House Prices #2 Property market, buying and selling

[Nnrr46]

Not just you, I feel exactly the same!

I’ve been looking for a couple of months and only seen two properties that I liked, and that’s after I lowered my expectations a lot. It’s not even a budget issue - there’s just nothing being listed.

Everyone says register with EAs and they'll show you properties before they hit Rightmove but I've found 95% of EAs won't do this. Why would they bother calling when they have 30 people interested the second it goes online? That said, I've been speaking to one agent who's amazing. I saw a property today that won't be on the market for another two weeks, as she thought it might be suitable for me. Dealing with EAs is painful but it's worth persevering a bit in the hope you find one that's helpful!

If you haven't already, make sure EAs know you're proceedable - no chain, decent deposit, mortgage AIP - whatever you can give them. If you make an offer that gets rejected, EAs seem to be nicer to you. I like to think it's because they feel bad but really it's because they know you're serious about buying.

Another tip I've seen is try social media - local Facebook groups (as suggested on here by @champagne_supernova!) or local estate agent FB / Instagram. I've heard of a few successes with leafleting your favourite roads, it's more effort but could be worth it if you're desperate. OnTheMarket apparently lists properties 24h before Rightmove.

Otherwise, I am hoping more places come up in September, when people are back from summer holidays. And maybe the market will slow down a bit given rate rises and cost of living increases?

To be honest though, the best tip I've gotten is just not to panic and come to terms with the idea it might take a while to find somewhere. Easier said than done with everything going on right now though! It might just be that I'm a chronic overthinker and every else is super chill, but the process was driving me crazy, I was losing my mind refreshing Rightmove and seeing nothing. Either that or accept you'll have to look at places that are very different to what you initially wanted - new areas, properties that need renovating, etc.

Naive me thought saving the deposit was the hard part and finding a house was fun - I was so wrong!

Good luck with it all!

Thank you so much, everything you have said is literally me! Ive saved so hard over 5 years for a good deposit so its not the budget thats the issue its just that theres nothing! Im refreshing rightmove/zoopla on the hour haha and I keep telling myself to be patient but im such an overthinker. Im scared rates are going to go up so much I cant afford anything. Ive been saving so hard for years, so excited for 2022 thinking finally buying a house would be so fun and its just been so disappointing. Ive spoken to many estate agents but they just dont seem nice, if they send a house im not keen on (because of the area or layout) then they get all funny and rude with me. Im on the facebook groups, leaflets could be a good idea but ive no idea what to write! Were looking at a lot of areas too, haven't just limited ourselves to one. The thing is Im happy to get an older house that needs work, im not that fussy with what I want, just as long as the taps run water, the bedrooms fit a bed in them and there isnt thick black mold on the walls. We've viewed some awful houses
Good luck to you too!

 

[Anne1448]

Im just struggling to find any decent houses is it just me? Property prices are just going up and up, interest rates are getting ridiculous. Its stressing me out. I generally think the estate agents are hiding the good houses! I need advice

It's not just you.

I've been saving for well over a year now and viewed 3 houses but there is literally nothing decent.

When I find homes in my budget they are either derelict or sooo overpriced for the size.

 

[Nnrr46]

It's not just you.

I've been saving for well over a year now and viewed 3 houses but there is literally nothing decent.

When I find homes in my budget they are either derelict or sooo overpriced for the size.

Yes these tiny houses were you can just about fit a single bed in the second/third bedroom and no room for even a small dining table in the living room and they are asking for £400k plus where im looking. So overpriced. Im glad its not just me, I was starting to think its me thats the problem

 

[JoeBloggs]

It's not just you.

I've been saving for well over a year now and viewed 3 houses but there is literally nothing decent.

When I find homes in my budget they are either derelict or sooo overpriced for the size.

I don't think this is anything new, this was us 5 years ago. In the end we had to move 20 miles out to be able to afford anything that was derelict or a box. We went to see one with a hole in the ceiling and was told by the estate agent it needed a lick of paint. Ours still needed a full renovation and we had a very healthy budget for the SE.

 

[Nnrr46]

I don't think this is anything new, this was us 5 years ago. In the end we had to move 20 miles out to be able to afford anything that was derelict or a box. We went to see one with a hole in the ceiling and was told by the estate agent it needed a lick of paint. Ours still needed a full renovation and we had a very healthy budget for the SE.

I was always looking at houses over the last few years even though i wasnt ready to buy yet. I thought my budget would be lower than it was then too, and there seemed to be lots of decent properties in the areas i was looking. But this year there just seems to be nothing I know obviously house prices have gone up over the years but they just seem ridiculous now. And with interest rates going up im scared I wont be able to afford anything

Also does anyone else just get so frustrated with how the estate egents dont give a tit anymore. Like you view a house and they just stand at the front door, dont tell you anything about the house. Any basic questions I do ask, like where is the boiler, have the sellers found somewhere yet.. they dont know the answers to. And then they are like 'final offers by tomorrow morning'. Like what are you actually getting paid to do. And dont get me started on the smug faces and fake smiles. I know its not all of them, but most are just no help at all

 

[Anne1448]

I love that E all live in different countries yet our experiences have been similar.

