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Original poster

fallen in love with a house. Do we play it cool or show we love it?

25 replies

RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 20:43

Perfect perfect perfect house Smile

We weren't even looking properly, we just knew we'd be moving in the next year or two. So our house isn't up for sale/rent and we haven't officially worked out our budget yet Blush

We'll be seeing our mortgage advisor to work out the details this week hopefully, but what do we do in the meantime? Do we let them know that we're dead keen, or play it cool, like we're not bothered?

And do cheeky offers just annoy vendors? Or is it worth going in low?

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ChristinedePizan · 08/05/2011 20:48

Given you haven't even put your current place on the market, I'd play it dead cool. There is no benefit to you going in all guns blazing now - you're not in a position to put in an offer at all. You might lose it - be prepared for that to happen

angel1976 · 08/05/2011 20:52

I think you need to get your house on the market asap. In the current market, I think vendors won't take offers where you are unable to proceed seriously.

I think you can feedback to the agent that you do love the house (without going on about how much) and that you would make an offer as soon as you have an offer on your house. So they know you are interested. And go back to them when you have a proceed-able offer on your house and seriously start negotiating.

IMO, there's no point making cheeky offers for the sake of it. Work out how much you can pay for it (that's why you need to sell first!), do your research for houses sold in the area recently and work out what is a good price for the house and go from there.

We saw a house we love just before we got an offer on ours. We made a cheeky low offer that didn't do anything as we hadn't sold then. After our house went under offer, we went back to the agent to reiterate that we were interested and now able to proceed and that's when we started to negotiate. In the end, we got about 5% before asking. We would have liked to get more off but we still felt it was a good price, we could afford it and it will be our home for the next 10-15 years as we didn't want to lose it. Fingers crossed for us we exchange soon! :)

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 21:13

thanks for this, very sensible! I'll chill out a bit then.

We are thinking of renting our house out as the rental market is pretty favourable round here, and then we could sell prices pick up a bit. So, we could, in theory move pretty quickly once the mortgages are agreed.

The C4 site says that houses are going for an average of %12 below asking, but that seems really cheeky!

Good luck with yours Angel!

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Honneybunny · 08/05/2011 21:18

Very much agree with angel.
Any offers from buyers that are unable to proceed are worthless.
Most- if not all- sellers will not (be advised by their agents to) accept offers from buyers who need to, but have not yet, sold their own.

Put your house on market NOW.

We were in same situation back in Feb. Saw our dream house, put our house on market, had loads of viewings but no offers, someone else put in offer on dream house, lost the house, etc. Sad

Be very much prepared to lose the house. Get your house valued, but make sure that the agent knows you want that house. It is in their best interest to get you to put in on the market for the highest price possible (i.e. their commission), so they will try and drive you to market it for a higher price.

Work out your budget: what you would be prepared to sell yours for, that would still enable you to buy your dream house. And yes: talk to the adviser.

Honneybunny · 08/05/2011 21:18

and good luck! Smile

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 21:24

OK, I'll start assuming we'll lose the house Sad and then it will be a fabulous bonus if we get it.

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angel1976 · 08/05/2011 21:27

Thanks Rooby. We are in SE London, I think London seems to exist in its own little bubble and certain areas within London seem to exist in some strange gravity-defying bubble. Where we are buying is in a conservation area with good primary schools around (rarity in London!) and for that reason, house prices aren't going down MUCH! We've had our eyes on the market for a while and fairly shocked at the prices some of the houses we have viewed had gone for! Shock We considered renting out our house as well but the bottom line was, we wouldn't have as much equity without the sale and we just couldn't deal with the stress of renting out our family home!

Honney Are you still getting loads of viewings? Good luck to you. We got our house on the market in September and didn't sell till January... Depressing isn't it?!!!

angel1976 · 08/05/2011 21:30

Rooby Don't lose heart... We had our house on the market in September, saw out dream house in early Dec. Sold our house in January but saw other houses and kept coming back to DH. DH in the meantime, was overpriced, but vendor reluctant to drop the asking price. It took them losing their first house (as they weren't under offer) before they started to negotiate with us seriously... and it was Feb before they took out offer.

