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Original poster

How long did it take you to find a house, from the first viewing you did?

48 replies

openerofjars · 15/05/2012 17:16

I'm 38+1 and we have a lovely first time buyer that we don't want to mess around, so we are looking now (i.e. since we accepted the offer on Friday).

We have a shortlist of 13 houses, have seen 5 and discounted 2 of those. Of the remaining 8, we have booked viewings with 4 and are waiting to hear back from estate agents re the rest.

Is it unrealistic to want to be aiming at getting an offer in and accepted by my EDD, or is that pie in the sky?

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PotteringAlong · 15/05/2012 17:21

I've bought 2 houses and only ever viewed 2 (phil and Kirsty would hate me!)

You can definitely do it but you need to be pro active!

notcitrus · 15/05/2012 17:33

First time, looked at about 10 in a week, offered on one of the first ones, then when seller pulled out we saw another on the same estate next day and had offer accepted that night.

Next time, looked at 2 just under the stamp duty threshold, then did maths and a few weeks later looked at a dozen in a weekend, though we were pretty sure we were going for the first one, buy took a while for sellers to agree.

We were lucky in that location was a key criterion so anything outside the area on our map we could ignore.

madwomanintheattic · 15/05/2012 17:33

We booked a weekend to view about 8 houses and had made an offer and signed the contract by 8pm Saturday. We looked at two of them twice. It was a busy day, but there's no need to mess about, really.

axure · 15/05/2012 17:34

Like Pottering made a decision really quickly. After getting an offer from someone with no chain arranged to view 4 houses in one day, the first was our fave, thought we ought to view the others but needn't have bothered. Our offer was accepted and managed to get moved in 6 weeks. I guess we were very lucky, but we are also fairly easy going / realistic.

PestoSansVesto · 15/05/2012 17:45

We started house hunting in September, knowing we had a deadline of rental agreement running out in early April. Found the house we eventually bought, in December and finally moved in at the end of March.

We were very glad we'd allowed 6 months to buy the house and move.

PestoSansVesto · 15/05/2012 17:45

BTW this wasn't this year

OctopusSting · 15/05/2012 17:47

About 5 minutes Grin

Bought the first house we saw. Looked at a few more that day and then a couple the next day, went back for a second viewing (day after original viewing) and put in an offer.

Took 6 months before we completed mind you.........Hmm

OctopusSting · 15/05/2012 17:49

I should have said, our offer was accepted the day we made it, so no delay there.

So, i think it is not unrealistic to hope for an offer and acceptance before your EDD, subject to you liking one of the shortlist!

Good luck Smile

TheCountessOlenska · 15/05/2012 17:55

Took us around 4 weeks to find the house- like you we were in a hurry. Found all estate agents to be spectacularly unhelpful - constantly suggesting viewings of horrible properties of a kind which we had specified that we were not interested in! Almost as if they didn't believe us when we said we wanted a 3 bed victorian terrace in city centre! We had a small budget but would have been able to stretch it for the right house - but instead they kept showing us houses under our budget and didn't seem to want to show us the more expensive ones Confused.

We put our offer in straight away, had it accepted the next day. Didn't bother with survey. No chain. We were in there in 6 weeks.

Original poster
openerofjars · 15/05/2012 22:50

Okay, totally doable, thanks all!

Next question, how do I get DH to agree that the house I totally love is bijou, rather than small, amazing and in a wonderful location but the one he prefers is a nasty money sink in a boring area? Wink

This sounds dreadful but I cannot go and live somewhere I don't want to live. Even at very short notice to keep our buyer happy. Can I?

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AKissIsNotAContract · 16/05/2012 09:36

If you can't agree why don't you rent for a while? You shouldn't make the biggest purchase of your life under pressure, you both need to be totally sure.

Original poster
openerofjars · 16/05/2012 18:39

'Sokay, the house I don't like has been snapped up. I feel bad for DH because he really did love it, but we are seeing 6 more between now and Sunday and I am relieved that a bone of contention has disappeared.

Plus, I just looked at the square meterage of the house I love compared to the one we are in and it is actually only 3.2sqm smaller. Will keep hoping...

