Currently buying/selling a house? How is it going? READ MOD NOTE POST #1

soc

C14N wrote: »

I'd say it's hard, but not impossible if you're willing to look either pretty far out from the city, look in some areas considered "less reputable", or include smaller dwellings.

That said, I would also say a substantial portion of those houses listed will already be close to 400k and it won't take much to bid them up past that, because there's a pretty huge demand in this kind of price bracket. Some will still stay lower, but if someone told me that was their budget and they want a house in Dublin I would be cautioning them to keep the expectations low.

Our own journey is still humming along. We've made 6 offers so far this week. Different levels of interest for each.

Two of them we offered at or close to asking, and the agent confirmed but hasn't given us anything else on, even though they were made on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We're in a bidding war with one other party for a house we saw Monday and it's getting a bit high for what we'd like to pay for it. Agent called to tell us this morning so we'll have to decide today though.

Another one we saw Wednesday and put an offer in is also in a bit of a bidding war, but we don't want to go too high as we want to keep some savings to do work on it if we get it.

The most competitive one is one we saw Wednesday evening. Currently at 65k over asking, 4 parties still involved, including ourselves. Very nice house though so could see going longer with it.

The favourite though is one we saw yesterday. Immediately put an asking price offer in. Agent got back to us first thing in the morning to say we were second to offer that and we had to go higher, so we've been bidding against one other party all day. Their last offer was only €2k higher than ours, and we still have some petrol in the tank to go higher so we're hoping they're near the end of their tether. Still wary of a third party swooping in with huge money though, which happened before on one we did bidding on against just one other party.

Went to one at lunch time today, and it's amazing what a difference an agent can make to how you view the house. I quite liked the place as it was, but it was such a lousy viewing experience that I feel reluctant now to put in an offer. Huge numbers of people at the same time viewing it together. Most of them I've seen give people time slots and if there are multiple people together they try to shuffle us around so you have one party upstairs, one downstairs, and maybe one in the garden at any time. This agent just waved everyone in, barely paying attention, so we were walking over the others checking the place out. Seemed only half-interested in the questions we had. Didn't get a good impression at all. I'll probably still make an offer because it's not really something you should decide a house on but was surprised how much of a sour taste it leaves.

I know you've been burned by your recent experience of being outbid on a house recently, but isn't it bad form to put your finger into so many pots, as it is driving up the price of multiple houses. Surely this approach contributes to house prices becoming artificially high?

ionapaul

soc wrote: »

I know you've been burned by your recent experience of being outbid on a house recently, but isn't it bad form to put your finger into so many pots, as it is driving up the price of multiple houses. Surely this approach contributes to house prices becoming artificially high?

It's not bad form at all, it's par for the course IMHO. That's not to say your final sentence is not true also.

Cash_Q

brianc27 wrote:

yea i was actaully speaking to the estate agent a few days ago, she was updating me on what furniture/appliances will be taken or left, so im assuming that could be what the slight hold up is, i told her im ready to go and my solicitor reached out to the vendor side for a close date that suits them, she said they are keen on closing quick too so hopefully i get some movement in the next few days. My own solicitor just keeps saying he's waiting for a reply but i think im going to push him to contact the other side again if there still nothing by monday.

Yes definitely keep the pressure on. I would be quite specific with the EA and say
"Can you ask the vendor if their solicitor has made contact with them about a closing date as our solicitor is awaiting a response "

At least then you know specifically if they are dragging their heels - if so, why? Sorting out appliances and furniture shouldn't be a cause for a hold up, they've had plenty of time to consider what do to with what needs to be removed.

If their solicitor just hasn't reached out to them yet - that's common, they're busy - the vendor might then enquire about this and get it moving.

EAs and solicitors are being well paid from this purchase, don't be afraid to be making a lot of contact if it means you will get it over the line quickly.

Sue de Nimes

My wife and I have been trying to sell our home in the UK and move back to Ireland for over two years it has been an ordeal. First of all we had the uncertainty around Brexit. The problem wasn't Brexit but the uncertainty caused by the people trying to reverse it. Once that was over we thought we were away, then lockdown hit.

We finally managed to sell and moved to Ireland just over two weeks ago. The problem is, with lockdown restrictions here, we couldn't view property. We couldn't even get into the country easily. We had to sell our UK home and come over here cash in the bank.

