WWYD Best + Final at Stamp Duty Threshold

[mandybeesborough]

We offered on a house at the weekend on at asking price 250k - so did 12 other people. This has now been whittled down to 5 in the running, which includes our offer. So it's going to best and final by the end of the week.

We were in this situation on another house last month and thought that no one would be crazy enough to go over but apparently the estate agent was "astounded" at the winning offer. No idea what that was obviously.

Both houses needed work, this one is in a slightly better state as far as we know. No idea if survey would pick up anything additional.

I just don't know what to do. We could technically stretch a bit more, but we really need the money (that would disappear for stamp duty) to do the work needed on the house. And I'm just not sure if we could really justify it.

Any experience of being in this situation? How did you proceed? And did you get the house?!

Ps. Sorry. I forgot to say sorry you didn't get it. I was too stunned by the 55k! X

£55k?! My goodness, I'm sorry you didn't get it. Some areas are just crazy at the moment. We've noticed lately that what we paid for our 4 bed this time last year would only get us 3 beds, or rather 2 and a box, now. I hope something else comes up for you soon.

Yeap agree with Iseenyou people panic in these situations. In the cold light of day in a couple of weeks they may regret it. Has happened to us, they came back 3 months later. Vendor went with their heart and not their head and it didn't pay off. We were quite smug though as we had found somewhere better by then.

I don't live too far from there and prices are really going through the roof at the moment. I don't think its necessarily London people so don't lose heart about not finding something.

We are in East Anglia , and definitely London has a massive effect on our market ,we are not sure what to do now really , our house is fine its just that it is probably at the max of its value , i.e.no opportunity to add value

I have never really liked it but we bought it 17 years ago as a stop gap and then I realised I was married to a man who never intended to move ever again, would never have moved here if i had known that !

Said dh is now 50 , if we want to move or extend mortgage now is the time to do it ,but everything is going bonkers here ,kids don't really don't want to move , but then they moan about small bedrooms and we are very close to neighbours , one of whom practices the trumpet from7.30am to 8.00am every morning and for an hour on Sunday afternoons and one of whom hates dogs and chickens and we have both!

Most of all I don't want to spend my entire adult life in a house I hate ,I want a home that I love but it just feels like whenever we like a house someone moves from Clapham and offers massive amounts of money!

Sorry that was a bit of a rant

Rant away! Estate Agents in my town are keen to point out that we are now basically an extension of London. We're in Herts. It does have an effect on prices, though I can't grumble about the London thing as DH and I now both work in London (didn't previously, worked locally). I think we both ended up working in London in order to afford to carry on living here though.