The nervous wait to exchange....
- Thread starter noj
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I'm starting to feel slightly paranoid that the house we have an offer accepted on isn't actually worth it. I can't even explain why, so I'd appreciate another set of eyes over my figures to see if I'm being a moron.
Up for OIEO £280k, offer accepted at £274k (another couple had made an offer before we did). Physical valuation by lender carried out on 27/08 - no issue with market valuation. The report indicates that the value of the property is likely to rise and fall with the general market conditions. Zoopla states £287k - £317k, with a price estimate of £302k.
It was previously sold in 2013 for £168k, then 2015 for £193k. Mainly cosmetic work done since then alongside a new bathroom. In the 12 months to date, only a single similar house has sold on this street, in February of this year for £235k. Generally it's in a far worse state and only has a 3 piece bathroom (as opposed to 4 like ours), but does have a garage. The house is empty.
In terms of sales on streets nearby - a 3 bedroom semi sold in February 2019 for £272k, it has a conservatory and garage, ours doesn't. Another sold in Aug 2019 for £296.5k, which is a near enough identical size to ours, but with a brand new kitchen (which is slightly larger than ours) and a slightly smaller garden.
A lot of the properties in this area either have in-built garages or they were converted to make the kitchen/dining room bigger like ours.
According to Rightmove - "the majority of sales in M41 during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £286,297".
Home.co.uk median property selling prices in M41 for semi-detached properties in July 2015 was £195,500 and in July 2020 was £330,000.
Making a mountain out of a molehill here or genuine cause for concern?
It's worth noting that we have the building survey booked in for the 15th, without valuation, so we could always add this on for belt & braces?
Up for OIEO £280k, offer accepted at £274k (another couple had made an offer before we did). Physical valuation by lender carried out on 27/08 - no issue with market valuation. The report indicates that the value of the property is likely to rise and fall with the general market conditions. Zoopla states £287k - £317k, with a price estimate of £302k.
It was previously sold in 2013 for £168k, then 2015 for £193k. Mainly cosmetic work done since then alongside a new bathroom. In the 12 months to date, only a single similar house has sold on this street, in February of this year for £235k. Generally it's in a far worse state and only has a 3 piece bathroom (as opposed to 4 like ours), but does have a garage. The house is empty.
In terms of sales on streets nearby - a 3 bedroom semi sold in February 2019 for £272k, it has a conservatory and garage, ours doesn't. Another sold in Aug 2019 for £296.5k, which is a near enough identical size to ours, but with a brand new kitchen (which is slightly larger than ours) and a slightly smaller garden.
A lot of the properties in this area either have in-built garages or they were converted to make the kitchen/dining room bigger like ours.
According to Rightmove - "the majority of sales in M41 during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £286,297".
Home.co.uk median property selling prices in M41 for semi-detached properties in July 2015 was £195,500 and in July 2020 was £330,000.
Making a mountain out of a molehill here or genuine cause for concern?
It's worth noting that we have the building survey booked in for the 15th, without valuation, so we could always add this on for belt & braces?
Do you like the house? Can you get another similar/better one in a location that you want for the same money?
Yes we really like the house. It ticks all of our immediate boxes - 3 bedrooms, freehold, driveway, 4 piece bathroom, large kitchen, garden, walking distance to local amenities/transport connections and it's in fantastic condition. The kitchen while in good condition is not to our taste, so we're planning to change that in the future.
I found one house sold STC for £300k on a street next to ours which has a more modern kitchen but only a 3 piece bathroom.
I also found a few other houses on the east side of the town centre (ours is the north) with a slightly longer walking distance. Some of these have a mixture of conservatories, garages, utility rooms, but again they're all up for £300k wheres ours was £280k. Ours has none of these, but they aren't a priority.
I am yet to see a house up for less than £280k in the same location that exceeds ours.
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Soldato
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I'd reaccess after the survey. Condition is obviously a high priority. Questions like, do you plan to live there long, job stability/moving, schools, further area (house) development, would help in valuating if a house is worth it, and very importantly worth it to you?
We plan to be here 5 years at least, it's not a short-term move. My job is extremely stable, my partner more risky. We do not want children, but noted there are excellent schools nearby including a grammar school. It's also 8-10 minutes on a train to the centre of Manchester.
In terms of development, I guess you could build upwards from the garage that was converted into a kitchen, maybe another bedroom? It's certainly not on our radar at the moment and we don't plan to do this.
Soldato
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Sorry, i meant is there any planned development in the area? Ie council flats popping up, or horrible compact new build estates. But you raise a good point about available extensions, some buyers do look for that. Even if developments don't show up on land searches doesn't mean that a small private business will pop up something in an annoying area, blocking sunlight or increasing noise for example.
I can't comment on price for your area, but imo house sounds desirable. But deposit size is also very important for keeping those repayments affordable if things went sour (up) in 5yrs. That with your partner having no income and ability to save for a rainy day on top is worth doing the maths on.
Boris today in his speech was on about some new 95% loan scheme. Trying to keep those house prices high.
