Estate agent advice

[hayfield]

A 'Home Report' as required by law in Scotland is a bit more than 'several pages' and the ones I have seen have been both informative and useful.

Regards

 

Ray

 

Ray

 

The trouble is that some home buyers don't know how to read them.

 

On the house I had just sold my roof had 1 loose tile (we could not see which tile was loose) and put a red mark against the roof, nearly lost the sale as the buyers were quite risk adverse. However when looking at all the roves in the road, ours was the best. Surveyors in my experience (of many sales) will always find fault and sometimes the wrong impression is taken, unless you are buying either a new or renovated house there will be faults. As my estate agent said, if his roof had only 1 tile loose he would be a happy man.

 

As we were downsizing we were cash buyers, we had a survey done where work to be done was recommended . No value was stated other than the house was priced to sell quickly. Looking around and comparing prices will often give you a better idea of its worth. A mortgage valuation survey is no guarantee you will recoup what you are spending, just tells the bank that at forced sale prices they will cover the loan requested 

[Reorte]

Ray

 

The trouble is that some home buyers don't know how to read them.

 

On the house I had just sold my roof had 1 loose tile (we could not see which tile was loose) and put a red mark against the roof, nearly lost the sale as the buyers were quite risk adverse. However when looking at all the roves in the road, ours was the best. Surveyors in my experience (of many sales) will always find fault and sometimes the wrong impression is taken, unless you are buying either a new or renovated house there will be faults. As my estate agent said, if his roof had only 1 tile loose he would be a happy man.

 

You need to keep your wits about you with them. Mine came back with a few red marks for the house I bought, some serious (but not too bad to fix), others rather less so, more a case of not meeting whatever current standard. For an example of the latter no railings on the outside of the stairs got one, which I couldn't care less about, as did the electrics - turned out that was a bodged indoor socket in a wooden box outside, easily enough dealt with, and that the seal between the chimney and the roof had cracked, definitely needed to get someone to sort that one but perfectly doable (hadn't done more than got the stone a little damp, but definitely not a thing to ignore).

[Silver Sidelines]

Hello Hayfield

 

I am suspecting that you are not familiar with the Scottish 'Model'

Ray

 

The trouble is that some home buyers don't know how to read them.

 

..

The Scottish Home Report commissioned for my Mother's bungalow ran to 49 pages.  There were 18 pages on 'the bricks and mortar', the property is described in detail, how it is built and what if anything is wrong and how serious the problem.  Yes there is Mortgage valuation report.  There is also a six page Energy Report detailing   what can be done to improve matters.  Finally there is a detailed questionnaire that has to be completed by the seller.  Everything is in a standard format with printed questions and space for the required answers.

 

Having bought and sold property in both England and Scotland I was very sceptical of the Scottish Home Report, which is funded up front by the seller.  I am converted, England could learn a few tricks here.

 

Ray

[Enterprisingwestern]

It shows how much notice to take of a surveyors report when you read in the small print at the back that they are not guaranteeing anything they've seen or anything they've missed, and are not liable for anything in the report.

 

Mike.

[cromptonnut]

The railway line could be a distinct reason. Do you have any idea on what the train frequency is? If it has a series of freight trains, running all night, could well provide a reason why its not selling. If you're prepared for a few trains, perhaps stick to your price.

 

According to Realtimetrains, there are 3 or 4 tph scheduled for most of the day, with nothing between 1am and 5am, and the occasional freight and plenty of Q paths.  We've been there when trains have gone by and you can barely feel or hear them unless you're out in the garden, and then it's only for a few seconds as most are at speed.

[gismorail]

Just curious, you say the house has been on the market for a while, with few offers.

 

The railway line could be a distinct reason. Do you have any idea on what the train frequency is? If it has a series of freight trains, running all night, could well provide a reason why its not selling. If you're prepared for a few trains, perhaps stick to your price.

It's well worth the effort to visit the property and drive passed at different times during the day and night to see exactly what your local area will be like to live in 

[cromptonnut]

It's well worth the effort to visit the property and drive passed at different times during the day and night to see exactly what your local area will be like to live in 

 

Done that three times whilst passing, and also checked the police.uk crime report...last recorded month one crime reported.

[Orange Cat]

It's worth remembering that the value of a house is what somebody is prepared to pay for it, not what the vendor or his agent think the value should be. If yours is the only offer on the table and nobody is prepared to offer more, then your offer is what the house is worth. 

There's a lot of sellers out there who choose their agent because they put a higher valuation on the house than their competitors and there's agents who know this and pitch their valuations high because it brings in business. The trouble is that when the house only attracts realistic offers it makes them look bad because they didn't get the price they put on it. Don't increase your offer beyond what the house is worth to you to meet the unreal expectations of the seller or their agent.

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

According to Realtimetrains, there are 3 or 4 tph scheduled for most of the day, with nothing between 1am and 5am, and the occasional freight and plenty of Q paths.  We've been there when trains have gone by and you can barely feel or hear them unless you're out in the garden, and then it's only for a few seconds as most are at speed.

