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

TheSheriff · 24-02-2020 8:31pm

beanyb wrote: »

I've had an offer in on a house at 10k below asking for about 3 weeks. It's been on the market a month now and I am still the only offer. Doesn't seem like they have had huge interest at viewings either.

Last week, the estate agent asked if I would go up to asking to go sale agreed as the vendor was hanging on for asking. Since I was generally willing to pay asking, I said I would but only if we go sale agreed immediately. Now the vendor has decided they actually want to hold out for more. I've withdrawn my increased offer but am raging that they asked me to do this to go sale agreed and now have changed their minds!

Happened to us also sadly, we had an offer on a house, ~20K under asking, but very realistic for the area.

House has been on the market for quite a while, I couldn't determine exactly when it went up (and the EA has told me different dates), but the oldest ad I found was ~9 months ago. We made our offer in the first week of Feb. The fact that the house was on the market for so long with no other offers must have indicated to both the EA and vendor it was priced wrong (You would think).

At the start of Feb the EA told us the vendor was sick of having it on the market and was willing to accept our offer, get deposit organised etc. Needless to say we were quite happy.

The NEXT MORNING the EA rang us, vendor has changed their mind, they wanted an extra 10k - would we be willing to pay this.

We said no, house is now back on the market.

ebayissues · 25-02-2020 2:46pm

How long does agent have to wait for other party to increase bid?

25-02-2020 2:46pm

ebayissues wrote: »

How long does agent have to wait for other party to increase bid?

However long the vendor tell them to wait.

Queasy Tadpole · 25-02-2020 3:05pm

Looking to buy and seeing absolutely nothing. Was in the market a year ago and should have pulled the trigger. Prices are similar it just seems the stock has completely dried up. Absolutely raging at the moment.

stormthecastle · 25-02-2020 3:07pm

Queasy Tadpole wrote: »

Looking to buy and seeing absolutely nothing. Was in the market a year ago and should have pulled the trigger. Prices are similar it just seems the stock has completely dried up. Absolutely raging at the moment.

keep looking, something will come up and it will be worth the effort.

Kamili · 25-02-2020 3:10pm

stormthecastle wrote: »

keep looking, something will come up and it will be worth the effort.

I keep getting told the same thing, its actually depressing at this stage. I'm coming up on a year looking. Everything is either in rag order and needing a massive amount of work, or anything thats even remotely decent sells for mad money for the area.

Not having a go at you, but it just seems that theres absolutely nothing out there, and no hope.

Went to a viewing last week and had the door of the house slammed in my face by the tenant. The landlord was trying to sell and she was refusing viewings.

There is actually no winning and I am starting to feel really disillusioned.

DelBoy Trotter · 25-02-2020 3:54pm

Kamili wrote: »

I keep getting told the same thing, its actually depressing at this stage. I'm coming up on a year looking. Everything is either in rag order and needing a massive amount of work, or anything thats even remotely decent sells for mad money for the area.

We are looking for 6 months and have the same issue. We have only found two houses in that time that we wanted to bid on, both of which had bidding wars before we could even place a bid. One house was priced at €380k and sold for €481k, and the other house was put up for sale in the middle of the week, had one open viewing that Saturday and within three days, there had been six couples bidding on it and it was €40k over asking at that stage, and it was marked as sale agreed the following week.
Any house that is half decent has a lot of bidders, and the viewings are like wrestlemania. I've noticed that since Christmas, the viewings of even the absolute kips of houses are nearly as busy the decent houses

givyjoe · 25-02-2020 4:04pm

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

We are looking for 6 months and have the same issue. We have only found two houses in that time that we wanted to bid on, both of which had bidding wars before we could even place a bid. One house was priced at €380k and sold for €481k, and the other house was put up for sale in the middle of the week, had one open viewing that Saturday and within three days, there had been six couples bidding on it and it was €40k over asking at that stage, and it was marked as sale agreed the following week.
Any house that is half decent has a lot of bidders, and the viewings are like wrestlemania. I've noticed that since Christmas, the viewings of even the absolute kips of houses are nearly as busy the decent houses

Viewed 5 houses on Saturday, noticed the same bar the last house which was an absolute sh!thole, although didn't look anything like that bad in the pictures. I'd ideally like Dublin, but looking like if I don't want to get involved in a bidding war on anything half decent in Dublin, i'll have to settle for the outer reaches of Kildare.

