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

bulmersgal · 28-07-2020 12:46pm

Will Yam wrote: »

The person who goes in at asking is someone who really wants it, unfortunately.

If you have a look at my last post you will see that i reflected on using exactly that approach.

You should be very clear on how far you can/will go on this one and not get sucked in over your head little bit by little bit.

Who knows, maybe the first party has given it their all, and cannot go further?

Thanks for your post I read it and appreciate all the advice everyone is giving. I a single buyer with a little bit more I can bid so I can't go over my max as I can't get anymore.

I may ring and bid another 1k and see how they bid. I do like the property but it's not worth going to far over asking as it does need some work.

awec · 28-07-2020 12:47pm

bulmersgal wrote: »

Somebody went in at asking!! Who goes in at asking? Now I've to decide if I want bid and when I should bid. Do I do it straight away or wait a day or so.

I'd just go in straight away. Why wait? The process is slow enough without adding unnecessary delays yourself.

Worst case you are quickly outbid and you can move on to the next property.

Springy Turf · 28-07-2020 1:09pm

bulmersgal wrote: »

Somebody went in at asking!! Who goes in at asking? Now I've to decide if I want bid and when I should bid. Do I do it straight away or wait a day or so.

It really depends on how the house is priced. A lot of the DNG listed houses we have looked at are clearly priced at 10%+ under current market. There is no point on bidding below asking on such a house, even if you just want to have your name in the pot for updates.

As for timing bids? For your first bid, I don't see the point on delaying. After that, I am personally reluctant to come in again until other bidders are reaching their limit.

bulmersgal · 28-07-2020 1:20pm

Springy Turf wrote: »

It really depends on how the house is priced. A lot of the DNG listed houses we have looked at are clearly priced at 10%+ under current market. There is no point on bidding below asking on such a house, even if you just want to have your name in the pot for updates.

As for timing bids? For your first bid, I don't see the point on delaying. After that, I am personally reluctant to come in again until other bidders are reaching their limit.

I've bidded 1k more then other other.

I had done spreadsheet of what's available in area and tried work out square footage price and then looked at what price was and it was bit overpriced but it's in nice spot and is bright.

Now to wait and see how the bidding plays out

awec · 28-07-2020 1:55pm

bulmersgal wrote: »

I've bidded 1k more then other other.

I had done spreadsheet of what's available in area and tried work out square footage price and then looked at what price was and it was bit overpriced but it's in nice spot and is bright.

Now to wait and see how the bidding plays out

You only have 4k to play with, right? You need to get yourself ready for the idea that it's highly unlikely you'll win this one.

The other bidder will likely twig this if your bids are in small increments like 1k, people tend to do this when they're getting close to their limit.

Don't stop looking elsewhere in the meantime. Good luck!

jokettle · 28-07-2020 5:14pm

Question about dealing with Estate Agents: how long should I wait before asking for an update or potentially withdraw our offer?

We're FTB, looking at a second-hand home in turnkey condition outside of Dublin. Neither of us are impacted by the Covid payments luckily, so drawing down won't be an issue. Made an offer very close to asking price (i.e. less than 5k under) one week ago. No other current bids, house on the market at least a year that I'm aware of. No word from the Estate Agent since.

We know the seller is hoping to get an offer about 10-15k above the asking, but as there is currently no other interest in the house we're not prepared to bid against ourselves. We were initially told by the EA that the seller wants 40k above asking (:rolleyes:) so at least we've moved away from that figure.

We're viewing 3 other properties this weekend and I'd love to know where we stand with the one we've already bid on before putting in any other bids. My instinct is to contact them by early next week and put pressure on them to either engage in negotiations with us or we'll walk, but that's my impatience coming through. I know a week isn't the longest time to be waiting to hear from an EA either, but any advice on how long to expect them to draw this out would be great.

