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Viewing / Buying a house


Don_Simon

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Mine took 7 months to go through, no chain and no chain. Have overcome all sorts to get this over the line. Smallish but nice " modest" (/ pokey) as they say character type cottage 220 years old. One of the most stressful durations of my life. General advice to add:

- don't skimp on the survey options. My lender offered me three options, I chose the most intensive one, which luckily led to stuff being discovered I think would otherwise have been missed. With this info it obv gives you more heads up but also the potential to get more knocked off, if, the seller agrees. I also arranged a separate damp survey which cost just 75 and I thought worth every penny. Someone a few replies up, said about watch out for recent redecoration etc. And yes while some people tart up to make it look nice to sell, some people do it to hide issues. Here I am tearing apart nice decor to take care of hidden damp issues, some of which the first survey missed. 

2- i googled the hell out of my place. On the internet, try diff ways of finding the history of the house you're interested in. Not just it's previous sale price history. I mean previous adverts. The place I bought, I found three old adverts on the net either straight off or linked from rigrmove style listings that haven't been deleted off the net. can see what's been done and when. New walls, new wiring, I could even date the timing of when a conservatory and outbuilding were built, both of which were done without planning permission and luckily got through via indemnity policy being put in place but old pics and listings might offer slightly useful info. Especially as like my seller, couldn't be bothered to list in the forms when x y z was done how old a b c is etc like boiler whatever. 

3- I heard the spiel of the agent. But took it with a pinch of salt. Before the first viewing I turned up an hour early and knocked on a couple of doors close by. Got "intel" on the place that differed a lot from the agents story. Saw what people were like, etcetc and got a feel for how life's like here. 

4- finally just my opinion but don't skimp on solicitor choice. Online cheap options may seem cost attractive but slow things down. Usually no named person assigned and progress gets diluted. The seller to me, had online agent and they added months literally onto the process. 

 

 

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On 30/03/2017 at 22:46, peterms said:

Well, all I can say is that I would never buy new build, unless the magic fairy propelled me into the income bracket where you can buy a decent nb property.  For the vast majority of us, nb is a very poor shout. 

To any of my family, friends,  or anyone I cared about, I would say never buy a new build property.  Unless the architect is a personal friend and can personally guarantee standards  - possibly.  Even then, I'd be wary.

New builds are a poor choice at whatever price point you're at in my opinion, and you'll nearly always get more for your money with an older property.

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Ok, so do you think it's worth speaking to lot's of different advisers. Spoke to one mortgage adviser today and he was great, seemed like a very solid bloke, so clearly good at his job, and went through the cost of moving, and how the process works. I got a good vibe from him. He's the first person I've spoken to, is it worth speaking to plenty of other advisers? Seems almost redundant, but I feel wary that as I can be quite suggestible to good first impressions, it's easy for me to just go "sure, I trust you, that'll do" and off to find the house. 

( it depresses me how much better off a mortgage can be than my renting - one bed flat rental - £550- 600 at present. If we get ourselves a 2 bed semi, with the mortgage it could be under £250 ffs ( obviously on a longer term, but that's fine by me for now ). 

Really highlights how utterly mugged I've been by landlords these past 10+ years of renting :rant:

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We bought a new build nearly 2 years ago. Nothing wrong with it so far, all the rooms are bigger than an older house in the same price range and it's much more energy efficient. The value has already gone up by £60k already. We did get it for a good price in a good location though. 

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First bid in hooray!  rejected with an hour of placing it , boroo :P

We did go well under the initial asking price,( about 10%)  but estate agents were trying to badger for an immediate response which is annoying. Have told them to bugger off until Monday. If I'm outbid, c'est la vie, the property is at the upper end of our reaches anyway. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Trying to buy an apartment in Manhattan. Having to go further north than we wanted because it's silly money for a cupboard where we currently rent. Going to add about 25 mins to commute times.

We have an offer accepted but the seller's agent is being a word removed demanded this and that.  He texts (such an invasive form of communication) 9/10 texts at once in a threatening manner - such a clearing in the woods!

 

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9 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Trying to buy an apartment in Manhattan. Having to go further north than we wanted because it's silly money for a cupboard where we currently rent. Going to add about 25 mins to commute times.

We have an offer accepted but the seller's agent is being a word removed demanded this and that.  He texts (such an invasive form of communication) 9/10 texts at once in a threatening manner - such a clearing in the woods!

I can't even begin to imagine how much an apartment in Manhattan costs! 

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Just now, Xela said:

I can't even begin to imagine how much an apartment in Manhattan costs! 

Believe it or not it's not quite as bad as London. But the prices have been rising consistently for the last 3 years and doesn't show any signs of stopping. We feel like it's our last chance to get on the ladder at this point.

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So we finally sold mine, what a bark, long story but got it done, we bent a lot on price and fixing it up, wanted it off our hands, but from when we put my missus gaff, my gaff on the market, sold both and bought our new gaff, was no more than 45 days, so cant complain really. My cousin bought a new gaff in the UK and was telling me the process is a bloody nightmare compared to here (his words not mine).

Already got equity in the new gaff, so touch.

LOVE the new place and will post some pics once we get it up and running. 

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On 6/3/2017 at 16:58, TheAuthority said:

Trying to buy an apartment in Manhattan. Having to go further north than we wanted because it's silly money for a cupboard where we currently rent. Going to add about 25 mins to commute times.

We have an offer accepted but the seller's agent is being a word removed demanded this and that.  He texts (such an invasive form of communication) 9/10 texts at once in a threatening manner - such a clearing in the woods!

 

feel your pain mate, my realtor was a diamond, but the sellers agent, completely not a diamond!

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2 hours ago, Dom_Wren said:

feel your pain mate, my realtor was a diamond, but the sellers agent, completely not a diamond!

