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When to start house hunting with deposit ready in October

7 replies

JadeT2 · 10/05/2018 09:20

My husband and I are currently saving in LISA accounts which give you a 25% bonus after a year of being open. By October this year we should have around £12-15k between us for a 10% deposit (we live in South Wales so not pricey).

My question is, when is appropriate to start looking? Some okayish houses nearby have been up for 4 or 5 months and the more desirable ones go in days as you'd expect. We check Rightmove a few times a week to get an idea on prices and what we're looking for but everytime we see a nice one DH wants to arrange a viewing. I think this is a bit unfair on the seller as we can't commit until October at the earliest. He says it would be good to help us get a more clear idea on what we want though.

Would you be pissed as a seller at someone like us coming to view? We probably wouldn't go to any that state no chain on the listing as presumably they're trying to get rid a bit quicker. Is it worth just calling a couple of EAs to let them know our situation?

OP posts:
Mrscog · 10/05/2018 09:22

About now - a purchase can easily take 5 months to go through.

Imchlibob · 10/05/2018 09:26

It's fine to start hunting now but when you find somewhere to put in an offer be clear that you will not be able to exchange contracts until October - deposits are handed over when contracts are exchanged.

Some vendors will decline such an offer as they will want to be moving more quickly, but others will have a relaxed attitude to timescale.

Baxdream · 10/05/2018 09:31

I'd leave it until about July. My last couple of moves went through in about 6 weeks.
As a seller, you're inviting people into your home to view it. The amount of time wasters you have to go through to sell is crazy! I wouldn't trust an estate agent to be honest with sellers about your position.
Plus the worst thing is you might fall in love with a house and you can't buy it as they want a quick sale

Amunamun · 10/05/2018 09:31

Start now. It took us two months to find a house and I consider ourselves very lucky. Then another two months to get the paperwork done and it was a very straightforward sale. Even if you don't have the funds ready now, you will learn about the situation on the market. Btw I saw many nice houses on RM and then went for a viewing... and it was total rubbish. So go to see the property, maybe you will only learn that you don't want it so you won't be sorry that you missed this one.

usernotfound0000 · 10/05/2018 09:44

Yep about now. As a vendor this would have suited us, we sold in Feb but are buying a new build that isn't ready until June so a buyer prepared to wait was what we were looking for.

Unihorn · 10/05/2018 10:30

Some good perspectives thanks.

@Baxdream
This is my concern, I don't want to waste anyone's time!

@usernotfound0000
This would be ideal and as there are three new estates going up by the end of the year I'm hoping we can take advantage of this.

SlothMama · 10/05/2018 13:17

Only thing is that you may need to prove that you have the deposit funds depending on who your mortgage provider is.

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