We are looking at property in the midlands and what has happened in the last few months with prices is just insane. Asking prices have jumped by as much as 25% since the start of the year. We don't have a huge budget and things we were looking at in January have now jumped right outside our budget.

We did a virtual viewing on one house at the end of May. It sold before we go over in June. A house 2 doors down is now on the market at 11% more - just one month later, and already has offers close to the asking price. A 10% price jump in 1 month is just nuts.

o1s1n

soc wrote: »

I know you've been burned by your recent experience of being outbid on a house recently, but isn't it bad form to put your finger into so many pots, as it is driving up the price of multiple houses. Surely this approach contributes to house prices becoming artificially high?

How else would you suggest doing it? Genuinely wondering.

MeadowMaker

o1s1n wrote: »

How else would you suggest doing it? Genuinely wondering.

The day you buy is the day you sell.

You would be hoping that the day you come to sell that there is also multiple people bidding on multiple properties.

Baybay

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

We are looking at property in the midlands...Asking prices have jumped by as much as 25% since the start of the year. We don't have a huge budget...

BidX1 have their next auction towards the end of the month. Maybe you’re already familiar with them.

A half finished, derelict property that had been untouched for years near to where I live was in last month’s auction which was why I happened to have a look at the online process. I found it quite interesting, Some properties went for crazy money while some didn’t sell but there were a few that looked fine, maybe needed a bit of fixing up or not & they went for reasonable enough prices, I thought.

Maybe keep an eye & see if something comes up.

Sue de Nimes

Baybay wrote: »

BidX1 have their next auction towards the end of the month. Maybe you’re already familiar with them.

A half finished, derelict property that had been untouched for years near to where I live was in last month’s auction which was why I happened to have a look at the online process. I found it quite interesting, Some properties went for crazy money while some didn’t sell but there were a few that looked fine, maybe needed a bit of fixing up or not & they went for reasonable enough prices, I thought.

Maybe keep an eye & see if something comes up.

Yes, I've been watching them for months now. Interesting how some stuff sells to a single bidder at the starting price and some goes for 20-30% over it. Seems very hard to predict though what any specific property will do.

Anyone here got any experience with buying from them? I've got some concerns about running up costs before bidding. I presume you would need to pay a solicitor to look at legals as well as pay a surveyor beforehand (all costs which ar lost if you don't win the auction)

Ace2007

tigger123 wrote: »

A 'non-refundable booking deposit' would be a serious cause of concern for me, as it is very much not the norm. It would make me wonder why the vendor wants it. I'd be getting a very thorough survey done if I were you.

I've seen it done for a few different reasons, some being:

Seller needs the money and can't afford the buyer pulling out - asking for a non refundable deposit say 10%, could tie them over if the buyer does pull out.

Seller got burnt before and have to pull out of their dream home because someone else changed their mind and got their refundable deposit back.

Personally I feel that a non refundable element should be inserted into all contracts, say 1%, that way your not going to be going sale agreed unless your sure you have all your ducks lined up - so many houses in the past few months have had sales fall through.

Mad_maxx

Baybay wrote: »

BidX1 have their next auction towards the end of the month. Maybe you’re already familiar with them.

A half finished, derelict property that had been untouched for years near to where I live was in last month’s auction which was why I happened to have a look at the online process. I found it quite interesting, Some properties went for crazy money while some didn’t sell but there were a few that looked fine, maybe needed a bit of fixing up or not & they went for reasonable enough prices, I thought.

Maybe keep an eye & see if something comes up.

More often than not these days, stuff fetches a higher price at those Bidx1 auctions than in the conventional market

Mad_maxx

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

Yes, I've been watching them for months now. Interesting how some stuff sells to a single bidder at the starting price and some goes for 20-30% over it. Seems very hard to predict though what any specific property will do.

Anyone here got any experience with buying from them? I've got some concerns about running up costs before bidding. I presume you would need to pay a solicitor to look at legals as well as pay a surveyor beforehand (all costs which ar lost if you don't win the auction)

Those lots where " a single bidder " appears to buy , no sale has happened at all

I won't say anymore than that

kippy

Ace2007 wrote: »

I've seen it done for a few different reasons, some being:

Seller needs the money and can't afford the buyer pulling out - asking for a non refundable deposit say 10%, could tie them over if the buyer does pull out.

