Buying a house

supanova

supanova

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So me and the partner is looking to buy a repo 3 bedroom semi house - we have placed a bid and waiting on word back to see if the offer has been accepted. was told it could take up to 3 days before I hear word back.

If they accept our offer and sale agree it to us, what is/how long is the next step. its a big commitment and as its our first time it seems too much of a grey area to try and understand. Its really difficult to get the estate agents on the phone to even speak with them.

Does it have to go in the local paper for 1 week or can it stay in the paper until deeds are signed and money is in sellers account?

any tips and info would be awesome guys!

Cheers
 
When buying a house from the time the offer is accepted, its usually about 4 weeks to completion. A solicitor has to check the land registry and get title deeds and to make sure you have the funds to purchase, then about a week before completion you sign the missives and job is done. They can still have an advert running in the local press and in estate agents window, but they must put under offer on the advert.
 
I was in the same boat last year.

We placed an offer on a repo, but counter offers were made, we were prepared to raise the offer by £10k but as it turned out, someone from the estate agent wanted it - so our offers were falling on deaf ears.

Have you got a solicitor / mortgage lined up?
I'm guessing you have been round the banks / mortgage lenders to see what they are prepared to offer you?

The whole process can be a little tedious when you don't know whats what, moving house is even more of a ball-ache I believe.
Solicitors generally handle all the paperwork and will invoice you at the end of it. (mine ended up at £1300 which included some surveys I required carrying out)
 
Been to banks and have a solicitor lined up but havnt spoken to one yet. first offer had been rejected so i up'd it a few £K just aiting on word back now to see what the answer is. you said that because someone at the estate agents wanted the house? and got it just because they never forwarded on your offer? thats a bit ****ty. I just hope this isnt the case with my purchase. the agent is being a bit of a **** to be honest, but arnt they all?

do you have to pay solicitor upfront or do they give you a certain length of time to pay?
 
Most solicitors will put in the offer for free, they will then tell you how much your fee will be and this is usually payable on completion of the missives. (thats what happens in Scotland)
 
I bough a repo property and did very well from it but bear in mind until you exchange contracts people can still outbid you so be wary as you can lose money on searches, valuations, solictors, etc. Be careful and good luck :)
 
Scotland's house-buying process is totally different from all other parts of the UK.
 
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Im due to complete next friday, we sold my house and bought a new one together, we are in a 3 person chain (cash buyer on my house - Us - then an old lady who's going into a vacant flat. By the time we complete it will have been give or take 18, yes 18 weeks from offers being accepted to completion. This has been due to useless solicitors and a few set backs from probate and leaseholder packs, in actual fact the old lady we are buying from split from the chain to move into a rented flat due to the leasehold pack on the flat she's buying taking so long!

The steps are:

Offer accepted by the seller,
Sort your mortgage out with the bank,
Instruct a solicitor to deal with the conveyancing usually pay £200 upfront costs for the searches,
Searches come back - usually 2-3 weeks,
The solicitor will then raise any enquiries necessary from the searches or in general with the sellers solicitor.
Once the solicitor is happy they will then get ready to exchange contracts.
Exchange contracts and set a completion date.
Complete and move in!

All of this can take anything from 8-16 weeks if not more depending on how big the chain is and how fast the solicitors and seller are at providing information etc.

Its worth remembering that until the contracts are exchanged nothing is legal (in England anyway) so you or the seller can pull out at any time and you are at risk of being gazumped by someone else especially if you have got the property for less than its actually worth if the seller is desperate to sell or the property type is in a high demand area!
 
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Good news and bad news

Good news is I'm just off the phone with the estate agents - told me that off was accepted and they can sale agree the property to myself and partner.

Bad news is that he has another viewing of the property next week but he also said unless they bid him on the spot any further inquires after the viewing will be informed the house is sold.

So meeting today with solicitor, partner is just off the phone with bank ( currently waiting to see what was said) and fingers crossed all goes quite quickly from here. :)
 
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All the best - one thing I learned quickly was not to get your hopes up too soon.

As you are not in a chain and 1st time buyers, things should get processed a little quicker - what I found with repos were that investors quite often buy them to let and can often pay cash in some circumstances.

Hope it goes your way - Iv been moved out with the missus for almost a year now, don't think I could ever go back to living with my parents! lol
Biggest hit for me was not having as much to spend on the car due to the mortgage & bills.etc but wouldn't change a thing - its quite a big achievement for our generation (Im guessing your around the same age as me? 25?) getting a house, as most people rent.
 
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supanova said:
Good news and bad news

Good news is I'm just off the phone with the estate agents - told me that off was accepted and they can sale agree the property to myself and partner.

Bad news is that he has another viewing of the property next week but he also said unless they bid him on the spot any further inquires after the viewing will be informed the house is sold.

