FTB procedure & questions

Sofiztikated

Hi all, looking for a little bit of advice.

Myself and the fiance are looking to buy our first home, and we have come across a house that ticks all our boxes.

• 3 bed semi (Masterbed for us, second bed for guests and eventually kids, and third box room for a workspace)
• Rooms are not an odd shape, which seems a lot of the newer houses are,
• concrete built (We've lived in wooden framed and concrete built houses, and found the concrete built to be better sound insulated and warmer,)
• closish to work, but commutable, should things "change"
• ok size back garden
• decent size kitchen/diner

There are a few things I'm unsure about though, and basically, I'm looking for advice/opinions.

1. There is a slight slope down driveway, towards the front door. I know there has to be some drainage away from the door, but is this something I should be really concerned about, given the amount of rain we get. I know my sisters house is similar, and drains grand IF the neighbours keep their drains clear. And thats an IF
2. A BER certificate, what exactly is the information on this? Should I be able to view it before I make an offer? I have asked the agent to view it, but they don't have it yet from the contractor.
3. I have asked the agent a few questions, such as broadband readiness, creche facilities (there is one in the estate, as I believe there has to be for estates over a certain size, but this is not finished), I've asked if the other buyers are FTB's or investors (Nice to know before hand who our neighbours are likely to be), but is there anything else I should be asking?
4. Where do I go from here, do I make an offer and then approach banks about a mortgage, or go to the bank first, secure the mortgage and then make an offer?
5. How do I make an offer? Is an email offering about 40k less than asking appropriate, or should I right them? The selling agent if about 100 miles away from the my location, so going into them isn't exactly easy.

To all those that are going to say, "WAIT, house prices are still dropping, wah wah wah," I say this. The house is worth what we are willing to pay for it. We are ready to purchase soon, yes we could hold off another while, but this house exceeds all our needs, whereas a lot of other houses in this area don't even come close.

Anything else I should look at, or ask?

D3PO

Sofiztikated wrote: »

There is a slope down driveway, towards the front door. I know there has to be some drainage away from the door, but is this something I should be really concerned about, given the amount of rain we get. I know my sisters house is similar, and drains grand IF the neighbours keep their drains clear. And thats an IF

1. A BER certificate, what exactly is the information on this? Should I be able to view it before I make an offer? I have asked the agent to view it, but they don't have it yet from the contractor.
2. I have asked the agent a few questions, such as broadband readiness, creche facilities (there is one in the estate, as I believe there has to be for estates over a certain size, but this is not finished), I've asked if the other buyers are FTB's or investors (Nice to know before hand who our neighbours are likely to be), but is there anything else I should be asking?
3. Where do I go from here, do I make an offer and then approach banks about a mortgage, or go to the bank first, secure the mortgage and then make an offer?
4. How do I make an offer? Is an email offering about 40k less than asking appropriate, or should I right them? The selling agent if about 100 miles away from the my location, so going into them isn't exactly easy.

To all those that are going to say, "WAIT, house prices are still dropping, wah wah wah," I say this. The house is worth what we are willing to pay for it. We are ready to purchase soon, yes we could hold off another while, but this house exceeds all our needs, whereas a lot of other houses in this area don't even come close.

Anything else I should look at, or ask?

Regarding the slope, if you have an offer accepted before you can drawdown the mortage a surveyor will have to go out and survey the property. If this slope is an issue it will be on his report.

If its an issue you can halt proceedings from there with no penalty.

2. BER cert should be available now, so if you want to see it you should be able to. Its illegal for the house to be sold without one

3. Is really a matter of choice. If you have a question make sure you ask it.

4. Obviously your better being mortagage approved before making an offer, its not a must. When I bought I wasnt approved but was positive I would be approved for the amount I wanted. However nowadays thats probably not something most people can be sure of. If wouldnt be great for you if you didnt get approved and had to pull out. If you saw another hosue by the same vendor its unlikely they would entertain you in the future.

5. Email , phone, text, smoke signals. It really doesnt matter an offer is an offr. I would suggest you make it by phone though it gives you a better opportunity to outline your offer and make it clear to the EA that its not open to be negotiated

Sofiztikated

Thanks D3PO,

Well, I have been speaking with one bank, and based on my wages, I could get a mortgage for €100k, without her being taken into account, as her job isn't permemant, but that wasn't an official mortgage offer. I'm scheduled to go into a few other banks on Thursday.

Now the house is being advertised at €120K, when I first spoke with the agent, they said €130k, so I plan to offer €80K, and see what happens from there.

Senna

One thing i would be worried about (if buying now) is the completion of the estate, as you said the crèche isn't finished, is the rest of the estate finished? Just going by the price i'm guessing its not near/in a city and many rural estates are likely to remain "building sites" for years to come.

Sofiztikated

Hi Senna

Yeah, the estate is finished. The house I'm looking at is the last one remaining, or so the Agent says.