ChristinedePizan · 08/05/2011 21:33

Rooby - if you can rent yours out soon and you can get the finance in place then it doesn't need to be doom and gloom. But it is all about the money. I was about to exchange on my sale (because my buyer didn't have anything to sell, he was able to wait) when I found my house and so I could prove I had the cash in place.

Places aren't going as fast as they once so don't panic were but I know how you feel about finding the perfect house - this one was so perfect that I started crying when I looked round it (out of sight of the EA). And six months on, I still absolutely love it. It's the perfect house for us :)

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 21:56

Thanks all. I think, when you find a perfect house, you just assume that everyone else will want it, because, well, why wouldn't they??? Christine awww Smile

I find it mind boggling that buying chains actually ever work as there's so many factors that can go wrong along the way!

Angel it takes ages doesn't it? We've only been looking for a week. I seriously need to get a grip and BE COOL.

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Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 22:01
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angel1976 · 08/05/2011 22:03

Rooby House we are buying is one of the first we saw. Couldn't believe it didn't sell at first but we saw quite a few others later at similar price range and got a good idea why. Basically, DH has been family home for 15 years and they had really done it up with some fantastic stuff (underfloor heating in bathrooms, old-school designer radiators, extension with glass roof, concertina doors into the garden...) and wanted a premium for it but when it came down to it, they were priced similarly to houses that had more square footage and that was the crucial bit as to why they couldn't sell at that price. We told the agent if we had asking price money, we would have bought other (bigger) houses! Grin

angel1976 · 08/05/2011 22:04

Can we have a look????? :)

angel1976 · 08/05/2011 22:04

If you don't want to put it on here for fear of competition, PM it to me! Grin

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 22:56

PMd you Angel.

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angel1976 · 08/05/2011 23:09

Love it! My DH and I are complete DIY-phobic and I completely know where you are coming from. The way we see it - he works long hours and freaking hard for the money and we want somewhere we can enjoy!

Have PM'ed you the house we are buying. Come and share in the love! Wink

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 23:41

PMd you Angel. My manchester eyes are blinded by Big Smoke prices!

Gorgeous though!

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angel1976 · 08/05/2011 23:45

Thanks! LOL... I know what you mean... My in-laws live out of London and for what we are paying, we can buy a gorgeous detached period property with land!!! BUT I am not a country girl, my dear lady, so in the Big Smoke we stay... Good luck and let me know how you get on. :)

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 23:49

my bro lives int big smoke, so I understand the pull. it IS better in loads of ways!

I'm glad my nearest and dearest live in a reasonably affordable area tho Smile

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Original poster
RoobyMurray · 08/05/2011 23:50

oh, apart from my brother obviously...

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angel1976 · 08/05/2011 23:51

I had a chance to move up to where you are with a job (you can probably guess with who!) but DH's job (he's main breadwinner) is here and he loves it. And I do love London for all its possibilities... :)

Next time you come visit your bro, let me know. We can try to meet up (virtually impossible with my two! LOL).

narmada · 09/05/2011 09:24

I am going to dissent from the majority on here. If you've seen your dream house, get thee to a broker today, get an offer in principle, tell the sellers you are prepared to rent out your house and put an offer in on that basis. Nice, competitively priced houses near good primary schools are gone in a flash in London - it's completely different to other parts of the country.

Honneybunny · 11/05/2011 07:01

Yes, i gues the story changes if you have the option of renting out your present house, and still get a mortgage on your new one. You should go and work that one out with a broker as narmada suggests.

Angel: yes we are still getting many viewings, although there was a quiet preiod, but things have increased to 4 this week so far after dropping the price last week.

We have seen another house we love

SomebodyNew · 11/05/2011 11:45

I agree with Narmada too if you're willing to rent. It shows you're serious too. You could put your house on the market for sale / rent and see what happens but the fact you're willing to rent would be a big plus.

Original poster
RoobyMurray · 12/05/2011 18:33

thanks y'all for the advice.

negotiations have started! The plan is definitely to rent, so hopefully we are in a strong position.

2nd viewing tomorrow.

Grin
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