So meeting today with solicitor, partner is just off the phone with bank ( currently waiting to see what was said) and fingers crossed all goes quite quickly from here. :)
Click to expand...

Good luck. We all look forward to update. :) x
 
well just been to see solicitor and can honestly say he is the nicest man ive ever met. straight forward and down to earth. hes making moves now between himself and the agent. we then went to the bank and have done that part, just need to fill out a few forms, get those emailed off to mortgage guys and wait.

flip me its all getting real now. nervous and excited at the same time, not a good combination to be fair. lol

fingers crossed guys.
 
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supanova said:
well just been to see solicitor and can honestly say he is the nicest man ive ever met. straight forward and down to earth. hes making moves now between himself and the agent. we then went to the bank and have done that part, just need to fill out a few forms, get those emailed off to mortgage guys and wait.

flip me its all getting real now. nervous and excited at the same time, not a good combination to be fair. lol

fingers crossed guys.
Click to expand...
Yeah mate honestly they all act nice the first time you meet or speak to them because they want your money, seriously don't be fooled, all solicitors, estate agents and bank workers are driven by one thing ££££ thats all they see, they genuinely couldnt give a toss about you, your house or your life really lol!! Don't get bogged down in thinking its easy, its really not, you haven't started dealing with the seller or their solicitors yet….

Not sure what you mean by making moves between himself and the agent, he works for you not the estate agents and will deal primarily with you and the sellers solicitors.. first things first you instruct him to act on your behalf or tell the agent to instruct him, then he won't do anything at all until you pay upfront for the searches!

EDIT: Didn't see it was a repo, generally you want to get the contracts signed ASAP as until that point on a repo (as with any house) a better offer can be put in and accepted by whoever is selling it as far as I'm aware!!
 
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Dont agree on repo auctions, why dont they just put a price on it, as any other sale would be, then the poor soul who lost the house might have half a chance of getting out of debt...... IMO of course....

and before people say well they do it for cars etc, bricks and mortar are different and you are extremely unlikely to loose unless you are one of the southern millionaires buying in the bubble...:wacko:
 
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s3dave said:
Dont agree on repo auctions, why dont they just put a price on it, as any other sale would be, then the poor soul who lost the house might have half a chance of getting out of debt...... IMO of course....

and before people say well they do it for cars etc, bricks and mortar are different and you are extremely unlikely to loose unless you are one of the southern millionaires buying in the bubble...:wacko:
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Repos are called repos for a reason Dave, banks that repossess the properties are only after one thing, that is to get their money back in the quickest time possible, they don't care about the person who borrowed the money. So if a £100k house owes the bank £50k, I'm sure the bank will be happy to accept £55k as a quick sale, on the basis no one bids more than that amount.
It's just the way things works, they don't have the time or patience to sit on an empty property to wait for the right offer.
 
Banks are bound by law to get the highest price possible for a repossed property . because any short fall in what the last owner owes and the price acheived the banks will persue the owner for that money . thats why the banks will take an higher offer right upto the last minute . one other thing once the closing date for offers as been reached if you are successful you only have 28 days to complete . i looked at 2 houses that was repossed but decided i coould not take the risk of loosing it at the last minute
 
jojo said:
Repos are called repos for a reason Dave, banks that repossess the properties are only after one thing, that is to get their money back in the quickest time possible, they don't care about the person who borrowed the money. So if a £100k house owes the bank £50k, I'm sure the bank will be happy to accept £55k as a quick sale, on the basis no one bids more than that amount.
It's just the way things works, they don't have the time or patience to sit on an empty property to wait for the right offer.
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Yeah i know mate, just know a couple of familys who have lost there houses over the last 5 years through no fault of there own, a redundancy and the other was a terminal illness and there lives have been devastated..no second chance or help as the banks got, its wrong IMO.
 
got phone call from bank yesterday to tell me to be expecting a the completion call sometime today as the have given me a cancellation oppose to 3 weeks time when they where next available.

Waiting patiently by the phone ready to pounce. :) :) :) wish me luck
 
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Good Luck, hope your successful :) x
 
s3dave said:
Yeah i know mate, just know a couple of familys who have lost there houses over the last 5 years through no fault of there own, a redundancy and the other was a terminal illness and there lives have been devastated..no second chance or help as the banks got, its wrong IMO.
Click to expand...

Yep I'm with you on this one mate. I know of a couple of folk who were in the same boat.

Banks don't care at the end of the day. They're quick to take your money, make vast sums from it, whilst offering F all in return and when the chips are down you lose your home.
 
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I could flip out right now, got the last call and was declined - gave no reason just said in general we had been declined *** we dont bank with the lenders we had hoped to get mortgage through, could this be the reason? also I'm not enrolled in the electrical poll, surely this couldnt be the case?

anyway.... what next?
 
