I just made my first ever offer on a house!

[erhsla14]

I have no idea how to do this and no idea if I'm "playing it right". First time buyer, so new to all of this, not sure of the etiquette etc.

There were probably ~40 viewings on the one day they did viewings. Is it just a waiting game?

The house was literally beautiful, I can't imagine any of the viewers before/after me could possibly dislike it.

"I’ve had to wait for a lot longer than intended to try get on the property ladder due to circumstances out of my control, but all things considered have been able to search seriously since last autumn yet have been very fussy with what I view. The market seems ridiculous at the moment, fast-paced and very expensive for buyers which has held me back a little (I have basically moved home after having to move around a lot with work) and know childhood friends who’ve bought in the area even in the last year or so have paid £100-150k less. So unless something perfect came up I’ve been reluctant.
Well now something perfect has come up.."

I think you have to take this into account.
If you had looked at 20 houses in the past month, and there was a whole list of houses you would be happy with, then you perhaps would have course to ponder if you did the right thing / offered too much but as you are very specific in what you wanted, and very few houses have even been ones you wanted to view, then you were right to put that slightly higher bid in, to secure it.
Putting in an offer 3% less than you did and not getting it would have had you really regretting it, but in the long term, as a proportion of the whole cost of the house, it will be insignificant, and you will look back and wonder why it even crossed your mind not to put in your best offer.

Thanks everyone. The whole experience feels a little interesting to be honest. I am very excited but also trying to contain it until it’s secured / contacts exchanged / keys in hand etc. I am normally very sensible financially so it does feel quite daunting to basically put down all of my (and DHs) life’s savings and still take out what feels like a massive mortgage that I’ll be paying forever.

On to the next steps now:

• solicitor - should I be contacting more than one? Anything in particular I need to know or ask about?


• Mortgage broker - as above


• is there anything else I need to do

Congratulations!

Solicitor: are you on a local Facebook group or similar? We searched conveyancing solicitor, and got quotes from 3 that were recomended on there. The prices were very similar, so we went with the proactive one. Most quotes were available online.

Mortgage: have you managed to get an offer accepted without an agreement in principle? You can either use a broker, or search yourself - personally, if your finances are simple this can be easier.

Will you be organising a survey above whatever the mortgage company will do?

We were asked for proof of ID (passport or driving licence, plus 2 utility bills or bank statements dated with the last 3 months), proof of deposit and proof of mortgage offer.

We offered 10% over and got the house. We have bought 4 before - the rules have changed - I guess they always do as the market changes. We still worry - I should say I still worry that we over bid, the houseneeded a lot more done to it than we thought - but we needed a house and couldn't wait, in the long term it all works itself out. Congratulations!

@RedSwing just what I needed to hear, thank you.
What did you have done to the house? Would it increase its overall value?

@erhsla14 We are replacing the windows and doors (we knew about the door) - but the windows although wooden were so badly made - they were not worth paying a painter to do a proper job...we cut our losses and installed some lovely new windows. And the state of the walls were a bit of a shock - the vendor had pictures everywhere and when they removed them they left behind countless screws and rawl plugs - the making good and repainting is now essential. They covered up massive cracks in the bathroom floor tiling with a bath mat and badly worn wooden floors with rugs. The central heating might need replacing, a couple of key radiators are not working - we have spent £1.5k investigating why and still no answer, we need to get this resolved before we start to decorate.
With only 15mins to view the house, it's not surprising that we missed stuff, it's frustrating as we bought a house thinking it was ready to just move in. It's all fixable with £s, but moving in day was a bit of a heart sink moment. On the plus side - the area is great and the neighbours are lovely, which couldn't be fixed. So will we add value, as in will future buyers pay more? Probably not - but for our enjoyment of the house, it needs to be done.