Moving home, estate agents and all that jazz....
frisky python
Posts: 9,737 Forum Member
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Basically I'm after any pearls of wisdom from those who have recently been through moving home, selling and buying.
Mr Python and I bought our house as first time buyers back in 2002. It's a 2up, 2down Victorian terrace. We're looking for a 3 bed family home as we now have two kids. As you can see we don't have any experience of selling and buying, neither do our respective parents or even friends as many are settled and have been for some time.
I have an estate agent coming to view our house on Saturday and give a valuation. I'll be looking to get at least two other agents round and seeing what they say too. One of the agents has mentioned "sale by tender". Has anyone got any experience of this; pros and cons? It all sounds great (£150+vat fee as opposed to a 2-3% fee) but would like to hear from any real life experiences.
Also, how much negotiating on price would you expect when you put in an offer? I've viewed one property and the vendor won't negotiate at all (and the property needs a lot of work - heating and new windows for a start!). Another property I'm interested in also needs new bathroom/kitchen as they are dated from the 70s - I might be viewing it later this week to sound it out with the agent.
Oh, one last thing, we are in NW Kent and the prices of houses is extortionate, therefore it's a sellers market with not much room for manoeuvre.
Yeah, I'm dreading the whole thing to be honest.
Mr Python and I bought our house as first time buyers back in 2002. It's a 2up, 2down Victorian terrace. We're looking for a 3 bed family home as we now have two kids. As you can see we don't have any experience of selling and buying, neither do our respective parents or even friends as many are settled and have been for some time.
I have an estate agent coming to view our house on Saturday and give a valuation. I'll be looking to get at least two other agents round and seeing what they say too. One of the agents has mentioned "sale by tender". Has anyone got any experience of this; pros and cons? It all sounds great (£150+vat fee as opposed to a 2-3% fee) but would like to hear from any real life experiences.
Also, how much negotiating on price would you expect when you put in an offer? I've viewed one property and the vendor won't negotiate at all (and the property needs a lot of work - heating and new windows for a start!). Another property I'm interested in also needs new bathroom/kitchen as they are dated from the 70s - I might be viewing it later this week to sound it out with the agent.
Oh, one last thing, we are in NW Kent and the prices of houses is extortionate, therefore it's a sellers market with not much room for manoeuvre.
Yeah, I'm dreading the whole thing to be honest. 0
Comments
When it comes to you making your own offer, on the upward part of the chain, make sure you establish the quality of your offer (timings, finance etc) not just the figure that you are offering. Remember to make your offer subject to survey and subject to contract. And it doesn't hurt to provide your solicitor's details in your written offer.
I have no experience with sale by tender I'm afraid, in fact I looked it up and got this explanation: Sale by Tender is like a silent auction. A property is marketed for sale with or without a guide price and there is a deadline for all offers. Anyone interested puts in their offer and the vendor is presented with these offers, which are private, to be considered on the day.
Not sure how to feel about that option to be honest. I have no experience in auctions to make that judgement.
I have just gone through the selling and buying process though, and have come out the other side, although it was stressful at times, happy and in a lovely new house.
Getting more than 1 estate agent round is definitely a good idea, no need to be shy about it either. We got 4 round and went for the ones who appeared most genuine and I'd like to say they were. Depends what you want really, I'm not a fan of the 'typical' salesman type. The first one that came round to us could genuinely of been the lead character in a BBC3 comedy scetch show he was that stereotypical. But clearly he made sales, he was the manager! The prices varied quite a lot too, as did their valuations, we didn't tell them how much an other had valued the house though.
Another tip, make sure your pictures are as good as they can be and check which ones are going to be used. Our estate agent offered this and to be honest when I was looking at houses to buy I realized the pictures were the whole reason someone visits the house, so ours had to be good to get people through the door.
With regards to offers, don't take the mick too much but don't be afraid to offer lower than the asking price. But be prepared to be turned down. If you really don't want to increase then just say that the offer remains on the table should they change their mind. Just keep going, it will happen, but it might take some doing!