Youre aware that will only be lent about 3.5x your salary? Did you get a descicon in principle? Why did you not go for a bank mortgage? Your far more likely to get one from the bank your with as they know your finances.

Have you had any credit cards before? Loans? Finance? Has it always been paid on time? If you have and you've always paid it you have a good chance of getting a mortgage!! Loads of things affect your credit rating? It's always advisable to be on the electoral role too when it comes to lending!
 
Agree with Dave-S3. Being on the electoral roll is probably the largest single-most thing that you can do to increase your credit rating/worthiness. Other factors include as mentioned, repayment history, active CCJ's, amount of credit currently undertaken, even providing a landline telephone number can increase your chances a few pips depending on the lenders criteria. Worth paying a couple of quid to each of the credit reference agencies and having them send you a copy of your credit file. It may even be that you have a financial link to someone else which is having a negative effect on your credit score. Start with getting your credit file and have a good search through what is on there.


EDIT: Just bear in mind by signing the Electoral roll you are in fact consenting to stand under the rule of current government, even if that means tomorrow they decide to go to war and need all your cars, jewellery and gold fillings to melt down and make weapons, you are consenting to be governed by their rule, whatever it might be.
 
I went to a independent financial adviser to get my mortgage sorted, he ran a load of credit checks for me and got a framework for a mortgage in place to find out how much I could borrow before I even found a house, was bricking it when going through the credit checks, I had only just turned 23 at the time!
 
There are so many different factors.
A few years ago I met with my bank manager at the time who advised me to get a credit card and use it.
I always thought I would be doing well with my finances and credit score due to not taking out a credit card (I had always saved for what I needed) when in fact my credit "score" was rubbish as I had never taken out finance so they had no record of what my repayment trend was like.

Use the experience as a positive - meet with an adviser / bank and ask them what you should be doing.
It was all new for me last year, I didn't have much of a clue and didn't seem to get much information from mortgage advisers / solicitors either.

Have you got a deposit saved? - at least you have abit more time now to put some more aside.
 
was out bidded, I up'd my bid by £1000, estate agent said to leave it with him.... no word from him for 2days, I called him to ask for updates and he tells me that my bid and other bidders bid has been forwarded on to the repo company to decided. I asked if the other bidder was higher than me and he tells me he cant tell me. Can he hold this information from me?

estate agent is a total ****! grrrr
 
supanova said:
was out bidded, I up'd my bid by £1000, estate agent said to leave it with him.... no word from him for 2days, I called him to ask for updates and he tells me that my bid and other bidders bid has been forwarded on to the repo company to decided. I asked if the other bidder was higher than me and he tells me he cant tell me. Can he hold this information from me?

estate agent is a total ****! grrrr
Click to expand...

Yes, it they can hold this info from you, it's a game they play to get you to pay more and more. Best thing to do in this scenario, is to set your upper limit and just give them the best offer, and put it in writing that that's your final offer, including details of your bank balance for the deposit, and another supporting email/letter with your DiP for the mortgage you have applied for. This shows you mean business, and you will soon know if it's good enough or not?

It helps if you have past experience on buying, and the market is currently picking up, so anything can happen until the papers are signed and contracts exchanged! I got gazumped on a property on the day I was due to exchange last year. I was not happy to say the least, as I was a cash buyer at the time, made the offer on Monday, exchange on Friday! But I quickly moved on when this same property came back on the market, but I had spent the money now! Lol. Anyways, I called them up to ask what happened, the guy that gazumped me got gazumped, then the deal fell through, and they both lost interest, so I said ok, I'll give you an offer, lower than my previous offer, but I need to arrange a mortgage and I WANT it off the market this time, no more games! I know own this property! :)
 
supanova said:
was out bidded, I up'd my bid by £1000, estate agent said to leave it with him.... no word from him for 2days, I called him to ask for updates and he tells me that my bid and other bidders bid has been forwarded on to the repo company to decided. I asked if the other bidder was higher than me and he tells me he cant tell me. Can he hold this information from me?

estate agent is a total ****! grrrr
Click to expand...

I know it's frustrating, and I'm certainly no apologist for estate agents, but you have to remember that they act for (and in the interests of) sellers, not buyers.
 
audi upgrades
Me and my partner are in the middle of buying and selling now.
My advise would be to go through a mortgage advisor, get on electarol.
Remember now you've been declined that will also be listed on your credit file so don't lie about it in the future.
get rid of any monthly commitments before going for a mortgage now too. It's got nothing to do with X times your yearly salary now, it's all about monthly out goings and what you can afford.
 
