[Help] First House Viewing Advice

[Cheshire Cat]

Make sure you are carrying at least £150,000 in cash so you can pay the deposit immediately if you like the place.

 

[Notters]

Make sure you are carrying at least £150,000 in cash so you can pay the deposit immediately if you like the place.

Don't worry we don't have to do that in yorkshire.

 

[Eric the meek]

I'm assuming it's a Victorian stone built terrace. Being long and thin, with no windows on the side walls, these can be dark inside. So pay attention to the aspect - the ideal would be east-west facing, so you get maximum light through the front and rear windows in the mornings and evenings. Check that the damp proof course has been done. If you need to do it yourself, it can be a real mess. Think about the layout, and how you would use it. Many northern terraces have a front room, and then the stairs going up sideways off the hall, and then a back room leading to the kitchen. This sometimes means the bathroom is not off the landing, but can only be accessed through one of the bedrooms. Not ideal. Some families use the front downstairs room as an additional bedroom. Think also about the pros and cons of having a mid-terrace, with houses on either side which help reduce your heating bills, or an end terrace, with a side wall to maintain. If you like it, get to know the sellers, and if you can, offer to work to their timeframe. It might just make the difference of your offer being accepted. Good luck!

 

[Bodian]

Make sure you are carrying at least £150,000 in cash so you can pay the deposit immediately if you like the place.

Don't worry we don't have to do that in yorkshire.

You can buy it there and then - no need for a deposit!

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Out of interest, how much have you increased your price given that level of response? Percentage wise?

We didn't increase our price. A lot of agents use a range of £25k as that seems to be the best way to get your property seen when people are searching on the big internet sites. The bottom of the range was what we based our own figures on and the agent asked people for their best and final offers. The offer accepted was close to the top of that range and is a first time buyer with no chain behind them.

 

[drew]

Make sure you are carrying at least £150,000 in cash so you can pay the deposit immediately if you like the place.

£150k, Sheffield! Wouldn't that buy the whole street? Or have I watched too much homes under the hammer from up north?

 

[Sid in the Sharknado]

£150k, Sheffield! Wouldn't that buy the whole street? Or have I watched too much homes under the hammer from up north?

It'd buy a nice flat in the centre, a nice house in a suburb in the middle of nowhere, or a 4-bed detached mansion in Rotherham.

The nice part of Sheffield on the west of the city towards the Peaks is more expensive, but still nowhere near Brighton prices for a comparable sort of area.

 

[Farehamseagull]

I think a lot of people commenting on this thread are out of touch with the current market.

Back in the day, you would usually visit a place at least twice before making an offer. Not sure if Sheffield is the same as Sussex but things are moving so fast down here you don't often get a chance for a second look.

I put my place on the market on the Tuesday afternoon and by the Saturday afternoon I have had 19 viewings and received 9 offers. Unless the place is badly priced or has something people don't like about it, properties here are often sold within a week of going on sale. A few places now are doing open days where you get allocated a fifteen minute slot and at the end of the day they will decide which offer to accept.

With this in mind, do your homework on the area. Use the video or 360 degree tours that agents offer to get a feel for the place and to see things you might want to ask about. Park up nearby and have a walk around the area to see what it is like, even if you think you know the area well. This may be very obvious but make sure you have your mortgage agreed in principle before looking - if you don't have one then you may find sellers will take other offers ahead of yours.

Good luck!

It is the same in Southampton at the moment. You have to be fast, problem at the moment is a real lack of supply.

To be honest, you may as well put an offer in even if you’re not 100% on it. The ridiculous system we have for buying properties in this country means you can make an offer on a house, get it accepted, not really spend any serious money at all and then pull out a few weeks or months later as you’ve changed your mind or seen something else you prefer leaving everyone else in the chain screwed. That’s why more than a third of agreed sales fall through.

Working in the industry for 21 years leaves you a bit cynical about it! And the problem isn’t agents, it’s the general public.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Anyone who works in residential property knows there are only THREE things you need to focus on and concern yourself with:

1/ Location





2/ Locations




3/ and LOCATION

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Edit: duplication error

 

[B-right-on]

Don’t stress too much about. You will get a feeling for the right property and go for that one in the end regardless of any minor details. Buying a residential property is quite an emotive decision.

From experience, what I will say is during the conveyancing process and after receiving the survey, you will have to take a view on a number of things. The surveyor and conveyancer will highlight a number of issues, most of which are probably nothing to worry about but they have to cover their arse. If you do buy an older property or really any property over a few years old, there will always be certain issues highlighted and unless you never want to buy a property, you do have to take a view.

Due to worries about their liability and the ever increasing cost of their insurance, surveyors and conveyancers are getting more and more pedantic. I’ve seen a number of examples recently where first time buyers have pulled out or thought about pulling out due to something in the survey or something the solicitor has said that really shouldn’t cause a concern.

This. My eldest dughter bought a house a couple of years ago and the list of 'major' problems was quite scary. Until you really looked at it. One was a downpipe wasnt connected to the soakaway properly, you would think the whole house would collapse from the subsidence this would cause but highlighted as a major issue. it literally cost £5 to fix it and half an hours work. There was a list of like problems (blown dg unit which could cause mold and be fatal to asthma sufferers etc..)