Put our First Ever House Offer In (Re-wiring query)

Id rather live in the worst house on the best street vs the best house on a dangerous/bad street

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Yeah that's our thinking also.

We have ~£13,000 to spend on the house so once surveying is done if an electrician is 50/50 on the wiring I would just go and do it. The house needs improving so I would do it first before tidying it all up. It'll probably be cost effective to stay renting in our current place than paying for cost of a van, cost of storage, cost of fuel driving to my parents who live an hour away (two hour round trip each day). There is also the bonus of being down the road to keep an eye on things with their work.

Yeah that's our thinking also.

We have ~£13,000 to spend on the house so once surveying is done if an electrician is 50/50 on the wiring I would just go and do it. The house needs improving so I would do it first before tidying it all up. It'll probably be cost effective to stay renting in our current place than paying for cost of a van, cost of storage, cost of fuel driving to my parents who live an hour away (two hour round trip each day). There is also the bonus of being down the road to keep an eye on things with their work.

Will you be doing work yourself to modernise (not in terms of wiring,etc) or paying builders?

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Sounding all okayish at the moment. Report back on what the sparky says! 

Otherwise, watch 'Homes under the Hammer'   that gives a good view of costings and timings.  And do real research besides watching tv.   

Will you be doing work yourself to modernise (not in terms of wiring,etc) or paying builders?

Yes. Probably pay a plasterer if rooms are that bad but yes we'll be doing it ourselves with some friends also (who love DIY)

Sounding all okayish at the moment. Report back on what the sparky says! 

Otherwise, watch 'Homes under the Hammer'   that gives a good view of costings and timings.  And do real research besides watching tv.   

I used to be addicted to that! But since Dion Dublin started and Martin going on "I'm a celebrity..." I've been put off it. Maybe I need to power through!

Got a meeting with our mortgage adviser at 5:30 today. Is it solicitor next? I have no idea.

Yes. Probably pay a plasterer if rooms are that bad but yes we'll be doing it ourselves with some friends also (who love DIY)
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My only piece of advice (as somebody tjays done a LOT of DIY renovations) is to roughly price out how much you think it will cost and get a plan together in terms of priorities. Price out how much the bathroom sets - for example - that you like are currently priced including shipping, how many walls youd need plastered, etc. , as youll be surprised how quick 10k can go..especially if youre paying a mortgage AND rent/utilities. Just be realistic (and maybe even a bit pessemistic so you overestimate) and have a plan in your head so if more is uncovered in the survey, you can be prepared to go back with a new (lower) figure.

Best of luck and congrats on having your offer accepted

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Also, you will definitely need to pick out who your solicitor will be as youll be asked about this.

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Sounding all okayish at the moment. Report back on what the sparky says! 

Otherwise, watch 'Homes under the Hammer'   that gives a good view of costings and timings.  And do real research besides watching tv.   

I just don't believe the prices on that show! They're always all.. we put in new kitchen, new bathroom, new carpets, central heating, rewired and redecorated  oh yes and built an extension upstairs.. all for like £5,000. 

Also, you will definitely need to pick out who your solicitor will be as youll be asked about this.

Ask around and get a good solicitor.  My husband found a good one for us, but the person we bought our house from had a terrible solicitor, and that slowed the process down significantly.  You can't control who the seller uses, but you can control your end.

Ask around and get a good solicitor.  My husband found a good one for us, but the person we bought our house from had a terrible solicitor, and that slowed the process down significantly.  You can't control who the seller uses, but you can control your end.

This.. 100%!!

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My only piece of advice (as somebody tjays done a LOT of DIY renovations) is to roughly price out how much you think it will cost and get a plan together in terms of priorities. Price out how much the bathroom sets - for example - that you like are currently priced including shipping, how many walls youd need plastered, etc. , as youll be surprised how quick 10k can go..especially if youre paying a mortgage AND rent/utilities. Just be realistic (and maybe even a bit pessemistic so you overestimate) and have a plan in your head so if more is uncovered in the survey, you can be prepared to go back with a new (lower) figure.

I so agree with this. Even just keeping up with essential maintenance on an older property the money just goes. I spend a fortune on my roof!