Kamili · 25-02-2020 4:20pm

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I've noticed that since Christmas, the viewings of even the absolute kips of houses are nearly as busy the decent houses

people are getting desperate I think.

fliball123 · 25-02-2020 5:13pm

Kamili wrote: »

people are getting desperate I think.

I think a lot of people where holding off for a big drop due to Dublin prices dropping in the last 6 months last year and are probably realizing that every month you wait your paying x in rent instead of off a mortgage and the drops seen are not as much as what people are paying in rent.

guyfawkes5 · 25-02-2020 5:47pm

Queasy Tadpole wrote: »

Looking to buy and seeing absolutely nothing. Was in the market a year ago and should have pulled the trigger. Prices are similar it just seems the stock has completely dried up. Absolutely raging at the moment.

Seeing the same myself.

Kept an eye on the market the past two or three years while saving up a deposit - the quality and number of houses coming up for sale in Dublin has really decreased noticeably starting in the latter half of last year. Potentially this is sellers reacting to the reports of prices levelling off or even decreasing.

I haven't experienced the packed viewings of poor houses others have seen though - generally the packed ones are quite decent houses and the poor ones still have just occasional people milling through. Personally I think the days of just about anything selling are over.

If it doesn't pick up by March then I would say it's a trend, as I would say the decision to sell really comes into people's mind around January and that stock would probably only start rolling into the market around then.

guyfawkes5 · 25-02-2020 5:54pm

Kamili wrote: »

Went to a viewing last week and had the door of the house slammed in my face by the tenant. The landlord was trying to sell and she was refusing viewings.

Sometimes the others at the viewing make it awkward too.

I was an apartment viewing in Inchicore where a couple were the first to walk into the apartment along with myself, the husband/boyfriend ducks by to powerwalk into the bathroom and promptly locks the door to do a poo. After I was done looking at everywhere else in the house, cue awkward waiting outside the bathroom door for him to finish up and gingerly walk out... I checked out the tiles with held breath.

connollyj · 25-02-2020 6:47pm

Went sale agreed in Clondalkin, deposit accepted. Place was up since about 7 months or so, offered 20k below asking which was 320k. Place needed a fair bit of work, wasn't perfect, but slim pickings and all that and I'm bleeding money with rent.

2 Weeks later vendor has pulled out, said they can't fund their retirement on the 300k or some such upon looking for property elsewhere. Total waste of time, but what can be done.

Had repeated experience of no call backs from estate agents in the area, don't seem interested in updating their daft adverts either, the whole experience is pretty draining. Lots of time investment, no return.

beggars_bush · 25-02-2020 8:10pm

You might need to change the areas you are looking in

awec · 25-02-2020 9:46pm

tallaghtjoe wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. We had a chat yesterday evening and my husband is really against dropping the price any further. Anyway I have left him to think about it. The house is currently advertised at €225k for 4 bed detached (1800 sq ft).

We have decided to go for an open viewing in a few weeks and will consider the price before we advertise for this.

You're not really dropping the price, you're just dropping the initial asking price. Don't think of it as you committing to selling it for less.

Drop your asking price, see if you get some viewings and then see what offers you get.

Absolute worst case is the offers aren't what you're looking for and you can reject them, but at least you're further down the path than you are now.

73trix · 25-02-2020 11:28pm

We're trying to buy. New trend seems that even when houses go "sale agreed" they are still for sale on the sites and have the for sale signs up. I pointed this out to one agency to be told they stay advertised as for sale until contracts are signed! Is this not total BS? So, when these houses are " for sale", you actually don't know if they are really for sale or not! I sold my house last year. It was taken down off the sites within 2/3'days of going sale agreed.i deliberately checked.

