Putting in an offer

Good luck! 

Ok, I found a house that ticks all the boxes. I don't want to get too in love with it but it is a keeper. So rather than wait or look for more, I reckon when you find a house that has all of what you are looking for and you really, really like it, you should go for it.

So it has been on the market since Sep 06 (!!). The price has already dropped 21G - apparently a sale has already fallen thru for them. I want to go in 25G under the asking because the prices in the ROI are falling, the house is a wee bit overpriced, and we can handle the mortgage better at the lower rate. If we pay asking + stamp duty, we can't do it. But if we can drop the price then we can do it.

So what do you experts reckon? Any advice?

And the second part is, now we have to sell our house. Yikes! Where do I begin, what do I do?

If 25k is exactly where you need to be in order to purchase the house then I would go in "under" a bit more say £27k so the seller can negotiate back (meaning, they may counter it), if they do then ok....come back at £25k under, final deal. Also if you guys don't currently own a property (you are chain free) that is a huge bonus so your offer will look even better.

Also try to keep your love for the house "in check" with the EA...they are coy and may play on that.

Stay calm and make your offer. Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

As we have to sell our house in order to buy this (or any other house), does that make things worse?

What happens when we make an offer, I ring up the agent, suggest a price, and then how exactly does the ball roll?

As we have to sell our house in order to buy this (or any other house), does that make things worse?

What happens when we make an offer, I ring up the agent, suggest a price, and then how exactly does the ball roll?

In England you can put in a dependent offer for a house and if the vendors accept it doesn't necessarily mean they won't sell the house underneath you. We have a dependent offer on our house but since those folks are still waiting to sell we are still accepting viewings if we get a good offer from lets say a first time buyer we would jump on it just to get out of the chain. We had our dependent offer for months and we're still sitting here waiting for buyers to sell  Basically you can't move until you sell your house (unless you can handle two mortgages)but you are free to put in an offer for a house you like.

So dependent offer means dependent on other factors (such as the buyer's house selling)?

Pebble's brings up a good point. When you speak with the EA ask what the seller's position is. Have they found a house to buy, if so then what is the position of the chain....the sellers, seller, etc. Since you have a house to sell, do you have a buyer lined up?

Gosh Pebble's...I can't believe you are still waiting. Its a very frustrating thing...to buy and sell over here.

I've found that a lot of people,when stuck in a chain situation where they are ready to buy their next house but can't sell, have been giving up and just renting out their old house so that they can buy the new one.

It's a bit risky and not for everyone but it is a viable way to get the house you want without being swamped with paying 2 mortgages, at least the rental income can cover part or all of the old house.

It's unfortunate that it can be so difficult to buy and sell houses in chains.