Hopefully you'll be able to do what you want to within your budget and it would be ideal to get it all out of the way before you move in but if it does all add up to being too expensive, then prioritise the likes of the wiring and the heating over cosmetic things that you can do at your leisure over the next few years. 

I'm not going to lie, as a finance professional, I'm really surprised you offered full asking price. 

If it does come back that the place needs any rewiring, boiler work, etc., ask the seller to pay 100% of the estimated costs - not 50/50.  They are lapping up the cream with a full asking price offer.  They would NOT have been expecting that.

Also ensure you go for a PREMIUM INDEPENDENT surveyor and NOT the one required by the mortgage lender.  It'll cost a couple of thousand pounds but will be money very well spent.

I'm not going to lie, as a finance professional, I'm really surprised you offered full asking price. 

If it does come back that the place needs any rewiring, boiler work, etc., ask the seller to pay 100% of the estimated costs - not 50/50.  They are lapping up the cream with a full asking price offer.  They would NOT have been expecting that.

Also ensure you go for a PREMIUM INDEPENDENT surveyor and NOT the one required by the mortgage lender.  It'll cost a couple of thousand pounds but will be money very well spent.

I was sort of surprised as well.  I guess if the price was already discounted and other people had made offers at asking price then fair enough, that's the price.  But if the price is not already cheap for the area, and work actually has to be done, and nobody else went up to asking price, then the sellers must be celebrating. 

If you get a complete survey like KFDancer is talking about and it actually does point out serious problems, then you can use that as an excuse to lower your offer. Or you can just pick out something not so serious and still lower your offer.   It works out better that way because then all those other offers have faded away.  Don't feel guilty at all for changing your offer at any time, believe me, the sellers will do the same to you given the opportunity.  Trust me, the estate agent is showing  that house to other people right now, telling them your offer and suggesting they top it. 

You've got the advantage because British people are the worst negotiators on the planet!  As soon as you start talking about money in public, they freak out and will agree to anything to get you to stop. 

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You've got the advantage because British people are the worst negotiators on the planet!  As soon as you start talking about money in public, they freak out and will agree to anything to get you to stop.

*cough*  Ben is British.  His wife is the American.  *cough*

My only piece of advice (as somebody tjays done a LOT of DIY renovations) is to roughly price out how much you think it will cost and get a plan together in terms of priorities. Price out how much the bathroom sets - for example - that you like are currently priced including shipping, how many walls youd need plastered, etc. , as youll be surprised how quick 10k can go..especially if youre paying a mortgage AND rent/utilities. Just be realistic (and maybe even a bit pessemistic so you overestimate) and have a plan in your head so if more is uncovered in the survey, you can be prepared to go back with a new (lower) figure.

Best of luck and congrats on having your offer accepted

Yes I agree. Wiring is priority number one, and then bathroom. Followed by casual paint work and carpets.

Ask around and get a good solicitor.  My husband found a good one for us, but the person we bought our house from had a terrible solicitor, and that slowed the process down significantly.  You can't control who the seller uses, but you can control your end.

How do you do this? How do you know is good? Word of mouth?

I'm not going to lie, as a finance professional, I'm really surprised you offered full asking price. 

If it does come back that the place needs any rewiring, boiler work, etc., ask the seller to pay 100% of the estimated costs - not 50/50.  They are lapping up the cream with a full asking price offer.  They would NOT have been expecting that.

Also ensure you go for a PREMIUM INDEPENDENT surveyor and NOT the one required by the mortgage lender.  It'll cost a couple of thousand pounds but will be money very well spent.

The area is extremely sought after. Not only that, I flat out don't believe anybody who says it's a buyer's market. It isn't. At least it isn't in our area. A house down the road was up for £200k. It sold for £220k. A house at £235k sold for £240k. A colleague had to offer £30k more for his dream house. It's nuts. So for me i think it's priced very fairly. They had to have two open houses the two days after it was put on sale due to demand. I think we've done well.

It's tricky to ask them but I'm slightly hoping the survey flags something up which kind of forces their hand. I am definitely doing the one above the basic lender's survey.

*cough*  Ben is British.  His wife is the American.  *cough*

HAHAHA yep. I am bad! Help me! Fortunately we have a great mortgage broker who has offered to do all negotiating for us  . She gets paid a flat fee so mortgage price isn't a concern for her.