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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Who is actually in process of buying a home?

46 replies

NoseyNooNoo · 14/07/2010 11:09

So who is buying a home at the moment.

We are buying at the moment. Exchange is imminent but I daren't get too excited. Completion would not be until end of August though.

Anyone else?

And who is looking - and what type of property are you looking for?

OP posts:

Original poster

NoseyNooNoo · 14/07/2010 13:39

I spoke too soon - vendor has decided that she doesn't want to buy the house she was buying...

OP posts:

BeenBeta · 14/07/2010 13:43

What has happened to you is happening a lot in the current market. Sales collapsing often.

Let me guess. The vendor accepted your offer and then immediatley went to look at what she could buy with the money you were offering and bid on a house she could not really afford and hoped to bargain the vendor down. It didnt work so now she has backed out after stringing you along.

ReshapeWhileDamp · 14/07/2010 14:35

Nosey. Bummer.

We are in the process of selling and buying - have accepted an offer on ours and are on the point of making an offer on another house. Our buyers have a cash buyer who is very keen on their house, and consequently they want to move fast. Our potential vendors had a sale fall through a couple of weeks back at the last minute but could still get the house they'd had their hearts set on. We're hoping the chain isn't too precarious - the vendors are hoping to buy a new-build that is nearing completion, so no chain in front of that (I assume). It all seems too easy so far, though.

BeenBeta, are you in this business yourself? I've noticed your authoritative posts on this forum!

BeenBeta · 14/07/2010 15:27

No not in the property business, in fact we dont own a property for the reasons I (too) often pontificate on here about - but me and DW watch the property market very closely from a professional point of view as it affects and reflects the economy which is what we are really interested in for our work.

We currently rent our house from a developer that tried for three years to sell (and eventually gave up) without success.

Jackstini · 14/07/2010 16:41

We are buying 2 at the moment, both buy to lets, a 2 bed end terrace and a 3 bed semi.
Chain on one means it will have taken 5 months by the time the exchange (hopefully!) goes through in August. The other is chain free.
We bought a repossession in feb that only took 23 days to go through - was shocked at the speed of that!

Original poster

NoseyNooNoo · 14/07/2010 16:46

She is buying a new build which depending on whether you speak to my solicitor or the EA (who to be fair seemed quite honest) she is either not buying anymore or is still negotiating with the builder. The last time we spoke she had negotiated with them that they would not put in a kitchen (to save money). I bet she's trying to get that kitchen chucked in for free now.

She is asking for a end of September completion now.

Who holds our rather hefty 10% deposit (and get the interest) in those 2 months?

OP posts:

midnightexpress · 14/07/2010 17:03

I've been to the estate agent today to get the ball rolling with the sale of our flat. Am not getting my hopes up for a quick sale though, and as we're relocating, we'll probably have to rent somewhere before we buy again.

We're in Scotland so have to cough up £1000 smackers just to get a home report (still happening up here) and the marketing (ie not inc the EA fees for the sale). I wouldn't mind so much if we were buying up here, but we're hoping to move to England so have to pay for our survey and then a survey on anywhere we buy down there. Gah.

mintyfresh · 14/07/2010 20:27

We are buying at the moment - our rented house as landlord was selling it. Sorry to hear about your frustrating experiences Nosey - why is your deposit going into your bank - surely you should get the interest until you complete??

Has taken an age to go through even though it should have been a really easy sale - been 5 months now and still no exchange date!!!

Original poster

NoseyNooNoo · 14/07/2010 21:08

Minty: as far as I know, the deposit would sit in the solicitor's client account but I'm unsure who earns the interest - it's currently earning 3% in my savings account.

OP posts:

ReshapeWhileDamp · 15/07/2010 08:46

Nosey - what savingss account do you have that earns you 3%?!?

Original poster

NoseyNooNoo · 15/07/2010 09:44

Citibank. It was a hassle to open but pays well.

OP posts:

sethstarkaddersmum · 15/07/2010 10:25

We are putting in an offer today. It is a stupidly low one though so we don't expect him to accept. Then again, it is cash.
Then we have to have a proper expensive full structural survey done because there are some issues.
This pm the third of 3 estate agents comes to value our current place but should we get the house are after, we may not actually sell here until the basic building work is done. Unless we decide we need to sell ASAP before the market falls.

Jackstini · 15/07/2010 15:06

Nosey - I would see if you can wait & not transfer the money until just before completion.

pernickety · 15/07/2010 15:28

Trying to. A lot of the vendors around here still think their houses are worth what they were worth at the peak. We put an offer in at 10% below asking price and it was refused. We've now offered up to 5% below asking price but that will be our final offer. And in fact, looking at what houses have sold for over the last 10 years, only twice has a house sold for more than we are currently offering to pay and that was a detached bungalow and a house with a two storey extension. There are no semis that have sold for as much as we have now offered - not even during peak prices!

I feel that people are pricing their houses at what amount of equity they need to be left with in order to buy the house that they've decided they should be able to afford.

pernickety · 15/07/2010 15:29

Oh, and we are renting and ready to move at anytime.

