Haven’t got a clue

[Jesstress]

I private rent and have never owned a home. I’ve now received a large some of money to be able to buy a house.

I haven’t got a clue. If a house is on the market and it says offers over “” does this mean you should offer over that but close to that price?

is their advantages that I will be a full cash buyer so no mortgage?

Wait until next year.

Are you in Scotland or elsewhere in UK (makes a difference regarding the phrase "offers over")?

Cash buyer with no chain should make a difference if you are competing for a property.

How much to offer depends on many things, whether your local trend is going up or down, how much the vendor paid for the property, when and how much work has been done during their ownership, how much other properties of the same size and type have gone for recently in that area.

Much of this is publicly available information, if you post potential properties on here, people will love to help

Also when setting your budget don't forget there are extra costs to pay eg survey, removals, legals and inevitably some costs once you are in (carpets, curtains, furniture, redecorating etc)

There are online calculators for the legals & stamp duty etc

How come?

A house is worth what you are willing to pay. Offers over mean nothing. Go on rightmove and check how much a similar sized (not bedrooms, size in sq feet or metres) houses sold for and value it from that.

Sellers quite rightly want to extract the most money from buyers. Estate agents work for the sellers not the buyers.

A cash buyer like you would be able to get a better price than those in a chain. There is a house not far from us on for offers over £775k and I know for a fact they would take £750k today.

So take your time, ask for advice from friends and family. One tip, assume everything the estate agent tells you is lie and you won't go far wrong!

If you have seen a house and are interested, I'd maybe check with the estate agents what the level of interest is. Ours was offers over £335,000 and our buyers offered £337,500.

This is not true in Scotland.

There is a chance prices will start to fall as interest rates rising makes monthy payments higher.

In the Uk. There is a specific house I’m interested in, no upper chain. I am budgeting so I will be left with a decent chunk of money for the things you have mentioned. The house has just come back on the market due to it falling through. So they have accepted an offer previously off someone but have no idea what that could be!. I have had a look when it was last bought in 2014 and there has been an increase to it’s asking price of about 10k

In the north east

Ah sorry. As you say, not in Scotland 👍

They have no upper chain that should say

Everything maxi said.

Don't rush into anything.
Spend hours on Rightmove or Zoopla and start to get a real 'feel' for what you want.
Think about how important one area is to you. Or are you happy to move slightly further away but to get more space, or parking, or to be detached (or semi or terraced), or are you keen to be near a station for a commute, or further away for a more peaceful life, or does school catchment matter or what is important to you.

Even (and I have no idea how much you have, or how much housing is near you, but) does it make sense to use the cash towards something 'better' and still have a small mortgage ? Or, alternatively, not spend it all and keep some back ? So much depends on your circumstances.

Ask people you know and trust who live where you do - friends, family, colleague who bought recently maybe ? Listen to lots of views and see what aligns with the way you think.

Also if it has fallen through, you are a cash buyer you are in a good position to offer less.

Yes it's a massive advantage if you are a cash buyer!

Totally depends on the house/area/market as to what you offer. We've offered under when we've viewed a house and it's been overpriced and there's not been much interest in it. Last house we did that for they rejected the offer but it's still on the market 4 months later! We try and ask the vendors (or estate agent) what price they are hoping to achieve.

This advice may not apply in somewhere where houses are flying- not the case in our area currently

i think aswell I’m a single parent so it feels overwhelming doing this massive thing on my own!. I private rent in very close proximity to the house I would like to go and see but as you said I just need to take my time, I’ve been to see a couple of others but just to get a feel of what is about. I think ideally I have an idea of what I would like to spend on a house, how much I would like left over it’s just I feel a bit out of my depth and realise the estate agents seem quite pushy

I think just have to keep faith that whatever is meant to be won’t pass me but. I could remain in our rental if I did buy a house so I could get it decorated and furnished without living in it straight away. I defo don’t want a house which needs loads and loads of work

Thankyou, house prices here are constantly coming back on the market at a reduced price at the moment or going into auctions

❤️ The estate agent actually rang me last night about a house which I thought was a bit off in a Sunday night?! Is this what they do?

Yes. They are commission only. No sale, no income. They will try and pressure you, especially when they know you have cash.
You should really get a valuation before you commit to any purchase, not a guesstimate that the EA does.
When you visit any suitable property, ask questions like how old is the boiler, rewired, insulated etc. Could be worth employing a local builder if you don’t have any DIY experts in your friend circle. Also consider running costs and maintenance.

I borrowed a book from the library which took me through the steps, what to budget for and look out for.

www.waterstones.com/book/buying-and-selling-your-own-home/frances-james/9781802360264

Turn on SKY news or go here ......housepricecrash.co.uk

Being a cash buyer is usually a great advantage.

Don't waste your time with the likes of housepricecrash. They have an agenda- which has been wrong for a very long time. They may be right that prices will fall in the short term, but only in the way a stopped clock is right twice a day. And like most with agendas, they seem not to understand that not everyone is in the same situation.

Prices may well fall in the short term, but long term they have always recovered. Provided you're in it for the long term, and particularly if you are at the lower end of the market and would only ever be selling to buy another house, that isn't as much of a problem for you as it might be for others.

You won't get into negative equity as some might because you aren't borrowing, so no problem there.

Mortgage rates are getting high for those borrowing to buy, but as you're not paying a mortgage, that's irrelevant to you.

If you're paying rent now, and have cash to buy in full, that's an argument for buying, as you'll be saving rent from day 1, and when you own, you have a lot more freedom to do what you want to your property, and far more security- you can't be evicted by a landlord.