What makes you choose one buyer over another?

[mintymintgreen]

I’m just putting my first house on the market. I’ve also found a house I’d like to buy but I’m obviously not proceedable until I’ve sold. They’ve had other viewings but no other offers yet although I imagine they’ll get some.

So I’m wondering about this from both perspectives.

As a buyer who’s not chain-free, I’m wondering what selling points I should make sure to mention. The sellers of my last house chose me over other buyers because I was an FTB. Obviously I’m not now. But I’m downsizing to a cheaper house, I already have a portable mortgage rate (around 4%, fixed for another 4 years). My lender has confirmed I still pass affordability, and says I can port my rate so long as my LTV stays under 95% (which it will be considerably under). So no risk I’ll be refused a mortgage or affected by downvaluation. Am I deluding myself to think these might be pluses?

On the flip side, I feel very conflicted over what I want as a seller. I’d been thinking I’d prefer someone chain-free ie an FTB, but there’s presumably a real risk of them being refused mortgages or having issues with downvaluations. But a bigger chain might be offputting to sellers. I’m also trying to decide how I feel about buy-to-let investors.

This is all hypothetical as who knows if anyone will even want to view my house! But I’d appreciate hearing people’s opinions.

Thanks for any opinions!

I had two buyers at an old property , one was a man who kept directing conversation and questions at my then partner despite being told a few times that it wasn’t his property and I was selling - he just wouldn’t engage with a woman it seemed. He offered full asking. Second was a lovely young lass about the age I’d been when I bought who offered same and viewed with her parents . I sold to her and included all the white goods to help her get settled .

I won’t be meeting them as the EA is handling all viewings, so won’t have that insight! (I wouldn’t want to do viewings myself.)

Havent met the sellers of the place I want to buy either, only the EA.

I would look for someone with a short chain (unlikely to sell our current house to a 1st time buyer). I would also love someone who doesn't want all the searches and is happy to go with the indemnity insurance (our mortgage is Halifax and they were happy with it as we own 40% of the house) as it massively speeds up the chain local to us. Also someone open to break the chain so sell theirs and go in with family is always a bonus

We sold to buyers that we thought would be a good fit for our lovely next door neighbours (semi-detached). Also they offered full asking price.

Well, I've never been in a position where I get to decide from a selection, but certainly there are things I take into consideration when considering whether an offer is acceptable.
How proceedable a person is is the no 1 thing. They are welcome to view if they have no sale, but i wouldn't go any further than acknowledging an offer.
Cash buyer would be great in theory - chain free and avoiding mortgage hassles, but I would be asking the estate agent for a bit more info about who they are to gauge how trustworthy I think they are.
FTB fine for my current place - I pitched the price for a quick sale (so confident mortgage co wouldn't undervalue) and I know there's no oddities to emerge in the process that might spook them. But they are definitely the most likely to be skittish and drop out, so I'd be a bit wary if the property had any issues.
With a chain - just the shorter the better.

My biggest fear is the gazunderer though - the person who waits until you are about to exchange then drops the price. So I would always be looking for signs they might do that, and those people are most likely to be the chain free, maybe the cash buyers, even FTB, those people who have nothing to lose if the sale falls through because of their sneaky tricks. If you get a young couple with a baby moving to get a bit more space, their own property to sell, they just feel to me like they might be more invested in just getting the deal done and moving into their new house - although I might worry if they were trying to move out of shared ownership, or flats with cladding or something where there are obvious potential issues that could affect their sale.

Sorry, long answer! :-)

My friend sold to a cash buyer last year as the other buyers couldn’t proceed till they sold. She felt very guilty as they had big plans to put in a hot tub and make an outside entertaining area with a big bar. They are going to be noisy and she knew it. She had lived in her house for 26 years but was relocating in retirement. Her neighbours are lovely.

That's so kind of you!

People generally look for buyers who have sold their own property ( or who are FTBs) so they are in a position to proceed.

If I was in the fortunate position of having 2 potential buyers in that position I would pick the one with the smallest chain/ biggest deposit.

We had an offer from a cash buyer who showed up as soon as our flat was listed (didn't make an appointment with the estate agent!), offered a bit below asking but gave us 48 hours to respond or the offer was off the table. He gave us a story about buying for his daughter to live in (daughter never came to view?) but we were pretty sure he was a LL wanting to let it out.

Another offer was from a FTB who was a lovely young woman, she came to view twice and brought her family the second time, they were all very friendly and asked sensible questions.

We went with FTB on gut feeling and how good the communication was from her as opposed to the likely LL who tried to pressure us into making a decision. We offered the white goods to FTB too - she'd have a fridge and washer dryer from moving in and it'd save us having to put them into storage as we're temporarily moving back in with my parents while we find our next home, so win win imo.

Maybe a stupid question but; why is a bigger deposit better? I get the general idea that it might be but am not sure I understand the specifics. Less risk of them being turned down for a mortgage? More cash moving up the chain on exchange? Or something else I’ve not thought of?

My preferences would be small/no chain, not a FTB, cash buyer or big deposit, in a position to start proceedings straight away.

Not exactly your question but I did say an outright no to one couple who justified their low offer by listing the defects of my house.

If you have a bigger deposit then lenders consider you less risky so will be more likely to lend the money required without too much fuss. So less risk of being turned down for a mortgage, yes.

Plus if the valuation comes in lower it isn't necessarily a deal breaker for people with a bigger deposit as they are not relying on the lender to lend them 90% or whatever of the property's valuation.