Cocobeans101 · 26-02-2020 8:31am

73trix wrote: »

We're trying to buy. New trend seems that even when houses go "sale agreed" they are still for sale on the sites and have the for sale signs up. I pointed this out to one agency to be told they stay advertised as for sale until contracts are signed! Is this not total BS? So, when these houses are " for sale", you actually don't know if they are really for sale or not! I sold my house last year. It was taken down off the sites within 2/3'days of going sale agreed.i deliberately checked.

I sold last year and the deal fell through twice. We spent over 7 months on total time wasters. Pretending to engage in the conveyancing while still actively looking at other houses.

When went sale agreed a third time, they claimed to be cash buyers and then dropped the old, we need a small mortgage (over 70% of asking). We didn't go sale agreed until the contracts where sold. At this point, I was worried that people might think the issue was on our side. Like a problem with the property or probate. The third buyer was real and really motivated. All done and dusted in 8 weeks. It's not something I would have done before but the issue is on both sides. i'm currently sale agreed on another house but I went sale agreed with the intention to buy. I'm not still looking at other houses.

TheSheriff · 26-02-2020 9:04am

Cocobeans101 wrote: »

I sold last year and the deal fell through twice. We spent over 7 months on total time wasters. Pretending to engage in the conveyancing while still actively looking at other houses.

When went sale agreed a third time, they claimed to be cash buyers and then dropped the old, we need a small mortgage (over 70% of asking). We didn't go sale agreed until the contracts where sold. At this point, I was worried that people might think the issue was on our side. Like a problem with the property or probate. The third buyer was real and really motivated. All done and dusted in 8 weeks. It's not something I would have done before but the issue is on both sides. i'm currently sale agreed on another house but I went sale agreed with the intention to buy. I'm not still looking at other houses.

I think you can get time wasters on both sides of this...I wouldn't stop looking even if sale agreed tbh.

26-02-2020 9:20am

73trix wrote: »

We're trying to buy. New trend seems that even when houses go "sale agreed" they are still for sale on the sites and have the for sale signs up. I pointed this out to one agency to be told they stay advertised as for sale until contracts are signed! Is this not total BS? So, when these houses are " for sale", you actually don't know if they are really for sale or not! I sold my house last year. It was taken down off the sites within 2/3'days of going sale agreed.i deliberately checked.

Sale agreed is not worth the paper it’s written on. A buyer can continue to look at other properties, and a seller can continue to accept interest from other buyers until the contract are signed. Nothing to stop you offering a non refundable payment to the vendor to take down the ad when you go sale agreed.

spiralout · 26-02-2020 10:31am

Queasy Tadpole wrote: »

Looking to buy and seeing absolutely nothing. Was in the market a year ago and should have pulled the trigger. Prices are similar it just seems the stock has completely dried up. Absolutely raging at the moment.

Speaking to an estate agent at a house viewing last week and he said they are struggle to find stock. And this is in galway. Not sure what is happening to cause this but hopefully it will pick up.

Cocobeans101 · 26-02-2020 10:39am

spiralout wrote: »

Speaking to an estate agent at a house viewing last week and he said they are struggle to find stock. And this is in galway. Not sure what is happening to cause this but hopefully it will pick up.

Same in Dublin. Some of the lowest numbers I've seen in the 2 years I've been looking

brimeh · 26-02-2020 10:57am

73trix wrote: »

We're trying to buy. New trend seems that even when houses go "sale agreed" they are still for sale on the sites and have the for sale signs up. I pointed this out to one agency to be told they stay advertised as for sale until contracts are signed! Is this not total BS? So, when these houses are " for sale", you actually don't know if they are really for sale or not! I sold my house last year. It was taken down off the sites within 2/3'days of going sale agreed.i deliberately checked.

I am looking currently as well, around Cork, and I would say easily 40% of houses I call about are sale agreed and won’t even take my information. There’s a few agencies I’d say that advertise at least 10 houses online but don’t actually have any that aren’t sale agreed.

Another annoying example I’ve seen is a house advertised for €199k but was told by the agent he sold the one next door last year for €250k and the owners were expecting a similar amount. Viewed that one in September and it’s still for sale now. Not sure what the thinking behind that is, as soon as I was told that I mentally checked out.

