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Original poster

House not yet on the market...

53 replies

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 10:24

Recently we posted some letters through doors of a local area we were interested in buying in. Local market is always painfully slow and people tend to buy here and stay here.

Anyway, we had a call from an older couple who are looking to sell up and retire to Cornwall and want to sell their house to a local family and they are interested in us buying.

They are getting the house valued next week and want us to come and have a look.

House next door to them is a mirror image and has recently sold, was up for £189k and sold almost immediately.

How do things work if they choose to not use an estate agent, how do we know the value is correct? Will they ask for it to be inflated as they know someone is interested? Do we arrange our own valuation? How do we put in an offer and then what happens?

We are first time buyers so pretty clueless if I’m honest. The house will be perfect size wise and local to our children’s school as well.

Any tips or any help would be gratefully received

OP posts:

Doubleraspberry · 03/08/2019 10:29

You’ll need a mortgage presumably so the price you agree to pay will need to match the mortgage company’s valuation. So they would not be sensible to inflate anything as it will cause problems.

I would suggest, if you’re interested, that you offer to make an offer after they have got it valued. Valuations will wildly vary a lot of the time so maybe they could get 3 or 4 valuations and look at the average - something most people putting their houses on the market will do. They will benefit from a direct sale as they won’t be paying an agent’s fee, whereas you pay the same whatever, so that’s their reward. They also save themselves the hassle of viewings and photos.

If they are unreasonable about asking price then I would walk away.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 03/08/2019 10:30

It depends, are you paying outright for the house or will you be borrowing?

Original poster

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 10:34

We will be buying using a mortgage. We have a deposit and MIP ready and are currently renting so no chain on our side at all.

OP posts:

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 03/08/2019 11:01

I'm guessing that the new buyers paid something in the region of £170k for next door if it was on for £189k so i'd base my offer on that.

wowfudge · 03/08/2019 11:05

SmugMarried that is wild speculation as you have absolutely no idea what the other house sold for!

Doubleraspberry · 03/08/2019 11:08

There’s a thread on here right now on which a house has sold within days at pretty much asking price. If there’s a lack of supply in this area, which the OP suggests there is, and the house next door sold very quickly, why on earth would the owners have accepted 20k below asking?

Didiusfalco · 03/08/2019 11:11

I’m not sure about that smug if next door sold quickly I would guess they got close to asking. We’ve just accepted an offer on our house and it was pretty close to asking. You could always ask the neighbour what figure they accepted - they can always decline to say but may indicate whether it was close to the £189k.

SpamChaudFroid · 03/08/2019 11:15

£19000 off the asking price

(Don't do that btw OP)

PooWillyBumBum · 03/08/2019 11:35

Have a look round, search for sold prices in local area for similar properties and look at their locations/condition etc in comparison to yours then make an offer and go from there. It’s not in their interest to be ridiculously inflated as the mortgage company won’t go for it.

Original poster

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 11:58

House next door is the only one (out of 12 the same) which has sold since 2007, and I’m imagining went close to asking as it’s around average or a little low for the general area. One recently went up for sale at 215k and they had no interest (friends of friends) and took it off the market again.

Is it the done thing to put in a lower offer to begin with (obvs not 19k lower)? I feel we are in a good position to barter a little.

We obviously need to go and have a look, could be that it may need a little or a great deal of work. Would you recommend to get photos?

OP posts:

Doubleraspberry · 03/08/2019 11:59

Do you know how comparable the two houses are? Have you seen inside/photos of them?

Cohle · 03/08/2019 12:00

I would expect to pay over the odds to buy a house without it ever going on the open market.

Bluntness100 · 03/08/2019 12:02

I'm guessing that the new buyers paid something in the region of £170k for next door if it was on for £189k so i'd base my offer on that

Daftest and likely most erroneous assumption of the week 😂

Op, the mortgage company will value it. But you can judge what you think it's worth and what you think it's worth to you. If you want it, then offer what you think it's worth.

Original poster

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 12:04

I’ve seen inside photos of the one that sold but not of the one we will be going to look at. The one we are going to look at is a mirror image of the other but lacks a boarded attic. It does have an (awful) conservatory though. Floorspace will be exactly the same garden areas are the same for each of the properties.

