Property Buying - Protocol

[Wowitsme]

She’s composing an email:

Dear Mr Bank, sir,

I would like you to give me 129k. Please meet me in ASDA car park tonight at midnight for the exchange.

Not that it’s any of your business because you work for me , but I will be using these funds to purchase a home.

if you do not respond to this very reasonable email , I will have to leave you a bad review !

yours,
Deluded

omg dead

 

[JoeBloggs]

I saw that too. I think she was saying she’d never be humble as she was a Tattler.

And then someone called her a bellend

What a delight. No wonder no one replies to her emails!

 

[Thelife&times]

There is some very sound advice here!

Be careful with the higher offers.
I offered the asking price for my home which was accepted. However when the survey was done on the home it was valued at £7K less! The bank were then only willing to lend me the value of the home, but buyer didn’t want to budge. It was complicated, but we reached an agreement and I’m in that home!

 

[Kim Mild]

It's rather rude, isn't it? We are the customer at the end of the day and common courtesy should apply. Thanks for sharing. I'll try calling tomorrow.

When I was in the process of buying, earlier this year, the estate agents were working from home, so when I emailed the office ( it was a generic address for my local branch) someone would read it ,and not pass on the message to the agent dealing with my property. When she went on , it didn't look like there were any new messages for her so she didn't respond.

 

[WilmaHun]

@Gloria Rostron you've had some great advice here but just commenting again to say I would prepare for longer than 6-8 weeks if you're buying with a chain, we started our process (offers accepted etc) end of Feb/beginning of March and haven't moved yet! It can be really slow going and other people can mess around/be unpredictable so just something to bear in mind.

Yes - this!

I am currently buying - offer accepted in April. We were told the owner had died and probate was being applied for that week. Still now we're waiting for the Grant of Probate and have no clue when to expect it as the sellers are very vague when we ask if they've chased it! We're otherwise ready but of course can't exchange until probate is in. So bare in mind if you buy a property which is subject to probate you may be in for a long wait!

 

[Giggling Squid]

The vendors don’t need to know the AIP amount but the estate agent will. They’ll probably only pass on to the vendor that you’re able to afford it, and your position - ie chain/no chain, paying with a mortgage etc

 

[Tea_Time_12]

View all properties that you’re interested in with return viewings on one(s) that you’re serious about. You need to get a feel for the layout of the house and you may not be able to tell that from pictures. Pictures can also be deceiving about the size of a room. When I was house hunting I checked everything including turning on some taps to check water pressure and drains. I peeked in cabinets to get an idea of storage space. I brought a tape measure to check that furniture would fit.

Also important to view to get an idea of the area. Is there a lot of traffic noise? If so, a is it all day or during certain times? Is the house flanked by houses with noisy dogs? Is it near a school where you may have traffic and/or parking issues due to school run?

This is a big investment and you can’t leave it all to chance. Do your research. Know that the agent is going to write the best description to get people to view it. It doesn’t mean it’s accurate. The “wonderful garden” may flood every time it rains.

 

[Blahblahahaaa77]

This thread took a turn … and I’m so here for it

 

[Gloria Rostron]

Quite some attitude from someone hoping to get estate agents, banks, and sellers to engage with them.

Well if there are no buyers, there is no commission...Rightmove, Zoopla, On The Market all try and engage with buyers via advertising. I expect my custom to be appreciated and I think that's a reasonable expectation, as I am giving them a substantial amount of money.

 

[standupsitdown]

Just the OP saying something about she can say what she wants because she’s a Tattler and we’re all over opinionated.

I saw that too. I think she was saying she’d never be humble as she was a Tattler.

And then someone called her a bellend

 

[disneys]

Me too disney! It’s a very odd thread with almost no point

thread summary : don’t be a creep , the end

 

[kadykal95]

Thanks. I'm getting the picture of how to deal with vendors now. I'll lay the full facts on the line with them. Do you think I should tell them the amount of my agreement in principle? If the agreement is 129 and their property is on at 90, that would show my affordability? Or would they wonder why I am buying so cheap when I could get somewhere more expensive? I've realised I need to act like your average buyer and not the crazy chick I am. I'll ask questions about the boiler etc and then fingers crossed they will take me seriously. (Still cuts through me having to kiss ass to buy a product but hey ho). I've learnt a lot more than I was hoping to from this thread, thanks all.

You will probably never meet the vendors of the house. All viewings are usually done through the estate agent. How is it kissing ass? I mean it's not a case of only asking about the boiler to be taken seriously, it's about being left with a boiler that needs replacing and might end up costing you thousands if you don't.

Ultimately the vendors will choose the best offer for them, might be a first time or cash buyer if they are in a rush etc or they might wait for the highest bid. Not a lot you can do about that other than put yourself in a good position to proceed.