After looking at over 50 properties in the past 4 months for both investment and living purposes, I’m not sure many agents should have reputations any different to used car salesman (and I mean by reputation only - I’ve not seen much of the ‘bad’ car salesmen!).

billyhead · 26-02-2020 11:00am

Dav010 wrote: »

Sale agreed is not worth the paper it’s written on. A buyer can continue to look at other properties, and a seller can continue to accept interest from other buyers until the contract are signed. Nothing to stop you offering a non refundable payment to the vendor to take down the ad when you go sale agreed.

Does sold sign mean the buyer is committed to the purchase and what's the usual turnaround from when the sign goes up to occupancy?

brimeh · 26-02-2020 11:10am

billyhead wrote: »

Does sold sign mean the buyer is committed to the purchase and what's the usual turnaround from when the sign goes up to occupancy?

I could only assume that sold means deal closed based on the way they use ‘sale agreed’.

Family member bought a house in June 2019 and we had to remove the sold sign on their wall as the agents never came despite multiple calls. Here we are nearly 9 months later and the signs directing you towards the house with ‘sold’ now on them are still there. Sold only went on the signs about a week or two before occupancy.

Henry Ford III · 26-02-2020 11:15am

billyhead wrote: »

Does sold sign mean the buyer is committed to the purchase and what's the usual turnaround from when the sign goes up to occupancy?

Sale agreed means little. Anyone can still come in and bid. Sold means sold.

Completion times vary.

tusk · 26-02-2020 11:28am

Just put our house up for sale this week. It's part of a new estate that we just bought into 18 months ago. Unfortunately due to a bereavement, we're moving back home to be closer to family.

We've been offered the same as what an empty new build around the corner went for, but we're hoping to get another 10k on top of that due to the bespoke kitchen, floors, attic and blinds we've installed - which I don't think is unreasonable.

Cocobeans101 · 26-02-2020 1:29pm

tusk wrote: »

Just put our house up for sale this week. It's part of a new estate that we just bought into 18 months ago. Unfortunately due to a bereavement, we're moving back home to be closer to family.

We've been offered the same as what an empty new build around the corner went for, but we're hoping to get another 10k on top of that due to the bespoke kitchen, floors, attic and blinds we've installed - which I don't think is unreasonable.

I think if you have converted the attic then it will add value but in my experience kitchens, blinds etc... don't seem to.

trigger26 · 26-02-2020 2:19pm

Finally got confirmation contracts signed today, hopefully getting keys next week. I'd echo that sale agreed means very little, we started this process of buying last January 2019, this property was the 3rd sale agreed, first house they couldn't find the deed, second house there was an issue with septic tank that would need pp, even this house had an issue with strip of land not registered on main folio. Got to a point where we couldn't agree and vendor relisted in January 2020, luckily we got it back on track. Good luck to anyone buying out there, it will take longer in most cases than you think.

Kamili · 26-02-2020 2:32pm

connollyj wrote: »

Had repeated experience of no call backs from estate agents in the area, don't seem interested in updating their daft adverts either, the whole experience is pretty draining. Lots of time investment, no return.

I've had the same experience of agents in that area too, and enlisted friends/family to call on my behalf while I was at it and the same treatment.

I gave up on that area.

guyfawkes5 · 26-02-2020 2:45pm

Cocobeans101 wrote: »

I think if you have converted the attic then it will add value but in my experience kitchens, blinds etc... don't seem to.

Correct - anything primarily cosmetic and taste-related tends to add relatively little value over things like rewiring or new windows.

PommieBast · 26-02-2020 3:27pm

trigger26 wrote: »

first house they couldn't find the deed, second house there was an issue with septic tank that would need pp, even this house had an issue with strip of land not registered on main folio.

I sometimes wonder how on earth sellers expect such legal show-stoppers to go unnoticed...

givyjoe · 26-02-2020 3:48pm

PommieBast wrote: »

I sometimes wonder how on earth sellers expect such legal show-stoppers to go unnoticed...

