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Original poster

Buyers support thread - stressed? Worried? Stuck in a chain? Gazumped? Well come and join us here

999 replies

Bakingnovice · 25/06/2013 12:31

I can't see if there is already a thread like this so here goes..

We finally upped our offer enough for it to be accepted on our dream house. It's been stressful so far and this is just the beginning. We have had so many let downs: vendor changing mind, vendor getting higher offer etc and we hope this sale goes through smoothly. We've been looking for years. Come and join me if you're buying and equally stressed....

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Turnipinatutu · 29/07/2013 15:15

Dh has kept his job! Such a relief!

I've made an appointment to see the EA on Wednesday and get the house back on the market. I've asked for some new photos and will see if we can beef the description up a bit and freshen up the listing.
Then it's just fingers crossed for a quick sale....our dream house is still sitting there unsold for now......

Original poster
Bakingnovice · 29/07/2013 16:27

Oh turnip! So delighted for you!!

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nasara · 29/07/2013 20:40

Good luck, turnip!

Our uber quick sale was indeed too good to be true - our buyer has pulled out. She had put in an offer elsewhere and it was accepted. Bah. Our ea has lined up 3 viewings this week and we're back on the market, plus our neighbour has a friend or relative who's really interested, so hopefully we'll have another buyer soon.

We put in an offer on the house we like and haven't heard back yet... Is that usual? It's been

nasara · 29/07/2013 20:40

(Fat fingers!)

It's been over 24 hours and not heard a dickie bird.

flow4 · 29/07/2013 20:43

Oh turnip, I am pleased for you! Grin

We've exchanged today too! :)

thegraduand · 29/07/2013 21:09

Great news turnip and flow

We've seen another one this evening and loved. It's further out than we wanted, but the house is amazing. Keeping everything crossed

Original poster
Bakingnovice · 29/07/2013 23:52

Nasara we have been in your position a few times. It's horrible. Thats why we are letting it now.

Flow - great news!! When do you complete?

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flow4 · 30/07/2013 07:02

Um, TODAY baking! Shock Shock Shock
I still can't relax, because my mortgage offer expires today, so if anything delays completion, I would have a real problem. In fact, it has just crossed my mind that if anything delays completion, I am now legally committed to buy, but may not be able to! :( Confused
Can you tell that I'm a bit anxious?!

Turnipinatutu · 30/07/2013 07:49

Good luck Flow. I'm sure all will be fine now.

thegrad- have you offered on the new house?

Nasara- fingers crossed for you. Sounds like there's lots of interest!

Toomuchtea · 30/07/2013 08:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thegraduand · 30/07/2013 09:44

Good luck Flow, have you spoken to your mortgage company just in case, sometimes they will give a very small grace period if its just a matter of a few days.

We have offered, been told by EA offer is low, don't think it is, but we'll see. We are working on the basis that anyone who advertises just over the stamp duty level eg 260, 525 is looking for about the stamp duty level

JulieAnderton · 30/07/2013 15:41

Hello everyone!

I'd like to join you, even though some of your stories so far are making me even more nervous!

We found a buyer for our place within a fortnight - yippee! First time buyer with a mortgage in principle, so hopefully her mortgage will be approved without any hassle.

Looked at several houses last weekend and loved one house. It has its quirks though, the main one being a bathroom upstairs but no toilet, and a toilet downstairs but no handbasin Confused. I asked Mrs Vendor when she showed us around whether there is a plumbing reason there is no toilet upstairs (the suite is relatively modern) - "no, we could have had one put in, but we chose not to"!!! Unfortunately the current configuration of the bathroom probably means taking it all out and starting again in order to install a toilet.

The wiring probably also need updating, and although centrally heated, two of the rooms don't have radiators. Other than that the house is full of original features and it's lovely.

It's been on for about 2.5 months and has had 15-20 viewings but no offers.

It's on at £249,995. We offered £237k which we thought is a reasonable starting bid. The vendors turned it down (as expected) but when the EA asked them what they'd be prepared to accept, Mrs Vendor said she might be willing to take a couple of hundred off the price! Mrs Vendor also says that the house doesn't need any work doing to it...

The EA says that they haven't bought/sold anywhere for about a gazillion years, so are a bit naive when it comes to the reality of negotiations. When pushed, Mr Vendor said that they would like £245k+. That is getting very close to our absolute maximum and would really rather not go any higher than that, considering the work that needs doing.

We haven't upped our £237k offer yet. Not sure whether to sit tight for a while longer or whether to go in with our "best and final" offer now (which is probably £245k) which might be accepted.

