Got mortgage approval in principle, now what

RebelScorned

Hello there - just hoping to pick the brains of the wise, learned folk on this here forum.

Myself and the OH just got mortgage AIP from KBC during the week via our mortgage broker. The broker advised that it was a very clean approval, to go off and enjoy house hunting and that she could provide a letter for agents confirming that we have AIP if needed.

Between mortgage and deposit, we have up to €500k budget, and we are looking around Newbridge as I work from home four days a week (and in an office in Dublin city centre one day per week) and himself is on the road on different sites around Carlow/Kilkenny/Kildare. I'm happy to get the train into the city centre or drive to the Red Cow to get Luas (or even drive into city centre tbh as I can get parking at my office) and thankfully, my job is flexible enough that, for the most part, I can start early and leave early to avoid traffic the days I am going in to the office. Neither of us particularly want to buy in Dublin as we feel like we would get better value in Kildare. We want at least 4 bedrooms, space for a home office and a garage (if no garage, we need space for a Steeltech shed or the likes).

We are both first time buyers and a bit clueless about next steps tbh, hence this post. We have identified a few properties in Newbridge that we would like to view - we actually drove to Newbridge today to scope out the areas, surroundings, location etc. Do we contact the estate agents for these properties directly (I left one message on Daft.ie enquiring about upcoming viewings last Thursday and I heard nothing back...) Should we just call them on the phone, call into their office - any tips would be greatly appreciated.

If we view somewhere we love and want to make an offer and that property has an asking price of say €400k, do we jump straight in and offer the 400 or is it best/normal to go in and lowball. Obviously don't want to pay a cent more than we have to but also don't want to lose out on a great house by trying to be smart with bidding and failing miserably.

If anybody out there has been through the process and could impart some wisdom and learned lessons on us, we would be so grateful, esp if you went with KBC for a mortgage.

Thanks so much in advance !

drunkmonkey

The aim of the game is not to spend 500k. They want you to spend 500k.

Dial back your budget to 200k and start looking from that price up near enough to the train line that suits you both.
The less you have going out on a mortgage the more comfortable you'll be.

Cuddlesworth

If you work from home be very aware of the broadband options in any house you look at. You could end up with flaky 1mb broadband and no phone signal.

Sarn

Check out the Saving/Applying for a mortgage thread. All your general questions will be answered there. Best of luck!

RebelScorned

drunkmonkey wrote: »

The aim of the game is not to spend 500k. They want you to spend 500k.

Dial back your budget to 200k and start looking from that price up near enough to the train line that suits you both.
The less you have going out on a mortgage the more comfortable you'll be.

Our absolute max limit is 500, it's definitely not our target and the properties that we have seen so far are significantly below that limit. The actual € amount aside, I am just wondering about folks' experience with the tactics behind bidding - i.e. offering less than asking price, offering the actual asking price. The sensible part of me does not want to offer a cent more than the asking price to begin with but the part of me that cannot wait to buy a home might get a bit too enthusiastic. I don't want to lose out on a property by offering less than even the asking price and being ruled out. Have never bid on anything before and not sure how transparent the actual bidding process is. I understand estate agents want to make as many € as possible so they make as much commission as possible.

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

If you work from home be very aware of the broadband options in any house you look at. You could end up with flaky 1mb broadband and no phone signal.

Excellent point and at the forefront of my list of requirements I would be lost professionally and personally without decent broadband!

Heres Johnny

Your budget is more than sufficient for anything in Newbridge for sale at the moment except for 1 or 2 houses on a bit of land outside the town. With about 100 to 150k to spare probably. These may not be served as well for broadband as houses in housing estates.

Don't let any potential seller know you are approved for that amount. Just keep it to yourself.

Ask are there any bids on property you look at. Don't seem too eager. Ask how long houses have been on the market. Play it cool. Don't make any offers on the spot. Say you have to think about it and are looking at similar houses. The estate agents job is to get as high a sales price as possible for the seller, not to get you a good price.

Play it cool, play it cool, play it cool. Don't get carried away with any given house. You won't lose out by not being too eager in minds of estate agent. Contrary to popular belief phantom bidding isn't hugely common as it's more likely to put buyers out of the running than anything else.

Forget you have 500k available to you. You wouldn't spend all your available money on anything else so don't do it for a house. Bear in mind we are PROBABLY close to top of market at the moment so if we have a crash or a drop overpaying will have you married to the house for a lot longer if you do decide to move.

It's a bit of a game of wits between you and seller so hold your nerve

august12

Best thing to do is log on daft.ie and narrow search to areas you like, then select max price you are willing to pay and also number of bedrooms, then type of house, whether detached, semi etc. This will be your starting point, take note of houses you like and contact auctioneer to arrange viewing, take note of the orientation of the house, this would be important to me, if you like the house and get a good feel for the area etc., ask if there are bids in and work from there, there are lots of things which may be important to you i.e. link to public transport, access to schools, amenities, distance to work etc. Have just gone 'sale agreed' on a house. The bidding process is nerve wrecking alright, it can be quite difficult to rule with your head and not your heart especially if that heart has fallen in love with a place.

Just read back over your post, no point in emailing daft, contact auctioneer directly by phone to enquire about viewing a property, never go in with a bid at the asking price, ask if there are bids in and work from there.