 

[Giggling Squid]

You have to have the money for fees in cash, so it would have to come out of your cash not the loan.
You’ll have to go through a filk credit check for a mortgage

I will have around £60,000 deposit to put towards it, so if I buy a house for £90,000 (which is the price at one I've looked at), I'd probably need to borrow around £50,000 at the most, to allow for conveyancing and other red tape.


The mortgage broker said to me that her words "she's done me an Agreement In Principle with Barclays and is meeting me next week to discuss proof of funds which may or may not change things". She hasn't mentioned a credit check but I think Halifax did a credit check when I applied with them. I go rejected from Halifax as my income was too low. They discount 40% of your income apparently.

 

[Tree_]

Hello all. I would like the advice from people who have bought properties in the last 5 years or so. I am a first time buyer. I have been looking at various properties online and for the ones which tick all of the right boxes, I've been emailing the agent and simply saying I have seen the details and I would like to make an offer of XXX amount, usually above the asking price.

I am finding that the estate agents aren't responding to my emails, even with new listings. I am wondering if, as a first time buyer and I may not understand the etiquette that my offers aren't being taken seriously. I'm really not bothered about spending time viewing, as I plan on decorating and refurbishing to my taste and I can live with any problems no matter how major, as long as it ticks three boxes:- is a house, not a flat | has a garden | is in the location I want.

What was the first step you took in buying your house? Thanks for your replies.

You need to at least call and have a chat with them. They probably think you're a time waster. As a vendor its a sellers market i wouldn't consider an offer from someone randomly emailing who hasn't seen the house to be honest.

 

[Gloria Rostron]

Thanks everyone for your wisdom. I like the idea of online bidding , means I wouldn't have had a wasted journey. I'll probably call and arrange a viewing but it will be hard knowing all the time I am viewing it, someone else could be buying it. Now off too Google what a crank is.

 

[Gloria Rostron]

Ultimately unless you have the 60k in your bank account right now then you're going to need to sort out the sale of the property you already own before doing anything else!

I forgot to add, Uncle paid off the mortgage on this place, on the agreement that we sell to him, so he definitely wants it. He renovates houses and sells them for a profit and also buys to let.

 

[Gloria Rostron]

I believe most lenders will only lend enough for purchase price however I may be wrong. So if you have 60k deposit, and the house is 90k, they will only lend you 30k. However, it is your choice to not put down all of the 60k. You could put down 40k, borrow 50 from the lender and then use the 20k you have left over to renovate. The more you put the less your repayment will be of course so entirely up to you, like others have suggested a mortgage advisor or financial advisor would be your best bet!

Interesting. So if I offer more than the purchase price it would come out of my own pocket then. The redecoration is something I could do once I get evened out. My main priority is getting my foot on the property ladder. Honestly people on this thread have been more help than my mortgage advisor has been so far. I wasn't able to get hold of her at all last week. I'd ask my father for advice but he's too busy with his new girlfriend and my brother's have never bought property before.

 

[Isanythingrealanymore]

Do you have a deposit to put down? Without the sale of the house you live in currently?

 

[Wowitsme]

Also to add you need to prove you are a cash buyer

 

[rlouisep9]

The way I am thinking of going forward is saying I am able to move in quickly but I can also wait a few weeks, as I have flexible circumstances with where I am at the moment. I can offer the full asking price and above. I already have an Agreement In Principle with my bank. I guess I was hesitant to mention the AIP as it felt like I was having to defend myself on affordability, which is certainly no issue!

I really hate the way it works with estate agents, if there are no buyers then there is no commission, they ought to realise that. My personal opinion is as long as I have them money then what is the problem and some houses sit on the !wrist desperate to be sold. I see that I will have to hold my tongue on this until the sale goes through!

I'd only leave a bad review if I got bad service. I did view a house last month (the estate agent said the seller would only move to the next stage if I'd viewed it) and the estate agent didn't seem to know much about the property at all. It was a terraced and he couldn't tell me exactly where the garden started!

I'm not used to being a submissive customer and as I said I am new to the process. Hence me asking on here about it

I'd mention the AIP because then the estate agents and seller know you have made the first step. I wouldn't say it was 'defending yourself on affordability', they need to know you can actually afford your offer! In order to get the house marked as Sold STC we had to quickly provide evidence of our deposit, AIP and bank statements.

The EA that showed us round the house we are buying didn't know all the answers either, but went away and spoke to the seller to confirm the bits he didn't answer on the same day.

I'm a week into the process since our offer was accepted, no chain either side but wanting to move in weeks isn't realistic unfortunately. I expect if things go smoothly we may have a competition date around the start of October, but most of it is out of our hands