on our first property, in Wales.
The property is what seems to be a bargain: priced below it's true value to allow renovation, big garden, superficial roof works needed, damp and mould treatment to make it slightly habitable. we need a full survey before we can proceed but I suspect there will be very little structurally bad about it. Hopefully we won't get Gazumped as there is a lot of interest and we haven't yet received a follow up from the EA re our offer.
If your having a mortgage, I hope you have more than just a mortgage offer? These days the lenders are really really tight and even a mortgage offer is no guarantee they will give you the mortgage
agreement in principle at the moment. we have more than 10% deposit but like you say, the lenders can be arses but I hope they don't mess us around.
You can't really get any more than an AIP before offering. It'd be ludicrous to try and get an mortgage approved subject to survey before you've even had an offer accepted.
After hearing lots of stories about mortgages not going through I was worried about that part of the process but it was the most straightforward bit. We completed on our first house 10 days ago.
Good luck, but try not to get your hopes up too much and make sure you don't underestimate the value of work required.
Thanks to the bank of Mama and Papa Toast, we're going in for our first property. Hoping it all goes smoothly, eep!
Quite tragically, one of the major considerations when we were looking for houses was "Where will the bikes go?". Papa Toast suggested we got a shed, which didn't go down very well. Looks like we might be putting on a property with a utility room though, woot!
Good luck, Highclimber!
Good luck! We complete on Friday (I hope) on a property in Pembs. Four bedrooms a conservatory, front and back gardens and an uniteruppted sea view for peanuts. Its been a rollercoaster and a half to get here - two mortgages approved in principle and then denied on survey only for us to challenge / provide more information for the both to then be approved (timings were staggered so we never had two 'live' offers on the go). I can't wait for a beer in the garden and doing a bit of sea gazing.
EDIT: It also has a 'man cave' as the Mrs puts it so i can tinker and fettle bikes for hours!
Sounds fantastic Tom. Fingers crossed for you!
Yes, definitely get the full survey.
Everyone on "help, my house is falling down" always starts with the word "It was the cheapest house on the street and we never bothered with a full survey and it just looked like cosmetic problems...".
superficial roof works needed, damp and mould treatment to make it slightly habitable
&
we have more than 10% deposit
Will possibly mean the lender retains some or all of the money until the work is done (retention).
Also the lenders are being really fussy at the moment declining good quality cases for the slightest of reasons and an AIP means naff all to them. Once you've got the FULL mortgage offer thats when you can relax a bit, unless something crops up with the solicitors enquries.
It really is a nightmare at the moment 
Good luck
good luck. we got an AIP for 210k last year. when we got somewhere for 179k with 40k deposit we struggled to got the 140K needed to buy, even though our joint wage was just under 50k.
so is that how a mortgage on a house that needs modernisation works then ?
looking at a property thats going for a song but needs a boiler , heating and rewiring before cosmetics - not work i can do but i know a man who can (legitimately) do the above.
if they work on retention then thats me out..... dont think i could afford it then.
Good luck, but try not to get your hopes up too much and make sure you don't underestimate the value of work required.+1
Trail-rat. They may not hold a retention but it depends on how much work needs doing.
f the proeprty is not habitable then it is likely in my experence that they will hold a full retention till the work is done. It may be possible to get access to the property to do the work between exchange & completion but this has its own drawbacks (vendor pulling out which hardly ever happens but no gurantees etc).
The valuer will normally ask to see specalist reports if its got damp etc and these will detail the cost of doing the work & the lender is very much guided by the surveyor & what they feel is suitable to hold back
If its not got heating but has hot & cold running water & an old wiring system then its unlikely they will hold a full retention & could just be the cost of getting the wrok done.
The trouble is that the higher the loan to value you need to borrow then the less margin the lender has if they need to repo the proeprty before the work is done so the more likely a retention is.
If its just general cosmetics then its unlikely they will hold a retention.
some lenders offer specific light refurb schemes so it might be worth seeing if you fit their criteria although IIRC the minimum deposit of these schemes is 15% - 25%.
Good luck
interesting bigsi - my deposit on the house in question at their price is about 20-25% - depending on what im quoted for the work
its on a backboiler open fire heating system atm
my dads already offered to do friends and family rates on the work - his business is house refurb and extensions. - long as the heating and electrics are done im confident i can do the finishings
if its still there when i get back to the uk(its been there a while) ill have a look and perhaps make a speculative silly offer if all seems good. - there may be a good reason its still there..... i did how ever find one with a great man cave but its in the wrong area and is to high in my budget to allow the renovation works 
cheers for yer help
Quite tragically, one of the major considerations when we were looking for houses was "Where will the bikes go?"
Eh? Surely, after bedroom count, this is second on any list? Why else do houses come with a garage? Wait till you come to move house again 
2nd the Mortgage companies being really tight at the moment.
Im putting down over 50% deposit, and only needed to borrow ~3.4 times my salary, max my 1st choice mortgage would lend was 2.66 times salary.
