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Original poster

Do we throw everything at this house

49 replies

sweetiepie1979 · 05/05/2024 13:08

We are in Scotland so it will go to closing with blind bids though estate agent gave us a steer said if we were looking at around the 550 mark then we would be in with a chance.
This house could go up much much higher so maybe we have no chance! However!
We need to consider our offer we love the house we have been looking for 4 years and renting in that time after selling our old home covid hit and we have been in limbo. This property is valued at 525 which means the bank will only give us a mortgage up to that point
so my question is if you found your dream (ish)house that you think you would stay in for ever and it’s the kids catchment and it has a beautiful garden would you forgo things like family holidays maybe only having one every 2/3 years? And continue to work full time as teacher in a state school where you are paid pretty well for 35 hours but realistically you do about 50 most weeks and the stress is awful some weeks and I was really hoping to go part time in the next few years but I wouldn’t be able to do that ….. so that we can offer above 554? Sorry that was a stream of consciousness message. Any advice welcome .
also I am sick of renting but we live in a beautiful house. Also I don’t think the owners are in a rush so being a cash buyer is not a big advantage here really …. Well it might help a bit if we also give the right number ….
okay mumsnet help me x

OP posts:
Ariela · 05/05/2024 13:13

Our auction bid strategy is to never stop at a round number. Pick 556 or even 556.5 if you think someone might pay 555.

Twiglets1 · 05/05/2024 13:14

I don't really understand the Scottish system but the EA has said you would be in with a chance at around the £550k mark, why not offer 550k? If it ends up going for much higher then it probably wasn't the house for you as it sounds like paying much more would stress you out.

ajdhpoqnavd · 05/05/2024 13:25

No I wouldn't, lifestyle was critical for me so it was vitally important we still had enough disposable income for holidays, birthdays, school holidays etc. It's important to consider how your careers will develop, wages tend to increase (albeit more slowly in recent times!) that said, if you've got kids now, you don't want to strangle yourself too much at this stage of your life.

Have you looked at the term? I'm personally a fan of a long term whilst you have children, need to keep payments down now, can worry about getting the term down when the kids are grown.

berksandbeyond · 05/05/2024 13:33

No, I wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice my lifestyle for this house. It sounds like a hell of a jump for your first buy?

Original poster
sweetiepie1979 · 05/05/2024 13:44

Hi it’s not our first buy we have a deposit of 180 the issue is interest rates and going over home report value not sure if that makes a difference to your answer
im already full time so it’s not a complete. Ha he of lifestyle especially if I could get a better work life balance and not stay at school to 6 in the evening
at offering £554.140 we have a foreign holiday every other year and uk holiday every other year also my family live in Ireland and England so we have worked in to the budget twice a year visits to them.

we have been looking for 4 years though! 4 years! This would only be the 3rd offer we have put in and this is our favourite out of all of those

also when you say look at the term … do children not get more expensive they are 12 and 10 now ?
thanks for input

OP posts:
Original poster
sweetiepie1979 · 05/05/2024 13:45

Oh and we are both mid 40s

OP posts:
ajdhpoqnavd · 05/05/2024 13:50

You're probably at the sweet spot for childhood expenses right now, post childcare (unless you still have some wraparound) but before the years where expensive school trips, more food, more expensive clothes happen, not to mention uni if you're preparing for that. I don't subscribe to the view that teenagers are the most expensive time because much of the expense is discretionary and the pre school years are crippling, but there's a lot of pressure to want to provide what they want and when you're weighing up lifestyle and what you want to provide for them it's the time to think about it.

Imicola · 05/05/2024 19:37

What is the market like in your specific part of Scotland? and have you previously lost out on houses through the blind bid process? Where we are things are snapped up, often hugely over the valuation price. We lost out on quite a few putting what we thought were reasonable offers in, but we really needed somewhere so we went quite a bit higher in the end to make sure we got it. From looking at sold house prices, most around us go quite high, but occasionally people seem to get lucky with a lower offer. Have you had a look at similar properties that have sold recently to see how high they went?

Whalesinthefleld · 05/05/2024 20:02

I’d aim for 10% over home report value.