Andy1608 said:
Me and my partner are in the middle of buying and selling now.
My advise would be to go through a mortgage advisor, get on electarol.
Remember now you've been declined that will also be listed on your credit file so don't lie about it in the future.
get rid of any monthly commitments before going for a mortgage now too. It's got nothing to do with X times your yearly salary now, it's all about monthly out goings and what you can afford.
Click to expand...

Just out of interest why do you suggest going with an advisor? They're effectively another sales person that you don't want or need when it comes to buying a house lol. 9 times out of 10 too the banks have the best mortgage rates and you don't have to pay them £500 on top of a mortgage fee for them to advise you! Just my opinion anyway!
 
Dave-S3 said:
Just out of interest why do you suggest going with an advisor? They're effectively another sales person that you don't want or need when it comes to buying a house lol. 9 times out of 10 too the banks have the best mortgage rates and you don't have to pay them £500 on top of a mortgage fee for them to advise you! Just my opinion anyway!
Click to expand...

Generally speaking and in my experience, your own bank should be the easiest lender to get a mortgage with. They know you best and in most cases if you are a good customer you will have passed much of their credit assessment simply by running your account in good order.

Failing that it's just being a bit smart - Halifax and Natwest literally are throwing money around at the moment for mortgages. Why? They have aggressive lending targets due to their Government ownership. Then on the flip side you have a bank like HSBC which due it is strength of only lending its own cash is trying to grow market share - therefore very keen to lend. Most bank rates are very good at the moment.

People use a broker / advisory when they don't want to do all the looking / application process themselves. It can cost you more in fees.
 
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Dave-S3 said:
Just out of interest why do you suggest going with an advisor? They're effectively another sales person that you don't want or need when it comes to buying a house lol. 9 times out of 10 too the banks have the best mortgage rates and you don't have to pay them £500 on top of a mortgage fee for them to advise you! Just my opinion anyway!
Click to expand...

Banks and building societies offer the mortgage advice for free. It's only when you are stuck financially should you go to a 3rd party mortgage advisor, who can bend the rules a little to get you a mortgage, albeit, with a justified charge on top.
 
Andy1608 said:
Me and my partner are in the middle of buying and selling now.
My advise would be to go through a mortgage advisor, get on electarol.
Remember now you've been declined that will also be listed on your credit file so don't lie about it in the future.
get rid of any monthly commitments before going for a mortgage now too. It's got nothing to do with X times your yearly salary now, it's all about monthly out goings and what you can afford.
Click to expand...

Not all of thats correct.

Declined credit applications do not appear on a credit search - the only information stored is that a bank has made a credit search and your repayment history for outstanding credit accounts. Too many searches looks bad so you should try and limit it to say no more than 5 in a 3 month period.

You can fall foul of a banks credit search system by simply not having any credit or not being on the electoral role. If you do not "score" and meet a set of simple minimum requirements the application will be rejected instantly.

A bank will use the credit register information to determine weather you fit their lending criteria - however with mortgages this is only the first step. With the new legislation for mortgages they are now doing in depth "stress tests" on your spending habits. This is the "judgemental" bit. Every lender will have their own criteria to what's a good / bad risk. One lender might say no, but another presented with the exact same set of financial information for a customer will say yes.
 
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Pulp84 said:
Generally speaking and in my experience, your own bank should be the easiest lender to get a mortgage with. They know you best and in most cases if you are a good customer you will have passed much of their credit assessment simply by running your account in good order.

Failing that it's just being a bit smart - Halifax and Natwest literally are throwing money around at the moment for mortgages. Why? They have aggressive lending targets due to their Government ownership. Then on the flip side you have a bank like HSBC which due it is strength of only lending its own cash is trying to grow market share - therefore very keen to lend. Most bank rates are very good at the moment.

People use a broker / advisory when they don't want to do all the looking / application process themselves. It can cost you more in fees.
Click to expand...
Yeah i went to an independent advisor and found her a pain in the **** she told me nothing i didn't already know (but I'm pretty savvy with my spends and credit knowledge! We bank with HSBC and i always have done, the mortgage rates have always been good for me!
 
Can't go wrong with HSBC. They have some silly rates at the moment.
 
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I personally went with a mortgage broker for my 2 houses. I found her when buying my first house and used her when obtaining the mortgage for the 2nd too.
I personally think she's great. I'm currently buying another property and selling mine. I am stuck in a fixed rate for 5 years and Santander told me that I have to pay the £4500 redemption fee and then get a new mortgage through them. My mortgage advisor did some digging through all of the t&c's and found out they were talking a load of rubbish. She saved me over £4k!!
Don't get me wrong, this is all stuff I could have done but she knew exactly where to look and knew that she was right.
I don't pay her any fee at all, she claims it from Santander who pay her a fee. I don't pay a penny extra for her advice and help
 
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