Property buying support thread

[HinzKunz]

Anyone interested in a buying support thread? There’s a few selling ones but we’ve sold already but I’m finding the search process no easier than selling.
There’s not much coming to the market despite agents pretending there will be an autumn rush before Xmas. At the same time rates are going up which is scary.
if you’re hoping to buy how is it going?

Im just watching from the side lines with a view to maybe move mid or end of next year. I feel like waiting will get us a better price on what we want as prices fall. We are lucky enough to be mortgage free and won't sell this house on the open market.
My search area is a bit like yours. Not much suitable coming on and when it does its not priced realistically. So waiting..

We are waiting for exchange on our sale but we are not buying yet. Off into rental until things get realistic. Viewed a few properties but tbh new builds were offering more square ft and value for money than what is on the market. Its very uncomfortable for people at the mo because the reality of house prices dropping is not easy to swallow. Same for us when we were selling. We had looked locally at house prices but when you delve deeper it was a shock what prices were actually achieving. Read that the oct budget is holding people off listing. Realistically what is left on the market is overpriced stock.

Looking to buy and 'upsize' to detached. There's not much coming onto the market in many of the price brackets round here. But if anything half decent is listed it doesn't stay on long, so need to be selling too. Will we manage both, who knows! (Luckily we don't have to but do want to. :) )

We are already in rental. I have to say I thought it was the best choice but now we’re here I worry we’ll be stuck for ages eating into our capital whilst rates increase and it takes months for ppl to realise their house is worth less than it was in 2023.

I think that’s it. Those that don’t have to sell aren’t. I guess mortgage rates may push ppl into having to sell which would be really sad.

I feel your pain. We are not managing to sell our home, and also can't find anything we really want to buy! There are streets and houses we'd like in our chosen town, but none of them are on the market and there's very little choice.

I was discussing this with my husband, he was telling me of a colleague who had been in rental fir 22months before she found her ideal home, she did say it was worth it, we are not using any house money to rent, it wont be what we are used to but hey ho its a means to an end. We wont need a mortgage either so I guess we are lucky in that respect. My plan is to rent for 6months and reasses after that. I think by jan 2027 things are going to look alot different. Plus you will get the new yr optimism of houses coming on, there were loads last jan to apr then its been crickets. I literally could have bought 5 homes at the beginning of the yr but we hadnt sold. Are you looking for something specific, we just want a 3 bed detached with garage at a realistic price. Here they go for 295k realistically but recently they have been bumped up to 350k which is rediculous.

Yes we started looking at Rightmove in spring 2025 just to get a feel for the market and there was loads id happily have bought.

I think we actually got lucky with our sale in spring this year and I’m grateful there were no hiccups but it’s so depressing searching Rightmove and nothing new coming on whilst sat in a rental and being more than ready to move.

there have been a few reductions in the area today but again nothing new has come on sadly

I’m both buying and selling (x2 of each!) and things have gone very flat over the last 3/4 weeks. My agents also predicted an uptick after the end of the summer holidays - we’ve had a steady 2 viewings a week until then. And nothing much of interest is being listed. We’ve seen some houses that have been very overpriced that have subsequently just been take off the market when they didn’t sell instead of the sellers dropping the price.

Things can change so quickly tho, i dont think the market will be flooded with properties but 1 or 2 may come on that have to sell.

I’m buying, finding it the same as a lot of you. Very little coming on the market, and it is overpriced. So the ‘falling house prices’ isn’t really happening for me, as the lack is driving up the prices if it’s a house that doesn’t need work and a desirable location. I’m expanding my search area a bit but reluctant to go too far off target. I didn’t actually need to move, I wanted to do so to go to a few specific areas. The wider areas I’m looking at are pretty much like where I’ve just sold.

I go into a rental in a couple of weeks and not looking forward to it. It’s a tiny studio, and I have a cat. London rental prices are insane though so I’ll make it work, just hoping it won’t be too many months. I won’t need a mortgage, so mortgage rates aren’t in the equation for me.

We saw two houses houses yesterday. Both were via agents but ‚off market‘. I asked one of the agent what the point of not putting houses on Rightmove was and he admitted it’s cos the seller ‚doesn’t want it sitting there for months which may affect the value‘. Makes sense from the seller‘s perspective but it made me think they weren’t serious about selling. Also not having photos or floorplans is a right pain. Anyone else come across this?