We actually went to an open house today and liked it much more. So we pulled out of the deal and we both feel much better. Even if we don't get the place we saw today we feel happier about staying renting so that tells me we made the right move. (And I'm sure the clearing in the woods of a realtor is livid.)

Through this whole process I realized this. With anything else you buy you have 30 days, sometimes more, to send it back if you don't like it. Even the smallest, shittiest bit of tack from Amazon you can send it back no quibbles. But, the largest purchase of your life, hundreds of thousands of pounds, which you are literally stuck with for years. You get two 20 minute viewings if you're lucky. That's it. Over. Decide now.
It's insane.

Honestly, I'd like to sleep there for at least six months to see if I like the neighbors, get used to the noise etc. before I make a decision.

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4 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

We actually went to an open house today and liked it much more. So we pulled out of the deal and we both feel much better. Even if we don't get the place we saw today we feel happier about staying renting so that tells me we made the right move. (And I'm sure the clearing in the woods of a realtor is livid.)

Through this whole process I realized this. With anything else you buy you have 30 days, sometimes more, to send it back if you don't like it. Even the smallest, shittiest bit of tack from Amazon you can send it back no quibbles. But, the largest purchase of your life, hundreds of thousands of pounds, which you are literally stuck with for years. You get two 20 minute viewings if you're lucky. That's it. Over. Decide now.
It's insane.

Honestly, I'd like to sleep there for at least six months to see if I like the neighbors, get used to the noise etc. before I make a decision.

Wouldn't that be brilliant! Ha! I really love our house, but it was bought based on one viewing, how much can you see in one viewing!? It's as much about gut instinct and the 'feel' as anything else. I think I asked the estate agent how old the boiler was (like that really makes any difference when I'm buying a house for several hundred thousand!) lol. We got lucky with our house, area, neighbours though and it's nice, but if your neighbours are bell ends then it could really make your life a pain.

The sellers did a dodgy thing where the price was 'offers over £xxx' which is very crafty if you ask me, we offered under the asking price, but two other people offered the asking price, so we did too, and they picked us. 

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Completed on our house on Wednesday, picked the keys up on Saturday. Felt really good to walk into our new home. Now the real work begins. We are not moving in till end of August but need to do the following:

- Driveway
- New bathroom needed
- Small ground floor extension and knock through to the kitchen to great an open plan living room
- Paint everywhere and carpet in front room and upstairs
- Tidy up garden, get rid of lots of bushes and plants so that we can turf and lay some decking
- New tile cladding for the front bay
- New front door to fit the 1930s style

If anyone knows any good people to help with the above in the Leamington area then please let me know!

 

 

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We're looking at 4 bed new builds at the minute, there's a specific village where we want to live (close to where we are now but nicer, and closer to the kids school). Whilst I'm wary of the quality of new builds, plus the standard of the estates in general its really the only way to get anything the size, location and price we want.

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34 minutes ago, omariqy said:

Completed on our house on Wednesday, picked the keys up on Saturday. Felt really good to walk into our new home. Now the real work begins. We are not moving in till end of August but need to do the following:

- Driveway
- New bathroom needed
- Small ground floor extension and knock through to the kitchen to great an open plan living room
- Paint everywhere and carpet in front room and upstairs
- Tidy up garden, get rid of lots of bushes and plants so that we can turf and lay some decking
- New tile cladding for the front bay
- New front door to fit the 1930s style

If anyone knows any good people to help with the above in the Leamington area then please let me know!

 

 

I live in Warwick mate, so I'll get the names of the people that did stuff for us (the good ones!) and send them over. I'll ask the missus later, she'll have the details probably. Deffo know a good electrician, and a good carpenter.

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36 minutes ago, Genie said:

We're looking at 4 bed new builds at the minute, there's a specific village where we want to live (close to where we are now but nicer, and closer to the kids school). Whilst I'm wary of the quality of new builds, plus the standard of the estates in general its really the only way to get anything the size, location and price we want.

I'm a town planner so have experience of new builds. Some people tend to turn their noses up at new builds but the quality really does range like any other product, or any other time period. At least you get a warantee on new houses, 15 years or something like that isn't it? Make sure you get the details and make use of it if anything does go wrong.

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Just now, alreadyexists said:

I'm a town planner so have experience of new builds. Some people tend to turn their noses up at new builds but the quality really does range like any other product, or any other time period. At least you get a warantee on new houses, 15 years or something like that isn't it? Make sure you get the details and make use of it if anything does go wrong.

One of my main reservations about new builds are the estates themselves. Generally each house gets minimal parking space for modern times which results in cars being parked on the roads outside of houses. The roads themselves often narrow causing the need to 'slalom' through to get to your house.

We've got our eye on a couple of plots which should be coming up for reservation later in the summer by which point we should have an idea how the early part of the estate is shaping up.

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I've been looking at houses recently. Still want to keep my Four Oaks apartment (to rent out) but want a house as well, with a garden. Probably not going to be able to afford a house in the same area, so been looking around the better parts of Erdington (there are some!) and other parts of Sutton (Walmley / Boldmere).

 

 

 

 

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16 hours ago, omariqy said:

Completed on our house on Wednesday, picked the keys up on Saturday. Felt really good to walk into our new home. Now the real work begins. We are not moving in till end of August but need to do the following:

- Driveway
- New bathroom needed
- Small ground floor extension and knock through to the kitchen to great an open plan living room
- Paint everywhere and carpet in front room and upstairs
- Tidy up garden, get rid of lots of bushes and plants so that we can turf and lay some decking
- New tile cladding for the front bay
- New front door to fit the 1930s style

 

That's your Saturday sorted then. What are your plans for Sunday?

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