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Original poster

Seller saying would rather sell to first time buyer than investor - any experiences?

15 replies

Icandoanything · 18/11/2015 19:28

Hello all,

I saw a house today that is pretty much at the top end of my budget that I really liked and am considering putting in an offer. I was shown around by the owner and she said that although they have had two investors look at it, she would rather sell to a first time buyer as they seemed a tad greedy! It was actually an investment property for herself which seems a bit odd of her to say!

I told her I may be interested but that as it was at the top end of my budget, I would not be able to go over the asking price that much (maybe a stupid move of me, but I thought there was no point in lying) and she said that she would rather sell to a first time buyer even if it meant getting less than they might get for it.

How much stock should I hold in this? She seemed pretty genuine and I would love to put in an offer if it would be seriously considered as opposed to gazumped by an investor who could offer more.

Has anyone had experience of this either as a first time buyer or selling to one?

Many thanks in advance.

OP posts:
ApplesTheHare · 18/11/2015 19:31

I'd always prefer to sell to a first-time buyer but it's impossible for anyone on here to know just how strongly the owner feels about this. All you can do is offer and hope, like with any house purchase. Good luck! Flowers Smile

specialsubject · 18/11/2015 19:35

put in an offer of what you think appropriate, but who she sells to is up to her. I assumed she's one of the MN landlord-haters but it looks like she would then hate herself...

unfortunately there's never any protection against being pissed about.

potap123 · 18/11/2015 19:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LIZS · 18/11/2015 19:50

Also an investor is likely to make a lower offer as the object is to make money, both in rent and capital appreciation.

Original poster
Icandoanything · 18/11/2015 19:56

Interesting, I thought that an investor would offer more than the asking price.

OP posts:
Gunpowder · 18/11/2015 19:59

We got our house even though a prospective 'buy to let' landlord put in a higher offer. I think I'd offer what the house is worth to you (and you can afford). If it's meant to be you will get the house.

dayslikethis · 18/11/2015 20:04

We chose a lower offer when we were selling our first home so that we could sell it to first time buyers. (Scotland - sealed bids system) It wasn't substantially lower (about £700 if I remember rightly) but we really wanted to help this couple get a foot on the housing ladder and we knew what we needed to sell for, to buy the house we wanted to move to, so as long as they met that number and the other offer wasn't crazily higher we were always going to sell to them. (if the other offer had been £7000 over we might have changed our minds Wink)

sleepyhead · 18/11/2015 20:05

A friend got a house that they wouldn't have otherwise been able to afford because the seller wanted it to go to a young family as she had raised her own family there.

She took the asking price from them when she had several higher offers.

The previous owner was moving into a care home as she could no longer manage on her own and my friend now regularly visits her and keeps her up to date on whats going on in the neighbourhood so they both got something out of it Smile.

Sometimes getting the highest offer isn't the seller's priority. Rare, and obviously no guarantees, but it happens.

Millymollymama · 19/11/2015 00:42

First time buyers are a good bet. Investors do not offer more. They want a return on their money from rent so the more they pay, the less the return. She probably thinks you will pay more so is massaging your ego!

JoeMommuh · 19/11/2015 00:54

Investors will offer less than asking on 10 properties and see which one is desperate enough to to accept.

A ftb will fall in love with one property and push their budget to try and secure it.

mysteryfairy · 19/11/2015 08:37

Anecdotally my sister didn't accept the highest offer on her property once when moving as she preferred it to go to a lower bidder.

Also we once lived next door to a house that was rented out. When it came to be sold the story turned out to be quite sad. It has been owned by a bloke who died young and it had gone to his very small DC in trust. It was rented for an income through their childhoods and when they were adults and could sell they chose to sell it at under value to a family with 3 young DC as they wanted it to be a family home again.

However I'd say decisions like that are the exception not the norm...but if she's told you that's her position why not give it a go.

I've got a friend who is an investor. She bought a house from an old man moving in with his son. He had strong opinions about what a house should be worth and drastically underpriced. She was first to view and offered asking price the car as soon as she got out of the viewing. She'd love to sell and realise the profit but she can't bear for him to see it happen so is renting it out. So even investors can be sentimental!

swisscheesetony · 19/11/2015 08:39

My m&d took 10k less on a house they wanted to go to a young family just starting out. It happens. Smile

HeadDreamer · 19/11/2015 09:30

I would rather sell to a home owner than investor too. Like others say if it's down to something small like £1000, I prefer someone who will live in the house. It's a moral stance as I don't like BTL.

lottiegarbanzo · 19/11/2015 15:18

If the seller has all the offers in front of them at the outset, their choice will be based on good information about what's possible so they're likely to stick with it. Gazumping would be more likely if they didn't have a range of prospective buyers and offers on the table.

Investors may offer a quick, uncomplicated sale. They may not bother with a survey (if they know the area well and have some building skills) and may be cash buyers.

Your survey and mortgage provider may cause complications. You can't know that until you get there. It's possible you'll get stuck if your survey uncovers problems, mortgage co says the value is less than the asking price, you've already stretched your budget to the max and the buyer won't drop the price - as they know investors will pay more than the reduced value, as they're not concerned about repairs they and their mates can do cheaply.

The buyer may not know how they'd react to that scenario until it happens, depending on the numbers involved.

Otherwise, make an offer you can afford and never invest too much emotionally until a sale has completed. All sorts of things can and do go wrong with house sales.

dulcefarniente · 19/11/2015 19:05

With my last house purchase the vendors were determined that their cherished family home wasn't going to be sold to an investor. It was the most civilized house purchase I've ever had.

OTOH with my own sale I had issues as the EA was only showing the property to investors who used the EA for their rentals. It was a corporate relocation and the EA knew exactly what the lowest price the relocation company would accept and funnily enough that was the exact amount that buyer offered, some 10% less than other properties in the street were going for.

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