Topic: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread

[UntouchableLuis]

That's to do with your mortgage arrangement. Some have early exit fees, and some don't. I assume that if you sell the flat, you'd pay that mortgage off, so if there are any early exit fees, you'd have to pay them then. If you buy somewhere new, you'd take out a new mortgage for that place. I think some lenders allow you to transfer your mortgage, but I don't think that's the norm (and I'd double check if that is actually better than paying off and taking out a new one with a different lender).

I'd check your mortgage contract regarding early exit fees.

Yeah looked into it and I think we'd have to pay 5 grand to exit early and live with my parents while we searched for a house in that scenario.

The alternative is to risk losing our buyer and then have to wait another 3 months or longer to find another one....

Not easy this game!

[jackh]

It definitely was a slow few weeks! Survey is booked for tomorrow, and I've been pleased to learn that the seller has secured an onward purchase.

The sales progression manager informs me that they'll now "do a full chain check and report back" to me - how long should I expect this to take, or is that like asking 'how long is a piece of string?'?

Finally got the stage of discussing exchange & completion, and should have keys on the 29th August. That'll be just over five months since the offer was accepted.

Can't decide whether I feel like this has taken forever, or whether I've felt okay with it. I suppose if someone had told me in mid April that it was going to be more than four more months I'd have expected more stress, so all good...!

[UntouchableLuis]

Offered over asking on another house on Saturday around 12ish.

Still not had a response. EA claims the husband is away so the wife has been waiting to speak with him...

[damomad]

Getting used to asking questions on viewings, today the estate agent was neither sure of the age of the house nor what heating it had. Absolute basic questions I would have thought.

[ShrewKop]

Getting used to asking questions on viewings, today the estate agent was neither sure of the age of the house nor what heating it had. Absolute basic questions I would have thought.

The estate agent is in the wrong career if they can't answer that, that's unreal not knowing the age of the house lol. At least they didn't give you a bullshit answer I guess just to seem like they know the obvious.

[UntouchableLuis]

Getting used to asking questions on viewings, today the estate agent was neither sure of the age of the house nor what heating it had. Absolute basic questions I would have thought.

Some of the EA that have shown us round places knew absolutely nothing about the property. One didn't know where the boiler was or if the garden was south facing or not.

[Riquende]

Getting used to asking questions on viewings, today the estate agent was neither sure of the age of the house nor what heating it had. Absolute basic questions I would have thought.

I guess in recent years houses got snapped up immediately regardless, so it wasn't worth learning anything about the properties as they were selling themselves immediately? Maybe these people will have to learn basic sales skills again...

When we looking for our flat here the agents couldn't answer anything during the viewing (for us it was whether we were allowed pets) and would always have to go away and check. But there are so many people clamouring for property in some parts of the country, if someone wants to hold themselves up with questions then you just sell to the next person who comes along.

[UntouchableLuis]

Offered over asking on another house on Saturday around 12ish.

Still not had a response. EA claims the husband is away so the wife has been waiting to speak with him...

And still not rejected or accepted, 5 days later...

EA keeps saying they're taking their time discussing offers...

Do we just wait it out or do I get in touch and say we need a decision within 24 hours or we'll move on to other houses?

This is the only house we like at the moment so unfortunately our eggs are in this basket and I don't want to crack them but also don't want to get messed about for a long time only to hear someone else got the house?

[ShrewKop]

And still not rejected or accepted, 5 days later...

EA keeps saying they're taking their time discussing offers...

Do we just wait it out or do I get in touch and say we need a decision within 24 hours or we'll move on to other houses?

This is the only house we like at the moment so unfortunately our eggs are in this basket and I don't want to crack them but also don't want to get messed about for a long time only to hear someone else got the house?

It's a crapshoot if you do put an expiration on the offer. I think it's fair to say that you haven't absolutely exceeded their expectations on the offer if they haven't accepted it within 5 days. At this point, i now would also be getting frustrated and anxious about the decision. Let's say you do put a 24 hour notice on your offer:

1. you are the only offer, and the are holding on to see if anyone can come in and beat it. You threatening to pull out triggers an acceptance else they have nothing.

2. you are the strongest offer, but not the only offer (likely within a couple grand). Same as option 1, but the agent may quickly go back to the other offers and seek a higher counter offer to beat yours.

3. you aren't the best offer and they just haven't told you yet.

Before I relocated, I always rented when living in the UK, so forgive me on the buying process, but can you work with your EA to ask the sellers what gets you to a "yes". If it is the house you want, I don't think I would put pressure on having them tell you yes/ no, but just straight up ask them what it'll take to get you in the house. And if they tell you a ridiculous figure, then you can feel good walking away.

