Selling Our First Home..

[PotNoodleTech]

My god, do not buy a leasehold property, you have no rights, no long term security, and more importantly no way of stopping ridiculous charges being levied on you in the future. I now someone who was charged 15,000 for a new roof on a 85,000 leasehold flat. Many of those residents are going the legal route but I doubt they'll get anywhere as leasehold effectively means "it aint my property, it's yours mr management company and you can charge whatever you like, whenever you like"

 

No no no stay away!! Run!!

 

If you are looking at a new property (I advice against it as many of them are built poorly using whatever the cheapest goons they can find to work on site) then you will not be able to do fun stuff like run network cables etc before they plaster. They won't let you change anything probably.

 

With regard to the part ex, you are putting yourself in a poor position for negotiating - they will know you are desperate for an easy sell, and will not let you negotiate much as they will always have the upper hand "well feel free to spend 3 years selling your property and miss out on this house, sir"

 

Sorry to be negative, but buying a house can be a very negative experience!

 

My Key Tips:

1. Sell your house first. If you flog your house first, you get the cash in the bank ready for your new house, and no chain which increases your bargaining position massively (compared to part ex) when buying your new house. Even if you end up having to rent somewhere for 6 month whilst you find a new house.

2. Don't buy a new build, as mentioned, yuk. I made that mistake, never again. Buy an older house and pay someone to do it up, that way you know 100% it's done, and done properly. Arguably you'll get a better built house with more land and more potential compared to a new build.

3. For the sake of the lord DON'T buy leasehold!!!

4. Enjoy life!!

[abillybob]

Is this a townhouse spread over three floors or a more traditional shape? I'm just curious really. But you should post the sales brochure here for us

 

Might also be worth sharing your specific requirements.

No it's over 2 floors, I can't show the brochure just in case one of you guys like it and we get a competitor

 

Needs to have the following:

- South Facing Garden

- Garage

- Enough drive to get 2 cars on

- 3 Double Bedrooms

- Lounge

- Dining Room

- Utility

- Kitchen

- At least 3 toilets

- Detached

- FTTH Broadband

[DJ-1701]

No it's over 2 floors, I can't show the brochure just in case one of you guys like it and we get a competitor

I doubt there would be many people looking for house in Shropshire that would look on Edugeek for them.

[DJ-1701]

Needs to have the following:

- Dark Fibre Broadband

 

That is all.

 

FTFY

[Achandler]

But it doesn't need a garage does it? As you are already talking about getting rid of it for a dining room, because it doesn't have a dining room.

You don't mention a utility, so I assume you will use the garage for this, so that's one room doing 3 functions already.

 

Therefore it doesn't meet your must have list...

 

 

The rest of your list is whatever you want, 3 double bedrooms in a modern house often means a room that fits just a double bed in nowadays sadly. Buy a 3/4 bed, small wardrobe etc to make the houses look bigger, but that's your personal preference. 3 toilets is again a modern thing, they inevitably end up boxy rooms, but its personal preference, much like period versus modern etc, your personal preference.

[sippo]

Good luck keeping things on the wall in a new build. The walls are shocking. New builds are good for convenience but not in the long term. If it is attached to another property, you'll be able to hear everything they get upto.

 

With new builds, there is always certainly a maintenance annual fee as well.

Edited April 17, 2019 by sippo

[Reboot_IT]

Not all new builds are bad. I bought mine 3 years ago and had a pretty good experience really. As expected, there were snags which the builder (Seddon Homes) rectified and we've just sold it on for a very decent profit.

 

With any home improvements, I usually ask if there will be ROI. If an extension will add value and make the home more suitable for you, I don't see a problem.

 

Mine is Leashold too, many people have made changes such as extensions and it hasn't been a problem.

[Primus]

The NHBC is worth sweet FA. Do not rely on it.

[abillybob]

Ok so the part exchange offered us £180,000 for the house, it was valued between £190,000 and £200,000. We purchased the house 2 years ago for £170,000 so am I right in thinking this isn't that bad of a deal, plus we miss out on estate agent fees?

 

I've thought rather than trying to bargain with them about getting more money for our house it would be better to bargain with them when buying our new home? We obviously want carpets, tiles, Back Garden Turfed/Slabbed and all integrated appliances included (as they want ours). We have also been told because we're with Nationwide we'll need a 15% deposit which we can afford but I'm going to use it as a bargaining deal so hopefully they'll pay for our Stamp Duty too!? What do you guys think?

 

I'm a bit worried as the lady said today that a couple are going to view the same property on Saturday and they're also interested, not sure if this could be a tactic/lie? Apparently this other couple haven't sold their house though yet!

 

If any of you can help out with questions and ways to bargain to get the best deal I'd really appreciate it, we're all new too this!

 

Thanks

[XiJ]

I wouldn’t get hung up on what they offered you, more if the overall deal is worth it and affordable. If they offer you less than you’d hoped, ask for money off of if they can gift you money off. From their sale price. Worth haggling for whatever you can get.

 

I’d take whatever the sales people say with a pinch of salt. They may have people viewing but who knows what position they are in?

 

Try to really go with your head not your heart tho. BE PREPARED TO SAY NO. We managed to be patient (as desperate as I was to move) and got a very good deal on ours.

I’ve also said prices were too high and they’ve phoned back to ask what they could do. Just be confidence in your valuations and it’s affordability for you.

[Roberto]

The thing with new house buying and offers of bits and pieces is that it’s difficult to value those. How much is a fitted dishwasher worth? Is it worth a deal that sounds good out of the gate but adds 2 years to the mortgage for example?

