buying a house without a mortgage

Okay, we're talking hypothetically here, but if we were to have enough money to purchase a house outright (due to inheritance money or whatever), how would this affect our bargaining position in the purchase?  I'm not sure how fees work here etc, but would it not be beneficial to a seller if they did not have to wait for the purchaser to obtain clearance from the bank for a mortgage? 

It is absolutely beneficial to be a cash buyer.  I wouldn't say you are going to get a massive discount, but you will find that if it is down to a small £1-2K difference that a seller may take your offer over someone else's.  Particularly if it also means you are chain free.  We accepted the first offer (actually first viewing) on our flat because a.) it was slightly over asking and b.) she had an 80% deposit and a first time buyer - chain free.  Sure we could have tried for more viewings and hoped for a grand or two more, but in the big scheme, moving quickly and having a neat hassle free sale was way more important.

Hugely beneficial.  Hugely, particularly if the person wants to move quickly on the sale.  Anything that is an advantage is great.

Hi there,

Yes, as already posted, it's very very beneficial to be a cash purchaser - the banks will love you!

Just as best practice in this case, I'd suggest you don't actually buy the house in full. Arrange a 5 or 10% mortgage and begin paying that back. This will help you increase your credit rating here in the UK - as you'll have such a relatively small amount to pay back each month, the banks will see that as a small risk, the credit agencies will be able to start increasing your score and you'll have just that 'X' little bit of money left to perhaps go towards council tax or utilities etc.

Of couse, if you already have a great credit rating in the UK, then discount the above and go in with a 'cash offer' - see if you can knock perhaps 5 grand off the asking price. It's doubtful, as any seller right now is trying to totally 'maximise' their selling price, but worth a go!

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Thank you for the responses!  We aren't in the position to buy just now, but it's good to know where we would stand in the future.

Good idea, by the way, Dennis.  I'm worse off than my husband here, as I'm the one with no credit rating (not working, at home with our son.)  He's gradually acquired a bit of credit, and now a credit card.  I'll mention the idea of taking on a small mortgage to him. 

I've just been talking to my husband a bit about this.  Does anyone know much about bank charges with regard to mortgages?  Or, have a link where I could read about the subject?  I suggested what was mentioned here to my husband (re: getting a small mortgage just for the credit aspect) and he said it sounded good, except that he'd heard that banks were charging 1-2k just for processing a mortgage now.  I'm not sure if this is true, or just that a bank or two is charging this and news about it has gotten around...