Anyone else having a nightmare trying to find a home?
Discussion
Hoofy said:
NightDriver said:
There's a real lack of decent places coming on the market at the moment so inevitably when it comes up people all want to get in on it. I've noticed round here that a lot of places are coming on, going off within days then coming back again a month or so later just for the cycle to repeat again!
Why are they coming back on the market?People failing to get mortgages approved?
When you sell your place for xx% over asking and have tons of bids, you feel pretty clever. That feeling disappears pretty quickly unless you're moving into another market! I speak from experience.
Hoofy said:
Why are they coming back on the market?
People failing to get mortgages approved?
That seems to be the case according to the agents, big offers being made and then when it comes down to it they can't secure the extra bit of mortgage or the valuation is too low. I think it's just a by-product of the auction style atmosphere there seems to be in 'viewing days' agents are seemingly setting up for every property that comes onto the books!People failing to get mortgages approved?
Maxf said:
Hoofy said:
NightDriver said:
There's a real lack of decent places coming on the market at the moment so inevitably when it comes up people all want to get in on it. I've noticed round here that a lot of places are coming on, going off within days then coming back again a month or so later just for the cycle to repeat again!
Why are they coming back on the market?People failing to get mortgages approved?
When you sell your place for xx% over asking and have tons of bids, you feel pretty clever. That feeling disappears pretty quickly unless you're moving into another market! I speak from experience.
k me. It's just stupid.NightDriver said:
Hoofy said:
Why are they coming back on the market?
People failing to get mortgages approved?
That seems to be the case according to the agents, big offers being made and then when it comes down to it they can't secure the extra bit of mortgage or the valuation is too low. I think it's just a by-product of the auction style atmosphere there seems to be in 'viewing days' agents are seemingly setting up for every property that comes onto the books!People failing to get mortgages approved?
We sold our house in Maidenhead within a day or two of going on the market to a buyer who didn't even view it, he'd missed out on a few similar properties in the area and was desperate. We had 15 viewings in less than a week and 5 offers but his was the highest. This is at the bottom of the market for this area (£220-300k) where there are very view properties for the first time buyer, take a look at any of the property sites for 2 bed houses in Maidenhead at less than £300k and there is always less than 10. Luckily we have the opportunity to move to a different area where we've bought a 5 bed house with 1/3 acre garden for £30k less than we sold our terrace house.
Ilovetwiglets said:
We sold our house in Maidenhead within a day or two of going on the market to a buyer who didn't even view it, he'd missed out on a few similar properties in the area and was desperate. We had 15 viewings in less than a week and 5 offers but his was the highest. This is at the bottom of the market for this area (£220-300k) where there are very view properties for the first time buyer, take a look at any of the property sites for 2 bed houses in Maidenhead at less than £300k and there is always less than 10. Luckily we have the opportunity to move to a different area where we've bought a 5 bed house with 1/3 acre garden for £30k less than we sold our terrace house.
Nicely done. Stupidly, many people get off on thinking about how much their property has increased in value without realising that unless they're planning on leaving the area or downsizing, it is at best meaningless and at worst going to cost them even more to upgrade.Matt.. said:
Just been to do a second check of the property, one obvious potential problem is electrics. It has an old fuse box. What steps should i take with this? Should i get an electrician to check it? (or someone else?), and will this cost? and when do i do it? It will no doubt be raised in the survey as 'electrics need checking'.
all you can really do is get an elctrician to quote for replacement and put it to the vendor to try and knock some off. So you could save the bother of actually getting electrian quote and just put it to the vendor anyway. Eg you want 3 grand off to rewire. They might say ps off or they might knock some money off.Hoofy said:
Something I suspected might be the case.
That will not be the only reason, especially as only 60% of buyers need mortgages atm- and not all borrowers need to max thesmselves out. Chain problems, changes of mind, problems with a search, all sorts of things. I got 2 large in to purchase (survey plus specialist reports) before the local search (then site inspection from both sols) confirmed the neighbours had put an extension at least 3m over the boundary. No probs with the mortgage, just epic stupidity from friends of 40+ years. Has cost me £30-40k in terms of price rises elsewhere in the interim, which are all sticking...Edited by DS3R on Saturday 19th April 07:28
The market is ridiculous right now. The house i'm progressing with now i've offered well over what i really should have done. However, i have been looking for far too long (years), and the number of suitable properties that have come up this year is 3, and one of them is this house. At the moment i just feel like money is draining away with renting and the amount of money sat in my bank account, so it somewhat makes it more palatable. I am massively surprised the valuation came back more than i offered though. From what i've been hearing elsewhere that isn't the normal situation. Just got to hope it all comes off now. It's my first house so it's hard not to get a little excited by it all (first house, but not the first one i've gone through the buying attempt with). I've got the Sketchup plan done which really helps checking space (i'm getting good with Sketchup with all the houses i've tried to buy!). I do have the continual fear that the chain will collapse though!
My valuation came back as "fair value in view of the current bouyant market" I.e. who knows 
And as above, an option is not to update electrics for now, but instead get it tested by an electrian and see if OK (£200-400 I think depending on location/size).
And don't get excited/start telling all and sundry until after exchange.
And as above, an option is not to update electrics for now, but instead get it tested by an electrian and see if OK (£200-400 I think depending on location/size).
And don't get excited/start telling all and sundry until after exchange.
you wont spend anywhere near 400 on a periodic test, more in the 150 range. If you are leaving the electrics I would get it pencilled in as soon as its feasible. Its a big job and will make a bollix of any decorating you have done, not to mention the dust and the lack of electric during the works.
I have now received my survey. It's about as pointless as i feared! Things like rating the heating and water heating as serious issues that need to be investigated urgently, but then stating that the reason for this is that they weren't on. Brilliant. However, it is actually better than i thought in terms of potential issues. So that's a good thing! 
Far less red 'this needs urgent attention' bits than the last one i had done!
Far less red 'this needs urgent attention' bits than the last one i had done!Edited by Matt.. on Wednesday 23 April 18:02
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