(no debt*, good credit rating etc)
*except student loan....
Good luck though
It would appear there is a lot of interest in the property and it's going to a sealed bid process. Quite annoyed at the estate agent as we were first to put an offer in and they didn't contact us to let us know anything. It took two calls to them to finally find out that they were going to sealed bids. Quite annoying but all we can do now is make a strong bid based on what we know already.
any tips for sealed bidding will be much appreciated!
Sorry to hear that... sealed bids are horrible.
The only advice I can give is to work out exactly how much it is worth TO YOU.
Ignore anyone else in the deal, just figure out how much you are willing to pay for it and bid that.
If you bid higher and win it, you will second guess yourself and worry that you could have got it cheaper.
If you bid lower and lose it, you will worry that you should have bid more and could have got it.
The best way is to detach yourself emotionally and assume you've lost it, then if you do get it, you'll be happy.
Dave
The best way is to detach yourself emotionally and assume you've lost it, then if you do get it, you'll be happy
you mean be pessimistic? Already there mate - its the only way to be! esp. where property is concerned.
i'm more annoyed at the EA not keeping us informed when they said they would. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them as they've hinted that one of the bidders has put in an offer close to 10k over the asking price!
sorry to hear that fella - there will always be another !
#
any tips for sealed bidding will be much appreciated!
Unless you are a cash buyer, or have the mortgage already signed, sealed and delivered, then forget about it. There will be someone else in a better position with cash ready.
Edit: Oh and welcome the wild and wacky better Scottish system
Edit 2: And yes, I know that bids in Scotland are more legally binding, but the bollox is still the same.
Unless you are a cash buyer, or have the mortgage already signed, sealed and delivered, then forget about it. There will be someone else in a better position with cash ready
That's a little too pessimistic. we are still putting an offer in as I beleive we are in a good position (first time buyer, no chain, funds agreed in principle)
That's a little too pessimistic.
Possibly, but why would the agent be proposing a sealed bid process, if they thought your offer was the best they could get?
Good luck with it anyway, I know how much it sucks to really want a place only to find that someone has outbid you.
Possibly, but why would the agent be proposing a sealed bid process, if they thought your offer was the best they could get?
because it's easier for them (the EA). it's fairer so long as there aren't any underhand tactics from the EA which seems to be the biggest issue with sealed bids from what I have read!
thanks for your advice but we aren't losing anything by putting in an offer and to walk away because there might be someone with a better offer/in a better position is foolish IMO
clarify with the agent what the process is.. do the bids go to him to open when he wants.. or a 3rd party to be opened at a set date and time will the highest bidder get to complete or are other conditions applied. i'd want a clear written staement before i became involved.
it's fairer so long as there aren't any underhand tactics from the EA which seems to be the biggest issue with sealed bids from what I have read!
Indeed.
Good luck with it and you are right, you don't have anything to lose by putting a bid in anyway.
I went through 2 bid processes when I moved earlier this year (look at my forum history for the full story)
1st one: sealed bids, we were the highest bid (bid 40k over the asking price), but they went with a lower offer from a cash buyer instead - the house was probate so that made a difference.
2nd one: we made an offer at the same time as some other people, same amount, so it went to sealed bids. We upped our offer by 10k and won it (don't know how much the other people rose by). When we got the survey, I managed to knock £10k off the price (scaremongering surveyor, I could see it was exaggerated so played the game).
Very best of luck, I think sealed bids were the most stressful thing I've had to do. Playing with monopoly money figures over a house you've spent less than an hour in!
Dave
Sealed bids are a load of sh*te, I'd walk away now TBH.
The agent has been naughty by hinting at the bids placed - they shouldn't say anything at all to you about that, smacks of trying to push the price up.
IME, there's always another property so put this one on the back burner and get looking elsewhere 
I am aware of the stress involved but I think the property is too good to walk away from just yet. nothing is binding until contracts have been exchanged so we really don't have much to lose by putting in an offer. There are plenty of other properties, I know, and we are prepared for the dissapointment but we would rather have a go knowing we put our best foot forward rather than resenting not having done so - we may just win but I know the odds are against that outcome but we'll see.
Don't let the estate agent influence what you want to pay for it. We were egged on by an EA a couple of years ago. They knew what we could afford to pay, and pushed us on it. we were told the buyer wouldn't take less than 215k...we went in at 200, then 210, then dropped out. It sold a few weeks later for 195k. Apparently, she was desperate to sell!
B*****s
Been there - at an auction and was outbid on a property. Later found out all the stuff that went wrong with the renovations (the property adjoins the inlaws so got the gossip) and was relieved we set ourselves a realistic highest offer (based on our estimation of work involved) and I think I was MUCH closer the the winning bidders.
Moral - offer based on what your head says, not your heart - it could end in tears otherwise.
From your original post about some 'damp' and other remedial work etc. being required don't get too carried away with the bidding. You could end up paying over the odds for a house that then needed £20k on top of that spending on it.
£20k and then some...
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