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

thegreatescape

JimmyVik wrote: »

Im thinking a lot of people are going sale agreed by viewing online, but in the back of each of their minds is that they will view before buying and will easily pull out at that stage if something they dont like crops up on viewing.

This happened with a property I was interested in a few weeks ago. Went sale agreed when I enquired about bidding, was put up on Daft again last night, I'm assuming the buyer pulled out when they viewed the property in person.

NickNickleby

thegreatescape wrote: »

This happened with a property I was interested in a few weeks ago. Went sale agreed when I enquired about bidding, was put up on Daft again last night, I'm assuming the buyer pulled out when they viewed the property in person.

Is the new asking price higher than originally sought?

kippy

Reins wrote: »

Was chatting to an estate agent yesterday - said there's a lot coming back to them ie sale agreed falling through.

This online bidding is only helping to inflate prices and then highest bidder only used it to get first refusal.

I believe in "normal" times, one in ever 2 sale agreeds' would fall through for one reason or another.
I wonder is this higher now then?

tscul32

byron55 wrote: »

No, SherryFitz. Seems each agency has different procedures. Funds evidence was also needed in order to bid but we didn't get that far so not sure if our redacted version would have been deemed acceptable.

EA just asked us if we'd like to view a house that we were enquiring about. He's organising it for this weekend. It is a vacant house so no homeowner to infect. We need to sell our own house, not on the market yet but that wasn't an issue. He said they're crying out for 3 and 4 beds to sell so no proof of funds needed, he guesses our house would sell pretty quickly.

thegreatescape

NickNickleby wrote: »

Is the new asking price higher than originally sought?

It's the same asking price. Not sure if it went sale agreed above or below asking but it's back up for the original asking.

Reins

kippy wrote: »

I believe in "normal" times, one in ever 2 sale agreeds' would fall through for one reason or another.
I wonder is this higher now then?

I took from our chat that there's a much higher percentage than before. Their words were " A lot coming back "

KBH2020

byron55 wrote: »

I agree with the lack of enthusiasm for the virtual viewings. Had our first one last week for a house we really liked but after watching the video we didn't feel any more knowledgeable about the property, and also a bit deflated about the whole process, so didn't rush in with a bid. I know the deposit is refundable but the whole rigmarole was off-putting - with this agent, we would have had to pay surveyor to view the house (after we paid deposit) before we were then allowed to go see it ourselves. Not sure if that's the widespread practice. I guess it works for the agents - that level of effort before you set foot in the property means we will likely only proceed with a place we're crazy about from the pictures.

House went sale agreed the following day though, so it's working for some. I did speak to the estate agent, who sounded equally fed up with the whole virtual process, and confirmed they will be ditching it once restrictions ease, so that's good to hear.

That is exactly how we feel, it would need to be the house of our dreams for us to put in a bid after only viewing online. It feels a bit like online dating, you can like something/someone when online but you will only really know how you feel when in person. Based on the amounts people have been bidding when we enquire I am not surprised many are backing out. Estate agents are quoting bids based on virtual viewings of 50k+ more than similar houses got this time last year.

It's good news that estate agents are looking forward to going back to normal. Their jobs are on the line if virtual viewings become the preferred method of selling houses...stick the house online, let people watch videos and bid, the house sells itself and an agent then only needed at very end to facilitate sale...

Emma2019

byron55 wrote: »

No, SherryFitz. Seems each agency has different procedures. Funds evidence was also needed in order to bid but we didn't get that far so not sure if our redacted version would have been deemed acceptable.

I've viewed and bid on several houses and only ever showed my redacted one. If they insisted I'd get a letter from my broker or solicitor saying I had sufficient funds. I definitely wouldn't be giving any indication to the EA what my max is.

Aisling(",)

I've just gone sale agreed.Viewed and bid on a few places but had my eye on this house.
Extremely delighted.
Not sure the order all the next steps go in but we've paid the booking deposit across so I'm happy for things to be moving along.

voldejoie

Aisling(",) wrote: »

I've just gone sale agreed.Viewed and bid on a few places but had my eye on this house.
Extremely delighted.
Not sure the order all the next steps go in but we've paid the booking deposit across so I'm happy for things to be moving along.

