Moving House

Diamond Geezer

Diamond Geezer

Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
13,884
Hello again everyone.

I am breaking a self imposed exile here as I wasn't planning on posting on the forum again until the jumps season proper but a situation has cropped up in my life and I would appreciate any general advice on moving house.

Two years ago I was made redundant from a very well paid local job after twenty years or so service and so received a fairly substantial redundancy payment. I decided to take a break from work to decide where I went with my life and then once I began looking for work again I found it wasn't quite so easy finding a similar position especially here in a fairly remote part of Cornwall. Eventually though I obtained work through someone I knew with another local company the idea being to obtain a working knowledge of how the Company worked and its products and then as a position(s) became available and given my relevant qualifications I would be in a very good position to take advantage. Nothing has cropped up though and feeling frustrated I took a gamble a month ago and handed in my notice. Although there was a concerted effort to persuade me to stay, there were no offers because quite simply there is nothing to offer.

We have decided to relocate to the Cotswolds and stayed there last week for five days looking at properties and evaluating the local job market where I am confident I could find something indeed I have an interview in the next few days.

Now to the reason for the posting. We wish to purchase a property for say £5k less than the amount we receive for ours in order to cover conveyancing, stamp duty, removal fees etc and have two or three quotes on all of this. We could add capital of our own but would prefer not to.We have identified a property which quite by coincidence is a two minute walk from my new job should I get lucky. Our property has had three valuations the highest and lowest being £20k apart whilst the estate agent we feel offers the best service was the one who suggested a price somewhere in the middle and which matches the asking price of the one we like.

We will probably go with them but place it on the market at the highest price realising we will be lucky to obtain that.When is the best time for us to make an offer on the other property in the Cotswolds ? Now or wait until we get an idea whether we get any offers and if so how close to our asking price and are there any tricks, for want of a better word, we can use other than a survey to persuade the vendors to drop their price ? I am not desperate as such as one of our daughters lives half an hour away and has accommodation I could use until we find somewhere.

Would appreciate hearing the experiences of others.
 
Before I read this thread in depth, can I just quickly say "welcome back DG!" B)
 
If it were me, I would go and view the Cotswolds property first, and then make them a reasonable first offer based on what you need to cover your £5k - that's assuming you like what you see of course. I would still leave some movement for further negotiation, which there is bound to be after the survey has taken place.

As you don't currently know the situation of the Cotswold house sellers this would also be worthwhile finding out as this would dictate how quickly you need to move on yours....or not, if they haven't yet found a place to move to.

Every house sale is different due to everyone's personal circumstances and how quickly some need to move, and how many may be in the chain etc. We all know how the bigger then chain, the bigger the pending disaster may be.

I think I would definitely go and see the Cotswold house first, and then, assuming it is the house you want, then start to do some calculations on how much to market your own house for and then start plotting how to get them to drop the price even more. B)
 
I don't have any useful advice for you DG, but, should you opt to go down the intimidation route to get the price down, and get caught, then you should remember to burst into tears when the judge is about to send you to jail.

Blubbing Like A Girl!
 
I'm not sure about "tricks" - especially as it's a seller's market in most of the location to which you're looking to move. But the vendors and their agents will have an edge on you because they will be aware what prices have been achieved for similar properties sold in the area recently. You can plug into that information yourself (for nothing) on this website:

ourproperty.co.uk
 
Having bought and sold many times, one thing I am certain of - and that's sell before you buy.

You are then in a better position re being a cash buyer and being able to move and complete quickly on the property of your choice, so reducing the often intolerable stess levels that occur when trying to sell and buy at the same time.

Admitedly, you have to find somewhere to rent and storage costs for furniture are high but renting in an area is also beneficial in that you make certain it's an area you want to actually buy in and with reference to the storage of furniture, apart from any really valuable items or those with sentimental value, I'd ditch the rest and start again every time!
 
If the vendors accept the price you offer and then later on down the line your house doesn't sell for as much as you'd like you can always try to renegotiate with the vendors. I know it's cheeky but by that late stage they'll not want to lose their buyer.