Hoping for a cash buyer. Had something similar with literally the first house we viewed on Saturday. Built an extension without PP, basically told in not so many words they wanted to go with cash buyer, who were giving the asking price, despite higher bids from first time buyers/mortgage. Guessing the PP isn't an issue for cash buyers?!

PommieBast · 26-02-2020 4:46pm

givyjoe wrote: »

Hoping for a cash buyer. Had something similar with literally the first house we viewed on Saturday. Built an extension without PP, basically told in not so many words they wanted to go with cash buyer, who were giving the asking price, despite higher bids from first time buyers/mortgage. Guessing the PP isn't an issue for cash buyers?!

I was that cast buyer for a house in Inchicore last year. What sort of solicitor did they expect me to hire? :rolleyes:

Browney7 · 26-02-2020 4:56pm

tusk wrote: »

Just put our house up for sale this week. It's part of a new estate that we just bought into 18 months ago. Unfortunately due to a bereavement, we're moving back home to be closer to family.

We've been offered the same as what an empty new build around the corner went for, but we're hoping to get another 10k on top of that due to the bespoke kitchen, floors, attic and blinds we've installed - which I don't think is unreasonable.

If help to buy applies for the purchase price of the "new" build your pool of buyers might be smaller as they won't get the 5% refund on buying your property.

givyjoe · 26-02-2020 5:35pm

PommieBast wrote: »

I was that cast buyer for a house in Inchicore last year. What sort of solicitor did they expect me to hire? :rolleyes:

Did you go through with the purchase?

Dots1982 · 26-02-2020 9:48pm

Selling a property at the moment. Estate agent is charging 1% of sale price. Seems very reasonable. Thoughts?

73trix · 26-02-2020 10:11pm

Dots1982 wrote: »

Selling a property at the moment. Estate agent is charging 1% of sale price. Seems very reasonable. Thoughts?

That's very good. We paid 3.25%. goddamn.

Dots1982 · 26-02-2020 11:06pm

73trix wrote: »

That's very good. We paid 3.25%. goddamn.

I guess its because they are a one off estate agents and not a chain. It matters but with myhome.ie etc it hopefully means the house will still be seen by who it needs to be seen by.

73trix · 27-02-2020 9:59am

Another browse online. So limited are the houses there, some for over a year. V frustrating how little stock is out there. Plenty of new builds but they're on top of each other with post stamp gardens and very expensive with the A rating. I'd prefer second hand with more space in a mature surroundings but at least a D. Have lived in 2 D houses for the past 15 years. They don't break the bank with oil.

Woshy · 27-02-2020 10:28am

There really is so little on the market, it's bizarre.

We are currently sale agreed and we were the only bidders on the house (we had to negotiate with the sellers though to agree a price) which I was surprised at. The house is in perfect condition and needs absolutely no work. The viewing we went to had 8 other couples there. I'm wondering if it was the price bracket. We are looking for between 500k-600k and I think the 300k-400k is where a lot of the competition is and the houses going over asking.

Tbh we could have waited and spent just a little more and got a much bigger house but this one was in the exact location we wanted and also in such good condition we felt we needed to just go for it. Given how little is coming on the market we could have waited and waited.

Oh and when we negotiated we ended up agreeing to the price the seller was looking for (which was still under the asking) and we stipulated that if we agreed to that the house would be taken off the market. The EA took the ad down when she received our booking deposit

PommieBast · 27-02-2020 12:57pm

Woshy wrote: »

The viewing we went to had 8 other couples there. I'm wondering if it was the price bracket. We are looking for between 500k-600k and I think the 300k-400k is where a lot of the competition is and the houses going over asking.

Quite likely those 8 are people just having a look to see what is on offer for the money. I would say 250-350k rather than 300-400k but that minor point aside I suspect this range is mostly due to mortgage limits. The 500k bracket is going to be cash and equity-heavy buyers.

DelBoy Trotter · 27-02-2020 1:34pm

We are currently looking at houses in the 350-425k range and it's madness. At a guess, I'd say it's the most popular price bracket as there are so many people at the viewings.

I never thought house hunting would be so depressing

! I always thought saving the deposit was going to be harder than finding a house we wanted, but it seems I may have been a bit naive on that front!

