I'd barely finished writing the last blog post when the estate agent called to say that someone was putting in an offer on House A. He said if I was still interested I could go and have another look yesterday afternoon. So we zoomed round, a well-experienced friend in tow, and had another look round.
The agent was...not very pleasant. But I liked the place and after a lot of talk with my friends and a long thought process, I called the agent last night and put in an offer, under the asking price. I'm not good at this negotiating type business so my friend advised me on what to offer, and I'm glad I took her advice! She gave me an important piece of advice, which is the most useful thing I've heard or read so far.
She said: Either go into a house purchase thinking sensibly or emotionally. Either is fine, just know what you're looking for. If it's your dream house, bid emotionally- place a higher bid to ensure you get the place, and if it's your ideal home, you won't think about the money you could have saved if you'd bid lower. But if it's not your dream house, bid sensibly- figure out how much it'll cost to make the place liveable and also resaleable a few years down the line. And use that figure to help you figure what lower-than-asked bid you're willing to put in.
And so I decided to be a sensible bidder. It certainly wasn't my dream house. So I put in an offer 10k under asking price. I went to the agents this afternoon and signed the Sale and Purchase agreement. I felt a bit...not bullied, but strongly led by the agent at times, and I didn't like his whole attitude. It meant that although I made sure the conditions and clauses were what I wanted, I had to stand up for myself more than I'd have liked. So I was more nervous than elated when I left the agents.
He said he was going to call the vendor as soon as I left and put forward the two offers he'd received (he'd expected three but only two ended up being signed, which was interesting). I got home and about 10 minutes later the agent phoned.
The vendor went with the other offer. The agent said that they'd offered slightly more than I had and that there wasn't much in it. So I'm quite happy that I offered what I did.
The strangest thing was that, overall, I'm not all that disappointed. I didn't like how rushed everything was as I much prefer to sit and consider than dash into something literally overnight. I think that if my offer had been accepted, I would have been a nervous wreck every day until we had possession, worrying.
Now I feel like I can sit back, keep looking, and that I know what to expect from making offers and signing agreements. So I'm calling this house my practice run.
Who knows what'll happen next! Maybe the perfect house is just around the corner!
The agent was...not very pleasant. But I liked the place and after a lot of talk with my friends and a long thought process, I called the agent last night and put in an offer, under the asking price. I'm not good at this negotiating type business so my friend advised me on what to offer, and I'm glad I took her advice! She gave me an important piece of advice, which is the most useful thing I've heard or read so far.
She said: Either go into a house purchase thinking sensibly or emotionally. Either is fine, just know what you're looking for. If it's your dream house, bid emotionally- place a higher bid to ensure you get the place, and if it's your ideal home, you won't think about the money you could have saved if you'd bid lower. But if it's not your dream house, bid sensibly- figure out how much it'll cost to make the place liveable and also resaleable a few years down the line. And use that figure to help you figure what lower-than-asked bid you're willing to put in.
And so I decided to be a sensible bidder. It certainly wasn't my dream house. So I put in an offer 10k under asking price. I went to the agents this afternoon and signed the Sale and Purchase agreement. I felt a bit...not bullied, but strongly led by the agent at times, and I didn't like his whole attitude. It meant that although I made sure the conditions and clauses were what I wanted, I had to stand up for myself more than I'd have liked. So I was more nervous than elated when I left the agents.
He said he was going to call the vendor as soon as I left and put forward the two offers he'd received (he'd expected three but only two ended up being signed, which was interesting). I got home and about 10 minutes later the agent phoned.
The vendor went with the other offer. The agent said that they'd offered slightly more than I had and that there wasn't much in it. So I'm quite happy that I offered what I did.
The strangest thing was that, overall, I'm not all that disappointed. I didn't like how rushed everything was as I much prefer to sit and consider than dash into something literally overnight. I think that if my offer had been accepted, I would have been a nervous wreck every day until we had possession, worrying.
Now I feel like I can sit back, keep looking, and that I know what to expect from making offers and signing agreements. So I'm calling this house my practice run.
Who knows what'll happen next! Maybe the perfect house is just around the corner!
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