Focus on being a good buyer. Many vendors are influenced by the prospect of a stress free sale, and agents by getting their commission quickly. You may not have cash but make sure that your funding is in place and easily accessible. I found it was useful (sorry I am a landlord who has bought a few properties recently!) to be using a solicitor with a good local reputation.
Ask several agents which solicitors they think are efficient, and then approach the solicitor whose name comes up most frequently, check whose panels he is on, and expect to pay the extra for competent conveyancing. One issue is that mortgage lenders seem to be squeezing out extra profit by steering borrowers towards low cost conveyancing firms, who can be dreadfully inefficient, actually incompetent. I know that I have landed properties in a tight market because the agent has been able to tell the vendor that I have everything lined up, mortgage finance arranged and a solicitor who can turn things around in two weeks.
Act decisively. I have been lucky that my finance has been from remortgaging other properties. I have therefore been able to tell the agent that I won't need a survey and that I will pay extra for quick searches.
In short, my offers have been accompanied by a reassurance that I can complete in 3-4 weeks. For many vendors this is a real plus. Because I am not doing a survey the vendor knows I am not going to haggle over price based on survey results.
If you need to mortgage the property, one approach is to ask to take round a trusted and experienced builder at an early stage. He should be able to spot major defects and then give you a rough price for, say, fixing the roof. Plus a view on whether it is a solid house or not. Then simply book the valuation survey that the mortgage company require. If the valuation is conservative, and it often is, and if you are convinced that the price you are paying is fair and have enough deposit to cover the difference, then go ahead anyway. (And indeed if you are on your absolute borrowing limit it is worth seeing if a family member might be able to grant you a short term loan of a few thousand if it turns out you need a bit of slack, as this too will add to the vendors/agents confidence that you won't drop out.)
If you do feel you need to get a proper structural survey, two tips:
- ask around for a good surveyor. If he is on your mortgage company's panel you can employ him directly and the report will be accepted. This can be both quicker and cheaper. I once bought a period house that was listed and so was able to find a surveyor with good experience of the relevent period, but the same would apply if, say, you are buying a sixties house built with non standard construction methods.
- ask to accompany the surveyor. After all you are paying for him. My experience is that surveys are so caveated as to be practically useless. Much more useful was the comment by the surveyor who suggested if I was worried about damp I should not buy a period house and that given this one had stood for 300 years it would probably stand for a while longer. He was also able to identify a couple of issues that would need fairly immediate attention, but reassure me that in general the house was sound.
In short, you stand a better chance if you can pursuade the agent from the start that you are a motivated, realistic and organised buyer. His loyalty is to the vendor and if there are two competing purchasers being the better prospect can make all the difference. This is a buysiness transaction. There is lots of sympathy for first time buyers, but you need to be businesslike.
One further tip. Be nice to the vendors. Be human and say you like their house and ask them about their life there. If they have loved living there they might be happier to sell to a young couple or a young family who will cherish it in the way they did.