Duke of Url · 28-07-2020 5:41pm

jokettle wrote: »

Question about dealing with Estate Agents: how long should I wait before asking for an update or potentially withdraw our offer?

We're FTB, looking at a second-hand home in turnkey condition outside of Dublin. Neither of us are impacted by the Covid payments luckily, so drawing down won't be an issue. Made an offer very close to asking price (i.e. less than 5k under) one week ago. No other current bids, house on the market at least a year that I'm aware of. No word from the Estate Agent since.

We know the seller is hoping to get an offer about 10-15k above the asking, but as there is currently no other interest in the house we're not prepared to bid against ourselves. We were initially told by the EA that the seller wants 40k above asking (:rolleyes:) so at least we've moved away from that figure.

We're viewing 3 other properties this weekend and I'd love to know where we stand with the one we've already bid on before putting in any other bids. My instinct is to contact them by early next week and put pressure on them to either engage in negotiations with us or we'll walk, but that's my impatience coming through. I know a week isn't the longest time to be waiting to hear from an EA either, but any advice on how long to expect them to draw this out would be great.

View the houses on the weekend. If one takes your fancy then call the EA on Monday and give them an ultimatum To give a response on your offer.

awec · 28-07-2020 6:06pm

Duke of Url wrote: »

View the houses on the weekend. If one takes your fancy then call the EA on Monday and give them an ultimatum To give a response on your offer.

Don't give an ultimatum.

Just tell them you're continuing to bid on other properties and will proceed to buy one of them if an offer is accepted.

Don't tell them they must give you an answer, just make it clear you're not waiting around.

Bigmac1euro · 28-07-2020 6:09pm

awec wrote: »

Don't give an ultimatum.

Just tell them you're continuing to bid on other properties and will proceed to buy one of them if an offer is accepted.

Don't tell them they must give you an answer, just make it clear you're not waiting around.

I gave an ultimatum two weeks ago and gave the EA 24 hours.

She got back 20 hours later and I went sale agreed.

If I hadn't of I reckon they would have had more viewings the following weekend.

I was so fed up of messing around and told them I needed to know what was happening. Such a load of ****e the whole process.

awec · 28-07-2020 6:14pm

The thing is if you give an ultimatum and the time passes and you don't follow through with your threat to withdraw then they are going to think you're full of crap, so when you do give them a genuine deadline or tell them that you can't possibly go any higher they aren't going to believe you.

Duke of Url · 28-07-2020 6:59pm

awec wrote: »

The thing is if you give an ultimatum and the time passes and you don't follow through with your threat to withdraw then they are going to think you're full of crap, so when you do give them a genuine deadline or tell them that you can't possibly go any higher they aren't going to believe you.

I wouldn’t entertain EAs business practices if they blanked my offers.

guyfawkes5 · 28-07-2020 7:11pm

awec wrote: »

The thing is if you give an ultimatum and the time passes and you don't follow through with your threat to withdraw then they are going to think you're full of crap, so when you do give them a genuine deadline or tell them that you can't possibly go any higher they aren't going to believe you.

Agreed. Credibility is something that's weighed up with your bid and not following through on what you say is a bad sign for starting a buying process that needs a lot of mutual trust.

Ultimately I think a lot of people tie themselves up in knots with bidding strategies, and while I don't think people should ever rule out ultimatums or similar actions, they probably should reflect your position in the process rather than being a smoke and mirrors tactic to be discarded when inconvenient. It prevents twisting and turning in the wind when the unexpected happens and you still want the property, and keeps things simpler for yourself to think about (I've found the biggest problem with bidding is staying grounded rather than 'tactics').

Will Yam · 28-07-2020 7:20pm

bulmersgal wrote: »

I've bidded 1k more then other other.

I had done spreadsheet of what's available in area and tried work out square footage price and then looked at what price was and it was bit overpriced but it's in nice spot and is bright.

Now to wait and see how the bidding plays out

Good luck. And if it’s not for you, there’s always another one!