I can't comment on price for your area, but imo house sounds desirable. But deposit size is also very important for keeping those repayments affordable if things went sour (up) in 5yrs. That with your partner having no income and ability to save for a rainy day on top is worth doing the maths on.
Boris today in his speech was on about some new 95% loan scheme. Trying to keep those house prices high.
I think there are two planned developments in the area - a single apartment block and six houses, but neither of which are near our street.
12% deposit. 2 year fix at 2.69% but we are planning to start overpaying from around month 6. If our salaries remain the same we can afford the mortgage if it increases all the way up to 9%, then it would be a case of adjusting how much we save per month. We are aiming to have an emergency fund containing at least 6 months of mortgage/bills/food etc before the end of the 2 year fix, alongside a house maintenace fund and personal savings.
Soldato
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What Basher said then would be my next port of call. How long have you been looking? In my area houses in my affordability range were/are few and far between, as well as trying to tick boxes on what i wanted. I wanted mostly somewhere that was going to be long term, moving is hassle and costs a lot.
If you can easily find somewhere cheaper (which appears to be your concern) then sure sit on the fence a bit more, that's IF those properties are ticking the same boxes of what you want in a house are also available.
Sounds to me like you are sorted and are on a happy road to living, if the survey looks clean and tidy that is. So again, i'd reassess once the survey is done. Maybe get a full blown one to ease concerns?
Also what if disaster did strike and you gained zero value on your property in 5 or 10yrs. Hell, let's even say 20. What difference does that make for you, as that's your concern right?
If you can easily find somewhere cheaper (which appears to be your concern) then sure sit on the fence a bit more, that's IF those properties are ticking the same boxes of what you want in a house are also available.
Sounds to me like you are sorted and are on a happy road to living, if the survey looks clean and tidy that is. So again, i'd reassess once the survey is done. Maybe get a full blown one to ease concerns?
Also what if disaster did strike and you gained zero value on your property in 5 or 10yrs. Hell, let's even say 20. What difference does that make for you, as that's your concern right?
So, another offer went in today (this is the 4th one we've offered on), the first two had 23 offers each and sold for over 30% above valuation. Didn't get any indication what the 3rd one sold for. The last one only had 4 offers, and looks like it sold for around 15% above valuation. We bid 10% above. I wonder if this hints at a slowdown here... Properties 1, 2 and 4 were quite similar (older style, period features, good gardens, walk in condition). I think property 4th was overvalued compared to the others, but hey ho. The search goes on!
Next one on the viewing list is 100sqm bigger than anything we've looked at before... Not sure we need a 230sqm house, for two of us and a dog but it does have what we want...
Next one on the viewing list is 100sqm bigger than anything we've looked at before... Not sure we need a 230sqm house, for two of us and a dog but it does have what we want...
Soldato
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Which Survey did you buyers opt to go for?
We had a couple of delays with the mortgage company releasing funds. No actual reason, just they were a bit slow/had too many mortgages to deal with. We ended up missing exchange date twice, so luckily we had a week between exchange and complete.
In that case, i would suspect your solicitor would request funds on possibly Thursday so that they're readily available. Will just cost you a few more days in interest.
How longs a piece of string?
You'll probably find a mixture of full structural surveys to just homebuyers report.
It all comes down to age and condition of the property.
When we bought our house it was 7 years old, so was only intending on going for a homebuyers report. But i think it was an extra £50 for a full structural survey, so i figured i'd just go for the full structural. Normally a full structural survey can cost considerably more.
Soldato
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I've been quoted £600 for a full structural survey thinking it was expensive but then i contacted another local company that wanted £675 for a homebuyers report.
Soldato
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Finally got the enquiries back from their solicitors and all seems good so we're finally moving ahead to exchange. Waiting for updates from the solicitors.
Need to do so much now, haven't even thought about actually moving. Got some questions...
Is it wise to use a local to me now removals firm or a local one from the new area?
When should I start telling the current local council and the new local council?
Do I need to tell all my utility companies now or when I've moved (taking readings on leaving day of course)?
Googling sites about making a list of things to do. Anything I need to be wary of or bound to miss?
Need to do so much now, haven't even thought about actually moving. Got some questions...
Is it wise to use a local to me now removals firm or a local one from the new area?
When should I start telling the current local council and the new local council?
Do I need to tell all my utility companies now or when I've moved (taking readings on leaving day of course)?
Googling sites about making a list of things to do. Anything I need to be wary of or bound to miss?
Soldato
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I've been noticing a lot of houses being relisted or price reduced on the east side of the Central belt. I think it's been a mixture greedy sellers and unique properties, to put it politely.
So glad that the seller pays for the homebuyers report up here. Up here, you just email the estate agent and ask for the report and then make a viewing based on that. Contains info about condition of the house, size, utilities, valuation, etc. I’d be thousands down if I lived in England!
Yeah this is one thing England desperately needs to adopt. Would also protect buyers from walking into a house purchase that potentially needs a lot of work doing without actually knowing. At least in Scotland you/your solicitor can just review the homebuyers report and read a professionals analysis of what condition the property is in.
Isn't this a bit of a conflict of interest though? If the seller conducts their own report? How do you know that it is legit?