I mean assuming you like the property I would want to know alot more. I'd say they are testing the market. Some people just dont want others to know they are moving. As for price, people will only pay what they think its worth. The market dictates. So I think they think they are being exclusive but in reality no.
I mean today homes are on the market for along time. People understand lenders are tight. So seeing properties on for a while, especially in the higher brackets is not unusual.
I'd want to know their plan and reasons for moving and how proactive they were going to be. You are right to be suspicious tho and id tell the estate agent that, if you really like the house. They will pass that info on. The info you get back will be more telling.

I was invited to view one of those ‘off market’ ones with no photos or floor plan. I agreed, as I was in the area anyway. But then looked up the flood risk and it was awful for that particular house. I’m not keen at all on the ‘no photos’ etc thing, it’s unnecessary, and makes me think they’re not serious. My own house was ‘off market’ for a week or so but that was to test the price before Rightmove, and photos and description etc were sent out to the EA’s mailing list.

I saw 3 houses at the weekend, all no-go’s. I stretched outside my key area by about a 15 minute walk in all directions and didn’t like the areas much, which tbh has put me off the key area a bit. I’ve started re-looking at other completely different areas that were second choices but I need to reconsider. I don’t want to be in a tiny rental for many, many months. Panicking a bit at how little is coming on the market. I’ve sold in London, and looking at a different part (now parts) of London. Got some seller’s remorse tbh!

Shameless self-promotion. Check out my thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4935470-tools-for-house-buyers

Rather than read all the way through, check out the most important tool - a RM add-in called area360 (google it). It augments the RM listing with more details of the property and has links to area profile as well.

Generally, following the UK Property Market Stats show on YT, it seems as though all the usual trends for listings and sales are within normal tolerances. Listings will tail off all the way to the end of the year now.

Very useful. Thanks

Thank you! I shall take a look!

Anyone do any viewings at the weekend? I did a couple. One of them revealed they had a lodger for the next 8 months, so couldn’t move until then as he’s only just signed the contract (do lodgers even have contracts?). Why put it on the market then? I’d told the EA as well that I need to move asap as in rental.

There are a grand total of 3 properties that we would be able to move to currently but our flat isn't selling. We're switching agents and reducing the price on Tuesday but until then, we're just sitting twiddling our thumbs and hoping the properties don't sell before we can go look at them

I sold already, thinking I would start putting offers in when I was about a month away from exchange, so I wasn’t caught up in a chain and was pretty sure my sale would go through (always planned a short time in rental). Hasn’t worked out like that at all, I’m now due to complete and there is nothing I want to offer on. I was outbid on the one house I did offer on.

I hope you get some traction on the flat sale soon.

We didn’t have any viewings this week.

Seeing a new build tomorrow. Not sure I’m keen but will take a look…

other than that a house came on that’s a bit overpriced. I’d go look at it but when I rang the agent said they had an offer 10% above asking. I asked what idiot would do that im the current market and he said the person offering hasn’t sold their house yet so they made a crazy offer to ‚secure the house‘ whilst they wait to get a taker on their house. He suspects once they sell their house they will reduce their offer under the pretext of not ‚selling for as much as they hoped‘. Meanwhile the seller won’t engage with any other offers below that. I told him I wish the seller luck. I’d be a fool to even go view it - total waste of time!

I’ll hand it to the potential buyer - it’s risky but they may get away with it.

@ This just proves no one can be trusted in the property game. You have to trust your own gut. Never wait for a person to sell their home no matter what offer. When it comes to money people are devious and ruthless. They string you along. Waste your time. People are easily fooled by pound signs.

As for the new builds, we viewed 1 a few weeks back and were shocked how spacious it was, we were impressed. Obv not all developers are equal and some sites are awful. I was no to new builds but compared to what else is on the market, my mind is swaying towards them.

Joining tentatively as I won’t be able to buy until next to year and i haven’t seen a broker yet. I’m not in a great position - early 50s, average income, buying alone - but I’m done with renting. A relative who gifted me some of my deposit money wants me to buy a flat but having done tons of research on the market I think a freehold house is better overall and not a new build.

House prices in the seaside town I’m looking at have gone down in price a little this year (but are still quite high compared to other seaside towns in the north west). It’s the interest rates I’m concerned about.

That sounds promising for you!

it’s one of two newbuilds on a street with holder properties. I suspect the garden is too small for us