Wooo, delighted for you! Have been rooting for you since seeing your post about the house and how much you wanted it, hope everything goes smoothly for you now

Aisling(",)

voldejoie wrote: »

Wooo, delighted for you! Have been rooting for you since seeing your post about the house and how much you wanted it, hope everything goes smoothly for you now

Thanks.Have all the hoops to jump through and all the boxes to tick.
I'm hoping we're in by the summer.I'm 30 at the end of it and I'd be delighted to have a few drinks in our own house to kick start a new decade.:D

thegreatescape

Had the highest bid on a house for a week with no word from the EA, rang them on Thursday to ask them if the vendor had gotten back to them yet. Was informed that the vendor is going to sell directly to someone instead of going through the agency. Bit disappointed as I really liked the house but not much I could have done in this situation.

pleh

thegreatescape wrote: »

Had the highest bid on a house for a week with no word from the EA, rang them on Thursday to ask them if the vendor had gotten back to them yet. Was informed that the vendor is going to sell directly to someone instead of going through the agency. Bit disappointed as I really liked the house but not much I could have done in this situation.

Put a letter through the door with your contact number. The vendor may have decided just to not use that agency and may not have a buyer lined up yet.

thegreatescape

pleh wrote: »

Put a letter through the door with your contact number. The vendor may have decided just to not use that agency and may not have a buyer lined up yet.

Oh really? I would never have even thought of that. The house is vacant I'm nearly sure, would be worth a try anyway, thank you!

K.Hawksworth

Aisling(",) wrote: »

I've just gone sale agreed.Viewed and bid on a few places but had my eye on this house.
Extremely delighted.
Not sure the order all the next steps go in but we've paid the booking deposit across so I'm happy for things to be moving along.

Delighted for you. Curious as someone who's in the market also, did you physically view the place yet or just virtual?


My advice for next steps:

Start looking for a good solicitor for conveyancing if you haven't already.
Sort your mortgage protection/life insurance as early as possible too, especially if you or partner have any pre-existing conditions.
Start looking for a building surveyor too. I think they're all working as normal and not subject to 5km travel restrictions. Don't be too disheartened with their report, even new builds can have multiple pages in a snag list. But do engage and discuss the items on the report with your surveyor, especially if it's a place needing renovations.
Lastly stay cool during the process, it can be a stressful but worthwhile experience.

JimmyVik

I heard on the radio this morning that houses are going for on average €120K over asking.
This is a horrible situation for house buyers and is just taking advantage of the pandemic panic.
I think whats happening is that people buying houses in the €350k price range would have expected to get a half decent house for that.
But now people are bidding up in the fear that houses selling for €220k now will go to the €350k floor and they will have to settle for areas and houses that are total **** holes even above €300k.
There is definitely something wrong with the market here, and estate agents and media stirring panic buying is the cause.

It wont be too long at this rate before €350k only gets you a 2 bed duplex in Ballymun.
People in Dublin will hit the CB ceiling so wont get anything better.
Then you have houses being built all over the place by councils and bought by councils, and rented to councils. Squeezing the ftb and the trader upper out altogether, while costing the taxpayer a fortune.
Its just a total sh1t show out there. If I was looking right now I would hold off for a few years tbh. Something big has to give , and soon.

JimmyVik

K.Hawksworth wrote: »

Delighted for you. Curious as someone who's in the market also, did you physically view the place yet or just virtual?


My advice for next steps:

Start looking for a good solicitor for conveyancing if you haven't already.
Sort your mortgage protection/life insurance as early as possible too, especially if you or partner have any pre-existing conditions.
Start looking for a building surveyor too. I think they're all working as normal and not subject to 5km travel restrictions. Don't be too disheartened with their report, even new builds can have multiple pages in a snag list. But do engage and discuss the items on the report with your surveyor, especially if it's a place needing renovations.
Lastly stay cool during the process, it can be a stressful but worthwhile experience.

100% this.
The amount of people I know that look at a surveyors report and have a heart attack
When the house is perferctly livable.
Surveyor have to show they are earning their money, so will snack absolutely everything. Even things that dont actually need doing and can stay as they are for 20 years before you look at them.
Things like stress fractures and cracks in ceilings. Nail pops.
Fence posts rotting at the bottom. Settling cracks. Gates that are worn out. The odd cold bridge. A cracket socket or light switch. Vents blocked up or no cover on them/

All when you look into them are easy to repair. Or you could leave them for 10 years and not even notice them after moving in.