A similar thing happened to us when we sold our house, although in your case we would be the vendors. We were offered the asking price and accepted. Our estate agents and solicitors were amongst the most useless people on the planet and dragged the sale out for months. A week before completion, our buyer had his mortgage offer snatched away because he changed jobs. By this stage we were poorer than church mice as Mr GG was still out of a job and we had the choice of accepting £4000 less or putting the house back on the market. We had to accept less money just to get rid of the place as there's no way we could've waited another X amount of months.
 
Welcome back DG.
Over the last 18 months I have been involved in the sale of 3 houses and the purchase of one. The first advice I would give is prepare for the worst then things can only get better! In January last year I was selling both my own house and my late father's. They were both put up at £200k with the expectation that mine would move quickly and dad's wouldn't. As it happened, his went for £201k in 3 months and it was 15 months before I sold mine for £180k so it's not an exact science.
Selling - be realistic about your asking price and be aware of your bottom line. Are there any comparable properties that have been sold in the last year? Go with the agent that you trust most and who offers a competitive rate. Take his advice. If the house is to be advertised on the internet make sure that you reach your target audience. Most sites get their customers to select a price range and a surprising number of buyers don't go out of their range and consider higher price properties on the assumption that they can knock the vendor down. For example, if you want to sell for £185k you put up at £199k rather than £201k because most prospective buyers will search for properties up to £200k.
Buying - it's most unlikely that a vendor will accept any offer until you have an agreed sale on your own property. The best you can hope for is that you get an indication that your offer would be acceptable when you can commit to a schedule. If you are prepared to live in rented accommodation, being a cash buyer is a great big tick for any vendor. Even when an offer is accepted the vendor would probably carry on marketing until you have shown some commitment to the purchase eg. by getting a survey or spending some money in some other way. It's the agent's job to sell a property for the best price in the circumstances but most will be able to give you an idea of where you might pitch an offer. Apart from survey results and normal horse-trading, your best chance of saving money would be on getting things like curtains and carpets included in the price. The revenue are much hotter on this than they used to be as they see it as a way of evading stamp duty but you can probably swing a few hundred.
As Kathy says, every sale and purchase is different depending on the personalities involved. As the market is still quite tight you may achieve a better result on your purchase than you first thought but you are equally vulnerable on your sale. Try to be happy with both deals or it could sour your feeling for your new house.
Good luck.
 
Thanks everyone even Simmo :P .

We do have more or less rent free accommodation available to us if we don't sell ours before I start any new job or the one we are keen on gets sold and we need to look again. Sorry if I didn't make it clear but we have viewed the property in question already and. if as seems likely a job interview is arranged within the next few days, will probably go for a second look whilst we are there.

It seems then as if we ought to offer a bit less and then if a survey throws up anything make a reduced offer depending on the cost of putting something right. Our property goes on the market at the weekend so will give it a week to see what response we have and risk the vendor selling. We did speak to two or three neighbors to make general enquiries about the neighbourhood and they all appeared really friendly, one of them let slip it has been for sale for two months so it's a calculated gamble to keep them waiting I suppose.
 
Remember that buying and selling houses is a very stressful time DG so plenty of stress relief will be essential in the coming weeks/months.

When I sold my last house, I was so impressed with the chap that worked for the Estate Agent, I actually sent a letter to his boss saying what a helpful and nice chap he was and that he deserved a payrise.

That is one letter I never thought I would send in my lifetime. A nice letter to an Estate Agent. :blink:

I also think an Estate Agent can make or break a sale, I went with this particular agent as there was no bullshit - he was a straight talker and I trusted him. I met up with four different agents and within seconds of meeting them I had a pretty good idea if they were going to market my property correctly.

