The nervous wait to exchange....

MikeTimbers · 2 Sep 2023 at 21:47

MikeTimbers said:
24th May to 07 August! Have exchanged contracts today after some heavy negotiation resulting in me having to drop 15K but in all honesty I was expecting it to fall apart. Completion 1st September.

Next step is emigration

Completed yesterday. Now homeless. Waiting to fly out for a holiday.

mattpj · 4 Sep 2023 at 09:06

MikeTimbers said:
Completed yesterday. Now homeless. Waiting to fly out for a holiday.

Great. Do you feel like celebrating yet?

Itchytrigg · 4 Sep 2023 at 16:02

Itchytrigg said:
MIL house now reduced by 25k. Had little interest sadly except one offer of about 55k under asking which was rejected.

How much changes in a year and a half compared to when we were buying.

Reduced by another 25k couple weeks back and had a lot more interest this time and now have 3 offers on the table a bit under the listed price. That first offer (was actually 45k under asking) that was rejected was actually higher (just) than the latest high offer. Whoops!

Agents are asking all 3 for final and best offers so should have this progressing shortly hopefully.

Itchytrigg · 4 Sep 2023 at 17:00

Had increases on 2 of the offers to the same amount so went with the ftb who’s chain free. Hopefully the start of a smooth journey now

koolpc · 4 Sep 2023 at 17:04

Itchytrigg said:
Had increases on 2 of the offers to the same amount so went with the ftb who’s chain free. Hopefully the start of a smooth journey now

Good luck

gazref · 4 Sep 2023 at 17:29

Itchytrigg said:
Reduced by another 25k couple weeks back and had a lot more interest this time and now have 3 offers on the table a bit under the listed price. That first offer (was actually 45k under asking) that was rejected was actually higher (just) than the latest high offer. Whoops!

Agents are asking all 3 for final and best offers so should have this progressing shortly hopefully.

Nice that you got competing buyers, means your agent priced it right. Glgl

Itchytrigg · 4 Sep 2023 at 17:48

gazref said:
Nice that you got competing buyers, means your agent priced it right. Glgl

Eventually lol. This is after a 50k reduction in total and that was when listing at the bottom of their expected pricing. They as well as the other EAs im the area got caught out with how much the market slowed the last couple months.

gazref · 4 Sep 2023 at 21:47

It's in there interests to quote you high so you pick them , they can tell you to reduce after they secured you as a client.

Out of interest What's the 50k as a percentage? From what I've heard 7-10% down from peak is about where the market is. It's also consistent with what my agent quoted me when briefed it needs to sell. Hard to get a true gauge until the sale hits land registry

Itchytrigg · 4 Sep 2023 at 22:22

It was all 4 agents quoting the same so pricing wasn’t a factor in our choice.

It’s about a 12% reduction, from the guides given for probate in May/June this year.

Itchytrigg · 5 Sep 2023 at 14:43

Dear mother of god, probably ditching the first choice offer for the 2nd. They asked the ea how much to remove a chimney. Ea of course said you’d want to ask a builder. They responded if it’s more than 5k we’d have to negotiate on price….nope no but at least we find out before things actually get started.

They were also complaining they had to pay aml fees…

nst68 · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:27

Itchytrigg said:
Dear mother of god, probably ditching the first choice offer for the 2nd. They asked the ea how much to remove a chimney. Ea of course said you’d want to ask a builder. They responded if it’s more than 5k we’d have to negotiate on price….nope no but at least we find out before things actually get started.

They were also complaining they had to pay aml fees…

I had the same years ago, buyer wanted to put convert the loft and expected us the knock the building cost off the price :rolleyes:

nst68 · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:31

We've deceided to knock £25k (5%) off the asking price, see if that generates any interest.

Noakesy85 · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:43

Itchytrigg said:
Dear mother of god, probably ditching the first choice offer for the 2nd. They asked the ea how much to remove a chimney. Ea of course said you’d want to ask a builder. They responded if it’s more than 5k we’d have to negotiate on price….nope no but at least we find out before things actually get started.

They were also complaining they had to pay aml fees…

nst68 said:
I had the same years ago, buyer wanted to put convert the loft and expected us the knock the building cost off the price.

This actually made me laugh, the sheer audacity of some people bewilders me sometimes!

If you want to make changes to a property, that's on you once the property is yours.