[UntouchableLuis]

It's a crapshoot if you do put an expiration on the offer. I think it's fair to say that you haven't absolutely exceeded their expectations on the offer if they haven't accepted it within 5 days. At this point, i now would also be getting frustrated and anxious about the decision. Let's say you do put a 24 hour notice on your offer:

1. you are the only offer, and the are holding on to see if anyone can come in and beat it. You threatening to pull out triggers an acceptance else they have nothing.

2. you are the strongest offer, but not the only offer (likely within a couple grand). Same as option 1, but the agent may quickly go back to the other offers and seek a higher counter offer to beat yours.

3. you aren't the best offer and they just haven't told you yet.

Before I relocated, I always rented when living in the UK, so forgive me on the buying process, but can you work with your EA to ask the sellers what gets you to a "yes". If it is the house you want, I don't think I would put pressure on having them tell you yes/ no, but just straight up ask them what it'll take to get you in the house. And if they tell you a ridiculous figure, then you can feel good walking away.

I agree that it's too risky to give them a deadline as it could piss them off.

However, I also think it's a joke to be left waiting while they're obviously waiting for better offers and the EA is playing games.

I asked the EA yesterday what figure they had in mind to accept and he said 'I don't know.' Which is absolute bollocks.

I also don't want to offer more until they say I need to as you're basically giving them more money when it might not be necessary.

[Craig S]

I agree that it's too risky to give them a deadline as it could piss them off.

However, I also think it's a joke to be left waiting while they're obviously waiting for better offers and the EA is playing games.

I asked the EA yesterday what figure they had in mind to accept and he said 'I don't know.' Which is absolute bollocks.

I also don't want to offer more until they say I need to as you're basically giving them more money when it might not be necessary.

Find another property with that agent and book a viewing. Just so the agent knows you are looking for alternatives and not heart set on this one. They dont know how many other viewings you have with other agents.

Try and book the viewing with the same person at the agents who you are dealing with currently.

[ShrewKop]

I agree that it's too risky to give them a deadline as it could piss them off.

However, I also think it's a joke to be left waiting while they're obviously waiting for better offers and the EA is playing games.

I asked the EA yesterday what figure they had in mind to accept and he said 'I don't know.' Which is absolute bollocks.

I also don't want to offer more until they say I need to as you're basically giving them more money when it might not be necessary.

Oh yeah, it's a complete joke. And the EA will be making commissions from this, so "I don't know" is such a BS answer. Go fucking find out then! Sorry you are having to deal with this, I hope you get good news very soon. Buying/ selling a house is one of the most stressful life events, and doesn't help when you are dealing with people further messing you about.

[UntouchableLuis]

Oh yeah, it's a complete joke. And the EA will be making commissions from this, so "I don't know" is such a BS answer. Go fucking find out then! Sorry you are having to deal with this, I hope you get good news very soon. Buying/ selling a house is one of the most stressful life events, and doesn't help when you are dealing with people further messing you about.

Cheers.

I'm not ringing the EA any more after that bullshit.

Going to just look for other houses and if they get back to us great but the whole thing has been a pisstake so far.

[rob1966]

Cheers.

I'm not ringing the EA any more after that bullshit.

Going to just look for other houses and if they get back to us great but the whole thing has been a pisstake so far.

Send Craig around, he'll sort the c*nts out

I've never had to deal with estate agents thank fuck, but the more I hear the more I get why they are hated so much - useless twats.

[gazzam1963]

Cheers.

I'm not ringing the EA any more after that bullshit.

Going to just look for other houses and if they get back to us great but the whole thing has been a pisstake so far.

Have you sold your flat now ?

[The G in Gerrard]

Cheers.

I'm not ringing the EA any more after that bullshit.

Going to just look for other houses and if they get back to us great but the whole thing has been a pisstake so far.

Good call. They obviously have a preferred person they'd be wanting to sell too in my opinion

[UntouchableLuis]

Have you sold your flat now ?

Yeah - we sold it last week so that was a relief but now trying to align it with buying a house is proving troublesome!

[gazzam1963]

Yeah - we sold it last week so that was a relief but now trying to align it with buying a house is proving troublesome!

That’s great news as I knew you had to drop the price ( I think that was you ) , reason I asked is the agent would probably have put you at the back of the queue if it wasn’t sold , hopefully the fact you have not had a straight no means it’s being considered and maybe weighing up other options .

My son bought a house in gateace in liverpool two years ago , offered the asking price but a lady offered 4k more . The agent contacted the sellers and said the young couple ( my son ) had a mortgage offer in place , where first time buyers and no chain and the Gazumper was in a chain …the lady went with the second best offer cash wise but the best for moving forward .

[UntouchableLuis]

Cheers.

I'm not ringing the EA any more after that bullshit.

