General Chat

well that's fine then if it's correct there shouldn't be any difficulties in the future. Don't worry too much about it, OH being a builder is good, that will save you money. The firm I worked for started with the re-generation of Manchester after the IRA bomb 10 yrs ago, property in Manchester city centre went sky high, I use to sell mainly to investors my best deal being in the millions. City centre residential property is totally different to residential property in say a town or villiage, city centre loose value. don't worry, property is still a good investment, and you will be in a better position than others with OH being a builder. catherine xx

Hi Heather Houses aren't short term assets. Yes, the market may crash, but it comes back again. People will always want somewhere to live: we won't all suddenly decide to take on six lodgers and knock the rest of the houses down. Your hubby will know what needs to be done to the property and how to do it cost effectively. There are no guarantees in life, but because you are self-employed, you are more flexible than most people: if necessary you could go on working that extra year or so. If the house is too expensive, or you don't like it enough, back down, but I don't think you need to be too worried about the other issues. (If you couldn't sell your current house, you could always rent that out on a temporary basis.)

If you have ,made your offer, leave it at that. How long would it take Hubby to renovate ? cant really dig up floors etc with a tennant AND expect him to pay full rent, however nice he was ( prob wouldnt appreciate a caravan in the garden either!) So, if you need his rent to pay the mortgage, and you cant have him while you renovate, and hubby will be renovating this, so not generating income.... or is it a spare time project? in which case, it will take even longer = no rental income for longer. Stay where you are with your offer - if its got your name on it, so be it. Remember how gutted i was when we lost the house we wanted? -and i went for second best...so glad we did. no regrets whatsoever. Jess

I despair for the future for my grandchildren. The house I bought in 1970 cost £2995, and is currently probably commanding a price of in excess of £100,000. Nobody gold plated it, so the only way it has increased in 'Value' is because the Estate Agents and Mortgage companies are ripping off their customers to get higher fees. In 1970 the Building Society were happy to double their money over 25 years, now it seems they want to double their money in 5. This is where the Government should be intervening. I have argued for years against the use of the words 'Social Housing', Affordable Housing' and 'Market Rent'. Anyone these days could become unemployed, there is no such thing as Jobs for Life like there used to be. It is hardly surprising that the young people I talk to have no expectations for the future.

Shiela, when we made our offer the agent (who is a partner in the firm) told us quite openly our offer was the highest. As you say, I can only think they have gone back to the people nearest and are trying to up the price.

Catherine, the guy has already - at our solicitors request, erected wire and netting fencing the entire (400 ft) lenght of the garden in the correct position. I guess Im worrying too much as they have accepted we were right.

When we bought this house there was another couple interested in it. They made an offer first, then we did, then we were asked for 'best and final' offers. I really wanted the house but my husband said he wasn't going to get into an 'auction' and that we would offer the asking price, no more (it was within our budget). The other couple couldn't match us so we got it, but we would not have offered over and above the asking price. The agents and vendors will want to make the most money they can - if there is a lot of demand for the property, you could find that another buyer is prepared to go way over the asking price if it is their 'dream home'. If you do go ahead, all the best of luck. Sheila x

You see when I think about it, if the cottage was done up a bit, new kitchen doors, butler sink, bathroom changed from avacado! to white and the carpets werent covered in mud then wed have walked in and thought it was worth say £35k over the asking price. I think the cottage is pretty sound, it belonged to the abbey (and the little row of cotts were for the servants of the incumbent at the vicarage). In the 50s someone has put some awful huge metal windows in the back and they need to be replaced (I should add at this point, hubby is a builder). He feels for anyone else replacing those windows and the structural support needed may cost someone else £7-8k but we could do that for about £4k. He wants to check the floors again as they have been cemented. Ive no doubt they had brick floors or something in the past and hubby wants to check that he could screed over the floors or whether they have been done so poorly the floors would have to be completely dug up.

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

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?

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 :-)

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

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

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.

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.