Are sellers put off by first time buyers?

[FTB2022]

I've seen a few posts from people saying they will never sell to first time buyers after a bad experience.

Is there anything that has/would put you off selling to FTB? What could they do to ease any concerns you have?

I'm viewing a property this week which is significantly under my budget but I think could be the one so keen to make sure I'm as attractive a buyer as possible!

Thanks for your help :)

They have desirable traits too - tend to be chain free!
Also there are some properties that will generally only be bought by first time buyers

The properties we are looking at are more "family homes" so not necessarily traditional FTB properties. We are making clear that we have no commitments so can move at whatever pace the vendor needs to. Hopefully that will help but nervous after seeing so many posts about avoiding FTBs!

I think FTB's are desirable but I suppose I would potentially be a little nervous that they may panic about things picked up on a survey further down the line if it was an older house. That could be the case for any purchaser though.
I sold my previous house to a FTB but it was only 20 years old and nothing wrong with it (as far as I knew). Might be different with an older property.

I think FTB’s have a reputation for not having the reserve funds to get stuff in process at the start for fear of losing money.

Not instructing solicitors in a timely manner.
Not paying for the searches until the mortgage offer is in.
Not booking a survey until the mortgage offer and searches. Etc

Whereas a more experienced house buyer is probably more likely to get everything started knowing the risk but also knowing how much time it will save to start early rather than do it step by step.

So even though a FTB has no chain, the house buying process could take longer due to inexperience and their fear of losing fees etc

Also, I have heard they are more likely to run from a bad survey whilst someone who has previously owned a house before would know that a lot of the scary stuff on them is actually pretty standard.

Then there is the usual worry about small deposits and not being able to make up any shortfalls if the mortgage valuation come back unfavourable, more likely to bail or to ask for a reduction rather than stump up more coin.

Just generalising of course., I am a FTB myself.

Thanks @highwind that's really useful. I must admit I'm terrified about down-valuations so will be keeping this in mind for any offers!

I wasn't until I had a really bad experience with jittery first time buyers who panicked and didn't seem to understand the house selling system! However, I'd still choose a FRB over a chain.

Quite the contrary. FTBs are usually welcomed with open arms.
Keep in mind they can't even view until can prove they have the Mortgage in Principle and deposit in place. They don't have the risk of their sale falling through.

I was glad to have a FTB as it meant no more chain.

They are the ones who have the most trouble with the deposit as every penny is from the pocket so most likely to go with a cheap online solicitor. So if you are selling to a FTB , pick a good solicitor who can compensate.

@Kite22

Quite the contrary. FTBs are usually welcomed with open arms. Keep in mind they can't even view until can prove they have the Mortgage in Principle and deposit in place. They don't have the risk of their sale falling through.

That wasn’t true when I was a FTB (although back in 2010), nor for any future purchases.

Had to prove AIP but nothing about having deposit funds in place (I’ve bought ‘chain free’ on 3 occasions, eg not using funds from house sale for forward deposit).

Swings and roundabouts, OP.

I had a bad experience with some FTBs who made a lot of unreasonable demands then tried to gazunder me the day before exchange. On the other hand, an FTB later bought my flat. She did try for a reduction but accepted my refusal.

We didn’t have to prove anything till after our offer was accepted as first time buyers.

I think the worst trait is that they can pull out late on during the sale and not suffer much consequence whereas somebody with a property to sell will risk losing their own buyer.

Make sure you are present at the viewings is my advice because sometimes it is possible to work out who might not go through with the deal. A first time buyer who had not viewed anything else is a massive alarm bell for me.

Worked as a mortgage broker before and in my experience the difficulty with FTBs are that family have a lot of influence. That can be great if family are level headed but you get a lot of parents that bought their last property in 1982 and think their knowledge is still up to date. Then the professionals (solicitors/mortgage advisors) spend a lot of time explaining valuers comments (mainly written to cover their arse), etc.

Obviously I would take whatever the EA says with a pinch of salt, but as a FTB I'd direct questions to your mortgage adviser/solicitor.

My previous bad experience was ftbs panicking when they saw the survey and then asking for loads of money off for things which were obvious and had already been accounted for in the price. My advice would be to remember that the survey is a list of every single potential issue, some of which will never need resolving, and only ask for a reduction if there is something serious which wasn't obvious on viewing e.g. some random structural issue. All old houses usually have old wiring, need redecorating, have some small cracks in plaster due to annual movement, not enough insulation etc. Plus the survey will miss anything which is not visible on an initial inspection and that is just part of the risk of being a home owner. House prices are unlikely to crash. They will probably just stay where they are for a long while or slowly creep up so I wouldn't worry about "overpaying" a bit if the house is the right one for you and you are planning to be there for 5 years or more.

I don't think you ever have to present yourself as a FTB, if you don't want to. Just say you are chain free, which stresses what's most important about your proceedable position.

We were FTBs looking to also buy a big detached 'family home' (nearly everyone else looking at the same sorts of properties seemed to be over 50, so we were probably quite unusual in that sense. I don't think anyone was put off by us, and in fact, the house we purchased, the sellers later told us that they chose us because we were a young family buying their first house and not an investment buyer or someone older who wouldn't raise a family there.

