House I really want-what to do?

[Mirage]

This is a bit complicated.We have been wanting to move for ages & haven't been able to find an affordable house in the area we would like,which is where I grew up.

Lat week,our local EA had a property in the window that was exactly what we are looking for & affordable.I picked up the details & took them over to my aunt,who lived a few doors down a few years back & still knows everybody there.She told me all about the house, said that the vendor lived next door to it & was very nice.She suggested that if I rang the vendor telling them that I was used to live locally & that my dad was Mr x who still lived nearby,I would stand a very good chance of getting the house as the vendor knew all of my family & would probably prefer to have someone that she knew was quiet & wasn't going to cause problems living next door.

I did this & had a lovely chat with the vendor,who said that she was sorry,but that they had already accepted an offer on the house.However,the people who put the offer in a month earlier,still hadn't sold their house,so she said that she would ring my dad & tell him if it all fell through,so that we could see if we still wanted it.She mentioned that she had had 2 other offers on the same day as the 1st,which didn't surprise me at all.

A week later,the house is still in the EA window,as for sale.As I was looking at the details,the agent came out & asked me if I was interested in it.I replied that I understood that it was under offer & he said that as far as the agents were concerned,no acceptable offer had been taken through them,so it was still for sale.

I don't quite know what to do now.This is the only house to come up for sale in this location for over 10 years & I don't want to let it pass me by.However,it is entirely possible that the vendor has sold it privately & not bothered to inform the agents yet,until it is all completed.I suppose that if the agents say it is still available,I could try & make an appointment to view it,but then I risk upsetting the vendor & don't want to ruin my chances of her ringing me if her buyers can't sell.

I don't know what to do-if anything.Any advice would be welcome.

Is there any chance of your Dad collaring the vendor and asking about it, explaining that it's still up for sale in the EA?

Sorry Caligula-never got around to thanking you for your advice.

I was planning to go & put a note through her door tomorrow,but had a phone call from my mum this morning to say that the vendor has rung her to ask if we want to view the house.Apparently the couple who had put in an offer have split up & are no longer interested.The vendor had another offer yesterday,but turned it down & rang my mum to see if I was still interested!

I'm going to see it tommorrow & am all a dither-I had given up hope!

i really hope for your sake that you get the house.
we have just done the whole sell, buy and move stuff, so i will wish you the best of luck and keep bits crossed for you.

Good luck. Hope it is the house of your dreams

Just a quick update-the house was fab!.It is smaller than ours,but we expected that anyway,but it has a big drive,carport,garage & workshop,which makes up for it.It backs onto open fields which can never be built on,as it is greenbelt & there is no access & the views from the upstairs windows are open countryside

Turns out the lady selling it was at school with my dad & after I'd looked at the house,told me that if I wanted mum & dad to come & have a look,she'd leave it unlocked for us.So I dragged my parents around & they liked it too.(plus it is 3/4 of a mile from where they live,so they would get to see their garndchildren more).

The vendor has turned down 2 other offers in the last 2 days,as she wanted me to see it & has said outright that she would prefer me to buy it,as she still lives next door & knows that we are quiet ect.However,the proceeds are being split with other family members,who are putting pressure on her to sell at the highest price & have even suggested taking the house off sale,& putting it back at a higher price.

DH is coming with me tonight to see it-he told me to put in an offer without him seeing it,but I was too scared too do that.We will have to sit down with the vendor & see what we can work out.I am waiting for an EA to value our house so we can see what sort of mortgage we'll need,but I have a feeling that it will take every last penny in savings ect that we have & there is a chance that we won't be able to manage it once the solicitors fees,stamp duty ect are factored in,but we'll pull out all the stops as I don't want to miss out on this place.Ohh I'm all nervous now.
Wish me luck!

