AAARGH! Terrified FTB! How to know?!

[farmbelle]

We think we have found our "first home" and are contemplating putting in an offer. We have made pros/cons lists, seen a few others and read lots of stuff on the internet. BUT we are bewildered! How do we "know" if this is the house for us? What made the decision for you? How did you decide to bite the bullet and go ahead?

Also - side note -in a slower market would 88% of an asking price seem insulting if a house needed work? Appreciate any advice or thoughts!!

You know if you can see yourself living there and it makes you feel happy and excited. If you are mentally redecorating and planning your furniture. That the location works for you and you're planning travelling to work etc.
As for the 88% offer, a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You can always up the offer if you want, it's not legally binding.
Don't forget to negotiate for things like blinds and light fittings to be left by the sellers.
Good luck!

I'm not sure that most people 'know' and in many ways, first homes don't tend to be 'the one', but rather, one that fits the criteria. When we bought our first house, we needed to be near a station, wanted as much space as possible and as much character as possible. We had a limited budget, so the house we bought was the best fit within our budget - more head than heart. We debated it a lot, but ultimately you eventually just have to go with something that feels right.

Offer wise, do you know what the difference between advertised prices and sold prices typically is in your area at the moment? Are there any particular things the house needs doing to it that you can state supports lower offer?

We have just received an offer on our FTB type home, and accepted an offer at around 98%, having declined their initial offer at around 95%. Although the local market is slow, prices are still increasing and houses are still selling very close to asking price as a rule. We're planning to make an offer tomorrow and will start with an offer at around 97% of the asking price, with an expectation of probably having to pay more.

I don't mean that to sound negative, but it's the reality in our area of the South East at the moment.

I've just bought my first house. Soon as I viewed it i knew it was the one. I could just totally see myself living there. Good luck

Thanks everyone, thats really reassuring. We can totally see ourselves having Christmases, BBqs etc and starting/raising our family and I've totally fallen in love with it - but was worried that meant i couldn't make a sensible decision! It was the first house we saw so wanted to check we weren't rushing into things.

Offer wise we are really nervous - we feel the estate agents have created unrealistic expectations. The house needs a lot of essential stuff redoing - guttering/boiler/radiators etc, and so far the impression has been that they can't provide any safety certificates for wiring/boiler checks etc as the person that took care of that has died?!? How far do we push that? If we make an offer i thought they had to provide certificates? Is this wrong?

You just know. It may tick boxes on your list, but the feeling of knowing is the important bit.

It might be worth roughly costing up a few of the essential jobs. When you put your offer in, you can say that you have made the reduction you have because the property needs x, y & z spending on it. We did that when we bought this property. We ended up paying more than we initially hoped, but let the cost down by saying they either needed to do the essential maintenance or we would need the money off.

Good luck

Good luck and it doesn't get easier with buying next property

Hi OP

Offer whatever you feel that the property is worth- if that's 90% of asking price, then go with it and be prepared to increase your offer.

It's difficult, but try not to be lead by your heart too much- estate agents will pounce on that and say anything to get you to increase your offer.

It will also depend on how many other prospective buyers are around (according to the EA)- if you are the only one offering then it's more straightforward.

EA's love a good bidding war. Stay firm with what you are prepared to pay- I know it's hard though when you've got everything planned out, with furniture, BBQs etc!

We are in SE London and the market is funny round here, still lots of things on from last summer- or actually, they've now come back on the market after being withdrawn after several months.

We were in the process of buying last month- had paid out for the mortgage valuation and survey, this got done and the vendor then decided they were going with another buyer

Got "invited" to increase our offer by over 10k
I politely declined (should have just told the vendor to FO) and we moved on.
It wasn't possible as we'd maxed out on the mortgage and our deposit/savings would not have gone any further.

Think it helps that we weren't in love with the property- it was a sensible option for now as it means we get to escape from the rental trap.

Most of the properties we have seen and offered on, we've just about liked but certainly not loved! I think that certainly helps with just moving on to something else.

Good luck

If you are not excited about buying the house you are either paying too much or its the wrong house.

And as a FTB you have ALL THE POWER, you are in control so don't take any nonsense from EA's or vendors. Think how much it would take you to save £5, £10k, £15k? If not very long then sure get in a bidding war, if it would take you years to save that kind of dough then FIGHT for every £ off that first house.

In my experience, getting knocked back 3-5 times is a sign you bought at an ok price, but keep it friendly and try and engage with the EA in a really friendly way.

Good luck!

You say this is the first one you viewed, I really would advise that you view LOTS of houses. you can carry on with the negotiations with this one, but if nothing else viewing others will convince you that youve found the one and of its value.

I would definitely view a few other houses, this might end up being "the one" but if you don't look around at least a little you have no comparison. I think its reasonable to price up (roughly) what needs doing and bear that in mind when offering, how does the property price compare to others locally in better conditions? If its already cheaper they might be less inclined to accept an offer. You are in a great position as a FTB and that will go in your favour too. Good luck!

thanks for all the advice. We have viewed 5 houses so far, and this is still the top, although we are limiting ourselves to a particular location so not too much available right now.

Our reasonable offer was unfortunately rejected. Having finally met the buyer we got the feeling she may be in 2 minds about moving. Definitely overpriced compared to others, even despite the extra work that needs doing. Now just need to decide whether to up our offer and pay more because we want it or wait until more comes on the market in spring

Overpriced, extra work to do and reluctant vendor.. Doesn't add up to an ideal house move, unfortunately. I'd probably walk away, if you can. Let your head take over for a bit. Give it a few weeks and they might be back in touch as they probably aren't going to get any better offers if its overpriced.

Paying more than its worth is never a good idea. There will be more work needed than you think, that will cost more than you think, mortgages will rise in the next 12 months, house prices arent going to rise dramatically any time soon - you really dont want to have paid more than its worth too. There will be others.