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Original poster

Thread 2: "Anyone not being picky - and STILL can't find anything?"

998 replies

Momniscient · 10/01/2022 18:38

Just spotted the first one is full Shock so have set up thread two so we can keep talking with minimal delay. Hoping that tagging works regardless ...

RightMove addicts, and serial refreshers of other property websites, share your troubles!

Posters from last two pages in the thread and OP:
@PessimisticOptimist
@Eastie77Returns
@RidingMyBike
@beguilingeyes
@DanisEndo
@EmmaH2022
@dubyalass
@BennyBean
@ByeByeMissAmericanPie
@areyouhavingagiraffe
@CheltenhamLady
@doubleraspberry
@YukoandHiro
@TulipsfromAmsterdam
@MummyJ12
@starseeking
@GoinSouth
@MiracleBaby2022

Original thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/4346330-Anyone-not-being-picky-and-STILL-cant-find-anything

OP posts:
Starseeking · 03/02/2022 22:32

@Doubleraspberry

I reckon the ideal is viewing one with estate agent so you can look round without being anxiously watched, and then second viewing with seller. In the old days when second viewings were a thing of course.

I’d never look to an agent to be anything other than a chaperone in someone else’s house. I don’t expect them to know anything, say anything but potentially untrue bullshit, and annoy my vaguely by doing things like opening cupboards and say ‘this is a cupboard you can keep things in if you want to’.

This is my view too. The last property that I bought before this one, the vendor insisted on showing me and my then DP round. We tried talking to each other about potential changes we'd make, and he kept interrupting saying "oh I meant to get round to that" Confused

He'd lived in the house 32 years and was selling to downsize as his wife had died a couple of years previously. At the time I had a 6 month old and was 6 months pregnant with DC2, and he kept talking mournfully about how he and his deceased wife hadn't been able to have DC, and how he was so grateful a family would be moving in. It was so awkward, I'd really have preferred the EA doing the viewings, and being an intermediary for any queries.

Starseeking · 03/02/2022 22:35

Good luck with your viewing @ToodlesMcGee!

I must admit I thought viewing etiquette dictated that potential buyers don't open cupboards while wandering round, particularly as vendors may have hidden all their clutter in there 3 seconds before you arrived.

Not that I did that before selling my last house lol Blush

ToodlesMcGee · 04/02/2022 07:34

This is all really helpful thanks everyone. I can see on Zoopla that it was listed before but I guess didn't sell so we can ask them about that I suppose

areyouhavingagiraffe · 04/02/2022 09:21

@Starseeking, I feel fine, feel totally relaxed about it, it wasn't right for me. Not much has come on since, although I have viewing of a 5 bed house this weekend. I am bit dubious because it is within my budget (my budget is for a 3-4 bed house) so am wondering why it is so cheap.... I did ask the EA in a roundabout way but didn't get much of an answer. Maybe it is to get more reach on RM....

ToodlesMcGee · 04/02/2022 09:41

Okay last question could the vendor reject our offer if they just don't like us?

J417 · 04/02/2022 09:44

I have made an asking price offer, please wish me best luck!

I am panicking now waiting to hear it back

Paddingtonthebear · 04/02/2022 09:48

Why are there so little houses on the market still? Is this all to do with stamp duty relief?

Paddingtonthebear · 04/02/2022 09:48

Good luck!

Eastie77Returns · 04/02/2022 11:16

@Starseeking - will be interested to hear how you get on regarding the bathroom. We will also need a new one post completion and I’m dreading trying to find trades as it sounds as if it’s virtually impossible in London at the moment. I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that all other work will have to wait until 2023 which is fine really as I need to save up for it!

@J417 - very best of luck with your offer. Regarding your question about the new flats, if the house you are buying is otherwise ok I wouldn’t worry massively about the application for flats on future house prices. It sounds as if they will have to scale down since the initial plan was rejected so it might be considerably lower than 7 storeys?

Doubleraspberry · 04/02/2022 11:19

@ToodlesMcGee

Okay last question could the vendor reject our offer if they just don't like us?
The vendor can reject your offer for whatever reason they want. It’s quite random! Some people will go for buyers they like over a higher offer, definitely, but if you are already feeling some tension, conveyancing might be horrendous and you’re best off out of it?
Doubleraspberry · 04/02/2022 11:20

@J417

I have made an asking price offer, please wish me best luck!

I am panicking now waiting to hear it back

Good luck!
ToodlesMcGee · 04/02/2022 13:06

@Doubleraspberry we haven't seen the house/the sellers yet just worrying ahead of time because we've always been shown around by an agent. I guess it's unlikely they'd be that petty if they want to move then they want to move right?

Doubleraspberry · 04/02/2022 13:50

People can easily be that petty! But don't worry - presumably you're no more likely to offend them than any other viewers? And yes, plenty of people will sell to anyone offering the right price, regardless of their feelings towards them.

Eastie77Returns · 04/02/2022 14:40

For most (rational) vendors, selling a house is purely transactional so they really only care that the buyer is proceedable and has funds in place.

You may be unlucky enough to come across a vendor with peculiar ideas about who should or shouldn't buy their house but I imagine that's very rare.