Pablo_Flox · 27-02-2020 1:35pm

Went sale agreed yesterday, so now starting the anxious wait. I have let the bank and the solicitor know. Nothing much more I can do for the time being.

It will be a long few weeks now, but have my fingers crossed it will go smoothly and we will be in before summer.

davedub2015 · 27-02-2020 2:35pm

Sale agreed and survey has brought up a few issues looking to get some money of is this the norm nowadays ie boiler not working ? No harm in trying is there?

Woshy · 27-02-2020 3:26pm

PommieBast wrote: »

Quite likely those 8 are people just having a look to see what is on offer for the money. I would say 250-350k rather than 300-400k but that minor point aside I suspect this range is mostly due to mortgage limits. The 500k bracket is going to be cash and equity-heavy buyers.

Yes, I was thinking mortgage limits would constrain people and perhaps that's why that price range maybe isn't as popular. Although we were bidding on another house with an asking of 570k and we got outbid and walked away as the house needed so much work paying anymore wasn't worthwhile.

DelBoy Trotter wrote: »

I never thought house hunting would be so depressing ! I always thought saving the deposit was going to be harder than finding a house we wanted, but it seems I may have been a bit naive on that front!

I don't really enjoy it either. I always thought I'd love looking at other people's houses but tbh I just find it stressful. This is our second time buying a house and I'm hoping we won't be doing it again for a long, long time.

guyfawkes5 · 27-02-2020 7:33pm

PommieBast wrote: »

Quite likely those 8 are people just having a look to see what is on offer for the money. I would say 250-350k rather than 300-400k but that minor point aside I suspect this range is mostly due to mortgage limits. The 500k bracket is going to be cash and equity-heavy buyers.

Without a LIT exemption this would mean a mortgage for a couple with a combined salary of €70-100k, so it makes sense it's crowded. It sounds like once you get beyond that you get people further on in careers and/or off the back of selling their first property, so the market thins out a bit.

ebayissues · 27-02-2020 7:48pm

Kind of interesting to different thoughts of opinions as to the competitive bracket...

I've probably spent 6months or so looking for a place and having learnt a couple of stuff about houses in terms of making improvements/costings, I really should have bought some of the houses I initially saw at Sep-Nov.

By december I knew I could be ****ed. Anyway....I'm done. I'll revisit Jan 2021 if I'm alive.

TM2015 · 27-02-2020 7:54pm

Woshy wrote: »

There really is so little on the market, it's bizarre.

We are currently sale agreed and we were the only bidders on the house (we had to negotiate with the sellers though to agree a price) which I was surprised at. The house is in perfect condition and needs absolutely no work. The viewing we went to had 8 other couples there. I'm wondering if it was the price bracket. We are looking for between 500k-600k and I think the 300k-400k is where a lot of the competition is and the houses going over asking.

Tbh we could have waited and spent just a little more and got a much bigger house but this one was in the exact location we wanted and also in such good condition we felt we needed to just go for it. Given how little is coming on the market we could have waited and waited.

Oh and when we negotiated we ended up agreeing to the price the seller was looking for (which was still under the asking) and we stipulated that if we agreed to that the house would be taken off the market. The EA took the ad down when she received our booking deposit

We are also looking in that price bracket but are finding that the supply is limited.

First time buyers but there’s just nothing out there that would make us think yeah this is the one! Don’t mind a house that needs some work. All we need is an average sized 3bed semi/terrace with an average sized garden.

Maybe it’s the area (Blackrock/Booterstown). We’re not desperate to buy but would like to bid on something and see where it goes.

guyfawkes5 · 27-02-2020 8:06pm

TM2015 wrote: »

We’re not desperate to buy but would like to bid on something and see where it goes.

Right! If it was a case of getting pipped but still following a process along, it would be one thing, but most of the properties seemingly coming out now are non-starters because of price or condition.

Ubbquittious · 27-02-2020 11:34pm

Buying now. 125k. This craic is all news to me some stuff was sent to my solicitor apparently but i have to wait to find out what happens next. I am living in a very small house and sharing so dieing to get out of it really

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

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