Broken hearted over the housing market

[EarthSight]

I'm a first time buyer who's been looking and struggling to buy a suitable house for a while. On Friday, a decent house came on the market that wasn't perfect in terms of the area that I wanted to live in, but I thought I might actually have a chance if I moved quickly.

I got on the phone with the estate agents on Saturday who couldn't do a viewing that weekend as they were full, but asked me to call back today, and then the agent who was in charge of the property would be in too today.

I've just been contacted to say that the house has already received an offer. Although I won't know for sure, when houses in my area receive offers that quickly in Wales, it's usually because a cash buyer from Manchester or Cheshire has seen the place online. Almost all houses under 150k in my area are owned by people who live in those areas. This cooled off during 2023, but it seems like we're going back there again. :(

What hope do first time buyers like me have when we can't even view the place, somewhere that's going to be the biggest purchase of our lives before others put in an offer?? It's really hard to not be defeatist because I know I don't stand a chance against these people who can afford to outbid average working class people like me by 5-10k each time, for their lovely little holiday home or investment in Wales.

No real point to this post but I feel so incredibly down today. It's been a really hard past 5 years and I just can't get a break.

This is ridiculous!
Buying houses and renting them out I have no problem with, there will always be people needing to rent who can't or don't want to buy.
But buying up multiple properties that you spend a couple of weeks in a year decimates the local economy and means people like OP can't find anywhere to live

Don't lose hope OP! You're in a good position as a first time buyer with no chain.

I sold my flat 2 years ago in a popular city to a first time buyer instead of a cash investor. Some do take that into account. Lower priced properties often have a bigger pool of interest too, so it might not even be that.

I was also then getting outbid constantly on properties I wanted to buy, but something came up eventually. (For complicated reasons I wasn't rolling in it when buying despite the flat sale, so was looking for first time buyer style properties!)

This.

In your shoes @EarthSight I would be checking Rightmove twice a day and jumping as soon as I saw a possible property to organise a viewing immediately.

I don't think Labour will do much to help the housing situation. I don't personally like the idea of people owning more than one property but you have to be realistic that they are entitled to do so according to current laws and that isn't likely to change any time soon (in my opinion, anyway). You have to work within the system as it is not how you would like it to be. Which means being proactive by registering with all the local EAs even though they are a pain and making offers quickly if the market is buoyant in your particular area.

Isn't this one of the busier times of the year for buying houses? I made my offer on my house in November last year. It was a quiet time, a lot of people don't want to move over Christmas.

OP, you said yourself that the house wasn't in the right area for you. You feel down now, but you could soon be thankful you didn't go for that one, if a much better one comes up.

Are you all set to move fast? Have you got your mortgage in principle, all your documents ready to go?

You could well find a house come up soon where the seller wants it to go to someone like yourself, someone local who actually wants to live in it. When you see the right house, ask the agent to make it clear that you're local.

How wide do first time buyers need to go? 2 hrs away from work? Maybe more? Out of the whole of North Wales into England, out of our own country? If the market carries on like this, that is the way it's going to go.

@pilo7 Yes, trying to keep my chin up.

I have mortgage in principle ready, I'm ready to move very fast, I'm local, but it makes no difference at all. Almost all of the properties I've seen so far are owned by holiday home owners or holiday-let business owners from outside of Wales, and my impression is that they don't seem bothered at all to sell to someone local. The estate agents have never indicated to me that either this or the fact I'm a first time buyer is an asset. What they want, and are used to, are cash buyers who can just make a straight payment of 150 - 200k in cash, without even seeing the house.

@Coastallife36385 It appeared late on Friday, the estate agents was closed when I saw it, and I called first thing on Saturday morning. I've registered with all of the local estate agents.

Are you looking in a tourist hotspot? Because it seems strange that so many of the properties you have seen are being used as holiday homes.

The answer to finding a less hectic market may be to widen your search to an area that is not as attractive to holiday makers.

@Mostunexpected Indeed, but I'm not expecting sympathy from people like that poster. To them, people should have the right to buy as many places as they want, no matter the damage to society it creates. If people like me lose out, then tough. It's a 'I'm alright Jack attitude' that is highly corrosive to communities.

Nevertheless, other people managed to book in viewings on Saturday so there must have been a tiny window of opportunity where the EA was taking bookings.

Considering people have been using property as an investment for as long as I can remember and I'm now mid 50s, I wouldn't bank on it!!!

One could argue that most of Wales is a tourist hotspot. There are some places that aren't, but a lot of it is, with the exception of rough areas that I wouldn't feel safe living in a single woman.

I suspect that they simply made an offer without even seeing the place. That did used to happen in 2022 and it looks like it might happening again.