Going to just look for other houses and if they get back to us great but the whole thing has been a pisstake so far.

In the end we offered 10 grand over asking price but again missed out.

Quite glad in the end as the more it went on the more we felt it wasn't actually the right house for us.

We are probably going to look for cheaper houses from now on as we don't want to stretch ourselves to the point where we can't enjoy life or go on holidays etc.

Just hope more comes on the market soon, not a lot coming up at all!

[Claire.]

Just spotted this in the app and thought might be useful to others - 0% green additional borrowing from Nationwide, £5-£15k over 2 or 5 years

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/mortgages/borrowing-more/green-additional-borrowing

[jackh]

Well, having had the offer accepted towards the end of March, I'm somehow in a position where I've had my keys for 13 days after what felt like a really long wait!

Was moving out of a rental, so was fortunate to have some flexibility & time to move my stuff across slowly - certainly don't relish the prospect of having to do it all in a day at some point in the future!

I'm all out of the old place as of this afternoon, so it's time to start straightening up in the new house now. I seem to have gained open-plan space downstairs, but lost a lot of storage upstairs...it's going to be a challenge but I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm looking by the end of the year.

[gazzam1963]

Well, having had the offer accepted towards the end of March, I'm somehow in a position where I've had my keys for 13 days after what felt like a really long wait!

Was moving out of a rental, so was fortunate to have some flexibility & time to move my stuff across slowly - certainly don't relish the prospect of having to do it all in a day at some point in the future!

I'm all out of the old place as of this afternoon, so it's time to start straightening up in the new house now. I seem to have gained open-plan space downstairs, but lost a lot of storage upstairs...it's going to be a challenge but I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm looking by the end of the year.

Well In mate , took a while didn’t it

[jackh]

Well In mate , took a while didn’t it

Not half! Made a proper home of the last place, but it felt great to ditch the keys today. The last week or so has taught me that having one house is easier than having two

[UntouchableLuis]

We're in the process of selling our flat and filled out our 'fittings and fixtures form' for the buyer.

They've come back to our solicitor and asked us to remove 'carpets, built in fridge/freezer, fireplace, blinds and curtains before completion.'

Am I entitled to tell them to politely fuck off? Seems an audacious request.

[CraigDS]

I mean if it's a standalone fridge then sure, even the blinds / curtains. But carpet and fireplace just seems excessive.

[UntouchableLuis]

I mean if it's a standalone fridge then sure, even the blinds / curtains. But carpet and fireplace just seems excessive.

The fridge is built in/integrated.

We would take curtains and blinds, not bothered about that.

But to rip my whole carpet and fireplace out? Seems mental. They've already got the flat for 10 grand less than asking price.

[CraigDS]

Other than blinds / curtains I'd tell them to fuck off personally.

[Kalito]

The fridge is built in/integrated.

We would take curtains and blinds, not bothered about that.

But to rip my whole carpet and fireplace out? Seems mental. They've already got the flat for 10 grand less than asking price.

Tell 'em t'fucking shove it.

Say they can fucking get it taken out themselves.

They ain't gonna back out for that.

[rob1966]

Tell 'em t'fucking shove it.

Say they can fucking get it taken out themselves.

They ain't gonna back out for that.

Shame its not a house, I'd rip them out and dump them in the garden if it was.

Basically the lazy fuckers want to fit new carpets and don't want to take them the tip themselves

[redbyrdz]

We're in the process of selling our flat and filled out our 'fittings and fixtures form' for the buyer.

They've come back to our solicitor and asked us to remove 'carpets, built in fridge/freezer, fireplace, blinds and curtains before completion.'

Am I entitled to tell them to politely fuck off? Seems an audacious request.

It depends a little bit on how likely you think they are to pull out of the contract.

But assuming they're kist likely to continue with it:
I'd get back to them and say leaving the carpet/fireplace/fridge in place was part of the deal, but if they want them out, you'd arrange a builder before they move in and send them the invoice.

As a gesture of goodwill, you'll take the curtains and blinds out yourself, so they wouldn't need to pay for that.

[Ciara (with a capital "C")]

It depends a little bit on how likely you think they are to pull out of the contract.

But assuming they're kist likely to continue with it:
I'd get back to them and say leaving the carpet/fireplace/fridge in place was part of the deal, but if they want them out, you'd arrange a builder before they move in and send them the invoice.

As a gesture of goodwill, you'll take the curtains and blinds out yourself, so they wouldn't need to pay for that.

I agree with this!

Anything built-in/fitted I would think is acceptable to leave.

Curtains and blinds I wouldn't leave but would offer them the option to keep if they were in good condition and you didn't want them.

If you were selling the place without carpets they'd deffo want a reduction in price.