One of the agents (I decided not to use evenutally) put together some details for me to check over, and had included a picture of the downstairs toilet, the front garden covered in leaves and a photo showing completely the wrong angle of the kitchen. I complained, sent them my own digital photos to use, and then after 3 weeks, told them they were no longer to market the property. I got a call from them a fortnight later asking why I hadn't signed the proof and returned it. :blink:

It may be worth DG, if the commission rate is favourable (or ask for a set rate) to market your house with more than one Agent. It certainly helps up the anti if you are looking for a relatively quick sale, and there is nothing like a bit of estate agent competition to help a sale along. B)

Remember also, you can put together your own website with details of your house on. I got limited response from this marketing tool, but as the estate agents knew I was personally marketing my own property they seemed a little keener to get me bigger advertising in the local papers etc and for longer too.
 
Thanks Kathy

All three estate agents quote 1.5% sole agency or 2.5% multi agency. Presume that's about right.

Hve just heard job interview is next Wed morning so will arrange second viewing Wed afternoon.
 
Originally posted by Diamond Geezer@Jul 6 2006, 06:51 PM
All three estate agents quote 1.5% sole agency or 2.5% multi agency. Presume that's about right.

Click to expand...
If you want to give sole agency you should be able to negotiate a lower fee than 1.5%
 
Sent the estate agent two or three questions via e-mail last week regarding the property we are interested in and slightly annoyingly had to chase them a day later to see if they had received it. I was told "Oh yes, we've just received it" whereas I sent it twenty fours previously.Three hours later they did phone back.

On Saturday I e-mailed them two or three more queries plus a request to take a second viewing on either this Tues or Wed so that they had a list of the questions in front of them when they rang the vendor to see which day was most convenient. My e-mail client confirms my message as having been read.Three days later I have not had a reply either by e-mail or telephone. You could argue why don't I ring them but should I really have to ? I would be annoyed if the estate agent selling ours treated a potential purchaser this way.

We are off tomorrow to look at two or three more and may or may not ring them while we are up there.

What would you have done ?
 
Possibly directly contact the people in the house in which you're interested explaining how their interests may not be being met by the agents. As I said before, not being a cash buyer you're at a disadvantage and the agents may simply say they're reflecting that. Whatever, if you're serious about this property, building a rapport with the vendor will do you no harm.
 
DG, if they are willing to take your money they should be pro-active and not wait for you to call them as well as email them.
 
DG, they would have had short, sharp from me verbally if the e-mails had not been responded to within in a reasonable amount of time. I call same day reasonable I call 3 days highly unacceptable.

You are potentially their customer and should be treating you as such. If you are serious about the property I would make your feelings known about the current lack of communication, and as Archie said, find a way of making direct contact with the seller if you can. Perhaps have a word with EA Manager if you feel you are getting nowhere.

One of my pet hates is people not responding within a reasonable amount of time. I am currently in dispute with a solicitor for the exact same reason. I have already received compensation, and I am not finished with them yet either. h:)
 
DG, welcome back before the proper jumping begins again. Not much to add, but don't expect that being a cash buyer nowadays will get you better, sharper service from estate agents than someone with a mortgage already lined up, or ensure a quicker move - it won't. I've always been a cash buyer, and have ended up waiting for months while other people's bloody chains snapped and came apart, sometimes several times!

You do need to find out the Cotswold vendor's hoped-for move timeframe: have they already bought somewhere else, or are they waiting for a buyer before they can make an offer, and so on?

Leaving curtains and carpets is pretty standard, but if the seller's leaving the kitchen 'white goods' and you DON'T want them, legally they must remove them prior to your moving in. If you like the look of them, say you assume they're in with the price (cheekily). If not, offer to buy them (cheaply) to save them all the bother of removing them and finding they're not worth more than a fiver second-hand. Ask if other things like light fittings and garden sheds are being left, too, to give you an idea of any additional expenditures if they're not. (The sellers will have to list the left items, but that's not until later on.)

Songsheet's draconian approach to your own household goods is pretty good - you'll pay hundreds of pounds to move it, and unless it's very sentimental or very high quality or priceless antiques, it's just not worth the cost, especially with new sofas, etc., now costing peanuts and available on interest-free terms.