Will Yam · 28-07-2020 7:28pm

awec wrote: »

Don't give an ultimatum.

Just tell them you're continuing to bid on other properties and will proceed to buy one of them if an offer is accepted.

Don't tell them they must give you an answer, just make it clear you're not waiting around.

I would agree with this approach. Let them know you are putting an offer elsewhere, and if accepted you’re out of the game.

Let them worry about whether it will be accepted or not. If they have other punters they will yawn. If not they will do some hard thinking.

guyfawkes5 · 28-07-2020 7:28pm

bulmersgal wrote: »

Somebody went in at asking!! Who goes in at asking?

To be honest, I could see myself doing that if I knew from research there is next to no chance the property would close for at or below asking price and I thought it would shake off bidders that were more 'cold' than myself but might be 'warmed up' to staying in the bidding process by making a bid or two below asking.

To be honest a lot of it is obviously speculative of human behaviour, but it wouldn't hit me as crazy to not automatically make a 90% of asking price bid and instead go in higher.

jokettle · 28-07-2020 8:30pm

Will Yam wrote: »

I would agree with this approach. Let them know you are putting an offer elsewhere, and if accepted you’re out of the game.

Let them worry about whether it will be accepted or not. If they have other punters they will yawn. If not they will do some hard thinking.

I was hoping they'd be in the hard thinking phase already! Again though, that's my own impatience showing.

bulmersgal · 28-07-2020 8:35pm

Will Yam wrote: »

Good luck. And if it’s not for you, there’s always another one!

Thanks bidded and went over my max I wanted to bid for that property. Viewing a few more over the course of the week where I have more wiggle room for bidding they 15k below the max I have. So hopefully something is right.

The market is very slow for my price range so I understand why people are jumping on good property. I just need to keep saving and something will come up.

Smiley11 · 29-07-2020 8:25am

jokettle wrote: »

Question about dealing with Estate Agents: how long should I wait before asking for an update or potentially withdraw our offer?

We're FTB, looking at a second-hand home in turnkey condition outside of Dublin. Neither of us are impacted by the Covid payments luckily, so drawing down won't be an issue. Made an offer very close to asking price (i.e. less than 5k under) one week ago. No other current bids, house on the market at least a year that I'm aware of. No word from the Estate Agent since.

We know the seller is hoping to get an offer about 10-15k above the asking, but as there is currently no other interest in the house we're not prepared to bid against ourselves. We were initially told by the EA that the seller wants 40k above asking (:rolleyes:) so at least we've moved away from that figure.

We're viewing 3 other properties this weekend and I'd love to know where we stand with the one we've already bid on before putting in any other bids. My instinct is to contact them by early next week and put pressure on them to either engage in negotiations with us or we'll walk, but that's my impatience coming through. I know a week isn't the longest time to be waiting to hear from an EA either, but any advice on how long to expect them to draw this out would be great.

We went in with a low ball offer 10 days ago & we were told it probably wouldn't be accepted. The house we bid on should have a lot of interest/other bidders but its only us so far. The reason we went in low is we have a huge amount of work to do just to move in. I genuinely think the EA overpriced the house & this may be the reason there are no other bidders at the moment. We really want the house & will go higher if necessary but definitely won't go to the asking price. Only time will tell how it goes but we'll be looking at anything else of interest that comes on the market in the meantime.

brisan · 29-07-2020 10:39am

jokettle wrote: »

Question about dealing with Estate Agents: how long should I wait before asking for an update or potentially withdraw our offer?

We're FTB, looking at a second-hand home in turnkey condition outside of Dublin. Neither of us are impacted by the Covid payments luckily, so drawing down won't be an issue. Made an offer very close to asking price (i.e. less than 5k under) one week ago. No other current bids, house on the market at least a year that I'm aware of. No word from the Estate Agent since.