Misty9 · 30/07/2013 20:40

Hi all

Some great progress going on!
julie I'd say if you're not totally in love with the house (though maybe ESP if you are!) to sit tight on that offer. That many viewings and no offers suggests that everyone else agrees it's overpriced! If you've got time on your side, look around other things and see what they do over the next week. Have they found anywhere themselves?

Unfortunately, I think if people set their price at a stamp duty threshold, it may well mean they'd ideally want more, but recognise they won't get it. So they won't be overly willing to go much below sdt either...

I speak as someone who's paying £258k for a property... (Because we love it).

As for us, no news is not good news. I'm calling the ea tomorrow but if we don't exchange by Monday then we can't complete until late September...

Hope you completed Flow!

JulieAnderton · 30/07/2013 21:13

Thanks Misty. We do love the house. I can see us living there for years and years (and I can picture where the Christmas tree will go!).

I think the lack of toilet upstairs is a real sticking point. It has obviously put other viewers off, but the vendors don't see it as a problem. We don't see it as a problem either, so long as the price is right.

I think we'll sit tight on the offer and view some others at a similar price point at the weekend for comparison.

The vendors haven't found anywhere (not started looking yet). Even if we do get as far as having an offer accepted I do worry about them as vendors. They haven't been particular quick so far when it came to agreeing a time for us to view and to get back to the EA about our offer. They don't have mobile phones or the internet, so it's always a case of catching them at home or waiting for them to return a call. As my DH said earlier - it could be a case of right property, wrong vendor.

Fingers crossed for your exchange on Monday.

Turnipinatutu · 30/07/2013 21:15

Misty- fingers crossed for you. Do you know what the hold up is?

Julie- I'd agree with Misty. Sit tight, keep looking and let the EA know your still looking (ask to see other houses they have listed) then maybe resubmit your offer or go to 240k in a couple of weeks. If they don't accept you probably have to think about wether or not it's worth the full amount to you.
Good luck.

didireallysaythat · 30/07/2013 21:47

Flow fingers crossed it all went ok - we're in a similar situation but managed to get the vendors to agree to a completion a day before our mortgage offer expires. The mortgage offer couldn't be extended, even by a day, so we were getting ready to have to reapply, which meant fees (failing to take up the first mortgage and then applying for the second) and waiting for a new valuation. Amazingly when we explained this to the vendors for the third time that a new valuation could potentially take weeks this seemed to spur them into action and suddenly "can't complete before the 22nd" turned into "can complete on the 8th".

Hand me a tape gun, I need to pack !

flow4 · 31/07/2013 00:14

We've completed!! Grin

I've got that post-adrenaline crashed feeling now!

sammisatt · 31/07/2013 07:22

Should be exchanging today. Why do I still feel its going to go wrong? The vendor has signed the papers we just need to do ours. This surely has to work!!

Turnipinatutu · 31/07/2013 07:58

Congrats Flow!.......and relax Smile

Good luck Sammi.
There suddenly seems to be a lot of movement on here!

sammisatt · 31/07/2013 09:00

Congrats flow!! You must be so relieved.

Thanks Turnip.

Toomuchtea · 31/07/2013 09:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

flow4 · 31/07/2013 10:10

Thanks everyone. I'm feeling rather overwhelmed today... Because I'm letting out my 'old' house, not selling it, I now have TWO houses to redecorate, as well as the moving to do, in the next 10 days!

Original poster
Bakingnovice · 31/07/2013 10:29

Sammi good luck. Hope all goes well. Please let us know how it goes.

Flow I hope it all goes to plan. I am letting out too. Why do you need to redecorate your old house? Am actually very excited for you. Please do let me know how it goes and of any tips you have for me!

Misty - hope you get your exchange today too.

Julie - baby boomers are usually the worst vendors. I'm dealing with some now and it's making the whole transaction very painful. They are currently trying to sell me their v old carpets and bits of furniture for £2.5k.

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50shadesofmeh · 31/07/2013 14:07

Hey folks just skipped over from the selling thread , we sold ours in 3 weeks and just had offer accepted on house we love.
It needs new bathroom and kitchen and decorating but it's massive 4 lovely big bedrooms ( ours is a 2 bed and we have 3 kids so have been squashed in for so long)
I'm crapping myself waiting on our mortgage offer coming in , got it in my head it will be declined even though we had an agreement in principal .

enjoyingscience · 31/07/2013 16:32

also coming from the selling thread! Had an offer accepted on a house we love, and sold ours (hopefully) to a buyer with an agreement in principal.

The chain is seven houses long though - so there's a huge risk it could all go tits up. I think our buyer is legit, but has changed his mortgage provider and financial advisor, so it's taking a bit longer than I thought. It feels like we've wasted a fortnight already!