I'd put in the highest offer you poss can - just get it off the market.
You can always get a mortgage with a cashback on it to cover some of the legal/stamp duty stuff.
In 1 or 2 years time you'll look back and wonder how cheap the house was.
When we bought ours - we stretched from £100k house to £195k house and I was petrified - but that was 4 years ago and the house is now worth £300k - so looking back the stretch was well worth it. I always think there's no point in haggling to get a bargain if the house is of interest to other people and its the one you really want. A couple of grand here or there isn't worth it in the long run.

when you put your offer in implement the condition that no other veiwings should be taken place once agreed..at least then you know no one should be able to gazump you
wish you lots of luck, i know exactly how you feel

Turns out the lady selling it was at school with my dad & after I'd looked at the house,told me that if I wanted mum & dad to come & have a look,she'd leave it UNLOCKED for us. [SHOCK]

Blimey, where do you live ???

TraceyK,Thanks for the cashback idea-I hadn't thought of that-it may just solve the problem.We are basing the mortgage on dh's wages as I work part time & am due to have another baby in 13 wks,so my income is unreliable.If we paid the full price we'd have just £700 a month to pay for everything else after paying the mortgage,at the moment our mortgage is only £275.00 a month,so you can see why I'm petrefied.But you are right-the house we want will never lose money-we just need to be able to manage on a lower income.

Evesmama-the vendor has already told the agents not to show it to anyone else until we have got back to her-but a very good point!

LGJ-Why do you think I want to move there?????????? .Actually I am always forgetting to lock the door where I live now-I came home one day & found I had left the front door ajar for 2.5 hours.We live in a terrace too,so it was in full view of everyone passing by!

I can't say where we are hoping to move too,but the only other house up for sale in the village is owned by the Hip & Thigh Queen-& she wants 3.95 million for her pad

imo opinion and in retrospect, its far more inmportant(to us anyway) to have the house you want, in the area you want and have to sacrifice nights out, hols, wasting cash for a while.

we moved last year as mother and mil both let us down after dd born, so had no help and 'couldnt afford' to go back, so ..we moved..back to area where our first house was only on the outskirts and a stones throw away from awful area, house is ideal and needs very little doing to it unlike our last one, but ill always feel upset as it was a 'grown ups' house.
as a result, we have now been looking into some new houes being built back there in a year or so and although we are still in same position financially, i think we'll do everything possible to get back there!..

Evesmama-I know how you feel.I moved to the town from a village as we couldn't afford to buy there.In 10 years,this is the only affordable house to come up for sale & I'd do just about anything to move back.I have never been completely happy living in the area I now do,it isn't the best street in town & although we've been here for nearly 9 years,it still doesn't feel like home.
I'm thinking of selling 1 of our cars-we only had 1 car between the 2 of us for 7 years & managed ok,so we should be able to manage again.I could walk to work with the double buggy,as I work 3/4 a mile from the house we want.I also have one of those 25year savings plan type things which has been going for 15 years now-that should have a fair bit in it by now.

Best go as dd is wrecking the desk

well good luck then mirage..i hope it works out for you

Our offer was accepted!!!!!!!!!
DH had decided it was the house for us before he'd even got as far as the back garden.We decided that it was too good too miss & offered her the asking price.She was delighted & promptly knocked £1000 off,I couldn't believe it.

She said that she really hoped we'd go ahead,as she liked us & would be happy living next door to people she 'knew'.

I spent this morning going through our finances & found that we owe £4000 less on our current mortgage than dh thought we did-also,my mum & dad wanted us to get the house so much,that they have put all their savings £6k at our disposal if we need it for emergencies,rather than have us miss out.

It still hasn't sunk in-its all happened in 48 hours & I'm in shock.

We still have plenty of hurdles ahead-ie selling our place,surveys ect,but tonight I am a happy bunny!

Thanks for all the good wishes-they worked.

fantastic

thats really wonderful!..look at how things are falling into place

i just know youll all be so happy there

Thanks for the good wishes!

The suvey on our new place is being done tomorrow or Thursday,so I'm keeping everything crossed that nothing horrid shows up.We have had 2 agents to value our house & have decided on one of them,so this place will go on the market this weekend.I have checked all the local property website ect & there is nothing like our house available at the minute,apart from some 2 streets away,which are £100k more than we will be asking-so am feeling cautiously hopeful that it won't take ages to sell.We aren't in a chain so that may help too.

It still all seems too good to be true.I hope nothing goes wrong!