Even reports that come back on septic tanks look scary but are non events at the end of the day.


Dont stress about a surveyor report in the least.

Milena009

JimmyVik wrote: »

100% this.
The amount of people I know that look at a surveyors report and have a heart attack
When the house is perferctly livable.
Surveyor have to show they are earning their money, so will snack absolutely everything. Even things that dont actually need doing and can stay as they are for 20 years before you look at them.
Things like stress fractures and cracks in ceilings. Nail pops.
Fence posts rotting at the bottom. Settling cracks. Gates that are worn out. The odd cold bridge. A cracket socket or light switch. Vents blocked up or no cover on them/

All when you look into them are easy to repair. Or you could leave them for 10 years and not even notice them after moving in.


Even reports that come back on septic tanks look scary but are non events at the end of the day.


Dont stress about a surveyor report in the least.

Just to jump on the wagon here.
We went sale agreed on property a week ago.

I know we will need to arrange a surveyor to look at the house.
My question would be, should this be done before or just after we receive the contracts from vendors? [ how long is usual wait?]

Our broker got the ball rolling re valuation for the bank etc in meantime.

JimmyVik

Milena009 wrote: »

Just to jump on the wagon here.
We went sale agreed on property a week ago.

I know we will need to arrange a surveyor to look at the house.
My question would be, should this be done before or just after we receive the contracts from vendors? [ how long is usual wait?]

Our broker got the ball rolling re valuation for the bank etc in meantime.

I would do it asap.
Nothing to kill a sale faster than a buyer getting a fright from a surveyors report at the last minute and looking for reductions. And the vendor looking at said report and thinking they are over reacting because he has been living in the house years and these issues are not the problem they seem to be.


Also you could get a major issue like subsidence in the report, which you definitely want to know about. But when you get a report, let it sink in. Decide how big these issues are and are they actually issues at all at the end of the day.

byron55

I was chatting to a cousin at the weekend, who told me her friend bought their house through an estate agent, but the house was never publicly advertised. Apparently, this agent said that some houses are never publicly advertised, and so it was suggested I should contact agents covering my location of interest and inform them of our wants regarding house. Is this a thing? I find it hard to believe there are many sellers out there who would not want the sale of their house to be advertised, or for that matter any agents who care about potential buyers ringing them to simply tell them they are seeking a house during this current market, but maybe I'm wrong? Are (or have) any of you contacting agents in your area of interest to tell them what you are seeking?

fliball123

thegreatescape wrote: »

Oh really? I would never have even thought of that. The house is vacant I'm nearly sure, would be worth a try anyway, thank you!

You could knock into the neighbours and ask if they have a contact number keeping social distances intact as well?

Falling

byron55 wrote: »

I was chatting to a cousin at the weekend, who told me her friend bought their house through an estate agent, but the house was never publicly advertised. Apparently, this agent said that some houses are never publicly advertised, and so it was suggested I should contact agents covering my location of interest and inform them of our wants regarding house. Is this a thing? I find it hard to believe there are many sellers out there who would not want the sale of their house to be advertised, or for that matter any agents who care about potential buyers ringing them to simply tell them they are seeking a house during this current market, but maybe I'm wrong? Are (or have) any of you contacting agents in your area of interest to tell them what you are seeking?

That's how we bought ours. I'd say it was supposed to go to market but they were quite concerned about their neighbours and not selling to someone who was a complete nightmare...

So when they were speaking to EA, they were careful to emphasise that they wanted somebody that seemed nice and not too party mad or anything. Nothing major but I think the vendor had grown up in the area and he didn't want to leave his neighbours with problems.
We'd met the EA a few times so she knew we were looking in the area, we got on well and she knew we're not totally mental (I'm a librarian sure!).
She showed it to us before anything happened, we put in an offer half an hour later, she gave the vendor the thumbs up about us and he accepted.

You never know what kind of stuff might be going on so anything's worth a try without being a total nuisance I suppose...??

JimmyVik

byron55 wrote: »

I was chatting to a cousin at the weekend, who told me her friend bought their house through an estate agent, but the house was never publicly advertised. Apparently, this agent said that some houses are never publicly advertised, and so it was suggested I should contact agents covering my location of interest and inform them of our wants regarding house. Is this a thing? I find it hard to believe there are many sellers out there who would not want the sale of their house to be advertised, or for that matter any agents who care about potential buyers ringing them to simply tell them they are seeking a house during this current market, but maybe I'm wrong? Are (or have) any of you contacting agents in your area of interest to tell them what you are seeking?