If you have any odd-sized or shaped or custom-made furniture, it might be worth your while checking that it will actually fit through the proposed home's doorways, stairwells, etc. I bought a gorgeous 2- and 3-seater sofa for a new home once, and found that only the 2-seater could fit round the double 'L' entrance! :angry:

Best of luck to you and the family at this new and exciting chapter in Ye Olde Boke of Life! :)
 
Well we are over the first hurdle hopefully, we have accepted an offer only just below the asking price after turning down the first offer from the same buyer within two weeks of putting it on the market. Bearing in mind the recent interest rise which may affect a potential buyer's mortgage and that this is a cash buyer from the same village we are quite pleased and now know the maximum where we can pitch any offers on a property for ourselves taking all other costs into consideration.
Off to the Cotswolds again tomorrow for a couple of days to take a second look at one property and maybe view a couple of others. One of these we presume is being sold privately. it is just down the road from the first one and only has a home made sign and telephone number in its garden. Are there any potential dangers with this type of transaction ?

Incidentally the job interview was cancelled whilst I was actually sat in the interview room. A few days later I arrived back in Cornwall a letter arrived with a large cheque to cover my travelling expenses and an invitation to have first chance at two newly created positions in the "near future". Wierd.
 
Re the home-made sign, DG: someone who lives nearby to me is selling her house privately, without using an agent. She advertised the house herself in a couple of papers, including (this is Brighton!) 'Gay Times' and immediately got a viewing from a lesbian couple who want to settle in the centre of town. She's a single Mum of two teenagers in her 40s and needs all the dosh she can get following the split with the husband, so she wanted a quick sale and no % given to an agent. Both seller and buyer still have to go through the usual formalities such as the buyer providing all of the details of the property, Searches, and solicitors.

Your solicitor would ensure that the home-grown seller will provide all of the usual, formal details (i.e., is it wholly freehold, which boundaries are whose, any liens against it, any outstanding planning permission, any known plans for a road right through the back garden, etc.), also ensure that the seller IS the owner and has the right to sell, etc., but otherwise all they're doing is clipping an agent's fee. However, I'd ask how long they've been marketing it, and, innocently, 'and how long did the agent have it before that?' - if you find out that an agent was trying to flog it for six months beforehand, you might want to find out what was wrong with it, unless Cotswold properties are selling slowly anyway.

You could start a new type of career just attending cancelled interviews, DG - looks like you've found a winner there! Good luck, anyway.
 
Ok so we have identified a property we would like to make an offer on, we also have a reserve, and may need a small mortgage of say £10k to £20K, on an interest only basis according to our financial advisor.

Is it best to go it alone with one of the High Street lenders eg Nationwide or go through a mortgage broker ?
 
Originally posted by Diamond Geezer@Aug 26 2006, 08:35 PM
Ok so we have identified a property we would like to make an offer on, we also have a reserve, and may need a small mortgage of say £10k to £20K, on an interest only basis according to our financial advisor.

Is it best to go it alone with one of the High Street lenders eg Nationwide or go through a mortgage broker ?
Click to expand...
A mortgage broker will charge you for their services (presumably you know that) but they will have access - perhaps - to more sources.

We've recently taken out a guarantor mortgage on a flat for Moette - so any surefire winners will be greatly appreciated - and we thought we'd done well with the rate we found using a comparison site but 'our' advisers found us a better deal and also pointed out one or two lenders who couldn't be trusted to complete the transaction by the agreed entry date.

They charge for the service - natch - but if you take the cost of their advice and regard it as part of a five-year deal rather than a one-off payment up front, it doesn't seem so bad.
 
An IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) will find the best type of mortgage deal to suit your needs - or tell you that the products he has researched are unsuitable for them - and will charge you nothing. His fee is paid as a commission by the lender and by law he has to declare it to you before you agree to proceed.
 
Yes, but on top of that, we were told up front that our advisers charged a flat fee for thier services. Unfortunately we didn't know anything about it being for free and signed a paper agreeing to pay them their charges :(
 
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