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Givingupmyjob · 16/05/2012 18:43

We sold our house in January 2007 and moved in here in October 2009 so two and a half years!!! Mind you we were looking for a forever house and the market was dropping by the day so we went into rented and took our time to make sure it was the right move at the right price. I'd recommend going into rented if you don't find something immediately our equity sat earning interest and by the time we found this house we knew exactly what we wanted.

tyler80 · 16/05/2012 20:13

18 months

Luckily we weren't in a rush (FTB) so could afford to be fussier than we might otherwise have been. Market was very slow too, not a single house we viewed in those 18 months had sold when we offered on the one we eventually bought.

Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 19:02

Okay, quick q: what would you offer on this house ?

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Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 19:22

Shameless bump but am now 39 weeks, knackered and letting the stress get to me. We are in a bloody stupid bidding war on this thing now and are waiting to hear back from the estate agent tomorrow. DH is going to do all the negotiating as it is making me shaky.

I am having trouble sleeping because of this fecking thing and really really want to get an offer accepted before DC2 arrives.

Sad

I just want the other couple to back down and let us have the damn house, then I can go into labour cheerfully.

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EdlessAllenPoe · 21/05/2012 20:17

why wouldn't you offer on this one instead?

the presentation is crap, estate agent photos shoddy .....but none of the owners junk will be there when you move in.

the house you want to buy is very nicely presented: but it doesn't come with vacant possession either if i have read carefully...(which is what you really want to move a sale that fast)....and nice presentation doesn't last!

also, what's the deal with the passageway through the house you want to buy- is this 'flying freehold'?

i notice the one you want has ORP, though this one has potential for it.

EdlessAllenPoe · 21/05/2012 20:18

and i think with that much clutter in a house, they won't be overwhelmed with offers...

EdlessAllenPoe · 21/05/2012 20:20

sold prices though i think you'd need to print the list and identify which house was most alike for comparison.

Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 20:22

We looked at that one but the one we want has 3 massive bedrooms. Also the other one has some nasty maintenance ishoos that you can't see online (DH is a maintenance surveyor so knows of what he speaks), not to mention sitting tenants. Also, the first one has off-road parking.

I have rather stupidly set my cap at the first. I wants it, precious.

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Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 20:26

Thanks, Edgar, that's interesting reading.

DH is telling me to let go of it in my mind and try to be a bit more que sera about the whole thing. If we aren't destined to live there, etc.

But it does not come naturally at the best of times, let alone this week. Grin

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Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 20:27

Sorry for multiple posts: the passageway is normal for Sheffield. It's how you get your bins out to the street!

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EdlessAllenPoe · 21/05/2012 20:47

would your neighbours have access through it?

that would put me off. looks like a long street with many very similar houses. if you don't get this one, there really will be another that is very very similar.

personally i'd prefer something in slightly less good decorative nick, as then you'd pay less but get to do what you wanted with it when you moved in.

pregnancy is probably a really bad time to househunt, as is difficult to find the emotional distance when you want a home for your babies.

Original poster
openerofjars · 21/05/2012 21:06

I know, I know, but our house was on the market for over 2 years and only sold 9 days ago... We now have a first time buyer for our house and can exchange quite quickly as these things go, so are in a reasonably good position (1st time buyers are like bloody gold dust at the mo'!). We had to drop the price loads to get to this stage. If we have had to exchange on the day I went into labour, we'd have done it.

The passageway goes between the two houses you can see in the first pic, and then each house has a lockable gate at the end of the passage. A lot of terraced houses here have to let the neighbours across their back yards, which is a bit of a deal breaker for us, but this house doesn't have that issue. The yard and garden are private, which is unusual, and the size of the garden is great. A lot of houses we can afford have handkerchief lawns.

I dunno, I need to eat a hell of a lot of biscuits and try to switch my brain off.

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EdlessAllenPoe · 21/05/2012 21:11

ah, i see that would be a really attractive selling point over others: one without access across back.

how do you know you are in bidding war? you have a very short chain to your advantage.....if other party is yet to complete also, you could just push to complete your own sale and dangle a completion date rather than a higher price...? or wont that work for these vendors?