Just make yourself aware of the process of house buying so none of the stages come as a surprise to you, OP. I have to agree with the PP who said about not panicking over the survey, I appreciate it's hard when you haven't owned property before and therefore don't have any experience of faults and maintenance. Good luck with the viewing!

Thank you all for the advice! Feeling much calmer!

I think we've done everything we can to educate ourselves and have a good understanding of the process.

I'd like to think I'm able to tell the difference between a huge structural problems and little niggles which you'd expect in a house. If not we have very level headed families/friends who will put us straight!

It's the opposite first time buyers are attractive. They aren't stuck in a chain

Wish my FTB hadn’t instructed the cheapest online conveyancer, causing the chain to be minutes from collapse on several occasions, and genuinely causing me, his mum, the grown up solicitors and the estate agents some serious problems.

Obviously, all the adult women (okay he was in his twenties and had a baby but fuck sake he was horizontal) around him somehow made it happen, but if we ever moved again (I am NEVER moving again) I’d stipulate proper solicitor or no bloody sale.

@maddy68

It's the opposite first time buyers are attractive. They aren't stuck in a chain

But, they can be naïve and unprepared, with over-protective parents offering 'advice' at every stage!

Like all other buyer groups, they don't all conform to the same behaviour, there are great ones and others will be a pain in the arse.

@alwayswrighty

Worked as a mortgage broker before and in my experience the difficulty with FTBs are that family have a lot of influence. That can be great if family are level headed but you get a lot of parents that bought their last property in 1982 and think their knowledge is still up to date. Then the professionals (solicitors/mortgage advisors) spend a lot of time explaining valuers comments (mainly written to cover their arse), etc.

Obviously I would take whatever the EA says with a pinch of salt, but as a FTB I'd direct questions to your mortgage adviser/solicitor.

Yes, I think this was the issue I had. The FTBs were very aggressive with their demands and the EA told me he had the impression that their parents were pushing them.

They were going for a 100% mortgage and they’d had some trouble getting it arranged so the whole process had taken longer. But we’d both paid legal fees and I genuinely think they didn’t expect me to tell them to do one when they tried to reduce their offer the day before exchange. Given the way it was presented to me, I’m 99% sure their families had told them to bargain hard. Unfortunately for them, I was so pissed off with them by that point that I told them to get lost and pulled out.

It cost me about £300 in legal fees but it also cost them the same and they lost their mortgage offer and any chance to buy because right at that time, banks removed 100% mortgages.

That wasn’t true when I was a FTB (although back in 2010), nor for any future purchases.

Well, no, it wasn't true when I was a ftb either, but it is now, and has been for at least the last couple of years - no idea how long, but we are talking about the situation in 2022, not 2012 or the 1980s

But, they {ftbs} can be naïve and unprepared

......as indeed can those of us who haven't moved in the last 20 or 30 years.
I have no data for this, but suspect ftbs are likely to have done more research / asked more questions than people who have 'moved before' (albeit 30 years ago) who could well take the stance that they know what they are doing.

Obviously, either is a massive over generalisation.

First Time Buyers can be easily spooked by a survey. They don’t always realise that the surveyor has to point out every little thing and that lots of them aren’t serious or don’t warrant money off.

I agree that FTB can be easily influenced by family or just a bit precious and lacking awareness of the bigger buying and selling picture and that it doesn’t all revolve around them….that often compromise is needed to stop chains falling apart, and that sometimes there’s nothing to be done to prevent it.

The EA should be able to gauge if the FTB is extremely green and knows nothing. Of course, they can then be manipulated or exploited too.

On balance though, a FTB that the EA has checked out - ie checked to see they have a mortgage in principle and have evidenced their deposit and can name a solicitor - has more benefits than downsides usually.

OP, get your paperwork ready - evidence of mortgage in principle, ID documents which evidence name and address, bank statements to show evdifwnce of deposit, etc and look into which solicitor you will use now. If you have all that stuff in a file, the EA will take you more seriously and be more likely to o recommend you to the seller as a FTB who is ready to proceed, rather than one who doesn’t know where their arse is.

Oh and top tip - always return any requests for info by return if possible and within 24 hours. Don’t be the pest who everyone is waiting for documentation from.

Good luck. The fact you’re asking is in itself a very good sign.

I’m a about to sell my house as part of a really long and tedious chain

I’d rather have sold to a ftb by a country mile

For me, I've had issues with FTB either failing to control their solicitors or raising ridiculous questions. Most recently a sale collapsed but before it did so, the buyers' solicitor enquired about a guarantee for my front door.

The question was effectively this : "we see the guarantee paperwork you have provided says that the guarantee could be transferred to us on sale for an admin fee. What's the admin fee?"

A very stupid question for the following reasons:

1. somehow this filtered through to me via 2 lots of solicitors who are paid to deal with these queries either by (a) pointing out that it is ridiculous for the reasons stated below or (b) calling the number on the paperwork provided to ask the question directly (which is what I did, got answer in about 30 seconds).

2. front door cost less than £2k. It was installed about 5 years ago. Guarantee was for 10 years. What on earth did the buyers think would happen now to the door? Disintegrate? Spontaneously combust? Admin fee was £75. Why anyone would pay it after 5 years, god only knows.

Basically, buyers just need to have a bit of sense, not raise endless questions about low value matters or non-issues, and accept that there is some risk to things.

All this kind of behaviour whilst also pressuring us to exchange. I hope they learn from this.