I still remember visiting a townhouse where half of the house was gone. As in, there was no flooring on the second floor and half of the wall was gone. The agent was like "use your imagination"

 

[CatCafe234]

To be fair, agents being useless is not a new thing. We bought seven years ago and they were awful then, I don’t recall a single one who actually did a viewing with us or who was proactive in showing us properties. In one house, the owner worked nights and was asleep upstairs during the viewing, so we weren’t allowed to go upstairs at all. The agent couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t put an offer in, despite not having seen all of the house …

 

[JoeBloggs]

I was always looking at houses over the last few years even though i wasnt ready to buy yet. I thought my budget would be lower than it was then too, and there seemed to be lots of decent properties in the areas i was looking. But this year there just seems to be nothing I know obviously house prices have gone up over the years but they just seem ridiculous now. And with interest rates going up im scared I wont be able to afford anything

Also does anyone else just get so frustrated with how the estate egents dont give a tit anymore. Like you view a house and they just stand at the front door, dont tell you anything about the house. Any basic questions I do ask, like where is the boiler, have the sellers found somewhere yet.. they dont know the answers to. And then they are like 'final offers by tomorrow morning'. Like what are you actually getting paid to do. And dont get me started on the smug faces and fake smiles. I know its not all of them, but most are just no help at all

Thing is estate agents no longer need to work for the sale, there us such a limited housing stock there is always going to be a buyer.

 

[Nnrr46]

To be fair, agents being useless is not a new thing. We bought seven years ago and they were awful then, I don’t recall a single one who actually did a viewing with us or who was practice in showing us properties. In one house, the owner worked nights and was asleep upstairs during the viewing, so we weren’t allowed to go upstairs at all. The agent couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t put an offer in, despite not having seen all of the house …

God that sounds awful haha

Thing is estate agents no longer need to work for the sale, there us such a limited housing stock there is always going to be a buyer.

Its just how they stand there so smug like 'put in an offer or not, we dont care'. Or if you try to view somewhere and they are only doing one open day that I cant make because im working etc. They are just like 'not my problem'.

 

[Holidaybobs]

When we were viewing, we were looking at houses with well known/reputable estate agents and they couldn’t even operate the light systems he’d spent 10 minutes gushing about

 

[a.pain]

When we were looking for our house, I posted on all the local fb groups and all people did was sign post me to their houses that were already on rightmove, like that wasn’t the first place I looked every day. Or people would say they were selling but were in the process of it being advertised anyway.

When our first purchase fell through, I emailed the estate agent saying it was a shame her client had changed his mind etc, we were obviously keen and our mortgage had been offered, could she keep us in mind for any future listings she got. Zero response. Thought that was really poor considering we were half way through a purchase that her client had pulled from under our feet. She could have at least acknowledged us or even added us to their generic mailing list! They just don’t care because they no longer need to work for the sale in this market

 

[Notworthy]

Estate Agency has a pretty low bar for entry so it's littered with young people that can't be bothered.

 

[Nnrr46]

When we were looking for our house, I posted on all the local fb groups and all people did was sign post me to their houses that were already on rightmove, like that wasn’t the first place I looked every day. Or people would say they were selling but were in the process of it being advertised anyway.

When our first purchase fell through, I emailed the estate agent saying it was a shame her client had changed his mind etc, we were obviously keen and our mortgage had been offered, could she keep us in mind for any future listings she got. Zero response. Thought that was really poor considering we were half way through a purchase that her client had pulled from under our feet. She could have at least acknowledged us or even added us to their generic mailing list! They just don’t care because they no longer need to work for the sale in this market

Sorry to hear this.similar thing happened to us, found a perfect house and then it all fell through. We told the estate agent to please let us know if anything else comes up as our mortgage app had been accepted and we are all ready to go, that was in April and they have never contacted us since. Weve been viewing houses since with other estate agents but no luck. Our mortgage app runs out next month so now having to deal with the increased rates. Its nice to hear were not the only ones going through this though. So glad I found this thread

 

[Princesst]

When we were looking for our house, I posted on all the local fb groups and all people did was sign post me to their houses that were already on rightmove, like that wasn’t the first place I looked every day. Or people would say they were selling but were in the process of it being advertised anyway.

When our first purchase fell through, I emailed the estate agent saying it was a shame her client had changed his mind etc, we were obviously keen and our mortgage had been offered, could she keep us in mind for any future listings she got. Zero response. Thought that was really poor considering we were half way through a purchase that her client had pulled from under our feet. She could have at least acknowledged us or even added us to their generic mailing list! They just don’t care because they no longer need to work for the sale in this market

This is just awful . When our purchase fell through because the seller decided they wanted more money (didn’t even give us the chance to pay it, just put it back on right move for 75k more!) their estate agent refused to even answer the phone to us and never returned our call. We contacted the area manager in the end and he forced her to call us and she said it was nothing to do with her, speak to the solicitor. She didn’t mind calling us every week to check on our progress though until it was actually her client pulled out on the whole thing! I have family members who are estate agents so know they are real people who must have souls somewhere but from my experience of being a buyer and viewings etc I have no idea how they get away with the things they do. It’s so wrong. Even just from a moral perspective I don’t know how they sleep at night when peoples lives are quite often ruined. The whole process needs a total overall I think! We gave up in the end and just stayed put as it was just too stressful.

