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Original poster

How many properties did you view and offer in before you got your home?

78 replies

yesterdaystotalsteps123 · 06/07/2020 21:06

Hi, I offered on first one I viewed (didn't get accepted) and about to offer on the 7th house I've viewed. Just wondering how much is it a numbers game or do you just know when you know?

OP posts:
Wingingitsince2018 · 06/07/2020 21:11

First home we bought the only one we viewed. We were relocating and wanted a really specific area, didnt mind a project and it had a good layout and downstairs loo which is basically gold dust around here!

When we moved on from there we bought the 3rd one we viewed. Didn't make any other offers.

Both times I have been really picky about what to actually go and view from online listings.

Shopgirl1 · 06/07/2020 22:11

Offered on two, didn’t get first as they thought we would be too slow, we were sale agreed on our old house, they wanted someone ready to go straight away. We got second and ended up in it before sale on first house was complete. Ended up a good thing though, much prefer the house we did buy.

Hawkmoth · 06/07/2020 22:16

DH viewed 7 and offered on one. I didn't view as was a relocation and I made a spreadsheet for him to complete!!!

CathyWuthering · 06/07/2020 22:17

FTB here! DP & I started looking in Jan. Offered on first house we viewed but weren't accepted and in the meantime we saw something we preferred so decided to keep looking. We saw 4 other properties before we walked into the house we're currently buying & we're so glad we waited as this is perfect.

I'll be honest with you, I would say I'm quite emotional when it comes to buying houses. However in no house, including the one we're buying, did I get an instant overwhelming romantic feeling that this house was the "one". I adore the house we're buying, and love it, but that love has grown over the months of the house buying process.

My biggest tips would be to keep looking at houses that fit your requirements/criteria. Try to look past any furniture/decoration that isn't to your taste. Also ask yourself, can you imagine yourself and your family in the space(s)?

Good Luck! You'll find what you're looking for & the right house will come along.

OhTheRoses · 06/07/2020 22:27

I think you know.
1981: about 6/7 flats - one bid
1986: about 4/5 houses - one bid
1992/4: loved the first house couldn't afford it , viewed 10's more - builders went bust - eventually bought first house (sold it in 2015).
2015 - about 6, fell in love, bought it.

But you do your research on location, aspect, budget, etc and refine the search.

Also bought a few BTLs and our 2nd home in that period. Never been in a bidding war or submitted a sealed bid. But nearly every house we've sold has gone to bids.

Perhaps you need to train yourself to analyse for potential and see what a house could be.

FloreanFortescue · 06/07/2020 22:49

Bought 3 houses in the last year and been lucky enough to view one, buy one each time. It's always been good timing and pure luck for us. A good friend had the total opposite - houses turned out to be disasters so they pulled out, buyer got a hand under the table so that one collapsed... awful.

We're just about to move into our latest house that we managed to buy thanks to lockdown. We weren't even planning on moving but saw it and got ours on the market ASAP - sold in 2 days and made our offer the next day.

I do believe it's mostly luck. I live outside of York and the villages are very competitive.

FloreanFortescue · 06/07/2020 22:50

Sorry that should say we bought 3 houses in the last few years.

I don't buy 3 houses a year Blush

Original poster
yesterdaystotalsteps123 · 06/07/2020 23:36

Thanks all. Interesting to hear everyone's experiences. I think it's luck and judgement. Being picky online is a good rule, but I always worry about missed opportunities and hidden gems if I don't book a viewing of the "not really what I want on paper but...'

OP posts:
BackforGood · 06/07/2020 23:41

Well, first home (and 2nd) were before we could look on-line.
I was also buying on my own at a time when mortgage rates were massive and (and I suspect this applies to most FTBs) I was very nervous about taking on such a MASSIVE loan without being sure, so I reckon I looked at well over a dozen - probably 20 or so before I offered on the maisonette I bought.

Bells3032 · 06/07/2020 23:45

When I bought four years ago I thjnk I saw about ten. Put in offer in the second flat I saw, was rejected. One more (like number 7) was rejected. Then I saw number 2 was still on the market and reoffered and they accepted.

This time have seen 6. Put an offer on one and was rejected. We considered upping the offer on the advice of the estate agent but decided we didn't like it enough. Still looking for the one

Toddlerteaplease · 07/07/2020 02:18

Wanted to buy the house I was renting, but landlady couldn't afford it at the time. So looked at about 15 others, none as nice as what I already had. Landlady then changed her mind and sold to me. I got a bargin!

alwayscrashinginthesamecar1 · 07/07/2020 02:25

We viewed about thirty houses, and ended up buying the second one we viewed. I loved it the minute I saw it, but didn't feel right about buying it until we viewed a few more. We only saw one other house that we considered seriously, but when we arranged to view them one after the other it was the clear winner.

