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.

We were in same situation, mortgage in principle but our house wasn’t on the market. We said we were happy for the EA selling the house to sell ours as well if our offer was accepted. That way the sellers had first hand information about our progress (we got an offer 2 weeks later) and all was smooth!

By 'modernising' do you mean made to look more modern or needs nuking?
If it needs things like new wiring, windows, roof etc then it will be £££ and then some. Not RTFT

Good luck!

We weren't even looking to move when we saw our current house! Saw it, loved it, made an offer which was accepted! I think a lot depends on your current house? We sold ours on the first day!

Same round here. Never heard of it being a thing, tbh.
We sold a house last year and had all sorts of people viewing in all sorts of scenarios, though we didn't specify any restrictions as I didn't know that was a thing.

We don't have our house on the market and were allowed to view a house a few weeks ago. Very honest with the EA that we would only consider selling if the house worked. It didn't we preferred our own house and the agent is still sending us other houses to consider. Go for it, offer what you can, get yours on the market and good luck.

In this area, the board has the For Sale band removed when the vendor has accepted an offer and the board reads Sold. In small letters underneath are SSTC.

One or two agents market as Under Offer and the odd one has something more quirky. Following exchange, at the end of last year, our board was removed and that’s usual here too.

Different areas, different procedures.

BUY WITH YOUR HEAD NOT YOUR HEART. You will need far more money than you think to do up something that obviously needs work . If it's a huge job and you don't have multiple skills/ a family member who's a builder then walk away.

Also viewed a house when we weren't on the market, it can work well for the EA as they then get you as a customer as they reiterate how incentivised they are to sell you to get 2 sales through.

We couldn't offer until we had an offer (understandably) and sadly at the time it didn't happen for us as someone beat us, but we ended up getting a buyer and an even better house about 6 months later. All worked out in the end, I'm sure it will for you too.

Good luck OP, fingers crossed for you.

Good luck! Don't be too eager, be cool and umm and ahh a bit about the negatives if it's been on over 6 months then I doubt there's a big queue

Do you think your house would be highly sought after? Are you going to price it competitively? Good luck. Love 1930s houses. .

How come you are only viewing it now if it’s been on the market 6 months?

The reason they are letting you view is because they are gaining a listing out of it (your house). This is a common tactic with agents. As long as you list yours with them for a price it will sell at you may well be in with a chance. It’s in the agents interest for you to buy it as they’ll get double commission from your sale and you buying the house they’ve also got listed.

The common mistake people make in your position is falling in love with a house but simultaneously listing their own for the maximum price. This will not allow for a quick sale and will leave more time for someone in a position to proceed to offer on the house you want.

As long as you’re realistic with your asking price for your home it should go smoothly.

Good luck!

Make sure you secure a good price for your house before putting in offers. Put in a very low first offer, they can always say no and you can always go up not down. Don't underestimate renovation costs they have escalated an awful lot in the last few years.
Good luck, when we bought our house it was a wreck, now it’s beautiful and I’ve no regrets about buying it.

Not England presumably

no ea or vendor in their right mind would have SOLD sign up after they have simply accepted an offer!

This surely only works if you are buying and selling in the same area and country?

EA allowed you a viewing as you indicated that you’d put your house on market either them. It means 2 commissions in one sale for them . So it’s on your side.
If they are older people they might be very attached to the house emotionally and slow in finding their next place. it could explain why they’re on the market so long. A lot of people don’t like to wait. And if you are emotionally attached you don’t take comments like “the house needs a lot of work” lightly as you like the house. So I would go in, look around, make notes and do only positive comments and then sit with DH and think carefully. You have to be realistic, it’s rare just one thing - redoing electrics usually means that you need to redecorate after and so on. It’s not a problem if you are ready for it financially, mentally and physically, it’s only a problem if you are not ready.
By the way I would think about what important to you and make a list. I wouldn’t waste time on obvious questions which you can check on floor plan or photos. Ime EAs don’t like long viewings so you have to be organized.
Good luck !

Many elderly people who have been in their houses their whole lives want to sell to nice families over and above price alone. So if you have cute kids who behave well, take them along! Also do not be rude in front of them (if they are ever there) about what needs updating.
Quite often anything that is not unsafe per se does not actually need updating urgently anyway. It is best to do a full survey and only deal with urgent unsafe issues. Often roofs will be highlighted as needing replacing when that is not correct (repairs can be fine and reusing tiles etc). If they are not there, write them a really nice letter.

Do you live in a house that is likely to sell quickly? speak to the EA and ask them to be clear with the vendor that they don’t have concerns about our house selling etc. I know that our house would sell very quickly (obvs at the right price, but all the similar houses locally have multiple offers etc) so I wouldn’t worry about viewing a house if mine wasn’t sold yet.

The trick is always to incentivise the estate agents selling your dream house - so you let them sell your house too…

This is also true! We took along our three year old DD and one year old DS. The vendors were absolutely charmed by DD wanting to choose her bedroom, and when in conversation it emerged that my family and theirs were in the same profession I could almost hear them mentally ticking off the boxes.

It won’t be a factor most of the time, but when it is it can be very powerful for the vendor to know that ‘their’ home will be in what they see as ‘good hands’.

I would say try to relax. You’ve said you really want them to know how keen you are - sometimes that helps, but if you’re hoping to negotiate a lower price and you’re not able to move quickly, they’ll know they can hold out for a higher offer. So obviously you need to get your house on the market, that’s a given, but also if you want to negotiate than they have to believe that you are prepared to walk away if you don’t get the price you want. Our house was on the market £450k, and we bought it for just over £420k, because my husband made it clear that we weren’t going to budge on the price and would walk if they said no.

“Sale would be the deposit”.

Hmmm, not wanting to rain on any parades but this isn’t ideal. It means that the vendors would have to wait until you had put your house on the market, found a proceedable buyer, exchanged contracts and completed the entirety of your own sale before you would be in a position even to exchange contracts on the purchase of your dream home.

The fact this house has been on the market since Oct suggests people aren’t chomping at the bit for it which is obviously helpful but if anyone else does come along then chances are they will be more “proceedable” than you.

Is there any way you can borrow the deposit (family member, some sort of bridging loan?) if need be?

It'll be because it's not selling - EAs with a lot of interest can afford to be fussy but become a lot less particular if a property languishes

As PPs have said, if you want to offer just make sure you have sufficient funds for the work needed and be careful to get proper inspections done

Rooting for you OP! I wish we could move but the thought of doing it with 3 small children - and obv no budget haha - means this is a pipe dream for now. I really hope it works out for you xxxx