I know plenty of cases where people see and dont want the neighbors to know until its a done deal.
Some people are private and just dont want the neighbors nosing on them.
Any estate agent I have ever spoken have off the record sales. And if they know you are looking they may well come to you before the house is even advertised.

shesty

byron55 wrote: »

I was chatting to a cousin at the weekend, who told me her friend bought their house through an estate agent, but the house was never publicly advertised. Apparently, this agent said that some houses are never publicly advertised, and so it was suggested I should contact agents covering my location of interest and inform them of our wants regarding house. Is this a thing? I find it hard to believe there are many sellers out there who would not want the sale of their house to be advertised, or for that matter any agents who care about potential buyers ringing them to simply tell them they are seeking a house during this current market, but maybe I'm wrong? Are (or have) any of you contacting agents in your area of interest to tell them what you are seeking?

Yes it is a thing. I am ringing the estate agent this morning on a house she has told me several times will be coming to the market. She rang me 2 weeks ago to see were we still interested and said it might be an opportunity get the sale done before it got to market. She has been talking to us for a few months about houses now, so she knows what we are looking for....whether this one will happen or not I am not sure, mind you.


I know of at least 2 neighbours who are contemplating selling and have had estate agents in, but have not made the jump to putting their houses on the market yet - ourselves included. So agents would be aware of what is hovering on the edge of the market alright, as well is what is actually up.

KilOit

If I was selling a parent's home I'd take a decent cut in price knowing it was a young family moving in. My dad put so much work into the family home I'd hate to see it go to someone undeserving. I'd say it is a thing people selling under the radar and meeting the buyers

JimmyVik

KilOit wrote: »

If I was selling a parent's home I'd take a decent cut in price knowing it was a young family moving in. My dad put so much work into the family home I'd hate to see it go to someone undeserving. I'd say it is a thing people selling under the radar and meeting the buyers

My sister sold her house once and cried a few months after when she saw a skip outside and her brand new carpets and kitchen in it
People get emotionally attached even though they dont own it anymore.

I also know someone who spent €80K on an extension and then moved 2 years later for work and just could not get his head round why his house was only selling for €20k above what the wreck next door sold for.

scamalert

byron55 wrote: »

I was chatting to a cousin at the weekend, who told me her friend bought their house through an estate agent, but the house was never publicly advertised. Apparently, this agent said that some houses are never publicly advertised, and so it was suggested I should contact agents covering my location of interest and inform them of our wants regarding house. Is this a thing? I find it hard to believe there are many sellers out there who would not want the sale of their house to be advertised, or for that matter any agents who care about potential buyers ringing them to simply tell them they are seeking a house during this current market, but maybe I'm wrong? Are (or have) any of you contacting agents in your area of interest to tell them what you are seeking?

you were given a great advise, now dunno with lockdowns as most are closed so would be tough to speak in person, but scouting last year came up across nice EA lady, told her what was important etc, and sure enough few houses that didnt went sale agreed or were taken off fallen trough and got contacted to come and look, once your end is sorted and you come in with everything ready knowing what you want most EA's will keep you in mind. as yes some dont like to advertise or go private sale so property wouldnt be listed across 20 sites, as some people still want a sale at their asking price and be guaranteed rather then do bidding wars and engage in 20 viewings, since as other member said market is very unstable thus buyers are scrapping sometimes, and even if sale agreed its not guaranteed until last minute when all funds have to be transferred.

cintec

With AIP can you view/bid on a house or do you need to complete the application before viewing/bidding?

Another question would be should I get a solicitor & surveyor now or is this something I should get after bidding and the seller accepting your bid.

byron55

Gosh, thanks all for the replies on the private sales - honestly something I never thought of. I've only actually gone as far as contacting one agent on one house so far so he has our details, but I'll give another few a call this week to see if they're interested in keeping our details.

KilOit

JimmyVik wrote: »

My sister sold her house once and cried a few months after when she saw a skip outside and her brand new carpets and kitchen in it
People get emotionally attached even though they dont own it anymore.

This is great, it shows they care about it. I don't care what they change about it just that the take care of it. I'm thinking slobs moving in and letting it go derelict and letting the garden over grow