How to actually bid/buy house?

cgrvy

Hi,

I have a few basic questions about what to do when attempting to make an offer on a house.

We went to our bank a few months ago and got pre-approval for a mortgage, now we have found a house that we like. It is not ideal, it will need some work, some changes etc - these are things we are happy to do ourselves.

My question is what exactly do we do next? Do we go to the bank/mortgage broker and get the full mortgage now / go to a solicitor / go get a full engineer report completed on the house / go back to the estate agent and make an offer?!

In peoples experiences, when getting a mortgage - can we also get the value of the work we want done to the house included or how does that work?

Many thanks in advance!

Proxy

In my experience, you can only get this X amount included in the mortgage if it will add value to the property. So, an engineer and estate agent would have to agree in the end that if you, for example, do up the kitchen and bathroom, it will add X amount of value to the property at least.

CBFi

My advice is don't spend any money until you are sale agreed on a house (that includes engaging solicitor, contacting bank, getting a survey etc) - just because you like the house doesn't mean you'll end up buying it so you need to protect your money.

You should put in an offer by email to the estate agent (always check if there's a current offer on the house. If you're the first bid, bid fast and bid low.) Familiarise yourself with the situation of the vendor - will there be a chain (ie is sale contingent on vendors securing a new property) as this will influence your decision. Decide before you start bidding, what is your maximum for this property. It should take into consideration the costs of the work you will need to do.

Once you are sale agreed, you will have to pay a booking deposit of 5/6k to the estate agent. Then the first thing I would do is get your survey done to make sure you are progressing the sale before you start racking up the costs of a solicitor. Once thats done and you're happy, inform your mortgage advisor to update your offer letter, and let your solicitor know. You should have a solicitor confirmed BEFORE going sale agreed as your bank and the estate agent will need this information immediately.

You will not be able to cover the costs of any repairs/ furnishing etc with the mortgage. Maximum mortgage you'll get is 90% so make sure you have your 10% deposit ready but if you have an offer already then you'll know what deposit your bank expects and the amount you have been approved for. If the works are urgent, make sure you can afford them with your current savings!

Good luck - hope you get it!

cgrvy

Thanks a million, I really appreciate all of your help.

So what I think I'm reading is that my next step is to make an offer. Once they are happy with it I go and talk to my bank and get a solicitor? I take it that if we make an offer and it gets accepted, and if our bank turn around and actually decide they wont give us the mortgage, we are not out of pocket or liable to anything?

The EA has said to me that there is not much wiggle room on the price, but this was during our first conversation with him and I am not sure if this was him just playing tactics... The house is for sale for €225,000, I know I should bid what I am happy to pay for it, but... how do people normally start out here?

CBFi

Once your offer has been accepted, you pay booking deposit (completely refundable). from my experience get a survey done before you contact your solicitor. Otherwise, based on the survey, you might decide not to proceed with the sale but have incurred legal fees. You will need to have a solicitor organised before you go sale agreed - searching for a solicitor after your offer is agreed will be late in the day as estate agent will be looking for this info.

I would offer 5k under asking if there isnt a huge amount of wriggle room. However, normally i would offer 10k under asking if there wasnt an offer on the house. I wouldnt ever offer asking on my first offer.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Alicano

Can you bid on more than one property at a time? Apols for asking in your thread OP and apols if this is a stupid question.:o

cpoh1

Slow down and do lots of research! Start searching this forum, the PPR, keep an eye on house price trends (search the internet), read up on typical issues with houses following engineers reports etc.

No offense but I cringe when I see threads like this, people need to be way more clued in when they are spending hundreds of thousands on a house. You need to be going into this eyes wide open or you will get eaten alive by the EA.

CBFi

cpoh1 wrote: »

Slow down and do lots of research! Start searching this forum, the PPR, keep an eye on house price trends (search the internet), read up on typical issues with houses following engineers reports etc.

No offense but I cringe when I see threads like this, people need to be way more clued in when they are spending hundreds of thousands on a house. You need to be going into this eyes wide open or you will get eaten alive by the EA.

Agreed - this is a major decision and you should know what you're doing before you get caught up in the process.

Then again, asking questions on this forum and getting answers is a good way to learn more from people who've gone through it before you start bidding.

Alicano - you'll get mixed opinions on that but I have. My point of view was you dont know how it's going to go so if you're genuinely interested in two at the same time then bid on both.

