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Original poster

FTB questions

10 replies

Playgrind · 07/05/2023 21:36

Unexpectedly, at the grand Old age of 40, I am in a position to buy my first home.

Our budget is £300k which doesn't go far in the SE, we have kids so need 3 bedrooms.

My questions:

How can I check the sold price of houses in an area?

Most houses seem to be just over our budget, what tips for knowing when a vendor might be open to offers?

Obvs if the house has been on for a few months is a clue, but anything else to look out for? How do I know of an offer is cheeky or not eg. Offer £300k for a £325k house?

If we can't get buy outright could do shared ownership but they seem overpriced, help me get this right please!

OP posts:
BlueDinoRawr · 07/05/2023 21:40

How can I check the sold price of houses in an area?
Zoopla - it’s not 100% accurate but close.

Most houses seem to be just over our budget, what tips for knowing when a vendor might be open to offers?
tell the agent your budget and ask if it’s still worth viewing.

Obvs if the house has been on for a few months is a clue, but anything else to look out for? How do I know of an offer is cheeky or not eg. Offer £300k for a £325k house?
Be cheeky - who cares. I’ve had some agents laugh in my face but also secured houses well, well under the asking price (£100k once) by being clear - point 1 what my budget was and saying look we’re in a good position but this is what we think it’s worth. Hobby property developer here.

If we can't get buy outright could do shared ownership but they seem overpriced, help me get this right please!
they should be based on the market value of 100%

PurpleBananaSmoothie · 07/05/2023 22:13

Zoopla updates the sold prices for most houses but it take a few months after the sale for the sold price to be added to Zoopla. Zoopla will have a guide price for houses but these are a bit finger in the area as it takes the last sold price and calculates the estimate based on the market rise and fall. It doesn’t take into account if work has been done on that house in that time, if the house now needs significant repairs, if there is something in the surrounding area devaluing the house or if that particular type of house is of interest at the minute.

I would say properties that are chain free can wait out to hopefully get a good sale price. Most houses in a chain will probably have a low amount they can sell for and make their next move still work. They probably have their eye on a house already or are needing to move for whatever reason. How long it’s been on there is an indication too. If the house needs some work, it’ll usually be priced to reflect the work but you might be able to negotiate a price easier but this does depend if you want to do the work (maybe not with two kids).

You can also watch the market locally to you for a little while beforehand. What is selling and what is taking a little while? Near me, first time buyer houses are selling as are the next stage up family homes. Flats and bigger, older homes or executive homes seem to be staying on for a bit longer. If you know what is moving, then it guides you as to how cheeky you can be. If there are only a few 3 beds coming up then your cheeky offer probably won’t get you very far but if there’s 50 of them at the moment then you stand a good chance.

Shared ownership is at market value. You buy a share of that property say 80% so your deposit represents a bigger part of your mortgage and this puts you with a higher loan to value ratio (LTV) and this can give you more competitive interest rates. The 20% is owned by the housing association and you pay rent on that but the rent is cheaper than market rate as it’s a HA. Some shared ownership schemes will allow you to purchase more of the house, some will cap it. All shared ownership homes usually have something that says you can only sell for market price so you can’t sell for a hugely inflated price further down the line but you shouldn’t be out priced of the market either.

Regardless of which way you go, you will need to pay what you feel the house is worth. Or be prepared not to buy it. I would try to view a few properties to really understand the difference and what an extra £ amount will buy. It might mean you find a house you love and are prepared to offer asking price but not prepared to go over that. It might mean you find a house that you like and you’re going to start £10K lower but go a maximum of £10k higher. As a FTB I would also recommend viewing twice and taking someone with you if you can. Especially if you fall in love with a house, you need someone can give you an unbiased opinion on how much work needs doing (beyond painting and decorating).

Move22 · 08/05/2023 07:05

House prices:
rightmove sold
also
net houseprices

Regarding offers, only offer when you are proceedable ( in a position to move forward) and only offer what you feel the house is worth, no more. View lots of houses both virtually and in real life to get a good idea.

DrySherry · 08/05/2023 10:46

Could you not wait another 12 months. As a ftb you will definitely get more for your money - if you wait for values to adjust to the new cost of borrowing ? Base interest rates now are likley to be 5% later this year and the market is falling. Wait if you can.

jellyandscream · 08/05/2023 11:09

DrySherry · 08/05/2023 10:46

Could you not wait another 12 months. As a ftb you will definitely get more for your money - if you wait for values to adjust to the new cost of borrowing ? Base interest rates now are likley to be 5% later this year and the market is falling. Wait if you can.

We are FTBs in our 40s and are going for it now as we want to pay our own mortgage and not someone else’s, and are so sick of renting a crap house. No point trying to time the market, the best time to buy a house is always either 20 years ago but the second best time is now.

jellyandscream · 08/05/2023 11:10

Also, values are already adjusting - lots of price drops and reductions. We can afford a 3-bed now which we couldn’t when we started looking late last year.

Fixed-term mortgages have already gone down in price.

Original poster
Playgrind · 08/05/2023 12:57

Thanks for the links everyone.

Yes we thought about waiting for prices to drop (a bit more) bit as @jellyandscream said, a year renting is all ready £17k lost in rent, and if prices went up again we'd be .

Where are you looking? Aware prices changes can be dependent on local market, we are looking in West Sussex and there has been a bit of a drop at the lower end of the market, hardly any properties either.

OP posts:
BlueDinoRawr · 08/05/2023 18:18

DrySherry · 08/05/2023 10:46

Could you not wait another 12 months. As a ftb you will definitely get more for your money - if you wait for values to adjust to the new cost of borrowing ? Base interest rates now are likley to be 5% later this year and the market is falling. Wait if you can.

The market has practically stalled, this is a good time as a buyer - bar the lack of choice for the few that need to sell they’ll be more likely to accept offers.

jellyandscream · 08/05/2023 18:27

We’ve found to helpful to go to quite a few viewings and also just keep an eye on different properties on Right Move - round here there are lots of reductions but some things are still moving fast.

We’ve had some luck asking to view properties a bit outside our budget. The thing is to be upfront that it’s out of your budget but stress that you’re FTBs and super proceedable.

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