Remster

With our 1st child due early November, we were not really intent on moving until next year. However ...................

We passed a house for sale on the weekend and had a look round, you can guess the rest, we both fell in love with it. The financial side of things is not of too much concern, the questions are more with how to go ahead with offers etc.

Our current house was originally my batchelor pad bought back in 1998. We had it valued a couple of months back and were advised that it would sell very quickly. My wife is very house proud and consequently the house & garden have been maintained to a high standard. We obviously need to get it on the market and make an offer on the new house.

Any tips from people who have been in this position with their current house not on the market when making an offer on a new place?

As a 1st time buyer back in '98 it was o' so simple.

davegtt

We had a similar issue to yourself, we was just having a nosey a couple of years ago to see what we could afford for our money, it wasnt looking good until 1 afternoon we saw this house, perfectly located, perfectly priced for us etc etc but ours wasnt even on the market. went into the estate agents, said we want that house but ours aint on the market yet, next day they accepted our offer and mine was on the market, day after mine was sold and we moved, best bet is to chat to the estate agents, thats what theyre taking a cut of the sale for. get on their back and make them work for thier share

Philip Attaway

They all say that!

You may find that they accept your offer but won't take it off the market until you have sold.

You then hope you do get a quick sale. In this climate I wouldn't bank on it.

Phil

Patt@firstime

You may find that estate agents won't take the offer 'that' seriously until your current house is sold

Unless you do a 'let to buy' ....

Matt

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Try and have a look at what similar properties to yours have actually sold for recently, and how long it took - the housing market seems to have pretty much stalled at the moment, and if anything people wanting to sell are having to take a lot less than the estate agents reckon their houses are worth.

Prime example, where I live, houses would always sell within 2 weeks of coming on the market, guaranteed, now some are sitting for 6 months without even gettting a viewing.

People round the corner had theirs on the market for £295,000, 3 months later had dropped it to £250,000 and still havent sold it 2 months on !!!

richardg

good advice - i'd look into that if i were you. you may also wish to consider how moving now and letting your old place whilst putting in on the market anyway may affect your finances. if you can let the house you're in now for what the mortgage costs you or perhaps say £100/month less for instance, then you may decide that it's worth being £100/month worse off for the benefit of living in the house you want. obviously you can't rely 100% on letting it, but it's easy to be blinded by the financial side of things (although obviously justifiable to many - depends on your circumstances) rather than 'quality of life'.

look into it with an open mind and if it doesn't work for you, reflect that in your offer.

Remster

Thanks for the input.

I phoned and made an offer subject to a few conditions and I have just been informed it has been accepted. I offered circa 5% below the asking price with a couple of quality kitchen appliances to be included in the sale. They obviously are not prepared to take the house off the market until we have a firm offer on ours so it's a nervy time now.

Estate agent is coming round to sort our current house details tonight.

This is all a bit MAD!!!!!!!!

Drunken Bungle Whore

Go for it and good luck. We're in a similar position - have made an offer and been accepted on a house we really like, but can't seem to sell ours. Ours is a fab place in a great location - private garden, parking for 2 cars, easy commute to London but on the doorstep of the countryside - sadly there are a lot of jolly similar properties on the market in the local area.


Trawl the net to see what price houses in your area are on the market for. Check on upmystreet as there's links there to websites telling you what properties have actually sold for. If you want to sell quick you're going to have to bite the bullet and price it keenly.

I suppose it's a good sign that there's 2 threads on here today about selling houses - maybe the markets starting to pick up.....?

GCollier

In my experience it's often easier to fall in love with a house on first viewing than it is the contents of a ferrari dealership. Take a second look around it, then a third look if necessary. You may be surprised at how different things look when the wow factor has worn off.

I've looked at houses before my own has been on the market - not to waste anyones time, just they were there a few weeks before we were ready to market ours. Most owners are pretty obliging, although I am surprised that the owner has accepted your offer. Most people won't accept offers unless you are in a position to proceed.

If the estate agents the house is for sale with cover your area, then it may be worth putting your current place on with them, and instructing them that if the place you're looking to buy falls through then yours will come off the market - that should make them work for your money. Other than that if you really want the place then you just need to price your current house for a quick sale.

Gary.

Remster

Estate agents fee is going to be 2%

The property we have made an accepted offer on is up with the same agent so i've emphasised the benefits to them for getting the deal done. If the sale fails, our property will immediately come off the market with no charges incurred.

Let the games begin.

mightyyid

Remster

estate fees are always negotiable - its down to your skills, their assessment of your desire and whether they can be ars*d to change. Only question I would have is how long has this house you have seen been on the market, at what prices and what changes? It could be that previous deals have fallen through due to bad surveys, issues with neighbours etc etc. Crazy as it seems, you don;t just buy a house these days, but you buy the reports, the neighbours, the local building regulations, and all this other stuff that almost makes the bricks superfluous.

Good luck anyway

Andy