House Buying query

Keep thinking its time for a change and have literally just seen a house I like. However, ours has not been valued yet (but I have a rough idea of what it's worth). Obviously it's going to take a while to sort that and then could take even longer to find a buyer.

Mortgage is paid off thank goodness but we would only be able to buy this new house if we sell ours. Thing is the new house is just where and what we want and I wouldn't want to move elsewhere so I would only sell my current house for that one!

anybody know what options I have? Would it be stupid to take out a loan?

Re: House Buying query

Hi Penny I am in the same position
The cost of moving (About £10,000) means I have to find something which costs less than the value of my 3 bedroom house.
I want to downsize and have found there are very few 2 bedroom houses or bungalows and those I have found cost more not less than my existing house .

Coordination a simultaneous sale and purchase can be a nightmare with 'chains' and last minute 'mind changers'. I am not sure I can cope with the stress

Taking out a mortgage is an option depending on your circumstances.
Good luck ...

Re: House Buying query

If there's no chain on the other house you could offer them a deposit(terms to be negotiated)to take it off the market whilst you sell, as long as the seller isn't in any rush(doubtful)

Then offer yours at a not to be missed price.

There's always a bridging loan or short term loan, both expensive.

It all depends on how much you want it and your financial position and what lenders will offer.

Re: House Buying query

First of all
get valuation quotes for 3/4 agents. Even then if they don't say what you think the house is worth remember it is YOUR house and YOU say what you want for it.

If selling through an agent make sure you get in writing sole agency but NOT sole selling rights.

So what does that mean? what it means is if a friend or relative buys your house and has not used the agent you went with then the agent can't claim selling fees. So if you do have a for sale board outside that means you are selling through an agent even if your friend or relative has not approached the agent the board is acting as the agents advertisement.

Now there is a huge questionair you have to fill out as to what you are leaving even down to door knobs and as well the Thermal Home Inspection. On top of that you may well be asked for a window safety certificate (fensa) -an electricity and gas certificate and a new one on chimneys certificate. You will also be asked if there are any neighbour disputes .

These are also what you should get on the property you want to buy.
That is onto of the house surveys and and local searches to see if anything is planned locally which could affect the property you are buying. The latter is normally done by the solicitor as well as the deeds search to see if there are any restrictions on the one you want to buy.

WE had TPO.s restrictions on the 4 oak trees in our garden(Tree Preservation Order)

Once you have completed that hurdle comes the removal people which needs to be booked for moving date as far in advance as possible.

We have moved now 5 times and that is something we do not plan on doing again thank you. The stress of finding somewhere and tying up all the loose strings Is about the worst one can go through

PS the chimney certificate is essential as now insurance companies can refuse a claim buy saying the chimney has not been swept/ cleaned and the house fire was caused by soot on the chimney catching fire.

We did not know about it either until we moved 18 months ago and a neighbour who is a chimney sweep warned us about it. So he did ours

Link

http://www.nacs.org.uk/wp-content/up...-July-2015.pdf

Re: House Buying query

Thanks I'll think about what you've said.

Re: House Buying query

Very useful, thanks real speed.

Re: House Buying query

Just an update. the house I was interested in sold in under a week.

I would only sell my house and move if I could find something I liked as much. I would be well peed off if I sold mine and then couldn't find a house in the area we want which had all that ours does plus a bit more.

Re: House Buying query

When we sold up the kennels and stayed with my s-i-law we spent every day house hunting and it was a nightmare(2 years ago now nearly). For example in just one of those days we had booked to view 4 houses. On the way to the first one the agent called us while we were in the car saying the sellers had withdrawn their house as they could not find one. The next 2 houses I would not keep a rat in and the last was sold that day before we even got there

Another day we went back to where we used to live as 3 big buiding firms were building on the fields we used to exercise our dogs on. In each of the selling reception areas there were at least 5 couples wanting to buy. All the present phase of houses being built were sold as were the next phase in 6 months time. It was horrendous trying to find somewhere to live and we were cash buyers.
The house we did get in the end ,of which I have put pictures on the forum, went on the market on the Monday, I saw it on the internet 2 days later and viewed the following day. By that time two couples had already viewed and debating to buy or not with another couple booked to view the next Saturday. And that was on the market for well over £400,000, more than the price range we were considering but absolutely no chance so had to up our intended amount to spend

Sue and I looked at it and said there and then we would have it at asking price providing it was taken off the market, we did make an offer which was rejected.

The owners asked a neighbour if they should accept and he said they should " bite our hand off" so to speak with a cash offer on the table .

Houses around here are again selling like hotcakes at Easter , one the market one week and sold the next.

It is no good waiting for an estate agent to send house details, by the time you get the information sheet the house will have been sold details
We went into Bexhill on Sea just last Friday and looking in the estate agents windows most of the houses shown had sold on them. it is the only way estate agents can fill their windows

We have friends looking to buy around here as they are now retired. By the time we see something they might like and they haveconsidered it the property has sold.

It is a case of see it contact the agent same day and if possible view same day or it will be too late and check what is new on the market each day

Re: House Buying query

Selling mine a few years ago , it was easter Bank holiday , the agent rang to say the person wanted the house for the asking price ( friday) and if I accepted it was to come off the market immediately , we had four more viewers that weekend . I accepted the offer (cash buyer) and withdrew all other viewers .

On the Tuesday after the easter break , the agent rang back to say the offer had been dropped by £3000 . Due to circumstances we accepted the lower offer , we had to .

How devious was that .

Re: House Buying query

Sometimes one has to decide whether or not to accept an offer. I could no longer afford to look after a huge grade 2 listed pile and the smaller places were selling very quickly in the area I wanted to move to. I took ` hit` but do not regret it.