Buying a home and don't know how anything works

[cybershot]

Damp is such a complex beast that you probably want 2/3 quotes. Ideally you want to get some and so does the seller and hope to meet in the middle. Obviously seller needs to play ball with people coming in to survey and quote.

They will all probably come back with different reasons for what’s causing it just to confuse matters.

are you intending to mortgage? Have the bank done their pathetic excuse of a survey yet?

 

[Glitter]

Almost 7 months after accepting the offer our house completed today.

The sheer incompetence of the people administering this whole process has been staggering.

We haven’t been paid yet

 

[Thora]

The estate agent suddenly wants me to provide a driving license and bill with my address on "for money laundering" What is this and do I have to provide it?

 

[prunus]

The estate agent suddenly wants me to provide a driving license and bill with my address on "for money laundering" What is this and do I have to provide it?

It’s anti-money laundering rules. You do have to do it, yes. Anybody involved in financial and or property transactions has to provided proof of identity and address. Tedious but there it is.

 

[Epona]

Yes, it's standard - either driving license or passport.

 

[Thora]

They already have my passport but want something else. I've also provided all this to the solicitor and lender of course. The estate agent didn't want additional ID during the first (attempted) purchase so wondering why they want more now

 

[bellaozzydog]

The estate agent suddenly wants me to provide a driving license and bill with my address on "for money laundering" What is this and do I have to provide it?

Yes exactly what they said

Eta I had to supply the same solicitors with mine twice because they moved my file from one office to another

Just one of them things

 

[prunus]

They already have my passport but want something else. I've also provided all this to the solicitor and lender of course. The estate agent didn't want additional ID during the first (attempted) purchase so wondering why they want more now

Sounds like they messed up their AML the first time then :-D. It is a bit silly that one has to provide it to each party separately (solicitor, lender, agent etc) but again, there it is. The penalties (for them) for getting it wrong are draconian, so people do tend to make sure it’s done.

The reason they want something else on top of passport is that they need to show they’ve properly ID’d you as a person, and identified where that person lives. They’re not allowed to use the same document for both (even though eg a driving licence has both on). Them’s the rules (ish).

 

[Elpenor]

Do they need to renew the AML stuff every 6 months? It might be an internal policy if not statutory

 

[miss direct]

I had to do something like that right at the beginning.

 

[Artaxerxes]

What’s Hertford East like Badgers ?

We think we’ve found a flat, probably about as much as we can afford and still remain under an hour from central London. No idea what’s next,

 

[kalidarkone]

Because of the crazy market etc I've decided I'm not moving, but will get an extension and a refurb instead!

 

[5t3IIa]

What is happening to the market? We are starting to look and there doesn’t seem to be much about but I have no idea in a broad sense as I’ve not needed to pay attention to this malarky before.

 

[kalidarkone]

What is happening to the market? We are starting to look and there doesn’t seem to be much about but I have no idea in a broad sense as I’ve not needed to pay attention to this malarky before.

Well... in Bristol apparently for every house on the market there are approx 230 people wanting to view. For people on a chain they won't even get an opportunity to view unless their house is also on the market.

 

[StoneRoad]

So. Hive mind. Buying a house to move nearer in laws and the sea. Made and offer and then had the survey today.

Anyone got an estimate to the nearest £1000 please how much it would cost to repoint and reflash a four foot tall chimney on a bungalow. It’s causing damp in the chimney breasts.

Also woodworm in the joists in the garage, how much is treatment these days please?

Thanks in advance construction types…

belated comeback on this that might ? make you smile ...

We had something similar, but for the roof space in the house ...
Only one minor problem - the roof structure is mild steel angle, dating from the 1920s I don't quite see how that could possibly have woodworm.

I queried it, the bliddy mortgage surveyor's admin had mixed up two reports ... After that I was a bit cautious, so ...
One of my colleagues at the consulting engineers I worked at agreed to do a structural survey for me [charged at cost].
Funnily enough, when I compared notes with him, I had got almost everything he had on his list, but all the discrepancies between the two lists were very minor quibbles & things that were easily sorted out.

 

[Elpenor]

I hope everyone with a mortgage can afford it if their rate jumps up a few %…

 

[kebabking]

Well... in Bristol apparently for every house on the market there are approx 230 people wanting to view. For people on a chain they won't even get an opportunity to view unless their house is also on the market.

We've just - last week - sold my mother in law's bungalow in Worcestershire.

It went on Rightmove at 5pm on Saturday, (purple bricks), we had 4 viewings for the next day booked within an hour. The first people to view offered the 'offers over' price, we had two more offers that day, each greater than the last. The fourth offer - the fifth viewer, and on the second day of availability - offered 60k over the OO price.

Not one of the offerers(?) wasn't a cash buyer with a chain of less than two.

The house was valued for probate a year ago, it sold for a sum last week for around 30% greater than the valuation of a year ago.

Our agent reckons that the average sale is lasting about 4 days, that 'haggling down' no longer exists, and that sellers can pick and choose who they like..

It's utter madness.

 

[baldrick]

This surely isn't sustainable?

I want to move but it's realistically too far away to buy initially and there's nothing available rental wise either. So can't go anywhere.

 

[Artaxerxes]

This surely isn't sustainable?

I want to move but it's realistically too far away to buy initially and there's nothing available rental wise either. So can't go anywhere.

It's absolutely insane, there's just not enough houses at all. Not enough have been built for decades and social housing is seen as some great shameful thing rather than essential to ensure people have somewhere to live who couldn't otherwise afford a place.

No idea how this ends in anything but feudalism and two tier society

 

[Thora]

What is happening to the market? We are starting to look and there doesn’t seem to be much about but I have no idea in a broad sense as I’ve not needed to pay attention to this malarky before.