I would say you shouldn't be placing offers before yours is on the market though, some estate agents may even say you are not able to.
In our deal I actually ended up in direct contact with my seller, we managed to get a pretty good rapport so I think that helped. It wasn't plain sailing though. Many speed bumps along the way, but my point is you will get there!
Good luck, sorry for the essay!
The agent we have coming round on sat comes from a recommend estate agents, but he's already put me off as he joked about slapping the legs of his female colleague who forgot to contact us with details of our valuation meeting!
Happens all the time in Scotland. It's sealed bids.
You can sell your house privately, as I did. You don't need an estate agent.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22123316
Yes, though I don't understand why it makes any difference to the commission, unless the estate agents are literally going to do nothing more than stick an advert in with a closing date. You still need to get to a position where you have competing buyers ready to put in offers.
As others have said, absolutely get valuations from more than one agent, and don't necessarily go with the one who gives you the highest valuation. We went with the agents who gave us the lowest valuation in the end, and we are very happy with them. Another point is that you don't have to go with their suggested sale price. We put the house on the market for the highest valuation we got (from another agent) and sold it for the asking price in just over a week!
Also, you can negotiate with the agent on their commission. I think a lot of people think this is set in stone and don't bother, but we got the commission down from 2% to 1.3% or thereabouts, which does make a big difference. When it's a seller's market, agents are fiercely competing with each other for clients and are likely to reduce their commission to get your business.
When making (and accepting) offers, a good starting point is to take 10% off the asking price. But, of course, as you've discovered, not every seller is willing to lower the price. It's very important to try to get details such as how long the house has been on the market, and whether the asking price has been dropped already, so you can make an informed offer. Don't be afraid to ask the agents these questions. I found that Zoopla is the best property site for giving you this kind of information.
I agree with the FM who said that it's best not to be making offers without having accepted one on your property. It's not just about the figure you offer, but your position with regards to your own sale and your finances. In a competitive market, this is very important.
Yes, not planning on making any offers until we're in a position to do so. It's more that I want to start getting a feel for whats out there and you can't really do that via a website with just the best images on show. The place I have seen so far, I didn't make an offer, the agent himself told me the asking price had been turned down by the vendor who has now decided they want more! The other property I'd like to see has been on the market since beginning of the year - usually for the location and vacant possession it would be snapped up, but I'm suspecting the avocado bathroom suite and funky 70s kitchen tiles may be putting people off (and why I initially dismissed it myself). But I'm going to hold off for a bit (not least because I'm at home ill with a bloody cold virus making my head swim :-()
This sounds ominously like a scheme that was on London tonight last night. It was dubious because what the estate agent does is charge prospective buyers a fee to register with them. therefore it is limiting the market for your house as not everyone will be willing to pay the fee, and therefore you might not end up getting a good price. I did wonder why they were calling it sale by tender when it is markedly different to what happens in Scotland. If you see this agent you do need to clear this up with them, and if you decide to go with them get whatever assurances you need in writing
Get a few evaluations but don't necessarily go with the agents who value your house highest; go with those who talk most sense, and who you trust. Also think about where they have their offices, and what there market position seems to be - is it a good match for your house?
Do negotiate the percentage commission. I did this and got it down from 2% to 1.5% (you can say other agents offered a lower rate - which to me they did). Like yours, my house was in an expensive area - so it's still loads of cash for them.
I was pleasantly surprised by my agents - who were courteous and reliable. I discovered later they didn't even pass on to me laughably low offers (which I was pleased about - as I found these offers more annoying/worrying than helpful when I did find out about them later).
My house was on the market a month and then I got two offers at the price I was hoping for (lower than the asking price - them were different days), rather than the price I would have settled for at a push.