I have been keeping an eye on this house for quite some time, and the houses have been snapped up and finished lately.

No its not near a city, its actually in Cavan, it is the estate that there was a big hullaballo about a while ago, in Ballinagh.

Link below.

http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=463617&search=1

I saw the houses when I moved down here about 2 years ago, liked them, but then the estate consisted of about 12 finished houses, and about 50 unfinished shells, developer had gone bust.

It suits us, as we are fairly settled down here, near family, work, etc.

Sofiztikated

Right, I'm flumuxed!

I'm fairly sure I'll get the mortgage, BUT how do I know how much to go for?

Obviously, I don't want to borrow more than I have to, BUT what IF I put in an offer, try to get the mortgage, and get refused.

Or, what if I get the mortgage, then put in an offer, and end up with, say €20k more from the bank than I need.

And for some reason, I feel the agent should be doing more, I don't know, selling? So far, it has been me that enquired about the house, came up with questions, organised the viewing, viewed the house (agent wasn't even there.)

I really do like the house, but I don't want to seem too keen, a bit nonchalant if you will, to try and get them down in price.

Does anyone know what I should be saying to get the price down?

I was going to try,

"Here's €90k, You can take it now, or come back to me in a week, when its still empty, and I'll give you €88k" but I think thats a bit, I don't know, c*ntish.

rcdk1

With regard to the mortgage, ask for more than you need, there's no onus on you to actually draw down the full amount. However it may be the case that the bank won't lend you over and above what they think the house is worth as the house will be the collateral on the loan.

Also, even if you were to draw down more than you needed, if you are on a variable rate (or if after a period on a fixed rate you rollback to a variable rate) there's nothing stopping you paying back the money. You can also do this at anytime during the mortgage (while on a variable rate). This will either shorten the length of the mortgage or reduce the monthly repayments.

Small tip: ask for your repayments to be made weekly rather than monthly. This has two advantages: 1) Although added quarterly, interest is generally calculated on a daily basis. Therefore the sooner you pay money back the less interest you pay. It's small money but over 20 or 30 years it'll add up and all for a 30 second conversation with your bank. 2) I find it easier to manage my finances with a "small" amount coming out each week. Having said that, I get paid weekly.

Finally, with regards to estate agents, they're the c*nts, so don't feel bad about treating them that way.

Sofiztikated

rcdk1, thanks.

So it is ok to still ask for the €120K, even if we don't need it all? (Sure if we don't need it, we can use the balance to furnish the house?)

Davy

Sofiztikated wrote: »

rcdk1, thanks.

So it is ok to still ask for the €120K, even if we don't need it all? (Sure if we don't need it, we can use the balance to furnish the house?)

They probably wouldn't give you the 120 unless your 130k for the house. They will prob give you a max of 92% of the property valve

Sofiztikated

Sorry, I am getting 92% LTV. I'd be getting €105K in total from the bank.

rcdk1

rcdk1 wrote: »

Small tip: ask for your repayments to be made weekly rather than monthly.

Did a (simplified) calculation on an excel sheet using an example loan of €100k over 20 years at a rate of 2.6% (assuming it was fixed for the full term).

I reckon that although paying weekly would only reduce the term of the load by six months, it would save you €5k

beeno67

rcdk1 wrote: »

Did a (simplified) calculation on an excel sheet using an example loan of €100k over 20 years at a rate of 2.6% (assuming it was fixed for the full term).

I reckon that although paying weekly would only reduce the term of the load by six months, it would save you €5k

Weekly payments only saves money if you are paid weekly. If paid monthly it is best to pay mortgage on same day you are paid (or a day or 2 later just in case). Of course if you are the type of person who is always overdrawn then it is best to pay mortgage as late as possible.

kenbrady

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Sorry, I am getting 92% LTV. I'd be getting €105K in total from the bank.

Bank will give you 92% of what you will pay for the house.
They will approve you in principle for the max amount you can borrow.

ie
They will approve you for 150k
You get house for 100k they will loan you 92k

beeno67 wrote: »

Weekly payments only saves money if you are paid weekly.

Paying your mortgage weekly will save you money fact.

rcdk1

beeno67 wrote: »

Weekly payments only saves money if you are paid weekly. If paid monthly it is best to pay mortgage on same day you are paid (or a day or 2 later just in case).

kenbrady wrote: »

Paying your mortgage weekly will save you money fact.

No offence beeno but the first part of what you've said is incorrect. Admittedly if you get paid monthly and are bad at budgeting it may be more difficult to make the repayments. However this is simply a case of self control, not economics.

As ken said paying weekly definately saves money. Apart from ken's glowing recommendation (;)) I know this is true because I recently took out a second mortgage which I'm paying weekly on the advise of my mortgage advisor.

Also I can prove that you save money by calculation (see attached excel sheet). I refined my original €100k over 20 years at 2.6% calculation and it comes out at a €4,341.24 saving.