OP posts:

Toddlerteaplease · 03/08/2019 13:08

I did a private sale with my landlord. We got some valuations. Agreed on a price and then instructed solicitors. It was very straightforward.

Squirreltamer · 03/08/2019 13:27

If the neighbours house was on at 189k it obviously sold for 210k. All the houses around by me are going over asking. So this must be correct

In all seriousness they should give you a good price. They’re already avoiding estate agents fees and the hassle.

But people put odd values on things
Old conservatory real value is probably 0 or in some cases a negative. But some people think “I paid good money for this back in the 80’s and Everest said it was the bees knees 20k please just like my 30 year old axminster carpets!”

If next door has fully completed you’ll be able to download the deeds for £3 and find the selling price 2 months before it goes public. Use that as your base.

Look at other sold prices in the area and their house condition and how they compared. By me there is a little village and the houses are much the same. In that village it doesn’t matter if your house is fantastically done or left to rot for 40 years. They’re near enough the same price due to demand and low turn over... could be the case in your desired location.

Original poster

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 13:32

@Squirreltamer I think you’re right! Where would I go to find out the deeds/house cost thing? I think next door has completed as current owner has left according to the people who phoned us.

Not a huge fan of conservatories at the best of times if I’m honest (sorry if anyone loves them)

OP posts:

Squirreltamer · 03/08/2019 16:08

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/land-registry

Is where you need to go.

I think the majority of please dislike traditional conservatories. Which is a factor in why they now add no money to a house. I do like a good orangery...

nellyitsme · 03/08/2019 21:13

We bought our house by putting notes round and the owner of this house contacted us to say she was selling up due to a relationship breakdown. She had it valued by two EA and we had already done some searching on right move for similar properties recently sold. So when we met to discuss the house and view it we had an idea of its value and the owner showed us the two valuations. We had a buyer for our house and the location of the house was absolutely right for us. There a few things we didn't like such as the cheap kitchen, the plastic conservatory and the tacky decor but basically the house was sound.

We offered halfway between the two valuations and a bit more than what a similar house had sold for a year ago as it's a popular village with prices going up

Once she accepted our offer we both got solicitors. We had an EA already for the sale of our current house but she didn't need one and the lack of fees was a good incentive to accept our offer. Everything went smoothly with no hitches.
Do it!

Original poster

Instagrrr · 03/08/2019 21:49

Wow that’s positive @nellyitsme

We are desperate to pop and have a look, we walked down past the back of the houses this evening to be nosey, I hope it’s as lovely inside as it is outside

We can cope with crappy decor, and hubby is a builder so he can do as much as he is able to. We don’t mind a bit of a project, but we would expect it to be priced as such.

Thank you all, I’m writing a list of questions to ask and I’ll grab some photos if they’ll allow it.

Will report back

OP posts:

BackforGood · 03/08/2019 22:05

In all seriousness they should give you a good price. They’re already avoiding estate agents fees and the hassle.

But equally, they know the OP wants to buy in a very specific area and they know that houses don't come on the market very often, so it could be argued they have the upper hand.

NellyItsMe's post sound ideal.
If it is important to you, OP, that you buy a house in that area - where you say houses do not come up often - then you need to be prepared t pay for it and not necessarily expect a knock down price.

Original poster

Instagrrr · 04/08/2019 00:08

Thank you @Squirreltamer

OP posts:

Original poster

Instagrrr · 04/08/2019 08:08

Checked land registry and it looks like it’s not completed yet. It gives a value of between 100k and 200k

Would the exact price go on once it’s completed?

OP posts:

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 04/08/2019 08:28

Yes it will show the exact price paid but it sometimes takes 6 months to update. Whether or not a vendor used an estate agent, i'd start negotations at 10% less myself, although clearly a lot of mumsnetters don't agree.

Good luck!!

Alexalee · 04/08/2019 09:44

You have already shown your hand that you really want the property, and if the seller was actively trying to sell it it would have already been on the market.
You are in a very weak negotiating position and will in all likelihood have to decide if the figure they come up with is one that you want to pay or not.
If I was the seller I would give you a take it or leave it one off price and if the other house sold quickly at 189k I would be asking you for 200k. You will be paying over market price because it is a rare opportunity for the house being for sale.
You will not be getting a bargain from the seller that is 100% certain

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