 

I’d personally say £20k was a lot to walk away from. We thought hard about accepting an offer at 10k under for our last property and ultimately said yes... but this was to buy a £450k house where that was a smaller percentage of the final pric and we had a lot of cash/deposit to put down if we moved fast.

[elsiegee40]

Try to really go with your head not your heart tho. BE PREPARED TO SAY NO. We managed to be patient (as desperate as I was to move) and got a very good deal on ours.

I’ve also said prices were too high and they’ve phoned back to ask what they could do. Just be confidence in your valuations and it’s affordability for you.

I have done likewise in the past. It was really hard saying that if our offer wasn’t accepted we would walk away. I wanted that house desperately, but they were asking far too much. I got a call back within the hour agreeing to our terms.

 

It was a falling market and there were loads of other properties around, we had a buyer for our flat and they didn’t want to lose the sale. I am not sure the market is quite so much on the buyers side at the moment though.

[Achandler]

20k would buy you those integrated appliances, a landscaped garden, carpets and your stamp duty!

 

The estate agent fees are usually either fixed or 1%, so you are sacrificing 17k or so once you include the estate agent fees,

[XiJ]

I have done likewise in the past. It was really hard saying that if our offer wasn’t accepted we would walk away. I wanted that house desperately, but they were asking far too much. I got a call back within the hour agreeing to our terms.

 

It was a falling market and there were loads of other properties around, we had a buyer for our flat and they didn’t want to lose the sale. I am not sure the market is quite so much on the buyers side at the moment though.

 

Agreed it’s very tough, especially when your heart is set in it. The market of course has an effect but buying at the right time also helps (end of financial year etc).

 

People also seem to be getting hung up on ‘20k less’ valuation. Just get ~£20k or more off the asking price of new build. Take control. Don’t be afraid to say no.

You CAN negotiate so don’t take the first offer if anything.

[witch]

Not sure why you are all talking about 20k - that would only be if they offered the very top of the valuation -and that NEVER happens, does it?

[Achandler]

Sold mine this week for asking price in 4 days, so yeah it does.

[witch]

Sold mine this week for asking price in 4 days, so yeah it does.

 

In the open market, maybe - but when you are part exchanging as the OP is, they dont offer the full amount as they know you want the deal and there are usually lots of other people waiting behind you

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I think one question you should ask yourselves is. Why the rush?

 

You're getting married next month, so right now you have more important (and happier) things to be thinking about / arranging.

If as you say you'll look at starting a family, then unless you already have a baby on the way, that's a bare minimum of 9 months away.

You live in a 2 bedroom house. That's more than big enough for now, will also be fine with a baby since it's likely any baby will be in your bedroom initially anyhow.

 

You've easily got a year and a half before you need to consider a move.

 

My advice. Can this whole thing until after your honeymoon, then take a measured approach.

You have time on your side here and nothing you've told us suggests this needs to be done in a hurry.

[witch]

I think one question you should ask yourselves is. Why the rush?

 

You're getting married next month, so right now you have more important (and happier) things to be thinking about / arranging.

If as you say you'll look at starting a family, then unless you already have a baby on the way, that's a bare minimum of 9 months away.

You live in a 2 bedroom house. That's more than big enough for now, will also be fine with a baby since it's likely any baby will be in your bedroom initially anyhow.

 

You've easily got a year and a half before you need to consider a move.

 

My advice. Can this whole thing until after your honeymoon, then take a measured approach.

You have time on your side here and nothing you've told us suggests this needs to be done in a hurry.

 

The issue is that they want to go with part-exchange and maybe there isnt anything else available or looking like it will happen in the near future

[Achandler]

I think the OP has fallen into the common trap of the way the English housing market works, in Scotland for example it is vastly different. He has found a house he really wants, even though it isn't everything he actually needs, and as a result he is willing to "lose" more to get it. As oppose to selling his home, then finding another one, which is the way it is kinda setup to work (although this is also a nightmare and leads to long chains and long lead times!).

 

Head over heart is the way it should be done, but probably won't be

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The issue is that they want to go with part-exchange and maybe there isnt anything else available or looking like it will happen in the near future

 

Maybe, but it all seems like the worst time to be doing this. And a year or more definitely isn't the near future. The property market changes almost weekly these days and new build developments are cropping up everywhere.

There will be plenty of other opportunities in the next 18 months.

[Joanne]

How did you find this property? Were you actively looking at houses on rightmove? Did you drive past the development and decided to look in the showhome?

 

In my opinion, I would do the following:

 

- Put your house on the market at a reasonable price. 195k probably.

- Look at all the houses around you. IMO if you are after 3 double bedrooms, you should be looking at a 4 bed house. The extra £15k you could get from your sale should cover the extra bedroom.

- If you can't find anything you like, you are still likely to get a house in the development you want. I'm almost certain that they won't just build that configuration of house one time. Plus you will be in better negotiation position.

 

When we were looking at buying houses a few months back, we had a list of houses and prices we were willing to pay. We ended up buying a house that was 6th on the list because the price was too good to pass up. On our number 1 property, which we viewed the day before offering suddenly had numerous offers on the table over our offer. We walked away. A few weeks later the agent called back saying the other offers had fallen through. Take everything sales people say with a pinch of salt. They are generating urgency on your part so you will do anything and everything to close on the deal. Don't fall for it.

 

We moved into our 6th option house last week and we are really happy. At the end of the day, you make a house a home, so don't get too hung up on "South facing garden"

[davinderkundi]

Part-exchange is great and I wanted to try it, but my house was not qualified for the programme because the area is less desirable, so it's harder to resell. Then, I found out about The Property Buying Company, which is a very good alternative. They buy any house from any area, in any condition and I got my money in 2 weeks. Edited September 29, 2024 by davinderkundi