Going to view a house today that I want badly !

[skidamarinkadinka]

Gorgeous 1930s detached house, needs alot of modernising, huge garden, big drive and garage. It's on a main road into town but all the houses on this road are the same and just so lovely to look at.
We are not on the market yet but plan to get the same estate agents to list us asap. We need to move, we've outgrew this house in the last two years.
They want £450k. It was reduced in October.
Feedback has been the main road putting people off and also the work that will need doing.
How can we up our chances ?
We can probably go upto £430k but that would be the maximum.

Share the listing! We want to see it. Good luck and I hope it all works out!

But if the amount of work needed is putting off buyers to the extent it’s been on the market for ages and has been reduced with no takers since October, I’m assuming it’s way more than cosmetic. It seems a bit optimistic to think it’s likely to be sound and liveable.

We viewed a house, went for a second viewing and then put an offer in (and had the offer accepted, which was a chunk below asking) before we put ours on the market so it's definitely doable. Ours sold in less than a month, so from first viewing to completion the whole thing took just under 6 months which isn't especially long in the current market!

Similar to the OP though, we were buying a fixer-upper and it needed a lot of work. It has cost more than we initially realised and taken longer than we initially accounted for to get it to some semblance of a home. It's been gruelling!

Good luck , I hope you manage to get your dream.

Nothing wrong with a bit of optimism though !
It will need a rewire, we're certain of that. And probably a new boiler.

We’ve just sold ours - someone came to view that didn’t even have theirs on the market (I didn't realise the EA agreed to this at the time and had a conversation afterwards about only having people who were at least on the market look round).

Anyway the feedback was all how interested he was, he definitely wanted it, was going to get his on the market straight away. He actually knows a few of our neighbours who all mentioned it to us and how keen he was. Meanwhile though we had two separate offers from buyers who WERE in a position to proceed - one of asking and the one we accepted which was over asking price.

Have had a few sidelong glances from the neighbours since who were all keen to get him moved in, and it’s a shame and all, but with the best will in the world we needed to sell ours to move ourselves and how keen he was didn’t mean that much to us compared to someone being in a position to make a realistic offer.

It happened to us to, in the time when we had a lot of interest but before we had an actual offer we viewed a house we loved and I absolutely would have offered then and there if we could have. Sadly it went before we were in a position to do anything about it. We decided after that not to bother viewing anything till we’d sold ours - have since offered and been accepted on another property which I’m happy about but if I’m honest still would have preferred the first one!

Im not sure how it is where you are but things around that budget here are the ones getting snapped up and there’s not usually room for offers/ flexibility until you’re at the 600k ish point. Literally everything we viewed at a lower price point went quickly and went for asking price - so the fact that this one hasn’t moved in so long would raise some bigger questions for me. I think you need to be realistic about how much work needs doing, how much that’s going to cost and what the impact is going to be on you of living in it not done to a standard you like, and then whilst all the work is going on. Some people are fine with that - I’m less so although the one we’ve bought will in fact need a lot done, but mostly just cosmetic. Also be realistic about what working on a busy main road will be like - do you have kids? What will be the impact on your commute, the school run, safety, road noise. Is there parking - enough for if you have visitors as well? Can everyone passing on the number 38 into town see directly into your living room or lounge?

Maybe try to sound out the EA about whether there have been previous offers too, will give you an idea of how likely it is one would be accepted.

Good luck OP, really hope it all works out for you.

“but it is overpriced for the work that needs doing that's for sure”

Well then just make sure you don’t pay over the odds. If it’s still on the market having been reduced almost 6 months ago then clearly everyone else who has viewed also thinks it’s overpriced. Sounds like even 430k might be too much so I’d be inclined to go lower than that.

It will no doubt be even worse in person than on the photos. When you look round, keep a mental note of everything that would need doing as leverage for a lower offer. Do your research for what others in the area have gone for as a comparison, their condition etc.

Is your house ready for estate agent photos this week? If not, get decluttering, tidying and mow the grass. And speak to them for their terms etc so that you can read and agree. Sound super keen to sell.

It’s not true that you have to have an offer on your property before viewing. Some EAs/ vendors may insist on it but not all. We viewed and offered on ours without having received an offer on our previous property. As long as you are honest about it it’s up to the vendors

Hi, if this is the case and you love the house and want it to be your forever home, let the sellers know this. Tell them how much you love it. Don’t say anything about the changes you’d like to make.

