Just keeping my fingers crossed everything goes to plan xx

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Oh congratulations! Have you checked they’re taking it off the market?

[MissConductUS]

WE'VE GOT THE HOUSE 😁🎉

Great news! Congratulations! Is it customary in the UK to have an attorney do a contract for the sale? If so, that's an important next step. And make sure that you get a good engineering inspection of the foundation, plumbing, wiring, etc.

Thanks for coming back and updating us!

[Cel982]

Woohoo! That's great news, well done

[PasDevantLesElephants]

Yeay, very well done!

[KitKat1985]

Great news OP!