Just keep persevering. We brought 2019 and the market was mental. Would turn up to a viewing and they would tell us often that 40 people were booked in (a lot were open houses due to the volume and would only show on one day) you turn up and think how can we compete with all these people! We didn’t…multiple houses went to best and final and as ftb didn’t have the funds to push ourselves. Eventually after about 8months and around 10 offers we got somewhere most disheartening period. The issue is a lot of FTB are looking in a lower bracket which appeal to developers etc, multiple houses we saw were getting flipped and were back on the market at a cost we couldn’t afford

I agree, but you only have to look at the middle classes on MN cryarsing about Labour potentially raising CGT to see that many people disagree and don’t care a jot if young people are left homeless.

@autumn1610 Same here - almost all properties under 160k mark are marketed as 'Perfect for time buyers and investors'.....as if we can compete with their deeper pockets 😂

@EarthSight we got lucky to be honest, someone had lived there 35 years, raised their family etc, so they wanted the home to go to someone who wasn’t a developer I think. So we kind of lucked out because they were sentimental 😊 we were also in that sort of bracket upto about £180k but just didn’t have the pockets to fund anymore

I am currently trying to buy in Gwynedd as well. I have 525k cash to put down and ridiculously still cannot get a look in. When I have spoken to agents they absolutely will not even consider accepting an offer without me viewing it. The fact I can buy most of the properties I'm looking at outright doesn't get me anywhere!

People suggest registering with all the agents (which obviously I have done), but reasonably priced houses go so quickly here that the estate agents don't have to bother calling potential buyers in advance. Half the EAs here don't even bother with mailing lists and tell you to just look on rightmove as all properties will go on there, but by the time you see the property and call to enquire and book a viewing, often it's already gone.

But having a big chunk of cash, or being a first time buyer, is a good position to be in and something will come up eventually.

I’m sorry, I totally agree. Honestly I have been thinking about “a nice little holiday home investment” on the south coast but the local authority has doubled council tax on second homes here and it has REALLY made me stop and think. DH and I did some research and now I feel awful about the idea and we are no longer going ahead with our idea.

I think there should be a lot more regulation
and tax to deter people buying single property investments that they leave empty.

People will invest if they think it’s worth it, at the expense of everyone else.

Some areas will be more of a tourist hotspot than others, even within Wales and other scenic places.

It's common for people to have to make all sorts of compromises to buy a property and an obvious one for you would be to widen your search area to a less touristy place, maybe a less attractive place.

I'm not suggesting you leave North Wales but I find it hard to believe that the red hot property market you describe is the same everywhere within a 30 mile radius say of where you currently live. There must be slightly less desirable but still commutable areas to your workplace, surely?

I never thought this day would come... People from oop North pricing out those in other areas!
I'm sorry OP it sucks

I think a lot of people are hoping interest rates will go back to where they were and prices will start to rise again.
Personally I think this is a false hope.

Well the conservatives have already worked hard to bring it down. Not sure what will happen under the uncertain grey area of a Labour government.

We don't have a housing crisis, we have a population crisis.

@Twiglets1 I've compromised on so much, there is hardly anything left. Well-meaning people ask things like, 'Could you do with a small kitchen, or maybe a small garden', and honestly I don't know if to laugh or cry. I'd be lucky to get even a decent paved areas, never mind an actual garden. Some of them only have a concrete path outside to put bins out, and nothing at all, not even a seating areas at the front. I'd be lucky to get a kitchen that fits a normal sized table in it to eat on and have 1-2 guests over. Some houses don't even have normal gas or oil central heating, so that's 5k installation costs. Many have damp problems. I don't minds at all ripping up carpets and redecorating dates places, but many places require a lot more money and investment than that.

For me, the priority is getting somewhere where I feel safe (ish), that isn't on the side of a busy road because of my insomnia (there are lots of them here that have really loud traffic noise, lorries, tractors), and that isn't so small that is feels like a toy / doll's house. I've totally forgotten about getting my own parking (luxury), or even a space to part on the actual road itself. Maybe places are absolutely rammed with cars. My entire county is one big tourist place (and it's not a small county), and the one next to that, and the one next to that.

@TheDarkMonarch I don't understand why someone should pay more just because it isn't their first property? Or why FTBs should pay if they're buying a higher banded property - wouldn't that just put more pressure and competition on the lower banded ones?

You already pay a big chunk more stamp duty on second homes. I would support this if it's your 3rd or more but I was really badly stung by this. I bought a small flat when I was v young that has subsequently had huge problems. I've tried to sell it 3 times and accepted it would make a loss but still no interest. I would be losing an insane amount if I put it to auction, so I now rent it out. The stamp duty I had to pay to buy a home for me and my children when my relationship ended was painful at 8%.