You would be surprised how much noise a train makes when it's quiet all around. As a child I lived about a mile and a half from where University station now stands. I could tell what was hauling the Bristol - Newcastle Sleeper by the exhaust of the loco. Later I was lodging next to the WCML and Met/GC where they crossed at Kenton. Mostly it didn't bother me probably because of the beer culture of youth but I did get woken when a Pannier was working the Croxley Tip train about 3am. When I lived about a mile from the line through Solihull I regularly heard the Freightliner which used to come that way at about 0330.

[Clearwater]

@cromptonnut

 

Whatever you decide from this plethora of advice, best of luck and I hope it works out for you.

 

David

[Fat Controller]

You would be surprised how much noise a train makes when it's quiet all around. As a child I lived about a mile and a half from where University station now stands. I could tell what was hauling the Bristol - Newcastle Sleeper by the exhaust of the loco. Later I was lodging next to the WCML and Met/GC where they crossed at Kenton. Mostly it didn't bother me probably because of the beer culture of youth but I did get woken when a Pannier was working the Croxley Tip train about 3am. When I lived about a mile from the line through Solihull I regularly heard the Freightliner which used to come that way at about 0330.

Having lived within a few hundred yards of, at various times, the Fishguard- Paddington and Newcastle - Carlisle lines, and, briefly, within 30 or so feet of the ECML, I found it was the absence of trains that I noticed. The rhythm of 100t tanks doing 60 mph on jointed track was quite soporific, as was the sound of trains of steel to Workington. The one exception was the Dynamic Track Stabiliser; though the problem with this was the noise from ceiling roses and coving falling down, not the train itself.

[Reorte]

During my 15 months in France I lived next to a railway. A fairly low-speed electrified branch, so it wasn't as noisy as it could've been, but it was on a curve that fairly often got a bit of flange squeal. It was surprising how I got used to it, although I'm glad the bedroom window didn't face the line. The alarm on the nearby level crossing was probably more intrusive than the trains themselves. But of course trains come in all sorts of varieties so if it was heavy freight instead of short EMUs it might've been different.

[cromptonnut]

Just to clarify on the noise aspect, we currently live less than a mile from Gatwick Airport. I'm pretty sure that the occasional train isn't going to cause us a problem

[hayfield]

Hello Hayfield

 

I am suspecting that you are not familiar with the Scottish 'Model'

The Scottish Home Report commissioned for my Mother's bungalow ran to 49 pages.  There were 18 pages on 'the bricks and mortar', the property is described in detail, how it is built and what if anything is wrong and how serious the problem.  Yes there is Mortgage valuation report.  There is also a six page Energy Report detailing   what can be done to improve matters.  Finally there is a detailed questionnaire that has to be completed by the seller.  Everything is in a standard format with printed questions and space for the required answers.

 

Having bought and sold property in both England and Scotland I was very sceptical of the Scottish Home Report, which is funded up front by the seller.  I am converted, England could learn a few tricks here.

 

Ray

 

Ray

 

All I know about the Scottish system is that it is different, whilst in some instances it has benefits over the English/Welsh system it also has its faults. Know of someone who paid for several (expensive ) reports without securing a sale

 

It shows how much notice to take of a surveyors report when you read in the small print at the back that they are not guaranteeing anything they've seen or anything they've missed, and are not liable for anything in the report.

 

Mike.

 

Mike

 

Especially when it says obtain a gas/electrical engineers report. I would also guess most if not all s/h houses will not comply with the latest set of electrical regulations (unless recently upgraded). The electrics was another red line, the buyers electrician confirmed the house electrics were safe. There was a third red line which escapes me now. But once all three were looked into the buyers did not even ask for a reduction.

 

The simple fact is if buying a second hand house (like a car) there will be faults. We decided to sell the property without updating it other than giving every room and outside woodwork a repaint to neutral colours giving the prospective buyers the option if required to upgrade to taste

 

Had I stayed there, there were things which I believed more important to do than two of the 3 red lines, I would have increased the numbers of electrical sockets and the electrician would have added something to the earthing which would have made the electrics fully compliant

 

With the house we bought there were several suggestions of repairs/improvements  suggested, all of which could wait to be included in the extension we were proposing.

 

According to Realtimetrains, there are 3 or 4 tph scheduled for most of the day, with nothing between 1am and 5am, and the occasional freight and plenty of Q paths.  We've been there when trains have gone by and you can barely feel or hear them unless you're out in the garden, and then it's only for a few seconds as most are at speed.

 

I have lived near to railways most of my life, the West Coast main line was in a cutting 1/4 mile away. No issue.

Had 18 mths of Euston slow commuter line at bottom of garden (this was the worst) 4/5 trains each way per hour

Lived 3/4 miles away from the West Coast main line for 30 years and if the wind was in the wrong direction could hear it, though the same for both the M1 & A41. All of these could not be heard inside the house

Had a customer who lived in Tunnel Wood Road, on top of the WCML tunnel. A definite NO NO

Done that three times whilst passing, and also checked the police.uk crime report...last recorded month one crime reported.

