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Questions to ask an estate agent when viewing
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| zag2me |
Hello all, I seem to remember someone on here being an estate agent so I need some advice.
I bought my first house last year off a mate so have never been to an estate agents before or had to deal with them.
What questions should I be asking the agent about the property I want to purchase?
What kind of offer would be reasonable, can I be cheaky, should I show an interest or just play it cool?
I've already done my research on the flat in question, but I just need some advice on how to deal with the agent, I hate salesmen! |
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| _Ocean_Drive_ |
| quote: | Originally posted by zag2me
Hello all, I seem to remember someone on here being an estate agent so I need some advice.
I bought my first house last year off a mate so have never been to an estate agents before or had to deal with them.
What questions should I be asking the agent about the property I want to purchase?
What kind of offer would be reasonable, can I be cheaky, should I show an interest or just play it cool?
I've already done my research on the flat in question, but I just need some advice on how to deal with the agent, I hate salesmen! |
Ask when the lease expires - VERY important.
Make sure you get a good solicitor and a good surveyor
Ask them if they're n00bs. |
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| Luke Terry |
find out if there are any 3rd party legal or equitable interests such as restrictive covenants or easements which affect the property or yourself as freeholders/leaseholders
other stuff like is there any development in the area that is likely to affect the value of your property. or if you are renting (as already mentioned) when does the lease/licence expire? have a good look round, don't be afraid to prod
i've never bought a property myself or been involved in the process but i know the legal stuff behind property due to my law degree. if you want to know any specifics gimme a pm or email [email protected]
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| svens_bath |
| as already said get a good survey done of it. thats about all i know even though i too have a law degree.:p |
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| b i n k u n |
| quote: | Originally posted by zag2me
Hello all, I seem to remember someone on here being an estate agent so I need some advice.
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I believe you seek the services of Lam (TA: dj_mdma)? |
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| dj_mdma |
Someone call for a scumbag? :tongue2
Ask about the Lease length. If its short, it may cost you a large sum of money to extend the lease. The cost will depend on area, length of lease remaining, number of years that can be extended, type of property, etc etc. A 29 year lease extension on a 2 bed victorian conversion flat on one of the properties we have is 13 grand.
Ask about maintenaince charges. Ask what it covers, does it cover a contribution into a sinking fund (Money that is paid into a kitty to pay for any big works)
Ask if there are any planned renovation works coming up. Even if the agent doesn't know, or lies etc, this enquiry will be raised by your solicitor anyway. The same flat in question that i have mentioned has 80 grand worth of renovation works planned for the block. The share that this flat has to pay will be about 5 grand.
In terms of offers, do some additional research on www.nethouseprices.com That website shows SOLD prices of property. Use it as a guideline to your offer. What the website does not show is the specifics of the property (number of bedrooms, condition etc) Nor is it completely up to date.
Your first offer can be absolutely anything you want, but if you've done your research into the area and prices, if you go lower than that, you will be greeted with a bit of disbelief ;) However, by law, agents are required to tell vendors of all offers. You can tell what sort of price vendors are after, or what agents are aiming for by what the asking price is. For example, if something is priced at £259,950, its fairly obvious they're looking for 250 and most likely won't budge.
However, one thing i will say, is that if the property you are looking at is a very desirable one and is priced keenly, you don't want to leave yourself open to a higher offer from another interested purchaser. I'd recommend going for very close to the asking price. The market at the moment is geared towards sellers at the moment. There is not a lot of property available, and there are lots and lots of purchasers out there.
HTH |
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| Ian |
| quote: | Originally posted by dj_mdma
Your first offer can be absolutely anything you want, but if you've done your research into the area and prices, if you go lower than that, you will be greeted with a bit of disbelief ;) However, by law, agents are required to tell vendors of all offers. You can tell what sort of price vendors are after, or what agents are aiming for by what the asking price is. For example, if something is priced at £259,950, its fairly obvious they're looking for 250 and most likely won't budge.
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Yeah, and then again some people don't. We just bought a house, and in the process we found a house we liked more first, listed at £115k. There was no way it was worth that, so we offered 109 to begin, increasing to 112. They refused again & said they wanted 115, but it wasn't wort hthat anyway, plus they should've just put 119'500 if they wanted 115, so we walked away & bought a different one. This first place is still on the market, now at 110'995, so I'm laughing at them. Losers :p |
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| zag2me |
Cheers Lam, that was really useful.
I went into the agency and talked with the guy and he just basically pissed me off. Told him my budget of around 180k and he laughed, it was like he didn't believe me, wouldn't even show me properties that needed buy to let mortgages because he said "i wouldn't want that". Fooking :) But I expected that anyway.
The flat in question has a 70 year lease which i'm a bit worried about, and £700 a year maintainance charge. Its a good property though, right next to a university too, so i could easily rent a room.
Damn i hate all this grown up stuff :( |
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| Saka |
Yes a house they suggest may sound nice, but never forget the all important "pics or stfu?"
ksrsly |
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