Seller got burnt before and have to pull out of their dream home because someone else changed their mind and got their refundable deposit back.

Personally I feel that a non refundable element should be inserted into all contracts, say 1%, that way your not going to be going sale agreed unless your sure you have all your ducks lined up - so many houses in the past few months have had sales fall through.

Non refundable booking deposits would be fine in an environment where an independent surveyors report were available, all legal elements were available and clearly outlined on the sellers side prior to putting the house on the market and banks would lend prior to a suitable valuation and survey (which they don't)
Otherwise it's essentially cash buyers only and even at that it would take close to an idiot of a cash buyer to put up multiple thousands prior to tha above being available.

Just back to the currently buying/selling side of things.
From what I see out here in Galway county, close to the city, properties are in short supply, those that are are achieving between ten and twenty percent over asking(depending whether the asking was realistic in the first instance) lots of demand and very very little supply. Although based on what I am seeing, close to 250 units planned to be built in the next 3 years in the near vacinity of where I am. The vast majority earmarked for social/affordable which is unfortunate for those that aren't in those brackets and nowhere near enough of them for those that are.

Mad_maxx

Mad_maxx wrote: »

More often than not these days, stuff fetches a higher price at those Bidx1 auctions than in the conventional market

Well that's definitely not true.

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Those lots where " a single bidder " appears to buy , no sale has happened at all

I won't say anymore than that

Again - Well that's definitely not true.

Sue de Nimes

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

Yes, I've been watching them for months now. Interesting how some stuff sells to a single bidder at the starting price and some goes for 20-30% over it. Seems very hard to predict though what any specific property will do.

Anyone here got any experience with buying from them? I've got some concerns about running up costs before bidding. I presume you would need to pay a solicitor to look at legals as well as pay a surveyor beforehand (all costs which ar lost if you don't win the auction)

You get charged to enter an auction (think it's €100) and you probably should get the legals looked at AND a surveyor to look at the property beforehand. The problem you face here is your spending will rack up quite a bit if you keep getting outbid, or changing your mind.

I have been watching their auctions for years. They are actually, in my opinion, a good predictor of property prices. Their prices started going mad just before everyone started complaining about prices nationally. I've also noticed some of their stuff is starting to sell for more reasonable prices (or not sell at all, in some cases) which is me being probably naively optimistic about the future.

Some of the stuff goes for mental money, and this obviously stands out, but most of their properties sell for what would be reasonable amounts, in my opinion, or for the asking price. I often see properties not sell at all, but then they get snapped up when they're re-offered, so it seems some stuff flies under the radar with them.

To give an example, 3 bed mid-terrace sold with them for 160k (1 bid). On the same terrace a house is for sale at the moment via private treaty at 195k (and has at least 1 bid of that, last i checked).


Being that you're a cash buyer, keep in mind you dont NEED to get surveyors and such. You can always take a gamble (whereas a person looking to mortgage, can't). So you do have some advantage.


EDIT: Here's an example of a house flying under the radar in my opinion. No bids first, time, 1 bid when it was up a second time, for the asking price (150k). I couldn't get the money myself, unfortunately, in time, but I'm still angry at myself. Someone did really well. (im half-hoping the sale falls apart as I'd be in like a light if i thought i'd get it for 150k!)

Bidx1 House in Offaly for 150k

Mad_maxx

Deleted User wrote: »

Well that's definitely not true.



Again - Well that's definitely not true.

What's so hard to believe?

People loose the run of themselves at auctions ,check recent sales on BidX1 site and some properties made very high prices, two apartments in Limerick without vacant possession sols in June spring to mind, not an especially nice area and not especially good apartments

Mad_maxx

Deleted User wrote: »

You get charged to enter an auction (think it's €100) and you probably should get the legals looked at AND a surveyor to look at the property beforehand. The problem you face here is your spending will rack up quite a bit if you keep getting outbid, or changing your mind.

I have been watching their auctions for years. They are actually, in my opinion, a good predictor of property prices. Their prices started going mad just before everyone started complaining about prices nationally. I've also noticed some of their stuff is starting to sell for more reasonable prices (or not sell at all, in some cases) which is me being probably naively optimistic about the future.

