Buying a house privately

[heyhop]

Hello!

We're thinking of buying a house privately.
What do we need to think about?

We approached the owners and they're happy for us to start negotiating with them. How do we negotiate in the smoothest way? Has anyone done this before?

The owners want to avoid paying an estate agent but is there a way of using an agent/solicitor (if we as buyers pay that person) to negotiate for us?

Anything else to bare in mind when buying privately?

Many thanks!

It would be best to have a full structural survey with a RICS qualified surveyor who can also advise on the property value for the condition it is in. Are you a cash buyer or needing a mortgage?

You can look at recent sold prices in the locality on Zoopla and the Land Registry but these may not be the best guide as some of the properties may have needed renovation or have been renovated prior to sale.

A solicitor can’t really advise on the value, only to arrange for searches and all the legal contracts to hiding the deposit at exchange and dealing with the finances at completion.

Haven’t done this sorry, but surely the place to start would be a survey? That should give a value. You can then compare to other sold house prices in the area for similar properties to come up with a fair price?

Are you planning on spending over the valuation? I wouldnt in this financial climate but perhaps it depends on the area whether that would be realistic nowadays?

Sorry- typo! A solicitor holds NOT hides the usual 10% deposit at exchange

God don't start with paying out for a survey or a solicitor! The vendors should get a few agents round to get a valuation and then you will both know where you stand without paying for it. You'll most likely be able to get under the valuation as they will save on agents fees (1-2% of purchase price). We've bought privately once and it was fine as solicitors do a lot of the work. However agents do drive the chain forwards as they have a vested interest in the purchases being finalised, so you may need to do a bit of the driving yourself, otherwise there may be a lack of momentum in the sale going through.

Thanks Pinotpleasure, we have a small mortgage at present that would transfer but we may increase this with the next house.

MrsJamin, I don’t think they would entertain paying for a survey to be honest. It’s a big old house and they have given us first refusal prior to putting it in the market. We would want a full building survey and then probably a couple of other more specialised, deeper ones. That said though, I know if a survey throws something up that would cost say 50k to fix, that doesn’t necessarily reduce the overall outlay for us as buyers. Good points though about saving on agents fees and the movement of the chain, or lack of without an agent looking after that. Thanks.

We sold in a private sale. 3 estate agents quoted. We picked the middle and were very glad not to have to show people round. His mortgage company sent someone round, and then a surveyor. Instructed solicitors.

We used the same solicitor firm coincidentally .

We sold privately and it was the same as a normal sale but without the cheap suited brigade 😉

You do need to be more active in moving things forward but it's worth it to reduce the price. We agreed a price and then reduced that at the sale point by half the agents fees as not having an agent hindered/helped us both in the same way...

@BlackboardMonitorVimes

We sold privately and it was the same as a normal sale but without the cheap suited brigade 😉

You do need to be more active in moving things forward but it's worth it to reduce the price. We agreed a price and then reduced that at the sale point by half the agents fees as not having an agent hindered/helped us both in the same way...

Thanks!

Cheap suited brigade 😉!

Did you have to write your own list with what you agreed upon in terms of items being left in the house; carpets, white gods curtains etc?

Thanks.

We have bought twice privately - one was a house needing substantial work.
Both times we got estate agents to value the properties and then agreed the price.
You could do survey first before agreeing price but , as per usual, you would have to pay for it not the sellers.
Solicitors as per normal.
One thing to bare in mind you need to all the communication with the sellers - moving dates, price etc. With elderly sellers ,and we have had to do this, this is can be quite tricky. In the end we have both times got properties we wouldn't have got on the open market because of demand and our current one is our dream property. We are confident buyers though - and my DH is a lawyer which is useful but not essential. In my humble experience you do work for the saving made in price but for us it has been worth it

@BarkHoneyBark

We sold in a private sale. 3 estate agents quoted. We picked the middle and were very glad not to have to show people round. His mortgage company sent someone round, and then a surveyor. Instructed solicitors.

We used the same solicitor firm coincidentally .

Thanks!

Did the estate agents try to tell you that if they sold it for you ' you would sell it to a better price' etc....This is my worry; that if the vendors or us the buyers get some estate agents around to do a valuation, they will try to persuade the vendors to go with them and not sell it to us privately....

You can agree a sale without an agent but there’s no way you can manage it without a solicitor. It is the solicitor who would put in writing things such as fixtures and fittings.

Do you have any sense of what it might be worth?

@ireallyamthewalrus raises a good point. Both times we had a good sense of how much the going rate was and on the one that needed substantial work we took our builder ...

They will save a lot of money going privately. We are currently buying a house privately and they accepted 8k less than the asking as they would have to pay that in fees anyway.