We know the seller is hoping to get an offer about 10-15k above the asking, but as there is currently no other interest in the house we're not prepared to bid against ourselves. We were initially told by the EA that the seller wants 40k above asking (:rolleyes:) so at least we've moved away from that figure.

We're viewing 3 other properties this weekend and I'd love to know where we stand with the one we've already bid on before putting in any other bids. My instinct is to contact them by early next week and put pressure on them to either engage in negotiations with us or we'll walk, but that's my impatience coming through. I know a week isn't the longest time to be waiting to hear from an EA either, but any advice on how long to expect them to draw this out would be great.

Always be prepared to walk and let the EA know you are prepared to if circumstances dictate

brisan · 29-07-2020 10:43am

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

Agreed. Credibility is something that's weighed up with your bid and not following through on what you say is a bad sign for starting a buying process that needs a lot of mutual trust.

Ultimately I think a lot of people tie themselves up in knots with bidding strategies, and while I don't think people should ever rule out ultimatums or similar actions, they probably should reflect your position in the process rather than being a smoke and mirrors tactic to be discarded when inconvenient. It prevents twisting and turning in the wind when the unexpected happens and you still want the property, and keeps things simpler for yourself to think about (I've found the biggest problem with bidding is staying grounded rather than 'tactics').

To the EA buying and selling houses is a game
They do not like it when you know the rules.
Always be prepared to walk.
If they refuse to get back to you drop a polite note into the vendors house.
We have done this on a few occasions and it worked wonders ,EA were never happy though.
They are trying to see how interested you are by ignoring you .
If you hound them they know you are really keen and will hike the bids up.
My son actually called to a new development and had a word with the site manager when a certain EA was slow getting back to him
Manager got onto developer and EA got a rocket

Sweet.Science · 29-07-2020 10:58am

bulmersgal wrote: »

Thanks bidded and went over my max I wanted to bid for that property. Viewing a few more over the course of the week where I have more wiggle room for bidding they 15k below the max I have. So hopefully something is right.

The market is very slow for my price range so I understand why people are jumping on good property. I just need to keep saving and something will come up.

Best of luck

Sweet.Science · 29-07-2020 11:01am

Selling mine at the moment and interested in a house currently in probate. Could be looking at 4-6 months before that goes through ?

JohnnyChimpo · 29-07-2020 11:34am

Sweet.Science wrote: »

Selling mine at the moment and interested in a house currently in probate. Could be looking at 4-6 months before that goes through ?

Most likely yes. In our case house was in probate and also had to apply for retention permission for the old extension (probably an issue for a lot of probate houses). In total it took 9 mo from Sale Agreed to keys in hand.

Some people will probably tell you they got their probate done in 6 weeks, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Also make sure that the probate application has actually been submitted, you might be surprised...

Sweet.Science · 29-07-2020 11:50am

JohnnyChimpo wrote: »

Most likely yes. In our case house was in probate and also had to apply for retention permission for the old extension (probably an issue for a lot of probate houses). In total it took 9 mo from Sale Agreed to keys in hand.

Some people will probably tell you they got their probate done in 6 weeks, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Also make sure that the probate application has actually been submitted, you might be surprised...

Thanks . I was told by the EA that there wont be an issue with probate as its straightforward. They were always going to say that though.

kippy · 29-07-2020 12:31pm

Sweet.Science wrote: »

Thanks . I was told by the EA that there wont be an issue with probate as its straightforward. They were always going to say that though.

Probate is rarely "straightforward" in the time sense and the EA wouldn't have a dickybird around the ins and outs of each specific case.

Sweet.Science · 29-07-2020 12:49pm

kippy wrote: »

Probate is rarely "straightforward" in the time sense and the EA wouldn't have a dickybird around the ins and outs of each specific case.

Yeah i know. Its hard to predict how quick to sell my own. Don't want a buyer waiting for months either. Might move in with the folks for a while

LoonyLovegood · 29-07-2020 1:16pm

Received contracts, closing date is next month. I went sale agreed July 19th, so this is moving way faster than I thought it would!

