General Chat

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Hubby and I looked at a cottage monday. Its in the ideal position for our retirement in about 4 years or so. In the meantime we planned to let it. Now, we put in an offer over the asking price on Monday evening (we were told we were the last viewers - everyone else had been on 2 'open days'). Yesterday agent rang said they had had so much interest - apparently 7 offers - that they now want 'best and final offers' by tomorrow at 12. Im very nervous about this - we have never owned another house in addition to our own and there is a tenant there already who has been there 7 years on a 6 month renewed agreement and he has been given notice to leave. The cottage needs a considerable amount of work for it to be livable for us but we could do that over the 4 years and the tenant could stay on or we could get others. But Im getting cold feet. Say we cant manage the payments or the housing market crashes or we cant sell this house when we want. Should we back out now and perhaps lose the ideal place or just go on? I know other people in less secure positions than us do this sort of thing. Im just very nervous now.

Will you be taking a mortgage on it? Can you afford the repayments if you don't have a tenant? If you can then I would say go for it...... but if it is CRUCIAL that you have a tenant then I would be wary!! Good luck xx

To be honest I'd back out. They already have 7 offers so why not just take the one that's offered the most? They're just out for an extra penny (or £1,000 in this case). There are always lovely properties coming up that need modernisation, just hang on, you have plenty of time.

I dont think a tenant would be a problem. It is in a very desirable area, albeit the cottage itself is very rundown inside. The agents are currently letting it for £425 and say that it is now due to rise to £500. Short term we could manage the mortgage payments.

I have always worked on the premise 'When in doubt, don't.' Listen to your heart. Only you and hubby can make the decision, so you both need to be sure you are doing the right thing. I suppose there is always the possibility that you could buy it, do it up, and resell for a profit if you decided it wasn't for you.

Then stick with the offer you have made and say its your best and final..... if its meant to be then it will be yours!! xx

I agree with Diana, my OH had a house when we married and we could keep it if we had a tenant. Due to the CSA we lost the tenants and the house, Good luck, Cazx

Heather, its a very difficult one, all I know is what I have been told and that is that people are adviced to not buy at present,I was told this by a person who buys and sells property, and seems to know what hes talking about, but personally I dont think I would be buying at the moment. It sounds to me as if the agent is pushing for a sale.

Ive jsut rung the agent and said I want to see it again at 5 p.m. to have another look round. Its awful because my heart is saying youll never get a place there again - and I mean that - there are only about 12 cottages/houses and its a conservation area - places rarely come up and certainly not at the price we could contemplate. The owner is abroad and has been for 7 years. The cottage next door (semis) sold for £25k more last year - same owner I think although it does have a bigger walled garden.

Go with your gut reaction when you see it again! Good luck sweetie xx

Difficult decision, Heather, especially if (like me) you're not a natural risk taker. When you watch TV programmes like Property Ladder you see people taking on big projects and really pushing themselves to the limit financially. And generally it all works out well in the end for them. Only you and hubby can decide but if you do go for it, I wish you both well. xx

I think you would need to look unto the tenants rights if they have been there so long. I think there may be a law whereby they can only be evicted or given notice if it is the owner who intends to live in the propery. You wouldn't be able to find other tenants. If you have already offered over the asking price, offer the same again or go up by £500 only. Just because they have opened it to offers, does not mean that they have had a highter offer than yours. They may just hope to get one! Good luck. Jacky :-)

Then I think, say we get it and then cant get a mortgage? We arent young - we are self employed although we could put down a hefty deposit on it (lifes savings virtually!). I am shaking here. Partly due to the excitement of perhaps having the place in such a lovely position and partly frightened that Im a little girl playing in a grown ups market. I met the tenant, he is a young single chap - in his thirties. He has tons of sports equipment all over the place (and I mean ALL over the place - had to climb over snow boards and so on). I said to him it must be very uncomfortable for him (people viewing the place) and he was really pleasant and said not at all. The agents have been handling the renting of the property and seemed very friendly with the tenant so I dont think it would be a prob. Youd larf, just phoned my auntie who is 79 and she said if you dont get it you may regret it in a few years when you see it double the price. (BUT what if prices crash?). Auntie also said (but can I rely on this??) that whatever happened she would support me - she meant financially.

Heather are you getting a mortgage for this? The housing market is set to rise and rise, if you saw the news the other day houses are the most valuable asset in Britain, and makes up for something like 80% of the countries wealth. My in laws have just bought a cottage in Wales, cash, that needs some work doing the only difference is it wasn't an offer situation, you have to think realisticly about the offer you put in, is the house worth it in it's present state, have you got a limit you can go to? If you pay over the odds, will you have the cash to do it up. The house would have been valued, if the price reflects the current state then fine, but the likelyhood of an offers situation means you are probably going to pay more than the asking price, cos if you really want this you will have to put in an offer well above the asking price. But then other will do this too, this is where it gets competitive, and then you ask the question, is it worht it in the state it's in. catherine xx I use to work for a firm of surveyors.

If you are regarding it as an investment to eventually sell on, you need to be careful you don't pay too much over the odds. (Has it gone to sealed bids or are they just trying to screw as high a price as possible?) Also you would need to work out cost of work and balance this against possible resale price. (Is this the one you posted about the other day? Is it a one off, or is there a similar to compare value with?) Different ball-game altogether if you intend it to be your home - then it's just a question of buying and rennovating to how you want it - resale price is not an issue. Do check legal aspect with regards to current tenant. I rented longterm when I lived away - the only reasons I could be asked to move where if the property was sold, or if my landlord could prove he needed the flat for a family member. If the tenant is on 6 monthly contracts, it may be a different scenario. But presumably if you were having any major work done, you would have to do this between tenants and lose rental? Jay

Hi Heather, I agree with Diana. You say you have offered over the asking price, this is in England, not Scotland isn't it? Most folk offer under the asking in England so I would say they are trying to get you to offer more, even if your offer is the highest. Personally I think if you pull out, you'll regret it but if you stick with your offer & don't get it, it was not meant to be. Best of Luck Vivienne xx

Who's to say that your offer wasn't the best offer anyway? I think they are probably trying to squeeze that little bit more for their client (and for themselves through commission) Most estate agents will tell you that they have had an offer of £X and ask if you are prepared to top it. If the offer you made was as high as you were prepared to go and could sensibly afford the repayments on, then I wouldn't up the offer and if the sale falls through then so be it. Bear in mind the cost of refurbishment too, there wouldn't be a hope of defraying the cost through the rent you may charge a tenant and at the end of their tenancy, when you would like to use the property yourself, there will, no doubt, be a considerable amount of redecorating to do, no matter how well behaved your tenant. It's a matter of sums I think and much as your heart wants to say yes, your head has to rule in this instance. Mags xxx

Catherine, I dont know if those reports are right. How can houses keep rising when the kids cant get on the bottom rung. And how can people pay for more and more when wages arent going up aswell. Im just a nervous person I guess - I always see all the negatives. Say we cant sell this house when we want (its a beautiful big house but since the new bloke bought the propery next door we have had problems re the hedge with him - basically he has now cowed towed and re erected fencing etc. but we are now saying we want him to reinstate the hedge he damaged. Would knowledge of that put people off buying this in say 5 years?

exactly the same thing has just happend Heather with my in laws and the boundaries with their property, this is something that your solicitor would have to finalise for you so that there are no future problems. There will be deeds of where the hedge is suppose to start and stop. If the neighbour has contrvened this then he will have to change to what the deeds are. I agree with you as regards house prices, kids today stand no chance, and this is where the goverment has to intervene to make affordable housing. catherine xx