My point is that you'd do a survey at the point you'd get a mortgage (assuming you need one) and not before you just need to know how much its worth. Are you sure it's worth a figure you can afford and the vendor is happy with that they won't wonder whether they've got the market value for it? This is why it should be valued properly. Also if you agree too high a price your mortgage company may not agree and not lend you as much.

@absolutelyknackeredcow

We have bought twice privately - one was a house needing substantial work. Both times we got estate agents to value the properties and then agreed the price. You could do survey first before agreeing price but , as per usual, you would have to pay for it not the sellers. Solicitors as per normal. One thing to bare in mind you need to all the communication with the sellers - moving dates, price etc. With elderly sellers ,and we have had to do this, this is can be quite tricky. In the end we have both times got properties we wouldn't have got on the open market because of demand and our current one is our dream property. We are confident buyers though - and my DH is a lawyer which is useful but not essential. In my humble experience you do work for the saving made in price but for us it has been worth it

Thanks!

You're very lucky to have a DH who's a lawyer!

Did you write your own list with all the things that you agreed would be left in the house; white gods, curtains, carpets etc?

Did you tell the estate agents that came around to value the property, not approach the vendors at any point for a sale with them instead..?

@ireallyamthewalrus

You can agree a sale without an agent but there’s no way you can manage it without a solicitor. It is the solicitor who would put in writing things such as fixtures and fittings.

Do you have any sense of what it might be worth?

Thanks!

We will for sure instruct a solicitor at some point! Just wasn't sure it's us ourselves who need to draw up a list of all the fittings that should be left etc.

We know how much they tried to sell the house for a few years ago and they have told us how much they would like, but we need to get a few agents around. Should it be us the buyers or the vendors who organise these agents to go around?

[quote absolutelyknackeredcow]@ireallyamthewalrus raises a good point. Both times we had a good sense of how much the going rate was and on the one that needed substantial work we took our builder ...[/quote]
Thanks!

Good thinking regarding the builder. We have been thinking the same and would also like to have an architect come with us too!

@Seaswims

They will save a lot of money going privately. We are currently buying a house privately and they accepted 8k less than the asking as they would have to pay that in fees anyway.

Thanks!

Did you split the amount saved on agents or did they just give you a good discount with the price anyway?

@MrsJamin

My point is that you'd do a survey at the point you'd get a mortgage (assuming you need one) and not before you just need to know how much its worth. Are you sure it's worth a figure you can afford and the vendor is happy with that they won't wonder whether they've got the market value for it? This is why it should be valued properly. Also if you agree too high a price your mortgage company may not agree and not lend you as much.

Thanks, very useful advice!

It will need a full building survey (it's an old building) and possibly other more specialised survey on top of that. I can only assume we will have to pay for all of these surveys though...

You need someone to safeguard your self. This means you pay for your needs and have some fall back if things go wrong.
The solicitor will request answers to your questions and the answers are legally binding if they provide incorrect info this way.
The survey is for your benefit and you should pay for this to protect yourself.
There are different versions to choose from.
Anything left to the seller does not safeguard you on the biggest spend you are ever likely to make.

Fixtures and fittings are part of the list that a solicitor draws up so no we didn't do that but on smaller things (eg wood in the wood store), we did have a conversation.
Re valuations - do your home work - but both times estate agents did try it on but knew they had a buyer. In the end of the day - we were a certain sale and in both times wanted location rather than a bargain so it worked for all sides. In both cases, the houses were a very good investment but not a bargain. I don't think you could tell estate agents not to try it on to be honest but pitching against other agents is part of their business.

Useful my husband is a Lawyer although more to give confidence rather than do any work .. that was mainly me

@cabbageking

You need someone to safeguard your self. This means you pay for your needs and have some fall back if things go wrong. The solicitor will request answers to your questions and the answers are legally binding if they provide incorrect info this way. The survey is for your benefit and you should pay for this to protect yourself. There are different versions to choose from. Anything left to the seller does not safeguard you on the biggest spend you are ever likely to make.

@cabbageking, thanks for the advice!

@absolutelyknackeredcow

Fixtures and fittings are part of the list that a solicitor draws up so no we didn't do that but on smaller things (eg wood in the wood store), we did have a conversation. Re valuations - do your home work - but both times estate agents did try it on but knew they had a buyer. In the end of the day - we were a certain sale and in both times wanted location rather than a bargain so it worked for all sides. In both cases, the houses were a very good investment but not a bargain. I don't think you could tell estate agents not to try it on to be honest but pitching against other agents is part of their business.

Useful my husband is a Lawyer although more to give confidence rather than do any work .. that was mainly me

@absolutelyknackeredcow, thanks again, it sounds like you did all the hard work end in the end it was all worth it, that sounds encouraging! I've been feeling worried about doing it privately so thanks for sharing your experience, sounds less daunting now, so thank you!

Good luck