Noakesy85 · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:48

nst68 said:
We've deceided to knock £25k (5%) off the asking price, see if that generates any interest.

That should generate some interest.

My wife and I are looking at property in Norfolk that's been on the market since March, they reduced the price by 10k yesterday so i phoned the EA to see what interest the property has had. Apparently its already had a fair amount of interest as well as a few lowball offers. I just need it to stay on the market until Dec/Jan (unlikely) when we will be properly in the market to buy.

Itchytrigg · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:52

Noakesy85 said:
This actually made me laugh, the sheer audacity of some people bewilders me sometimes!

If you want to make changes to a property, that's on you once the property is yours.

I can only assume as they were ftb it was a lack of research/knowledge and naivety (if they were proper ***** they wait till exchange day to demand money off knowing they’ve got you by short and curlys).

Sadly for them it’s lost them the house as we’ve moved on to the 2nd offer.

Itchytrigg · 6 Sep 2023 at 13:53

nst68 said:
I had the same years ago, buyer wanted to put convert the loft and expected us the knock the building cost off the price

I want to knock the house down and restart anyway so let’s just call it a fiver and shake hands yeah?

Noakesy85 · 6 Sep 2023 at 14:17

Itchytrigg said:
I can only assume as they were ftb it was a lack of research/knowledge and naivety (if they were proper ***** they wait till exchange day to demand money off knowing they’ve got you by short and curlys).

Sadly for them it’s lost them the house as we’ve moved on to the 2nd offer.

I was 25 when i bought my first house with my (then) gf. It was an Inheritance property that was in serious need of decorating/ re-wiring etc. It even came with a stairlift :cry:

unfortunately this was seized but even then I knew a couldn't demand the vendors remove it or ask them to reduce the price because of it.

Joe Jones · 7 Sep 2023 at 14:48

What are peoples' thoughts on Surveys?

I'm looking at the difference of a level 2 and level 3 survey and then reading how the surveyors can't move anything to properly inspect things, and then when they do give a report cover themselves so often for no recourse that they just refer everything to 'needs a specialist', it all seems a bit washy.

I'm buying a property built in 1970 and everything looks fine. The roof bargeboards and fascia's have been there a while but I don't need a non-roofing specialist to tell me they need replacing (with the rest of the roof for good measure) or that I need specialist advice to survey them.

Dup · 7 Sep 2023 at 15:22

Joe Jones said:
What are peoples' thoughts on Surveys?

I'm looking at the difference of a level 2 and level 3 survey and then reading how the surveyors can't move anything to properly inspect things, and then when they do give a report cover themselves so often for no recourse that they just refer everything to 'needs a specialist', it all seems a bit washy.

I'm buying a property built in 1970 and everything looks fine. The roof bargeboards and fascia's have been there a while but I don't need a non-roofing specialist to tell me they need replacing (with the rest of the roof for good measure) or that I need specialist advice to survey them.

Get quotes and ask for a sample survey to see what you get. They are won't to do anything invasive or at height, so if they can't see it from the ground or if it's a utility they just defer to a specialist. Although my roofer did state the obvious that they could just use a camera on a pole for roofing etc. I can't decide if it was worth it, but it did help with some information I didn't think to look at or remember with just a viewing. I think if you're clued up and know what to look for you can do 90% of it yourself for your usual post-war house.

P.S. We moved in a couple weeks ago, dorma leaked 3 days in

- knew the roof was due but hoped to get 12-18 months out of it first!

mattpj · 8 Sep 2023 at 11:10

A lot of updates good to see.

So one of the issues we’ve had for the longest time with estate agents (as some of you are learning now in a falling market) is that they overvalue to get your instruction. Few have the confidence to give a lower figure and even less so to give a strategy other than “we are well established in your area and have buyers ready“

If you price competitively, even in this market you will get competing buyers and that’s how you’ll get the best price.

Itchytrigg said:
Dear mother of god, probably ditching the first choice offer for the 2nd. They asked the ea how much to remove a chimney. Ea of course said you’d want to ask a builder. They responded if it’s more than 5k we’d have to negotiate on price….nope no but at least we find out before things actually get started.

They were also complaining they had to pay aml fees…

As for this one, what a shame they went down this route. It’s all negotiation after all and buyers will look to shave a bit off here or there because something crops up. I assume a chimney removal is cosmetic in this case? It’s not like finding damp or a roof leak.