Fungster · 07/07/2020 05:22

When we were looking for our current home, I viewed a house that had potential on paper but had so much decorative work to do. Kept looking. Eight months and 20+ properties later, a friend persuaded me to look again at the decorative nightmare. I knew within seconds of walking in that this was the place. Offered almost asking price but was outbid (after 8 months of no offers!) but the original sale fell through and we got it! Love this place. Knew it immediately that it could be our home.

Longdistance · 07/07/2020 05:26

As a ftb 20 odd years ago. I saw about three properties. I offered on one and it was accepted.
I moved in with dh before we married as I sold up, we have been trying to move ever since (bar living in Oz for two years) we’ve been trying to move for 13 years. We’ve seen countless houses. Now we’re up for sale, we’ve seen a few houses but none to offer on. We’ve only been in two weeks.

OhTheRoses · 07/07/2020 07:38

When we bought our current house, it was the 5th house of the day. We pulled into the road and glanced at each other. DH reached for my hand as we walked towards it. Hadn't even been inside and we knew.

One if the bathrooms had those 1970's blue veined tiles and the utility had mustard wallpaper with concentric hexagons. There was a lot of dralon furniture. It was a probate sale. It has since been completely renovated.

DaphneduM · 07/07/2020 08:03

We bought our house last year and it was the only one we viewed. Did a lot of drive-bys for several other properties and ruled them out. We are in a village where four bed houses don't come up that often. The village is lovely with lots of facilities and a good transport route into the nearest city. The house is perfect for us - it already had a new kitchen , cloakroom and bathrooms so the main work has just been decorating. We moved from a much more expensive area, so it was a win for us which was good as we are retired so finances had to be borne in mind. It's also the complete opposite of our last 'roses round the door' type cottage!!!! My husband said after the viewing that he thought I didn't like it as I was so quiet. I told him I absolutely loved it, put in an offer which was accepted the same day and now been in here happily for nearly a year.

BarrelOfOtters · 07/07/2020 08:21

We viewed about 12 as I was trying to persuade DH to move, also houses with gardens ar3 hard to find here so we looked at a lot of gardens with houses where I knew the house wouldn’t be right.

Nearly offered on first one(still wonder) saw it 3 times, offered on another then withdrew offer, last one walked in, first viewers as had been notified buy estate agent, offered on the spot. Very happy here.

SummerDayWinterEvenings · 07/07/2020 08:31

12 views. No offers. 1 we viewed and loved it. And I really wanted a second view the next day -contacted the agent and they NEVER replied. It stayed on the market for another year.

This one. Viewed on Wednesday. Offered on Friday but well under. On Monday they rejected and we left it until Wednesday and upped the offer but that was that and they were told -no more. Accepted on Wednesday. It then took another 6 months to move in because of their solicitor. Which was madness as we were cash buyers and they needed a quick sale.

Cluckycluck · 07/07/2020 08:57

The first time we bought we viewed six. We put an offer in on the fourth which wasn't accepted. Thank God it wasn't, it turns out that the buyers have pulled out on many sales over the years and five years later it is still on the market! We considered offering on the fifth but there was a cash offer on the table so we decided to just leave it. The sixth one we fell completely in love instantly. We were the first people to view it, knew it would sell quickly so offered over the listed price on the spot, it was taken off the market that day and we moved in 8 weeks later.
In hindsight we were stupid to offer or consider offering on the other places. As soon as we pulled up to the one we bought we knew that house was the house for us. We didn't have that feeling with any others.

This time around we viewed four and have had our offer accepted on the fourth and hoping to exchange soon. Again we considered offering on one of the others but everything got put on hold due to covid-19 and I'm so glad it did, we would never have seen the house we are now buying and again as soon as I walked into that house I knew it was the house for us.

Smallgoon · 07/07/2020 10:41

I viewed 5 (including the one I purchased) over the course of maybe 12 months. I didn't bother viewing the properties I didn't like the look of on Rightmove, bearing in mind pictures are intended to make the property appear better than it actually is.

UltimateWednesday · 07/07/2020 10:56

When we bought this house, the market was moving so quickly you felt like you'd won if you even got to view a place, usually they were taken off the market in between placing the add and me ringing the EA.

I think we saw 3.

Foxinsocks1 · 07/07/2020 11:06

1st house we viewed 4 and offered on one.

2nd house we viewed 7/8 and offered on 1.

4amWitchingHour · 07/07/2020 11:10

We've just bought our first house together, although have both owned flats before.

Flat 1: viewed 2, bought the 2nd
Flat 2: viewed 2, bought the 2nd
House: viewed 3, bought the 1st

Turns out we make fairly quick decisions, although loads of consideration beforehand and deciding on whether to view or not.

On none of these occasions were we in any hurry to move though, so have been able to be picky about what we viewed rather than needing to see loads of what's on the market in order to get going.

ExtremelyBoldSquirrels · 07/07/2020 11:13

This last time we viewed one house, decided it would definitely do and put an offer in.

We had seen what else was on offer locally on rightmove so we knew we weren’t going to find anything better for the asking price.

whywhywhy6 · 07/07/2020 11:16

First home - viewed one and bought it. Second home - viewed one and bought it.