Alicano

Hi again. I'm not sure if cpoh1's concern is directed at me but rest assured. Myself and partner have a healthy deposit and have held the trigger for a couple of years now. We are 'possibly' buying in a low / under average price bracket and are not looking to spend all are disposable income on a status symbol!:) B
Back on topic: Are there any specific's to be included when emailing a bid? I'm fine with typing business language mails, but are there standard sentences to be included in official bidding? e.g "With regard to property....please see below bid of xxx, on condition of satisfactory survey etc". Don't laugh as I just made that up but you know what I'm asking? Do I have to attach approval or anything else?
Thanks for any info and apologies again to OP for putting questions in your thread. I feel we have the same queries and don't see the point of starting a new thread??
Cheers.

cgrvy

Alicano keep adding the questions - I think we are in the same boat so no need to apologise. Like yourselves we have held off from buying for a good few years and don't plan on going anywhere near our maximum possible mortgage value.

leanonme

We put in an offer on a house two weeks ago, and have not heard back. The sales agent informed us that our offer had been lodged with the bank, and they would get back to us as soon as there herd back from the bank. Today I noticed the add is gone off daft, so I dont know what to think, because we have not herd anything from them since two days after we put in the offer, when they said they would let us know when they hear back from the bank.
Could they have done with another offer without speaking with us?

Alicano

Hi All. Back again!
I've enjoyed a great week in my first attempt bidding on a house. Three bidders in a war which came to an end last night (us and one other). We've been outbid by 1k. And although we could bid higher again it seems a little pointless as 1) We now know the others have same, if not higher approval than ourselves. 2) We feel it's now at top price and going up any further in 1k's would not benefit either bidder at this stage.
So, before I send my email saying 'Thank's but no thank's, does anybody think there is a point in matching the bid or would I be laughed out of town? Still new to this!
We're ok to move on and I've learnt from this first experience, but just want to make sure I've tried my best.
Thanks all.

Gumbo

Alicano wrote: »

Hi All. Back again!
I've enjoyed a great week in my first attempt bidding on a house. Three bidders in a war which came to an end last night (us and one other). We've been outbid by 1k. And although we could bid higher again it seems a little pointless as 1) We now know the others have same, if not higher approval than ourselves. 2) We feel it's now at top price and going up any further in 1k's would not benefit either bidder at this stage.
So, before I send my email saying 'Thank's but no thank's, does anybody think there is a point in matching the bid or would I be laughed out of town? Still new to this!
We're ok to move on and I've learnt from this first experience, but just want to make sure I've tried my best.
Thanks all.

No point matching the bid. You will lose out as first come first served.
But do tell the agent your offer is still there and if the other buyer backs out for any reason then to make contact with you.

MouseTail

Its not necessarily first come first served. It is worth matching a bid if you are in a more advantageous position, cash buyer, no chain etc.

Alicano

kceire wrote: »

No point matching the bid. You will lose out as first come first served.
But do tell the agent your offer is still there and if the other buyer backs out for any reason then to make contact with you.

Thanks kceire. Just done that now. Actually proud of our discipline! Reading endless thread's on here warning of that "It's just another thousand" mentality. Good experience for me though.

Alicano

MouseTail wrote: »

Its not necessarily first come first served. It is worth matching a bid if you are in a more advantageous position, cash buyer, no chain etc.

Thanks MouseTail. Two of us were mortgage approved and one cash buyer. Thought it was odd that cash buyer dropped out? We are FTB's and I presume others were too. I've said to EA to come back to us if sale does not go through. Cheers for info. Might try it next time.

TheDriver

On a side note I notice some properties going sale agreed very quickly so sellers must also be aware that some peoples ability to pay the price depends on getting the sale through before loan approvals run out

Jovetic

Sorry for the hijack... A few questions.

Would I be right in thinking.....

After going sale agreed, EA contacts my solicitor and sends contracts. Solicitor contacts me to sign contracts once all has been prepared.

What's happening with the vendors in the meantime, is the EA preparing contracts for their solicitors also?

In the meantime the mortgage lender requests valuation report. They then seek full approval for the mortgage?

Any idea on how long these steps take roughly?? Could the mortgage be refused ( I have AIP) or how likely is that to happen?

Many thanks