My buyer made a disparaging comment about a quirky element of my old property that I love (I sold with an EA that records all feedback in their app) which kind of made me dislike herGrin. It made no difference to me in the end though and I accepted her offer even though it wasn't the highest as she was in the best position as a FTB, finances all lined up and living with family so no chain. Business is business!

dubyalass · 04/02/2022 16:34

I was really hoping to get a viewing lined up for tomorrow but nothing new has come on. Prices do seem to be stabilising, although good houses aren't hanging around for long. I dream of the days when I had several viewings lined up for the weekend and knew I could take my time deciding... Sigh. Although to be fair my search area is much smaller this time.

J417 · 04/02/2022 17:16

Accepted !

Vendor said they are flexible and not in chain

Hopefully this is the ONE!

J417 · 04/02/2022 17:17

@Paddingtonthebear

Why are there so little houses on the market still? Is this all to do with stamp duty relief?
My estate agent said they are doing more valuations so hopefully more supply in a few weeks time
Doubleraspberry · 04/02/2022 17:29

@J417

Accepted ! Vendor said they are flexible and not in chain

Hopefully this is the ONE!

Yay!! Fingers crossed.
Starseeking · 04/02/2022 18:39

@J417

Accepted ! Vendor said they are flexible and not in chain

Hopefully this is the ONE!

Wonderful news! I hope your purchase progresses smoothly.

Starseeking · 04/02/2022 18:44

I feel like screaming, we didn't exchange today as planned. Apparently my vendor was due to go to her solicitor to sign some final paperwork relating to her onward purchase, but didn't go!

EA then refused to ring her on the grounds that my vendor is feeling poorly, so will call her on Monday to see when she is going to rearrange to visit her solicitor and sign off.

Meanwhile, I've spent time on the phone to broadband providers to set up on the day after the proposed completion date, and called and emailed 5 carpenters to install alcove cupboards the same day! This vendor seems to have no clue just how much she is messing everyone about, and hence why I've been on this thread for so long, despite having a purchase underway.

Didyousaysomethingdarling · 04/02/2022 18:52

@Paddingtonthebear

Why are there so little houses on the market still? Is this all to do with stamp duty relief?
Lots of buyers entering the market without selling anything.

Around a third of homes are bought by first-time buyers, who have nothing to sell, and a further 10 per cent are sold to buy-to-let investors, explains Donnell.

www.ft.com/content/3d6c7112-c527-4a62-a964-db6b3d39c886

RidingMyBike · 04/02/2022 19:55

EA have to pass on any offer received (although in practice I have no idea how you know they have?!) so in theory the seller picks the best one from their POV - often highest but also most solid or proceedable offer eg cash-buyer, or chain-free if they want to get on with it. Our buyer came with the promise 'solicitor-verified cash purchase'!

But it's entirely up to the seller which they go for. I know a couple of elderly people who have wanted to avoid selling to a developer and want it to go to a family instead (again, there's no way of telling whether the buyer is telling the truth about this though!). And it may be wishful thinking as a lot of homes get extended and altered anyway. And one elderly acquaintance who said she didn't want to sell to [insert racist term here] as the neighbours wouldn't like it Hmm. Did wonder what she'd said to the EA...

Eastie77Returns · 04/02/2022 20:10

@Starseeking argghh how infuriating. I was hoping to read you’d exchanged today. So sorry about this. Obviously if the vendor is unwell it can’t be helped but still. Hopefully your EA will appreciate the urgency and chase this on Monday.

Honestly, this sounds like a scenario I can envisage with my volatile vendor who seems to be in a world of her own with no idea how things work. She also has an onward purchase which should be straightforward (vacant) but I’m worried. She apparently offered on it without viewing it, just saw it on RM and liked the look of it and isn’t getting a survey or anything Hmm. I’ve had conflicting information from my solicitor and the EA about how far along the purchase is. EA insists everything is more or less sown up and we are good to go with exchange, my solicitor has made vague comments suggesting otherwise.

We are now down to the final enquiry for my purchase and am hoping we can get the proposed exchange date of around Feb 21st agreed on but keep waiting for another curveball to come my way…

Siouxtse1 · 04/02/2022 20:28

@J417 Congratulations and good luck with the conveyancing!

@Starseeking Fingers crossed your vendor feels better soon and your exchange happens as soon as she is better.

Still don't have our proper car back. There is an elusive spare part. But there's nothing to go and see this weekend anyway. House I felt had enormous potential unfortunately also has our one non-negotiable, so I've told the agent we won't be putting in an offer. Shame, as it was in a great location too...

I don't know why, even with all the gloomy economic stuff, I'm still feeling like this will actually be the year....I have no idea why I'm feeling so optimistic. Hope it's coming from my gut, that's usually spot on?

Starseeking · 05/02/2022 06:54

Thanks @Eastie77Returns and @Siouxtse1. I think my vendor is again feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing (selling her decades old home and buying a flat). I'm so nervous that she's going to pull out and instead decide to stay put until the end of her days.

I'm really not in a strong position to say I'll pull out if my vendor keeps faffing, though her onward purchase should be able to insist she sticks to 18 February as completion date. Looking round, the new, similar house which has come on the market that I was thinking about viewing (in not as good a location as mine) is priced at £60k more than mine. I can't afford that, so I'll be priced out of this collapses. As we know all too well on this thread, it's slim pickings out there!

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