I did put an offer in on a house before my house was on the market. I didn't get that house in the end, so I suppose that might have been a waste of time, although it prompted me to action. But finally I didn't mind as I can't imagine living there now, and much prefer the house I did get. But I couldn't offer on my actual house until I had a good offer on my house as I wouldn't have been able to guarantee that I could afford it.
Overall, moving house was exhausing, but I was actually left with the feeling that it had gone very well and successfully.
On pictures - I was amazed how nice my house looked in these (sunny day, tidy house, wide-angle lens and all that - but that's only the same as all houses get).
I didn't look at that many houses - and concluded quite quickly that you really can see from the online pics and other info whether you will
like a house or not. If you have doubts, don't bother.
And good luck! As you say, it is a seller's market, so set your own terms with the agent, and the price.
I have no experience of sale by tender and would instinctively be warey of it.
I thought estate agents were bound to pass on all offers, even ones way below the asking price, as they are not supposed to conceal them?
Simply put, the buyer pays the sellers estate agency fees.
Both the properties I had viewed had been reduced in price but the buyer would have to pay 2% plus Vat on top of their own fees.
The idea is to move a property very quickly and less chance of being gazumped. You have a one day open day for viewings, get everyone to view at the same time (some only have a few hours for viewing) and then offers have to be submitted by a certain date. Its sealed bids so if someone is desperate to buy it then they may be tempted to bid very high.
Seller then chooses the bid they want (not necessarily the highest, it could be someone who's a first time buyer and not in a chain ).
This means no tooing and froing of offers.
Highly lucrative for the seller and a massive pain the backside for the buyer!
Not sure about lucrative for the seller, as they're eliminating any potential buyers who can't view and/or commit to an offer within a tight timescale (depending on how swift completion is, probably ruling out anyone who needs a mortgage? Doubt there'd be many first time buyers able to do it.), and offers will no doubt take into account the commission being paid by the buyer.
Its open to anyone including those who need a mortgage and I meant lucrative for the seller as their fees are then in the hundreds and not thousands.
In the market the way it is now, especially in NW Kent (as thats where I've been looking too) decent properties have been going over the asking prices, plenty that I have already viewed have gone £10-£15k over, simply due to the lack of properties in comparison to the number of buyers. The house I have just had my offer accepted on, was £4k over asking price due to competition (my first offer was asking price too).
Most buyers will/should have their mortgage in place and know what their maximum is. So with a sale by tender property you will have been advised that you have to take into account the extra thousands. Most of the agents I have spoken to have insisted the mortgage in principle is already in place before viewings as you will be beaten to it by plenty of others who already have.
The problem is that a lot of people bought during the peak times of 2005-2008 and are either unable or unwilling to sell below what they paid. This was the reason that there was a floor to the price falls after the crash. The main reason prices fell at all in this country was that the banks cut off the supply of mortgages. People still need housing and are still willing to push themselves to get what they want.
I bought at the very bottom of the market in Feb 2009 and my house value has gone up 20% since.
True, but now with the help to buy scheme there is a massive surge in first time buyers now, but still not enough properties and hence the over inflated market right now.
Exactly. The housing market is trying to accommodate 4 years of pent up demand and naturally we are moving back to 2008 levels.
I only liked one agent. The others were very negative, or made comments about things that were totally irrelevant. This sealed the deal in my mind I was going online. I used Urban Sales who are based in Tunbridge Wells and they charged about £400 including VAT. They commissioned a local professional photographer to come out with wide angle lenses to make rooms appear as large as possible, and even touch up the photos to make the sky blue when it was just about to rain. I got an energy certificate and a sales board.
When someone was interested they phoned the agent on a free number, the agent sent me an email and I had to phone the person back to arrange a viewing. It all goes on Rightmove and the other major websites. I had my first viewing three days after it went live, couple of viewings the next week, within a month I had an offer, within a month of that I'd exchanged contracts.
The cheapest I found anyone else to do it was £1,000. I know two others who have sold a house this way and we all prefer it to the high street agents.