We were initially househunting in February and saw quite a few houses in our budget - that sale fell through in August and when we started looking again there was not much available and everything was more expensive. We ended up finding somewhere with one less bedroom and reception room and a smaller garden for the same money. Since then though I've been keeping an eye on rightmove and there's just been nothing.

Hopefully this second house will actually happen though. We are hoping to exchange this week and complete the week after
I'm slightly worried about it being scuppered by my ISA though which is saying it might take 10 working days to give me the money...

 

[Thora]

We've just - last week - sold my mother in law's bungalow in Worcestershire.

It went on Rightmove at 5pm on Saturday, (purple bricks), we had 4 viewings for the next day booked within an hour. The first people to view offered the 'offers over' price, we had two more offers that day, each greater than the last. The fourth offer - the fifth viewer, and on the second day of availability - offered 60k over the OO price.

Not one of the offerers(?) wasn't a cash buyer with a chain of less than two.

The house was valued for probate a year ago, it sold for a sum last week for around 30% greater than the valuation of a year ago.

Our agent reckons that the average sale is lasting about 4 days, that 'haggling down' no longer exists, and that sellers can pick and choose who they like..

It's utter madness.

A friend of mine recently put her house on the market on a Friday morning, has 4 viewings and accepted an offer by the end of the day. She's struggling now though as can't find anywhere to move to...
Pure luck with the house we're currently buying that the vendor agreed to show us round herself a couple of days before the estate agents could do it, so we (actually just Mr Thora!) viewed and offered on it in the same day before anyone else saw it.

 

[bimble]

it is insane whats been going on lately, i mean it was crazy before the covid but its as if the whole country's gone mad now, musical chairs but brutal. I am so fecking lucky, bought this place from my landlord in the middle of the first lockdown when estate agents were briefly shut.

 

[5t3IIa]

Jesus. OK, we are going to our first ever viewing today. It’s at the top of our budget and no doubt someone will offer more?

 

[kebabking]

us. OK, we are going to our first ever viewing today. It’s at the top of our budget and no doubt someone will offer more?

if you don't get it, or don't like it, treat it as a training experience.

However, for the vast, overwhelming majority of sellers, it's not just about the money.

As a seller, yes I want a good price, but what I really want is a smooth, quick process with no aggro.

The offer I accept will probably be towards the top end of the offers, but I'm just as interested in how much the bidders like the house, because I don't want someone who will see something they like more a few months down the line and pull out, and I'm not interested in getting into a chain with 50 people in it, all of whom could bring the whole thing falling down for the sake of a few grand.

Your offer is three things - and you need to make it on those terms - the price, your commitment to the house, and your position (whether you're coming out of rented, have sold your house, cash buyers, how long and what nature your chain is).

Good luck, and it will do you no harm to do a few viewings on places you aren't interested it to refine in your heads what it is you actually want/don't want, and to practice your viewing/negotiating technique.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

dunno really

it seems to vary

i'm seriously considering moving, but there's one like mine down the street that's been on the market a long time and hasn't sold yet.

and rightmove shows how long a place has been on the market, and / or if price has been reduced, and there's certainly some (although that may imply there's some hidden problem)

 

[5t3IIa]

if you don't get it, or don't like it, treat it as a training experience.

However, for the vast, overwhelming majority of sellers, it's not just about the money.

As a seller, yes I want a good price, but what I really want is a smooth, quick process with no aggro.

The offer I accept will probably be towards the top end of the offers, but I'm just as interested in how much the bidders like the house, because I don't want someone who will see something they like more a few months down the line and pull out, and I'm not interested in getting into a chain with 50 people in it, all of whom could bring the whole thing falling down for the sake of a few grand.

Your offer is three things - and you need to make it on those terms - the price, your commitment to the house, and your position (whether you're coming out of rented, have sold your house, cash buyers, how long and what nature your chain is).

Good luck, and it will do you no harm to do a few viewings on places you aren't interested it to refine in your heads what it is you actually want/don't want, and to practice your viewing/negotiating technique.

Cheers. We loved it and we want it and neither party is in a chain. I have chest pains

 

[Thora]

Buying a house (attempting to) has been the most stressful thing I’ve ever done and I will never move again.

 

[kebabking]

no really

it seems to vary

i'm seriously considering moving, but there's one like mine down the street that's been on the market a long time and hasn't sold yet.

and rightmove shows how long a place has been on the market, and / or if price has been reduced, and there's certainly some (although that may imply there's some hidden problem)

A quick local search will tell you if the price is way out of line - some sellers take the view that they need £X for the next house, so the current house is worth £Y, and that its better to have your house up for sale for a decade than to accept that it's worth less than they think it should be.

places going on and off the market suggests that the surveyors keep finding horror shows....

 

[marty21]

Buying a house (attempting to) has been the most stressful thing I’ve ever done and I will never move again.

This is why we haven't done it since 1997

Although we are vaguely thinking about buying again when I retire , which could be anytime in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Leafster]

A quick local search will tell you if the price is way out of line - some sellers take the view that they need £X for the next house, so the current house is worth £Y, and that its better to have your house up for sale for a decade than to accept that it's worth less than they think it should be.

places going on and off the market suggests that the surveyors keep finding horror shows....

The house behind me has been on and off the market for probably two or three years. I don't think they've ever got as far as accepting an offer. As far as I can tell they have an unrealistic idea of how much the house is worth. There's a suggestion that you shouldn't leave a property on the market for more than a few months. Instead, you take it off and then relist it at a later date as though it's fresh to the market. I don't know if anyone falls for it as you can usually look up the listing history.