Just waiting on the bank to confirm everything, shouldn't be any issues.

Salanky · 29-07-2020 4:08pm

Survey done and dusted and nothing major on it. There is a small superficial crack in the chimney which needs a builder to have a look at and need to get a sparky in to check the electrics. Surveyor was happy with the place considering it is over 120 years old. He said hes done surveys on newer houses and found more issues than with this one.

IvoryTower · 29-07-2020 7:02pm

Sweet.Science wrote: »

Yeah i know. Its hard to predict how quick to sell my own. Don't want a buyer waiting for months either. Might move in with the folks for a while

Ours was straight forward, still took 3 months before they told us it was all in order, said it will take another 3 weeks for the documentation or whatever to go through, in week 2 of that.

cubatahavana · 29-07-2020 7:42pm

So, we had a look last week at a new build and we liked it. It’s within our price range too. We wanted to place deposit on it, but the EA wanted proof of funds. Didn’t have yet the AIP and asked if a letter from our broker would suffice. He said yes and I gave him the letter last Friday. He said he’ll check with builder and get back to us. So far nothing. I know builders are on holidays, but I’m sure the main guy would be looking at emails regarding potential sales.

Thoughts? I sent him an email yesterday (EA) and he said he’s still waiting for the reply from the builder.

Nijmegen · 30-07-2020 9:42am

cubatahavana wrote: »

So, we had a look last week at a new build and we liked it. It’s within our price range too. We wanted to place deposit on it, but the EA wanted proof of funds. Didn’t have yet the AIP and asked if a letter from our broker would suffice. He said yes and I gave him the letter last Friday. He said he’ll check with builder and get back to us. So far nothing. I know builders are on holidays, but I’m sure the main guy would be looking at emails regarding potential sales.

Thoughts? I sent him an email yesterday (EA) and he said he’s still waiting for the reply from the builder.

"Hurry up and wait" is a concept you'll get used to in house purchasing, though to be fair usually a new build for a FTB is a lot smoother.

Chase him tomorrow sure.

cubatahavana · 30-07-2020 9:53am

Nijmegen wrote: »

"Hurry up and wait" is a concept you'll get used to in house purchasing, though to be fair usually a new build for a FTB is a lot smoother.

Chase him tomorrow sure.

Thanks, I just thought it would be a faster process for the builder to agree to accept our deposit.

LoonyLovegood · 30-07-2020 2:17pm

That syncs with what I heard from EBS today - a lot less approvals, but when they're going through they're doing it with a fine tooth comb. I had to provide my company's most recent financial details cause it's traded on stock markets. Fortunately we're fine, but they were going through everything.

Jasna1982 · 30-07-2020 2:33pm

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

That syncs with what I heard from EBS today - a lot less approvals, but when they're going through they're doing it with a fine tooth comb. I had to provide my company's most recent financial details cause it's traded on stock markets. Fortunately we're fine, but they were going through everything.

Did they happen to mention if they were still doing exceptions?

Monitor1985 · 30-07-2020 2:39pm

We're sale agreed on a property at the moment and awaiting a valuation report, we currently have 21.6% deposit, my question is, what happens if the valuation comes in €5,000 or even €7,000 under the sale agreed price?

Will the bank still offer us the same amount originally, or lower their offer?

Sale agreed price is €155,000,mortgage amount €121,500.

LoonyLovegood · 30-07-2020 2:50pm

Jasna1982 wrote: »

Did they happen to mention if they were still doing exceptions?

I didn't ask as I don't need one, I'm borrowing 20k less than my approved amount.

limnam · 30-07-2020 2:52pm

Monitor1985 wrote: »

We're sale agreed on a property at the moment and awaiting a valuation report, we currently have 21.6% deposit, my question is, what happens if the valuation comes in €5,000 or even €7,000 under the sale agreed price?