Integrated appliances are different as if you were moving somewhere that had integrated stuff you'd probably opt to take it to save you initially. So that one is possibly just a bonus they are getting.

[UntouchableLuis]

We've told our solicitor to respond and say we will take the blinds and curtains but nothing else.

If they threaten to pull out we'll be in bother really as it took 3 months to find a buyer, it's not an easy sale and we are dependent on it to buy our house.

But I'm also not wanting to get totally dicked. Such a stupid request.

[Kalito]

Like you said, they're getting it for £10k less than your asking price.

They can go suck themselves if they think you're gonna pull out all that shite for free.

Obviously entirely up to you like. See what solicitors come back with and take it from there.

I don't believe they'll pull out for something over that.

[ShrewKop]

We've told our solicitor to respond and say we will take the blinds and curtains but nothing else.

If they threaten to pull out we'll be in bother really as it took 3 months to find a buyer, it's not an easy sale and we are dependent on it to buy our house.

But I'm also not wanting to get totally dicked. Such a stupid request.

Curious if you’ve heard back on this? My first thought was on if you agree, then what happens then if the buyer then pulls out. You’ll have spent hundreds to make your property look abandoned. If you are needing these people to buy, could you offer them a credit contingent on them closing? It sounds like they’ve already got a good price, but if you need them to buy, that could meet them where they want, but also means they can’t rip the place up until it’s theirs.

[UntouchableLuis]

Curious if you’ve heard back on this? My first thought was on if you agree, then what happens then if the buyer then pulls out. You’ll have spent hundreds to make your property look abandoned. If you are needing these people to buy, could you offer them a credit contingent on them closing? It sounds like they’ve already got a good price, but if you need them to buy, that could meet them where they want, but also means they can’t rip the place up until it’s theirs.

Not yet. Solicitors probably take a few days to submit our response back.

I don't see why we should pay anything to them for them wanting to make changes to a property they are buying.

We wouldn't ask the seller of the house we're buying to pay for us changing carpets around or fitting a new bathroom at some point.

Totally stupid.

[Red-Soldier]

Not yet. Solicitors probably take a few days to submit our response back.

I don't see why we should pay anything to them for them wanting to make changes to a property they are buying.

We wouldn't ask the seller of the house we're buying to pay for us changing carpets around or fitting a new bathroom at some point.

Totally stupid.

Some people are fucking arseholes and will do anything to screw another person over, for some money.

That's a lesson I learned many years ago.  I was selling a property and everything was about to go through, and they suddenly decided to drop their offer by £500, at the very last minute.

I accepted, due to the situation I was in.  But, that's what they rely on.  It's wankish behaviour.

[UntouchableLuis]

Some people are fucking arseholes and will do anything to screw another person over, for some money.

That's a lesson I learned many years ago.  I was selling a property and everything was about to go through, and they suddenly decided to drop their offer by £500, at the very last minute.

I accepted, due to the situation I was in.  But, that's what they rely on.  It's wankish behaviour.

What I don't get is, if they did reduce their offer, would we have to do a brand new mortgage application? Our mortgage offer is dependent on us getting the amount of money we've sold the flat for plus 20 grand in our own savings.

[Kalito]

What I don't get is, if they did reduce their offer, would we have to do a brand new mortgage application? Our mortgage offer is dependent on us getting the amount of money we've sold the flat for plus 20 grand in our own savings.

I believe you'd have to just ask them to adjust the mortgage proposal based on the reduction of offer, or you simply make up the difference on your deposit.

They're getting it for £10k less than your asking price, c*nts surely cannot reduce their offer?!

[UntouchableLuis]

I believe you'd have to just ask them to adjust the mortgage proposal based on the reduction of offer, or you simply make up the difference on your deposit.

They're getting it for £10k less than your asking price, c*nts surely cannot reduce their offer?!

Well one of their other 'enquiries' was why we got the flat for 40 grand cheaper than they're paying, 5 years ago.

A) I got it from a family member so obviously going to get a cheaper deal.

B) have they ever heard of inflation?

C) other flats in our complex are up for and selling at 10-20 grand more than they're getting it for. We only reduced down to this as we want a fairly quick sale and want to move into a house this year if possible.

I won't be surprised if they try and reduce the offer - they seem like people who might.

[rob1966]

Know a few people trying to sell by ours and its a nightmare. There's been an influx of Hong Kong Chinese moving into the area and what they do is offer the asking price on every property they view, then fucking pull out of all but one. Old neighbours of the wife had this happen, had an offer accepted on a place in Warrington,paid out for surveys etc and then the fuckers pulled out, now friends of ours have had the same, trying to sell the house they were left by the Mum, two of her brothers had been living there since the Mum died, both got other places sorted, again the fuckers pulled out. Its just fucking everyone about.