The perfect buyer?

[cfmtb]

Obviously it's impossible to know how people will act, however,
If you had a choice - what would be the type of person you'd want to be a buyer?
Context - selling a property. It's currently vacant and so costing money each month, and no onward chain.
On for 240k.
Had 12 viewings on the first day - 4 offers at 230, 235, 240, 241. 3 in no onward chain. Estate agent told me to honour all booked viewings.
Got 10 more first viewings tomorrow, and 3 second viewings. Likely expecting a couple more offers.
To be honest, I'd rather have a quick and easy sale than an extra 5k and people trying to push the price down after survey/just before completion.
There is a first time buyer in there. Never sold a house before so wondering if there are green/red flags to look for as I have the lucky luxury of choice

Even the “perfect” buyer can screw you over.

We accepted an offer from a cash buyer, who apparently loved the property. They did surveys, happy, provisional contracts put in place, the. we were a week away from exchanging and they pulled out because “the property is too big” it’s a flipping standard 3 bed.

My son did similar
we emailed the estate agent - reminded them that they had sold his grandparents house and so he had a big deposit and what sort of property he was looking for

sent them proof of deposit
ID
AIP/ mortgage details
job details / salary for both him and his partner
that they were in tented on a month to month contract
and that they had a solicitor ( same one that we used to sell his grandparents house ) ready to go

Avoid property landlords and investors - they are all too happy to pull out if another property catches their eye.

Chain free or FTB is good - tbh with the stamp duty changes coming for FTBs they might be the most motivated to complete quickly before April.

Mature, chain-free, first time buyer, paying in cash, that's not interested in having a survey done on a 100+yo terraced cottage.

Reader, that was my Buyer last time I sold. Couldn't believe my luck, or how quickly and smoothly everything progressed. It does happen.

It's v difficult to be sure of a buyer. If they fall in love with the house, then you risk them getting cold feet, or finding they've overstretched, or overlooked downsides. If they're completely logical about it, then if market changes or survey has an issue or a better bargain comes up they can walk away.
All you can do is be straightforward so there's no nasty surprises during conveyancing, get EA to ask them questions - eg have they had other purchases fall through, do they know tye area well, etc.

I agree with this! I've had bad experiences with FTBs.

I'm not sure I agree with the agent's advice either, I would have stopped viewings with all those offers on the table. They want a bidding war!

As a buyer knowing your already had offers would put me off.

The one who can proceed fastest is the best! We were all FTBs once and they are preferable to any kind of chain.

Our experience with FTBs has been a lack of motivation to get it done quickly. Whether that's because they don't know what needs doing when or they are living paycheck to paycheck so happy to let another month roll over before progressing things. Also, their mortgage applications can take longer due to higher LTV so more checks needed or they get refused and have to reapply. They can be less incentivised if they are currently living with parents for free. You'd think young people would be desperate to leave their parents and get their first flat, but I'm not sure they always are these days. Sometimes it's the parent pushing them out the door.

So much of it has to do with the individual - are they driven or flaky and faffy? I'd probably look them up on LinkedIn (if I had their names) and go with the one who looks like they spend their days getting deals or projects over the line 😁.

I sold my last house to a first time buyer and they were nightmares. Wanting to come round twice a week to bring granny/auntie Debbie/their dads first girlfriends neighbours dog.
Really panicky about everything, including some really plainly obvious stuff.
They were really hard work.

You have made a lot of random assumptions on first time buyers based on nothing.

I'm a first time buyer... I'm a cash buyer, so no mortgage/LVT checks/refusal/applications, I'm not living pay check to pay check, I'm not 'young' (middle aged mam of 3), I don't live at home with parents (in fact my mam has passed away but I have lived separate from my parents for 20 years), I'm not buying a 'flat', I'm also disabled so not on LinkedIn (very abelist view) and In a perfect world I'm looking to complete in 28 days like you would at auction (although can be flexible if the SELLER needs longer).

Not one thing on your list of reasons why FTB are bad applies to be as a FTB.

Merely talking about my own personal experience. It’s often assumed that selling to a FTB will speed up the purchasing process. Our experiences have been anything but. I’m not extrapolating to all FTBs but sharing a counterpoint and potential reasons why it’s not always preferable.

I would only go with FTB if someone who sold already and in rented. Otherwise people are very choosy or their chain can be broken easily or they say that they will go into rental and they never do, they try to avoid this at all costs.

Cash buyer
No chain
Who wants to live in the property themselves