Some of the stuff goes for mental money, and this obviously stands out, but most of their properties sell for what would be reasonable amounts, in my opinion, or for the asking price. I often see properties not sell at all, but then they get snapped up when they're re-offered, so it seems some stuff flies under the radar with them.

To give an example, 3 bed mid-terrace sold with them for 160k (1 bid). On the same terrace a house is for sale at the moment via private treaty at 195k (and has at least 1 bid of that, last i checked).


Being that you're a cash buyer, keep in mind you dont NEED to get surveyors and such. You can always take a gamble (whereas a person looking to mortgage, can't). So you do have some advantage.


EDIT: Here's an example of a house flying under the radar in my opinion. No bids first, time, 1 bid when it was up a second time, for the asking price (150k). I couldn't get the money myself, unfortunately, in time, but I'm still angry at myself. Someone did really well. (im half-hoping the sale falls apart as I'd be in like a light if i thought i'd get it for 150k!)

Bidx1 House in Offaly for 150k

More than enough for it

Sue de Nimes

Mad_maxx wrote: »

More often than not these days, stuff fetches a higher price at those Bidx1 auctions than in the conventional market

I've noticed that. Last Friday week I got a notification from Daft about a new property in Tullamore. It was after the agent had closed so I sent them a message requesting to view it. I heard back from them on Monday to say they held viewings on Saturday and sold at the asking price.

A few days prior to this two houses in the same development sold on Bidx1. Both were in very poor decorative condition but from the photos looked in sound structural condition. They just needed a new kitchen, bathroom and carpets. One sold for just under the price of the one the regular agent had and the the other just over it!

Sue de Nimes

Ace2007 wrote: »

Personally I feel that a non refundable element should be inserted into all contracts, say 1%, that way your not going to be going sale agreed unless your sure you have all your ducks lined up - so many houses in the past few months have had sales fall through.

What if the buyer pulls out because of something discovered at survey? It doesn't seem reasonable to expect someone to pay any nonrefundable money to the seller until they have been allowed to carry out due dilligance

Mad_maxx

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

I've noticed that. Last Friday week I got a notification from Daft about a new property in Tullamore. It was after the agent had closed so I sent them a message requesting to view it. I heard back from them on Monday to say they held viewings on Saturday and sold at the asking price.

A few days prior to this two houses in the same development sold on Bidx1. Both were in very poor decorative condition but from the photos looked in sound structural condition. They just needed a new kitchen, bathroom and carpets. One sold for just under the price of the one the regular agent had and the the other just over it!

I've said it before, what is to stop someone with an Internet connection driving up the bidding on these auction properties?

An insider operative could act alone in an office?

Even easier than the traditional method of an auctioneer taking bids from flies on the wall at the back of a hotel

ELM327

Ace2007 wrote: »

I've seen it done for a few different reasons, some being:

Seller needs the money and can't afford the buyer pulling out - asking for a non refundable deposit say 10%, could tie them over if the buyer does pull out.

Seller got burnt before and have to pull out of their dream home because someone else changed their mind and got their refundable deposit back.

Personally I feel that a non refundable element should be inserted into all contracts, say 1%, that way your not going to be going sale agreed unless your sure you have all your ducks lined up - so many houses in the past few months have had sales fall through.

I'd have no problem with a "non refundable for baseless withdrawal/change of mind" deposit.
They are asking for a non refundable deposit before even survey stage.


Anyway, our deposit contract would be with the estate agent and not the vendor.

Marius34

Mad_maxx wrote: »

I've said it before, what is to stop someone with an Internet connection driving up the bidding on these auction properties?

An insider operative could act alone in an office?

Even easier than the traditional method of an auctioneer taking bids from flies on the wall at the back of a hotel

If you talk about bidX1, and you planning to go with "fake bids", it just would not make much sense to go for bidX1 platform.

Mad_maxx

Marius34 wrote: »

If you talk about bidX1, and you planning to go with "fake bids", it just would not make much sense to go for bidX1 platform.

Wasn't referring to random members of the public

Marius34

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Wasn't referring to random members of the public

Neither me, I had in mind the seller/associate.