Will the bank still offer us the same amount originally, or lower their offer?

Sale agreed price is €155,000,mortgage amount €121,500.

I'd say it will depend.

Generally they won't offer a mortgage if the price doesn't match the valuation.

Monitor1985 · 30-07-2020 2:54pm

limnam wrote: »

I'd say it will depend.

Generally they won't offer a mortgage if the price doesn't match the valuation.

Is the price the mortgage amount or the sale agreed price?

limnam · 30-07-2020 2:59pm

Monitor1985 wrote: »

Is the price the mortgage amount or the sale agreed price?

The valuation vs the cost to purchase.

Different banks may have some level of variation.

I wouldn't worry too much about it until the valuation comes back. There's not much you can do about it anyway.

Is there particular reason you think it won't reach the agreed price?

Monitor1985 · 30-07-2020 3:03pm

limnam wrote: »

The valuation vs the cost to purchase.

Different banks may have some level of variation.

I wouldn't worry too much about it until the valuation comes back. There's not much you can do about it anyway.

Is there particular reason you think it won't reach the agreed price?

Just nerves is all, everything that could go wrong is in the forefront of my mind at the moment, things are taking forever and I'm just worried.

Smiley11 · 30-07-2020 10:45pm

Jasna1982 wrote: »

Did they happen to mention if they were still doing exceptions?

Our broker said there won't be any exceptions for the next couple of months but I've heard it could be longer. Very hard to predict at the moment I'd say as the banks are being so cautious.

cubatahavana · 31-07-2020 3:09pm

Property advertised this morning and already people interested in it. 2 viewing blocks booked for next week. I am quite optimistic. Has this been similar to other people’s experience? I suppose there’s always more interest the first couple of days.

tropple · 31-07-2020 3:54pm

2 houses on my street have sold in the past month, another has just gone sale agreed (central Dublin). Was fairly surprised as the asking prices seemed relatively high.

RANIA · 31-07-2020 5:34pm

Galway here, house up in daft yesterday, 18 viewings booked within the hour. Not enough houses too many buyers, we have lost another bidding war to deep pockets, getting frustrating as we are chain free

cubatahavana · 31-07-2020 6:02pm

RANIA wrote: »

Galway here, house up in daft yesterday, 18 viewings booked within the hour. Not enough houses too many buyers, we have lost another bidding war to deep pockets, getting frustrating as we are chain free

That's good news for you. Hopefully they will offer what you want

sparkledrum · 31-07-2020 6:12pm

Anyone buying or selling in Cork? I'm almost there. Hopefully photos will be taken on Tuesday and then up shortly after that

RANIA · 31-07-2020 6:28pm

cubatahavana wrote: »

That's good news for you. Hopefully they will offer what you want

No I'm a buyer sorry I was unclear

cubatahavana · 31-07-2020 6:29pm

RANIA wrote: »

No I'm a buyer sorry I was unclear

It sucks then, sorry.

Smiley11 · 31-07-2020 8:37pm

sparkledrum wrote: »

Anyone buying or selling in Cork? I'm almost there. Hopefully photos will be taken on Tuesday and then up shortly after that

We're trying to buy in the city. Chain free but very little coming on the market that interests us. Have an offer in nearly 2 weeks & have heard nothing since. I thought the EA might have tried to get us to bid up by now..he said he was expecting another bid shortly after ours but nothing yet..that we know of! House is on about 6 weeks & he said viewings were "very busy" but I pass the house regularly & the blinds aren't moving...stalker-y I know!

Seems to be a good few coming onto the market across the board though. Looks like a lot of landlords are giving up. Good luck with your sale!

Ubbquittious · 31-07-2020 8:45pm

I had a given up for a while but it looks like I might be able to buy the place I am buying after all. A €800 piece of paper was produced by a barrister that put the show back on the road and the boundaries are apparently being sorted slowly but surely. At this rate I might have it after Christmas if I'm lucky

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

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