 

[whoareyouu]

When we were looking for our house, I posted on all the local fb groups and all people did was sign post me to their houses that were already on rightmove, like that wasn’t the first place I looked every day. Or people would say they were selling but were in the process of it being advertised anyway.

When our first purchase fell through, I emailed the estate agent saying it was a shame her client had changed his mind etc, we were obviously keen and our mortgage had been offered, could she keep us in mind for any future listings she got. Zero response. Thought that was really poor considering we were half way through a purchase that her client had pulled from under our feet. She could have at least acknowledged us or even added us to their generic mailing list! They just don’t care because they no longer need to work for the sale in this market

That is so rude of them! I think they’ll get a shock when things eventually slow down…

 

[JoeBloggs]

Estate Agency has a pretty low bar for entry so it's littered with young people that can't be bothered.

It really does, my husbands best friend returned from a few years in Canada with no previous experience and is now and estate agent. He's not the brightest bulb, bless him. I have been in property for over 8 years and when I tried to talk to him about a flat he was thinking of buying he genuinely had no idea about anything!

 

[Branched]

On the topic of useless estate agents, I had a call today from a consultant at one of the agencies I'm registered with. Said his job was to get me to go through their mortgage brokers and solicitors give me some insight on the market and guide me through the process.

Unfortunately he didn't seem to know much about the market or the process at all. He confirmed at the start that I was looking for a 2 bed flat in a specific area, with a max budget of £x. He then said "oh you want a new build" and I had to correct him that the area is a conservation area and all the flats are in converted period houses. It takes 30 seconds on Google to see that.

He then went on to mention schemes that are available to me and told me that with my requirements and as a first time buyer, I could use the help to buy scheme. He seemed surprised when I pointed out that 1) HTB is for new builds and see my previous point, and 2) my budget is significantly above the property price limit for HTB.

Why do they pay these people?

 

[Nnrr46]

On the topic of useless estate agents, I had a call today from a consultant at one of the agencies I'm registered with. Said his job was to get me to go through their mortgage brokers and solicitors give me some insight on the market and guide me through the process.

Unfortunately he didn't seem to know much about the market or the process at all. He confirmed at the start that I was looking for a 2 bed flat in a specific area, with a max budget of £x. He then said "oh you want a new build" and I had to correct him that the area is a conservation area and all the flats are in converted period houses. It takes 30 seconds on Google to see that.

He then went on to mention schemes that are available to me and told me that with my requirements and as a first time buyer, I could use the help to buy scheme. He seemed surprised when I pointed out that 1) HTB is for new builds and see my previous point, and 2) my budget is significantly above the property price limit for HTB.

Why do they pay these people?

Its actually embarrassing how clueless some of them are. Its like someones already said, they are in for a big shock when things start to slow down and they actually have to pull their finger out

 

[champagne_supernova]

I've mentioned previously I'm on my 2nd sale. First sale fell through at the last minute due to my buyers sale falling through.
My current sale seemed to be going well. I had a call from the estate agent last week saying that my buyer and her friend wanted to come round and measure up for stuff. The EA said it would have to be after 5pm and I would need to be at home.
My buyer turned up with a surveyor in tow, a relative, who wanted to go through all the points raised on the survey - reassuring me she still wanted the house.
Obviously she is well within her rights to but I was really taken aback considering I thought she was coming to measure up - I'd even got my tape measure out to help her!
They started talking about work which may need doing in the future. I'm thinking and expect she is going to knock me down in price.
Just having a rant/moan really as the house selling process has been so stressful for me on top of lifes stresses. Never again

 

[HoGi]

I've mentioned previously I'm on my 2nd sale. First sale fell through at the last minute due to my buyers sale falling through.
My current sale seemed to be going well. I had a call from the estate agent last week saying that my buyer and her friend wanted to come round and measure up for stuff. The EA said it would have to be after 5pm and I would need to be at home.
My buyer turned up with a surveyor in tow, a relative, who wanted to go through all the points raised on the survey - reassuring me she still wanted the house.
Obviously she is well within her rights to but I was really taken aback considering I thought she was coming to measure up - I'd even got my tape measure out to help her!
They started talking about work which may need doing in the future. I'm thinking and expect she is going to knock me down in price.
Just having a rant/moan really as the house selling process has been so stressful for me on top of lifes stresses. Never again

I had the same thing happen. And sadly it ended with them pulling out.

I was told they want to measure up and are bringing dad with them as he is a builder. The house did need work, but it was priced accordingly (around 80k less than "done" houses in the area)

They were there ages. Didn't measure anything. Lots of muttering and whispering.

Next day 9:10 phone goes and it's the EA and I just knew.

We were meant to be exchanging that day as well