It’s their forever home and they must be very sad to sell it. They’ll want it to go to someone who understands their attachment to it and all the memories they have in it. And who respects things they’ve done to it, like bushes and trees they’ve nurtured in the garden. They won’t want someone who ruthlessly views it as a project and will rip everything out. It’s their life and they won’t ever get over moving out, even if they love the next place.

So, if they’re there show them respect in this sense and mean it. They may well prefer to sell it to a family they love and can imagine being happy in their house, than a developer who’ll ruthlessly see it as a way to cash in.

Good luck!

We offered before we sold, and so did someone else on the same house. They basically said come back when you've sold. They sold first. They got the house.

You also need to consider what state the house might be in. Recently a friend offered on a similar age house, and the 104 page survey showed around £200k of things that needed immediately fixing, with around about another £200k of things that would need doing in the next 5-10 years. Also it would have been major innovation work while they were living there: roof needed full replacing, one of the walls needed repointing, asbestos in the ceiling which was crumbling...
So just because you love it from a distance, don't skimp on the survey.

But if it's been on so long, it may also be because they're holding out for the full price which it isn't worth. That's what happened to our current house. We put in a low offer (which was a stretch for us), refused, and the estate agent said they'd refused everything so far. Six months later it was repossessed and we got it for just under half price (house prices had fallen quite badly in those 6 months, so it wasn't as good as that sounded).

We were in this position - offered asking, because we wanted the house and that’s how much they wanted for it, so both happy. Seller accepted as long as we sold within a certain time frame. Listed with same agent who was then motivated to sell ours as it meant 2 sales for him. Good luck!

Good luck op. Just don’t underestimate the work. The price of work and materials has really really shot up

It is so hard to do but try and view with your head not your heart. This is a house, if you don’t get it there will be others. Try not to get emotionally invested in something that you might not be able to get. Think of it as a first date with a bloke who might be your type on paper, but there’s an awful lot more to find out before you can decide if he’s The One and you know he’s still on the dating apps so he’s not fully committed to you yet…..
Good luck.

We had mortgage in principle and so were allowed to move our current house even though we weren’t on the market.

As soon as we saw our new one we put old house on the market. But we knew our old house would go quickly as it was on a popular road in school catchment of a primary and two secondary schools. One road either way and out of catchment for one of secondary.

good luck!

We were in your exact situation. We viewed the house, told EA we wanted it same day and set the wheels in motion to get listed with them. That took a week with contracts, photos etc. We chose a price that made our house attractive. We got 5 offers in the first week and picked the chain free offer. With that in hand, we were able to then offer on the house. It was accepted and we moved in 3 months later.

It was nail biting, for that two week period but we did make it clear to the EA that we were only interested in said property and if we didn't get it, we wouldn't sell. As they had two sales riding on it I think that helped.

Good luck!

Please don’t get your hopes up. I viewed a house that I really wanted (which had been on the market for months) and out mine on the market within days. My house then took ages to sell which was unexpected and I lost out on the house I loved. It’s much better to view houses once you are under offer as you are then in a strong position.

Remember that any work needed will take probably a lot of time and money. Do you really want to spend the next few years spending every spare penny on your house trying to make it perfect? You said yourself these things take years to do. All the while your kids are growing up. Perhaps by the time it's complete they will be close to leaving home. So your vision of the perfect family home may never be truly realised.
Go and see it but be realistic about what you can do with it

Lots of people these days won’t live in something that needs a lot of work. They want it all done up to the nines. If the sellers are living there, it’s liveable in and the work can be done gradually. You can live in a house without heating for a couple of years, unless you have health problems. As long as the electrics are safe and nothing’s about to fall down, it’s liveable in.

In my experience most EAs will let you view even if your house is not on the market. I’ve done it a lot

We viewed a house before our wasn’t on the market. We wanted to move but had a very clear lit of criteria which meant quite a small pool of suitable homes. We told the truth, loved the house, marketed ours with the same agent, accepted that the house we wanted might sell in the meantime but assured them we’d be back with an offer if it hadn’t. Agent marketed ours sensibly but it was just before Christmas so took a few months to sell. Got asking price, offered on ours and we moved in about 7 or 8 months after initially viewing.
My advice is to be honest and upfront from the beginning, and keep talking to the agent - with two properties to sell together, they are usually quite enthusiastic and helpful! Good luck!