Rugbylovingmum · 15/07/2010 15:57

Hi,

W e should be completing on our new house tomorrow - hurray! It has been a complete pain to get this far though. We had several exchange dates set and the vendor kept pulling out on the morning of the exchange saying "we are still committed to completing on such and such a date but just have a few queries to deal with on the place we are purchasing". Argh , if they were committed to completing there wouldn't be any reason not to exchange so why lie. We were willing to be flexible on the completion date but needed to know where we stood. In the end we had to put a deadline in place and say we would withdraw our offer if they didn't exchange contracts by then - they still called on the morning and said they weren't ready but we held firm and they finally agreed to exchange at 4.30pm on the day of the deadline.

Anyway depending on how much you love the house and how keen you think she is to sell it might be worth setting a deadline for her and it may also be worth asking if you can give a smaller deposit so you can keep most of it in your high interest account. When we bought our first house we were struggling to find the deposit (had a 100% mortgage) but the vendors said they would accept the 1% stamp duty as a deposit as they were really keen to exchange. Then you could move the rest just before completion.

Good luck.

Original poster

NoseyNooNoo · 15/07/2010 18:24

Good thinking Ruby.

Hope your move goes well.

OP posts:

artyjools · 15/07/2010 19:00

I feel that people are pricing their houses at what amount of equity they need to be left with in order to buy the house that they've decided they should be able to afford.

Hahaha - really made me smile!

But I agree completely. We are hoping to move soon but I'm confused by what is happening with prices. Some houses are just not moving and then are dropping 10% or more, so we shall certainly be going in with hard offers. We haven't put ours on the market yet, but are wondering whether we should put it on 10% higher than we expect to get

BeenBeta · 15/07/2010 20:50

artjools- "people are pricing their houses at what amount of equity they need to be left with in order to buy the house that they've decided they should be able to afford".

That is exactly what people do and estate agents know it. The typical sales appraoch of an estate agent is to suss out what the seller 'needs' and then names that as the amount the house should be put on the market for. Its such an easy sell and older people fall for it every time. I know one old lady who hates her house, desperate to move, far to big for her but she 'needs' a certain amount and until she gets it (4 years and counting) she will not sell.

Old people that are looking to buy a retirement place, pay down their debts they have secretly accumulated to 'keep up with the Joneses' and still give their kids some money are unfortunately going to become trapped in houses far too big with dwindling equity and unable to maintain them.

The older generation acts in an incredibly 'entitled' way and take great offence that someone does not like their hosue with 1970s decor.

Eurostar · 15/07/2010 21:20

pernickety - "There are no semis that have sold for as much as we have now offered - not even during peak prices!" - are you not worried that if you need to sell you will be stuck in negative equity?

sethstarkaddersmum · 15/07/2010 21:26

My bugbear is vendors who have spent a lot of money doing things to their house and think they can just add the money they have spent to the purchase price. Which is fine if you like what they have done but frequently it is insane and you are looking at it mentally calculating how much it would cost you to get rid of it....

moominmarvellous · 15/07/2010 22:43

We've just begun the process of buying our first house and I can't beleive already how long the simplest of things take to confirm!

We have no chain as previous owners have been out of the property for some time following a split, both have agreed the offer and we're renting so have no hold ups our end. We're all keen to get it all sorted asap, waiting for the middle men to call back is so frustrating.

I SO want it to be a quick sale as I'm due to have DC2 in October and theres also the matter of being in our new area for school applications in Oct/Nov for DD1.....think I may have been a bit naive as to how long it takes!

Jackstini · 16/07/2010 08:22

Moomin - make sure the solicitors know how keen you are to move quickly and that you have a specific deadline.
Ask them to let you know of all queries by phone or email, rather than writing a letter.
When you need to sign and return things, take them in by hand if you can. Ok, it may only save a day or 2 postage but it also reiterates that you want things done fast!
Good luck

sethstarkaddersmum · 16/07/2010 09:38

Moomin - very often there are delays because people are not communicating properly and you can speed things up by phoning people up a lot and hassling them. When I bought my first house I didn't need a mortgage; I had told everyone involved this many times, in writing, but at one point nothing happened for ages and ages and finally I called someone (can't remember whether the agent or my solicitor) and they said 'Oh, we're just waiting for you to confirm your mortgage offer'

pernickety · 16/07/2010 10:33

Eurostar - no we are looking to stay in the house for a long time and we would be extending it. They did not accept the offer anyway and when DH pointed out that the house was priced above what any have sold for on the street, the estate agent did the whole sarcastic "Oh, that does suprise me - oh, I wish I had snapped that house up for £XXX" Chuckle chuckle*. Hmmm, nope, we're not making it up. Do estate agents not bother to look at the sold price data?

We also see houses priced for their potential. i.e. this house would be worth £280,000 if it were extended and renovated. We estimate that will cost £60,000 so therefor we are selling it for £220,000, taking no account of the work and stress that the vendor has to go through to do all the work.

I'm a little bit ticked off with estate agents and vendors at present! Can you tell?

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