Questions about viewing a house

Q

qwerty08

Registered User
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76
Hi guys,

Was interested in looking at a house next week at home...the auctioneer is kind of annoying me by saying "oh theres extremely strong interest" (Get real like) was just wondering, is there actually anyway she can prove to me a bid has been made (respectful of the fact that she cant identify clients etc...)

Second question...

Assuming she's lying through her teeth (which im fairly sure she is) and i go and view the house and like it.... with a view to making a bid, my question is what does "making an offer subject to survey" technically mean (the house is a bit old and i know it needs work...want to make sure im not taking on a lost cause before i make the big jump!

If i dont like ANY ASPECT of the survey can i pull out or do i have to allow for some minor things to appear in the report?

Any help would be greatly apprciated!
 
you can even get a deposit back after getting a report done.
 
qwerty08 said:
Hi guys,

Was interested in looking at a house next week at home...the auctioneer is kind of annoying me by saying "oh theres extremely strong interest" (Get real like) was just wondering, is there actually anyway she can prove to me a bid has been made (respectful of the fact that she cant identify clients etc...)
Click to expand...

No way to tell. But in the current market I would suspect it's not true.

Make the offer for what you want to pay, don't believe anything they ever say.
qwerty08 said:
Second question...

Assuming she's lying through her teeth (which im fairly sure she is) and i go and view the house and like it.... with a view to making a bid, my question is what does "making an offer subject to survey" technically mean (the house is a bit old and i know it needs work...want to make sure im not taking on a lost cause before i make the big jump!

If i dont like ANY ASPECT of the survey can i pull out or do i have to allow for some minor things to appear in the report?

Any help would be greatly apprciated!
Click to expand...

Any offer is always subject to things like surveys. You can get your money back any time until you sign contracts.
 
You can do anything you like.

However, could I make the point that (a) if the house is for sale presumably there is a real person behind that trying to sell so maybe don't let your animosity towards the EA blind you from that and (b) if you are going to see it, presumably you have at least some remote interest in buying it , so perhaps bear that in mind also.

If you like the house, then perhaps you should consider asking a builder to have a look ( if you don't want to show your hand, you could ask a builder to pose as a potential purchaser when looking at the property) and give you a ball park figure for major and minor works. I have a good builder friend who I think would be better at advising me on whats acceptable, unacceptable, needs doing as a priority or could wait - over an architect/surveyor.

Then make an offer. It may be that, if you like the house, that other people also like the house. You can decide on a figure above which you will not go and then negotiate up to it. If there is someone else interested, then if they sell to that person, you will know you were wrong to hold out.

And no, they don't have to prove to you that they have another offer. And you can withdraw from the deal at any time up to the time you sign contracts

mf
 
People can be very cynical but don't forget that while we are in a very harsh market for sellers agents etc there are exceptions to the rule. I recently had a sale around 600k and it was discounted down to that by about 30%. There was work to be done c.100k on top of that. I had one interested party and his offer was accepted but before signing he reduced his offer by €100k as he was trying to maximise his position. this tactic lost him the house as we ended up with more interested parties and secured a sale.

Use your instinct and don't just presume that if your not getting the deal you want that something underhand is going on.
 
Just a word of warning. Make sure everything is on order before allowing your solicitor to hand over any money. Make sure you get a good solicitor too.
Jimbobman said above "you can even get a deposit back after getting a report done." I would disagree with that completely.

In this country there are too many corrupt estate agents, corrupt builders and corrupt lawyers who will happily lead you up the garden path letting you think that everything is ok right up to the point where you sign contracts. Once you have handed over the 10% deposit they change their tune completely.
The estate agent will tell you that it went to "exchanging contracts" so you're not entitled to money back - even though there were conditions in the contract making it void.... similar to your "subject to survey" clause.
Then when your solicitor tries to get your money back their solicitor completely ignore all attempts at contact. It ends up costing you extra for barristers serving court papers etc etc etc. and you still cant be certain that you'll get your money back.
I'd advise getting the survey done before contracts and money change hands ..........Especially the hill-billy way they do things in this backwards hole of a country ! Corruption from the top down !! They really are a law unto themselves.
 
I bought my house about 4 years ago and it also needed work - being an Architect, I had the advantage of knowing what work had to be done and the costs involved.

As it was the height of the market, I did end up in a bidding war, also with some scepticism about bidders that popped up at the last minute, but my offer was finally accepted subject to survey. When it comes to the bidding scenario, know what you can afford and what the property is worth to you and don't get carried away.

I had the survey carried out shortly after which highlighted a few additional problems and went back to the agents to propose an adjustment to the price to take account of the costs for rectifying these - this was accepted.

From memory, you can get any deposit monies back up to the exchange of contract. Get the survey done after your offer is accepted and then you'll know what you are dealing with. If there are problems with the survey, get costs for carrying out the work and either ask for a reduction or for the seller to carry out the work prior to exchange of contracts.

If the amount of work required is all too scary at that point then just walk away. It is a buyers market. There are a lot of good properties out there - take your time, look around and do your homework.

I wouldn't agree that a builder is necessarily the best person to get feedback from - like anything else, it will depend on the builder or the architect or the surveyor, for that matter! At such an early stage, a builder will only be able to give you a ball-park figure anyway and architects and surveyors are probably equally familiar with the going rates. Actual costs will depend on the condition of the building, the type of work you want done and the quality of finish and materials.
 
The estate agent will tell you that it went to "exchanging contracts" so you're not entitled to money back - even though there were conditions in the contract making it void.... similar to your "subject to survey" clause.
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I have never seen or heard this to be the case. The report would have to be done before signing contracts and only when signed is it binding.
 
I agree with MrMan "People can be very cynical" Not everyone in the industry is out to get you and lying through there teeth! They are human too, try to remember that.(while I'm not denying there are gangsters out there I am simply reminding you that not all of them are that way! Being so cynical will possibly lose you your house! Use your imagination regards having some one look at the house, but try not to paint all auctioneers with the same brush. Play games if you like but as games sometimes turn out...you may not win!
 
The important question is : How much do you love this house? How fair are you willing to go for it, How fair will your resources stretch for it!
 
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