Whalesinthefleld · 05/05/2024 20:02

Have you checked out the sold prices of similar properties in the area?

MumMumMumMumMumMumMum · 05/05/2024 20:04

No I wouldn't sacrifice lifestyle, holidays and being able to go part time, my kids doing hobbies etc would be worth more to me than a house.

Mum5net · 06/05/2024 00:18

Can you cut back on your car(s) to make it more affordable? Have you factored in the cost of electricity if it is a sandstone single brick property? I’d go in with your best offer as the years speed by… Good luck.

Tel12 · 06/05/2024 00:22

Go for it. Wages will go up, things do get easier. 4 years is a long time.

blackcherryconserve · 06/05/2024 01:24

Go for it. After 4 years of searching and paying good money after bad (rent) you'd be mad not to.

Hateliars34 · 06/05/2024 04:14

I wouldn't. I would choose small house and holidays plus security of knowing if for health reasons I had to stop working or change jobs, we would be okay.

LindaDawn · 06/05/2024 06:20

Why has it been 4 years? Is what you are looking for very rare to come up, if so I would be going for it. 4 years is a long long time. Very unsettling for you.

Somersetcallingme · 06/05/2024 06:40

How many notes of interest are there on the house? That is a big factor. Also people don't always sell to the highest bidder - you have nothing to sell, it is a huge advantage- make sure the sellers know this.

I think you need to be looking at home report £475/500 to give yourselves more room if you don't get this.

Good luck.

Awrite · 06/05/2024 06:50

We had a version of this 12 years ago. Also Scotland. Low ish home report value in my opinion.

We had 2 bids in mind. We went with the lower. We were not the highest offer but we got the house.

My thinking was that if we're didn't get the house, to be grateful that we didn't stretch ourselves.

However, I thank my lucky stars every day that I live here.

Inyourwildestdreams · 06/05/2024 07:06

@sweetiepie1979 Do you know anything about your sellers and their position? I’m also in Scotland and have dealt with closing dates.

Don’t underestimate the difference you being a chain free buyer can make! We were the 3rd highest bid and got our property purely because we were chain free and the higher 2 were both in chains. Personally, I’d pick a random figure around the 550k mark if that’s what your budget allows and I’d put the offer in stating what other conditions you can offer the buyer. For us we offered with the conditions that we were chain free buyers and we were living in rented accommodation with a 4 week notice period nearby so we were happy to move as fast or slow as the sellers needed. We also made it clear we wouldn’t be giving notice on our rental until we had keys in hand so it gave our sellers that bit of reassurance that if there were any delays on their end that their sale wouldn’t fall through! Good luck! Let us know how you get on!

SlothsNeverGetIll · 06/05/2024 07:18

We would never stretch ourselves for a house, no. The chaos that we've seen in the world over the last few years makes me feel vindicated in that decision.
We would only ever live somewhere that needs one modest salary to support.

Persipan · 06/05/2024 07:20

How come in 4 years you have only made 3 offers? Are you living in an area where property literally never comes up, or are you looking for something very specific (and in which case are you certain you're being realistic about what you're looking for)?

Is 550ish a typical price in your area? You'd be taking on a whacking great mortgage which you describe as a stretch, is this one of those areas where that's always going to be the case for buying anything and you just have to roll up your sleeves and get on with it, or are you looking at things in a higher bracket of the market?

MacavitytheMystery · 06/05/2024 07:27

Could you link to the house?

Sillyjane · 06/05/2024 07:30

I would yes, if I wanted it. I don’t actually place that much store in holidays I’d sacrifice the house I wanted for them.

if you want it, then recognise everyone is being told 550. So go over. Not 551. But say 552 or 3.

Nightscroller1 · 06/05/2024 07:37

Where we are in Scotland properties go for 10% minimum over HR with one friend just paying 26% which is mental.

If you like it so much, put your highest offer in - sounds like if you did get it, you'd not get buyers regret.

Good luck!!

daisychain01 · 06/05/2024 07:42

I'd do your maths very carefully and decide what you can afford including some contingency in case the worst happened and you lost income for a while. It doesn't matter how nice the house is, it has to be affordable to you and your budget so don't get carried away and then find you've over- committed yourself.