Why is it so hard to buy a house?

[angell84]

I am buying my first house. So far, I have contacted six different eatate agents about viewings of different houses in the area that I want to buy in.

Four simply did not reply at all.
One arranged a viewing on a house. We arranged a date and time. Then she simply stopped answering my emails altogether.

The last one. I asked to see a house on their website. She said "Well I cant' because I don't have the keys yet, hopefully I will get them in a few weeks time".

Who knew it was this hard to even VIEW a house?

Any tips on how to deal with eatate agents?

Please send me your good thoughts - that I will get a house. I really need one.

I started this thread earlier this month, but I have actually been looking for months now. I am so done with it all!

I might be wrong but I do know the housing market quite well.

Some Property Lawyers have told me this might happen and I think they know the housing market better than me or you.

Jesamine. So you don’t know the housing market quite well? Your’re just parroting what some ‘property lawyers’ have told you.

😂. You are so full of bullshit.

@angell84 I don't get why you have a problem getting one. You are in great position as a cash buyer.
Are you making sure that sellers are 100% aware you are cash buyer and chain free?

Angel why dont you put your budget area and criteria on here... I'm sure someone will be able to find you something

@IAmALazyArse The estate agent told me about the last house that I bid on:

That the seller decided to go with the first woman that viewed the house, because she had "contacted the seller" directly.

It does seem to be a very fast market in Liverpool. Houses are going up for sale, and are being sold within a week

Are you looking at completely refurbed properties? There is few perfectly livable, but will need redoing in near future houses around me which have been on few months.

Have you looked at zoopla and other websites and sorted it from oldest to newest? There might be some treasures there where previously unrealistic owners will finally accept lower price.

Which are are you looking for?

Hi @Iamalazyarse Are you in Liverpool? I am basically looking at location distance only, the type of house doesn't matter. Anything that is a house, (not an apartment), any bedrooms, that is 25 minutes to Liverpool city centre and under on public transport. What area are you in?

That is a good idea. I am going to look for the oldest listed.

There is too much competition for the newer listed houses. Any houses that I have gone for seem to have about 6-7 people bidding on them.

Thanks for the tip. This is my first time doing this, so I am making a few mistakes as I go along

I don't know your budget, but I like it around Queen's drive. Plenty of buses, amenities and houses with gardens. Broadgreen has a train station.
If your budget is big, South areas are nice and leafy. Imho overpriced though.

What's your budget?

Another issue is - I am ringing about houses listed online, and the Estate agent will say "oh that one is actually gone". Weeks ago. Why don't they take it down.

The Estste agent wants me to go to look at a house with a tenant in it. They will apparantly move if the house is bought.

Is there any issue with buying a house with a tenant in it? Do I have to get a confirmed moving date of the tenant from the vendor?

Anywhere around Sefton Park is great for distance to the centre, but depends on your budget/what you are after whereabouts specifically would work.

Buying a house with a tenant in it is fine, but find out as soon as possible how much longer there is on their tenancy agreement - don't get halfway through the process and find out they've just signed for a year! Also, if you do proceed you absolutely must visit the house just before exchange to confirm vacant possession.

Thanks guys.

Update:

I submitted an offer for a house. I offered 2000 pounds under asking price. This is the second house that I have submitted an offer on. It was refused. The good thing is that this process has toughened me up. I am going to get a house, it just takes time.

What I can't understand bid that sellers are struggling to sell and now it seems buyers are struggling to buy. When we were trying to sell our house, our estate agents were NEVER able to facilitate our viewings. Even though we were living in a different country, whenever someone showed any interest in our house, we were required to scramble around to find someone who was able to show the potential buyers around.

It was so fucking frustrating.

In the end we ended up sacking all the estate agent and sold privately.
It was no walk in the park but given my experience with the EA it was bliss.

Seems estate agents

They definitely make the procedure so much harder than it needs to be.

I had a totally different experience, I called registered a tick list of what we wanted showed we had mortgage offer in principle ( perhaps a copy of bank statement for you) as they often get time wasters and we had a great experience... we used miles and Barr in the end but the other venders were not as bad as your describing.

Surely no chain and cash = prime customer ... do they think you don’t have the funds maybe?

Yup I've had this.
I went all the way up to Somerset for the day to view a house I really wanted to buy to be told a staff member has gone home with the keys.
Was half way home (home is a 4 hour drive) and the agent rang up to say found the keys on the wrong hook!!
I was livid, a whole day wasted. I didn't go back to view that house.

I've applied to go on Location, Location, Location. God I hope they accept me and someone else does the hard work for me

In my experience, being a cash buyer has not made a jot of difference.

If somebody has a mortgage in place, and they have made an equal bid to mine - before me, the seller has gone with them.

Just read the last few comments, glad you have found some decent estate agents

We had a few viewing booked when we were buying a year and half ago and then they cancelled as someone snapped it up.

Or we lost out to someone else in retrospect we got the Better house out of all of them the right house will be yours

Good luck ! X

But I do not feel down about the whole thing.

What was causing me pressure was expecting to have it done within a certain timeframe. I have accepted now that I will be renting for longer, and I am giving myself more time to do it.