AdamD

Dodge wrote: »

People only tend to complain/talk about abnormal stuff

We know there’s a limited supply at the moment and some believe mortgages are unobtainable for them but thousands of people are approved for mortgages and the vast majority of them find a house they can live in. We’re looking at the moment and there’s a few houses for sale within our budget in our area and some of them have been on the market with no bids for a little while

I’m not trying to belittle anyone’s individual problems but this forum, and the wider media, isn’t representative of the whole situation (in my experience)

Must depend largely on area. Anything I've bid on or shown interest in has hit 30-60k over asking before I've pulled out (in the 300s so 10/20% over minimum). Nothing has stayed on the market either.

Ace2007

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

What if the buyer pulls out because of something discovered at survey? It doesn't seem reasonable to expect someone to pay any nonrefundable money to the seller until they have been allowed to carry out due dilligance

Because at auction, once the hammer goes down you have to buy - it's legal requirement, some auctions (not sure about Bidx1), have requirement to pay €5,000 in advance, if your not successful you get the money back. How many people would get carried away knowing they will lose at least 5k if they win and want to pull out?

Sue de Nimes

Ace2007 wrote: »

Because at auction, once the hammer goes down you have to buy - it's legal requirement, some auctions (not sure about Bidx1), have requirement to pay €5,000 in advance, if your not successful you get the money back. How many people would get carried away knowing they will lose at least 5k if they win and want to pull out?

Were you talking about auctions or regular house sales?

C14N

soc wrote: »

I know you've been burned by your recent experience of being outbid on a house recently, but isn't it bad form to put your finger into so many pots, as it is driving up the price of multiple houses. Surely this approach contributes to house prices becoming artificially high?

I certainly don't like doing it, but I also do feel like it's really the only way now, and I would genuinely take any one of them if I could get it. I don't really know what the alternative is. If I see house A and house B at prices I can pay, and like both enough to live in, then if house B ends up going for way over price and A does not, I don't want to have missed out on A just for some sense of personal honour.

I'm also not going to be pricing anyone else out completely. I mean, even in the event that I am left as the highest bidder two different properties, I will have to pull out on one, and then whoever is second highest bidder gets it instead, at a price they were ok with bidding for.

You are right though that it may result in people paying more than they otherwise would have, but it's a bit of a tragedy of the commons situation. It's entirely possible people I'm bidding against are doing the same thing and pushing an eventual sale price up for me too. I am somewhat suspicious that this may be happening to me now on my preferred property. There is only one other party as far as I know, and three times now they have outbid us by very small amounts. We thought we had them on the ropes when we were at 30k over asking, and they only came back at 32k over. Now it's gone back and forth a few more times and their last is now 65k over.

As annoying as that is to experience, I feel a bit like if you don't do it yourself, you're sort of fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

random_banter

C14N wrote: »

As annoying as that is to experience, I feel a bit like if you don't do it yourself, you're sort of fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

It's a weird one. We were stung recently on a situation like this too.

House in question was sale agreed at price X. The sale fell through, the EA called us to see if we were interested. We offered price X, i.e. the price it had just been SA at. Seller didn't accept.

Someone bid 10k over us then. They went sale agreed with the vendor. But then it turned out they were also sale agreed on another house, so they pulled out on the sale of this one. They weren't that interested after all!

However the seller was now hell bent on getting that higher price. Even though the agreed price they'd had just two weeks before had been good enough at the time.

So the EA came back to us again. We kept our bid where it was, but the seller was insisting that we bid more to get it, and we felt it wasn't worth more. I'm sure someone else felt that it was though, and got it eventually.

Anyway just an example. In this case, some bidders went sale agreed on multiple houses, weren't actually that interested in the one we were interested in, but had pushed the seller's expectations up.

It doesn't feel that fair, but that's the way the "system" has ended up, and everyone is desperate at the moment due to the terrible supply.

Ace2007

Sue de Nimes wrote: »

Were you talking about auctions or regular house sales?

I was merely pointing out that those issues that folk say could arise, and equally able to arise for an auctioned property but that buyer just has to suck it up? This idea that it wouldn't work, when it works perfectly well for an auction, proves that it's just pure unwillingness to engage possible solutions, and instead it's easier to fuel the fire.

An auction is just a different way to sell a property. So why can't rules that apply is one scenario work for another?

ELM327

QQ: Did anyone else receive a series of spam PMs regarding their posting on this thread? I've reported the PMs