Our first house viewing!
Bit ominous this as it begins!
We're currently saving a house in the vicinity of 170k and are just about there with 10% for a deposit. A house has came onto the market on rightmove at the end of last week and thought we'd investigate having a look and hoping it'll still be on the market in a couple of months.
Contacted the EA today who called us back a few minutes later. This week. Friday at 5pm but they won't be there, the sellers will be.
Bit daunted now as I didn't expect it to be so quick and the fact we'll be seeing the sellers direct. Any advice from anyone for the first viewing? How to go about making the best of it? What to ask? How to conclude the viewing and steps to take from there?
It's right at the top of our budget anyway.
Thanks in advance!
We're currently saving a house in the vicinity of 170k and are just about there with 10% for a deposit. A house has came onto the market on rightmove at the end of last week and thought we'd investigate having a look and hoping it'll still be on the market in a couple of months.
Contacted the EA today who called us back a few minutes later. This week. Friday at 5pm but they won't be there, the sellers will be.
Bit daunted now as I didn't expect it to be so quick and the fact we'll be seeing the sellers direct. Any advice from anyone for the first viewing? How to go about making the best of it? What to ask? How to conclude the viewing and steps to take from there?
It's right at the top of our budget anyway.
Thanks in advance!
0
Comments
Make another list of desirables or features you want, then assign them marks out of ten
Don't just look at the wallpaper / décor / mess as all that can be changed
Are you happy with the basic structure / layout?
Will the garden need much work.
Look for cracked plaster - is it structural or just a bit of settlement / shrinkage
Any damp patches? - could be a big no no especially if low down. High up may mean leaking gutters so easy to solve
Outside look for cracks in the walls / rendering coming off
Importantly - look at the neighbours gardens - do they look as though they are looked after - good neighbours are important
Having the owners there is better than the estate agent - ask why they are moving, what the local shops are like, which pub they use, which chippy, what the schools are like etc.
Remember that this is a big decision and you are likely to be there for years. They want you to buy it, so will be as helpful as possible but be aware of what they don't say. Estate agents just want a sale so will lie through their teeth to get you to sign.
The roof, check it looks ok and the guttering/flashing are in reasonable order, check the electrics to see how uptodate they are as major works could basically mean a rewire and that'll be a few grand easy.
Parking as well if you have a couple of cars as to where you going to park them as that can turn nice neighbours into psycho maniacs when they think you're parked on 'their' patch of road
Police crime website that shows how much trouble in the area as well
If you want to take some photos then be sure to ask permission first.
The problem with checking out neighbours is that they can change quickly and there is nothing you can do about it. That lovely retired couple could sell to a noisy young family. However it is worth finding out if the neighbouring houses are owner occupied or rented.
The second viewing is the chance to really dig deep and check out things like the toilet, shower, water pressure, cracks in ceilings, possible damp etc. i would say those things are best done when the home owners arent there.
Indeed - but it depends on whether the OP has the wish/desire to start redecorating/overhauling the interior decor. Plus the budget to do so - the OP mentions this house is at top end of their budget, so may not have cash left over to do decorating etc.
When you start seriously looking, have your mortgage agreed in principle, budget set and be ready to swoop!
Never get your heart set on any property. There are so many things that can go wrong.
We always sat down afterwards and did a 'pros and cons' list. Then we compared the best ones against each other until we had our favourite.
Just don't then go and ring the wrong one up to say you'd like to come round and make an offer
and if the carpet feels bouncy then its probably a dodgy floor underneath and may require some serious work
Good post.
My daughter has recently gone through the house buying process for the first time and the ‘vendors’ Estate Agent did nothing to countermand the widely held view (by just about everyone else involved in property business!) that integrity is not particularly high on an Estate Agents agenda.
http://www.gocompare.com/coveredcontent/pdfs/estate-agent-jargon-guide
http://www.gocompare.com/covered/2014/06/estate-agents-tips-exposed/
Be prepared to make compromises that is the one thing we have learnt from our search. We won't get everything we want for the price we can afford but there are certain things I won't compromise on the garden, a dining room (so when we have guests they don't have to eat in the sitting room or kitchen). We have seen a really nice house but parking could be an issue so we have been round at different times of the day to see what it's like. We have also come to the conclusion that we may have to sell our furniture and get smaller chest of drawers as it will be too big (the rooms in our flat are big and we have been spoilt).
Estate agents are pushy, don't get pushed into buying a house when you aren't ready, one estate agent calls us several times a day, has taken us round when the current owners weren't expecting us, constantly asks us if we want to make an offer, we have only been looking for two weeks and as my husband does shifts it's not even been 14 days more like 4!
However, don't get too hung up on whether your existing furniture and appliances will fit. If the house is otherwise perfect then just buy replacements. If you are spending £200,000 on a house it is silly to reject one just because your £200 fridge won't fit in the kitchen.
