House hunting novice - help

[QueenFool]

We haven't house hunted for 20yrs and I feel a bit overwhelmed!

We've sold ours and probably have a little time to search as we have a place to rent. Although worried about house prices shooting up and pricing us out while we look.

I've been looking on Rightmove for months so have had a good idea of the market I think. But it's made us more picky! We'll probably be living there for 20yrs all being well.

We've viewed somewhere which has been on the market 3 months. It ticks most of our boxes, I'll give it an 8/10!
But we've held back with an offer. It's only the second house we've viewed.
Even though it's 'offers over' we'd like to maybe offer under.

Are we being daft holding back? Do you know when it's the right one? Do you go with a 10/10, is there even one out there? Do we offer under?

It all depends, you can hold out for perfection but if in the meantime you're priced out that 8/10 suddenly looks alright.
It's all a balance between your circumstances, finances, competition for available houses etc etc. They're is no right answer. If you are looking for something that lots of other people want you might have to be prepared to compromise more and pounce. In which case you try to find something that has the Must Haves right and the Would Like can be added or alerted later.
So, local supply and demand, pressure of your own circumstances etc all dictate how much compromising you need to be prepared to do.
I think work out what you absolutely must have as a minimum, then what you'd like ideally and then what would be the icing on the cake and then perhaps set a deadline for when you hold out until and after that start lowering your aspirations, perhaps when your rent contract is down to 4 months. Meanwhile watch the market and judge whether the perfect house is ever going to be possible or whether they get snapped up before you have time to blink.

Thank you @topcatstophats I agree with your points.

If we didn't have this rental back up, we would have offered I think. We sold a month ago and we were looking well before that.

This opportunity to rent makes me wonder we should just hold off. But as you say, then there's more likely competition and bidding wars, us being priced out. But then in rented we'll be in good stead to get an offer accepted as no chain.

This house has been on months already, so maybe a week or two and a few more viewings will help us decide for sure.

If it has been on the market a while I'd definitely offer under asking. In my experience "offers over" really means they want to achieve the asking price. But it seems no-one is that desperate for it so far so they're going to have to be realistic.

Yes, if you're on the fence and can afford to let it slip through your fingers a bit more time to decide will mean you don't feel like you rushed into a bad choice. Meanwhile you could drive by at various times and see what the area is like after dark, early morning etc etc looking at traffic, neighbours and so on to try to check all the environmental things that don't show on one visit or on the estate agents list.

@notvictorianhonestly
I didn't want to seem cheeky but probably haven't got anything to lose.
I'm not keen on offers over, as it makes me feel negotiating is off the table.

Id always make the offer you want to make, as low as you like, bearing in mind that some sellers are so precious that they take offence if you diss their lovely home by offering a lot less than the price they just made up. Some of them tell you to get lost. Some don't.

They can only say no
You're in a good position so I'd use that as a bargaining tool

[quote QueenFool]@notvictorianhonestly
I didn't want to seem cheeky but probably haven't got anything to lose.
I'm not keen on offers over, as it makes me feel negotiating is off the table.[/quote]
Maybe it is. If they have a really clear idea what the minimum they want is and aren't in a rush maybe they're just saving everyone's time by making it clear. Doesn't mean you can't offer what you want, the estate agent legally has to tell them of every offer.
Our neighbours now departed had a minimum, but it was based on what they needed to buy a place where they were moving to and not what the house was worth so was ridiculous... It took them 2 years for that penny to drop and in the meantime they were annoyed by every offer they had. 😆😆 It takes all sorts doesn't it. Eventually though they accepted one so that could be you.

Have you tried sounding out the estate agent?
Saying that you are considering making an offer but feel the price isn't right.

We're in the same boat .. viewed a house yesterday and had a offer 20k above asking.. the market is awful at the moment and don't know wether to buy or sit tight but that comes with the worry we'd not be able to afford anywhere! I feel your pain!!

Personally, I would wait it out for a house you love. We've been trying to buy for 2 years (have exchanged and just about to complete). I don't personally think prices are going to go up loads more - they've already gone up an astronomical amount. I think there will continue to be high demand, but not the stupid jumps in prices of the past couple years (we had an offer accepted 2 years ago and vendors had to pull out due to illness, they remarketed last year and it sold for £200K more than the offer they accepted from us!). I don't think that's just going to keep happening forevermore.

We made lots of offers on other houses that were good, but not amazing. The one we finally had accepted is a about a 9.5/10. I'm personally glad we waited it out, but it's easier saying on the other side after 2 years of hell!

Oh bloody hell, two years of this!
I'm glad you found your dream home though, good luck with the move.

We'll keep looking, have broadened my search area a bit more