House Buying steps

Blanco100

Just looking for some advice, myself and my wife have done it all ourselves up to this point,

Approved in principal, all of our documentation has gone across to business approver who will sign off on exact amount, but we are confident we will be approved for a larger amount than we will actually need (fingers crossed)

Just a couple of questions:

1) We have found a property we would like to make an offer on. Can we make an offer whilst we are still in "approval in principal" mode? The last of the requested documentation went in today and all seems to be in order.

2) When do we engage the services of a solicitor? If we made offer now, i'm sure a booking deposit would be required but do we need a solicitor acting on our behalf at this stage? Or is it only later? We are not even sure in relation to whether this deposit is refundable should the worst case scenario arise that we wish to pull out etc.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Ray Palmer

1 yes you can make an offer. Be up front about where you are and accept your offer may not be accepted until final offer from bank.
2 Look for a solicitor now so you have one lined up when you need them

Good luck it is stressful and you won't have a lot of say when there are delays so accept you have no control.

Samuel T. Cogley

The Estate Agent (EA) will probably look for proof of funds. There's no harm making an offer with AIP but you may have an issue further down the line if the full approval doesn't come back quickly.

DO NOT engage the cheapest solicitor you can find, they will not return calls/emails and will advise pulling out at the slightest issue. They may also hit you with a hidden fee making them as expensive as the next anyway. Get recommendations from friends and family or if that's not possible here by PM.

DO NOT stop looking even when sale agreed, house sales fall through all the time.

Get the solicitor on board early, there will be no difference in fee.

old_house

Blanco100 wrote: »

1) We have found a property we would like to make an offer on. Can we make an offer whilst we are still in "approval in principal" mode? The last of the requested documentation went in today and all seems to be in order.

You can make an offer any time you like. It is likely going to take some time to agree on a price with the vendor/agent, so you paperwork will be sorted when the question of funds arises.

Blanco100 wrote: »

2) When do we engage the services of a solicitor? If we made offer now, i'm sure a booking deposit would be required but do we need a solicitor acting on our behalf at this stage? Or is it only later? We are not even sure in relation to whether this deposit is refundable should the worst case scenario arise that we wish to pull out etc.

While it certainly helps to have a solicitor picked and ready to work with you he doesn't have anything to do at that point in time. You make the offer and as soon as you and the vendor agree a price you pay the booking deposit directly to the agent. It's only after that stage will you need to employ a solicitor. The booking deposit will be fully refundable, either party can pull out of the sale at any time until contracts are signed.
Godd luck!

drunkmonkey

No rush on making an offer, just find our what price they'll sell it at or if they won't sell it at a certain price ask when there taking final offers. No point putting in an offer so someone can trump it.

Blanco100

This is all excellent advice, thank you very much.

We would really like to make an offer on this property, as we are aware there are currently no offers on it yet.

Just a couple of question in relation to ethics of the estate agents:

1) Do they have to prove to you that another bidder has upped the price? Is there any safeguard against effectively bidding against yourself on the agents word?

2) What would be an acceptable first offer? say a house is 250k, would they laugh you out the door if you came in with a 1st offer of 225k for instance? I know its obviously different on a case by case basis.

drunkmonkey

They can laugh all they want tell them you'll get the ball rolling at 200k and tell them come back to you before they sell, check in every week to see how it's going. Try and avoid getting into a bidding war let the others knock themselves out first.
All sales are different so try and find out why it's for sale, by the banks, relatives of the deceased, moving to a bigger house etc. Your trying to establish when it has to be sold by and what position the seller is in to sell.
Don't underestimate any work has to be done, new kitchen, toilets, flooring, heating can all end up north of 50k easily depending on the type of house.

snowcat

drunkmonkey wrote: »

They can laugh all they want tell them you'll get the ball rolling at 200k and tell them come back to you before they sell, check in every week to see how it's going. Try and avoid getting into a bidding war let the others knock themselves out first.
All sales are different so try and find out why it's for sale, by the banks, relatives of the deceased, moving to a bigger house etc. Your trying to establish when it has to be sold by and what position the seller is in to sell.
Don't underestimate any work has to be done, new kitchen, toilets, flooring, heating can all end up north of 50k easily depending on the type of house.

I dont usually bid at all if their is multiple bidders. Like a previous poster has mentioned tell the seller that you are interested and to come back to you before they agree a price. Bought a house 2 years ago at 1k above the final bid price. Gave proof of funds though and stated i was withdrawing if there was another bid.

On a side note i was interested in a house several years ago and i asked the dodgy estate agent to contact the seller and ask for a once and final price and I would sale agree it if it was suitable. He did and i was happy with the price so asked him for solicitors details to lodge a deposit. He then proceeded to continue to sell the house and informed other viewers that my once and final price was the current bid. Never trusted an EA after that.

Blanco100

drunkmonkey wrote: »

They can laugh all they want tell them you'll get the ball rolling at 200k and tell them come back to you before they sell, check in every week to see how it's going. Try and avoid getting into a bidding war let the others knock themselves out first.
All sales are different so try and find out why it's for sale, by the banks, relatives of the deceased, moving to a bigger house etc. Your trying to establish when it has to be sold by and what position the seller is in to sell.
Don't underestimate any work has to be done, new kitchen, toilets, flooring, heating can all end up north of 50k easily depending on the type of house.

All excellent advice, but can I ask where would I get reliable information relating to the above?

The estate agent will spin you any old yarn in fairness.

And do you make an offer at an actual viewing or wait until after over phone/email? This will be our 3rd viewing so i'm guessing this many times is par for the course

Blanco100

snowcat wrote: »

I dont usually bid at all if their is multiple bidders. Like a previous poster has mentioned tell the seller that you are interested and to come back to you before they agree a price. Bought a house 2 years ago at 1k above the final bid price. Gave proof of funds though and stated i was withdrawing if there was another bid.

Proof of funds, is this the stage beyond approval in principle when underwriters set the amount they will actually lend you? And also how can you even be sure there were other bidders? Surely in that instance they will hold off and then tell you theres agreement at X amount and you pay €1k more.

CrookedJack

Not to hijack the thread but i'm at the same point as the OP, there's some good advice here. I'm looking at an older house, at what point should i have a survey done? before i make an offer, or after but before i sign contracts? or do we sign contracts subject to a successful survey?

The house probably needs some renovation, should i get a builder to quote first before i offer or after?

riclad

the point of getting a survey is to see is there going to serious problems, repairs that may be needed .
especially important for old houses .
So you offer x amount, if your offer is accepted ,than say i,ll be getting a structural survey ,
it cost 400 euro approx.
lets say the survey says house has dry rot, needs rewiring, roof repairs, cost 20-40 k,
can you afford to spend that.
When you see survey you may decide to go ahead with the deal or else withdraw your offer.
lets say i want to buy house x, i will not pay for a survey unless my offer on the house is accepted ,
i don,t want to spend 400e so someone else can buy the house.
the survey is done before you sign the contract ,
usually after your bid is accepted .
the transaction can be stopped by either party until you sign the contract .
eg contract is a document ,i , joe bloggs, promise to buy house x at the agreed price from the owner person x .
The main point is to get a survey before you sign a contract,
so you decide do i wanna spend 20k plus on repairs ,can i afford it ?
when you read the survey if it find serious problems ,that are expensive to fix, you might decide to withdraw the offer on the house or else say i,ll offer x price ,
minus 20k ,
or just look at other house,s that do not require expensive repairs .