I was thinking more of deeply sentimental stuff like great aunties dressing table etc than stuff like a fridge
I'm a little surprised by this comment.
How quick did you expect it to be - if I arrange to view a house, I would always expect it to be within the next seven days. I've often phoned to view a house, and been given a viewing the same day (or at least by the coming weekend). The sellers will be as anxious to sell as you are to buy.
I've also never been to view a house without the sellers being present. Where are you expecting them to disappear to while you look round the house? They'll be able to show you round a lot better than an estate agent will - after all, they live there. They'll be able to answer questions far better than an estate agent in terms of "Are you leaving this? What are the neighbours like? Which of the local pubs is easiest to walk to and best on a Saturday night? What's the traffic like in a morning? Where's the nearest Asda? At what time of day is the sun in the back garden?" etc etc etc.
Have a look round the house and area, and generally you will get an idea of whether you can see yourself living there. You can always go back with the tape measure if it passes the first test.
I'd rather be shown around by the home owner too. They will know more about the house and area, and will find it harder to completely b*llshit you on the negative stuff than a viewing agent will.
I did one viewing where they had kids running around the house while mum and dad slobbed on the sofa watching TV. That really put me off.
I dont understand why the owners would want to be present! Surely the estate agent would make sure the potential buyers didnt damage anything.
I dont think i could talk honestly to my oh about the house with the owners breathing down my neck. You also would feel awkward seeking for faults while they are watching you!
We got our house through luck. Bought it from one of ohs family members without viewing. He had rented the house for 7 years and decided to sell but had been on the market for ages. Apparently there was a lot of interest just before we bought it but the tenants were refusing to let the estate agents show anyone round and nobody was willing to make an offer without seeing the property.
Worked in our favour though
IMHO it’s much better to speak to the vendor directly during a viewing if possible; you can ask them probing questions that an Estate Agent might not be able (or willing) to answer. In addition, if the vendor is a bit slippery with their answers they probably still won’t be as Machiavellian as an Agent.
As for screaming kids and slobby parents......you are looking to buy the house, not them.
There appears to be little value in being put off a house that fits you criteria, because you don’t like the vendors.
Complete opposite for me - never once viewed a house with the estate agent being present. Always the owners. Estate agents don't really know anything about the house other than the number of bedrooms its got, whether its a gas or electric cooker, what price the house is on the market for and how many other viewers there has been. The bare minimum. They might know something about the house - but they know nothing about living at that address.
The owners can tell you what the council tax costs, when the boiler was last serviced, how old the cooker is, the quickest way to get to the M1 at half past eight on a weekday morning, how many of the other neighbours have kids the same age as yours etc etc etc. Things that only the people who live there would know.
As I asked the OP - where do you expect the people who live in the house to disappear to while you (and any other viewers) actually do the viewing? Should they go hide next door or in the shed?
Easy for them to take the dog (or kids) for a walk during the viewing or pop to the shops. If I was selling this house I wouldn't want to be around during a viewing. That's what I'd be paying an EA to do.
I agree, especially for a second viewing. People like to hide things. Its hard to discretely edge the sofa forward to check out the wall behind it if someones sat there watching tv!
Like the property shows always say, you have to present your home in the best possible way, and sell a lifestyle. Its easier to visualise yourself in a house when you just see it as a house, rather than it having people living in it. If youre trying to sell your home as the ideal starter home for a young professional, thats a lot harder to do when your changing a babys nappy as they are walking through.
I can understand that they would be able to tell you more than the estate agents with regards to things like neighbours, but would they really tell you about the couple next door who are up all night arguing?
Well, I've bought and sold houses half a dozen times since I first got on the property ladder in the early nineties, and I've never had an estate agent show me round a house I was viewing, and I've never known an estate agent offer to show people round my house - so the option just hasn't existed.
And evern if it did exist - I wouldn't want it to. I show people round my house, not some estate agent who knows nothing about it. And I want the owners of my potential new house to show me round it, not some estate agent who again knows nothing about it. If the house was empty then I could understand an estate agent being present - but that's never been the case for me.
Why do you think people would be sat watching telly, or changing a baby's nappy, or having a meal, when you go view their house. Every house I've been to view I've been shown round by the homeowners - they walk round with you showing you each room in turn. They don't sit watching telly while you make your own way round. They can't answer questions you've got if they're sat having their tea while you're viewing the ensuite bathrooms. When people have come to look round our house we've known what time to expect them - we haven't started a meal five minutes before they turn up, we've been waiting for them to arrive so we can show them round.
I can only say what my experience was of viewing about 10 properties - only one of which was empty.. The EA was present on every viewing and the owners were only present twice. In both of those cases the owner just sat watching TV during the viewing and didn't say a thing other than "hello" and "goodbye".
Maybe they do things differently in Cambridge...?
A lot of people want to come view in the evenings and if you have small children there is not really much choice other than to be in. We did all evening viewings ourselves and left all weekend viewings to estate agent.