 

We moved well out of the area, luckily had a relative informing us of the areas to avoid. We now live quite close to a busy road, thankfully shielded from the traffic noise even in the garden. As said go and check if possible at busy times 

It's worth remembering that the value of a house is what somebody is prepared to pay for it, not what the vendor or his agent think the value should be. If yours is the only offer on the table and nobody is prepared to offer more, then your offer is what the house is worth. 

 

There's a lot of sellers out there who choose their agent because they put a higher valuation on the house than their competitors and there's agents who know this and pitch their valuations high because it brings in business. The trouble is that when the house only attracts realistic offers it makes them look bad because they didn't get the price they put on it. Don't increase your offer beyond what the house is worth to you to meet the unreal expectations of the seller or their agent.

 

 

 

Our neighbour next door put her house on the market, the agent put a modest price and invited offers after an open day. 6 out of the 9 were for more than the starting price. Due to ill health the house was removed from sale for 4 months, same process was done (but the asking price started at the previous offer) again several offers in excess of asking price.

 

4 months later we went through a similar process, we had an open day but started with a much higher price and accepted an offer slightly below what we were asking, which was above what we thought the property was worth a few weeks earlier. I picked the agent from a group of 5 as the one who I thought would get me the most money (also was able to negotiate a very competitive selling fee) . In the end I got more than next door and moved before them, houses were much the same but I certainly had better luck with the buyer, the agent whilst sometimes frustrating kept the sale on track 

 

We were very lucky when we marketed the house, as the market was exceptionally buoyant, with a stamp duty deadline approaching and in a very desirable catchment area for schooling, plus next to fields. In one way our timing was perfect, which was pure luck. But as they say Location is everything, and whilst you may not be thinking about moving, if the house is less desirable now than others could you rectify this?  If not I would be slightly concerned as we had friends who struggled to sell owing to being on a busy road

[ColinK]

Selling a buying a house is one of the most stressful things you can go through, it took us three years but all worked out well in the end. We live right next to the WCML (yipee, just watched the 37 hauled passenger train go past). Unless you are an enthusiast, you soon don't notice the trains. Best wishes Cromptonnut, hope you get what you want.

[jonny777]

Having lived within a few hundred yards of, at various times, the Fishguard- Paddington and Newcastle - Carlisle lines, and, briefly, within 30 or so feet of the ECML, I found it was the absence of trains that I noticed. The rhythm of 100t tanks doing 60 mph on jointed track was quite soporific, as was the sound of trains of steel to Workington. The one exception was the Dynamic Track Stabiliser; though the problem with this was the noise from ceiling roses and coving falling down, not the train itself.

 

In my late teens, I rented a flat which was basically the ground floor of an old Victorian property which backed onto the line from Paddington/Marylebone through High Wycombe. In those days the line was quite busy with a fairly regular service to Birmingham, and oil trains to an unknown destination.

 

The landlord fancied himself as a d-i-y supremo, and the ground floor 'bathroom' was a lean-to affair, behind the kitchen, which I reckon he had done himself as it was pretty shoddy.

 

If I was lounging in a nice full bath, and a 47 with loaded 100t tankers passed by outside it was fun watching the ripples on the water from the vibrations.

[Reorte]

We moved well out of the area, luckily had a relative informing us of the areas to avoid. We now live quite close to a busy road, thankfully shielded from the traffic noise even in the garden. As said go and check if possible at busy times 

That's another one to be careful with, and you can't just go by the distance. I live very close to a dual carriageway and although you can always hear it when outside it's nowhere near loud enough to be even distracting (the odd motorbike apart), there's a bank up to it then down to a shallow cutting on the road side, which keeps most of the noise away, to the point where probably a bit more sound comes from further away where it opens up. There's enough noise to think just how pleasant it would be without the constant background, but no more than anyone living on your average suburban street would get (not that this is suburban). Without that shielding though I can't imagine I'd want to live there.

 

edit: Going back to the railway in France being electric it did interfere with the TV every time one went past.

[beast66606]

If I was lounging in a nice full bath, and a 47 with loaded 100t tankers passed by outside it was fun watching the ripples on the water from the vibrations.

 

TMI

[hayfield]

That's another one to be careful with, and you can't just go by the distance. I live very close to a dual carriageway and although you can always hear it when outside it's nowhere near loud enough to be even distracting (the odd motorbike apart), there's a bank up to it then down to a shallow cutting on the road side, which keeps most of the noise away, to the point where probably a bit more sound comes from further away where it opens up. There's enough noise to think just how pleasant it would be without the constant background, but no more than anyone living on your average suburban street would get (not that this is suburban). Without that shielding though I can't imagine I'd want to live there.

 

edit: Going back to the railway in France being electric it did interfere with the TV every time one went past.

 

 

Its quite strange that the buildings that are on the main road which we back on to, act as a sound barrier, the garden is quieter that the bedroom with a window open. It also helps that the traffic are slowing down as there is a pedestrian crossing then a small double roundabout, both of which reduce traffic speeds. Plus whilst there is always a flow of traffic, only really busy at rush hours. 

 

In the last house it was light aircraft landing at Elstree (mainly at weekends) which was the main noise disturbance. A call to the airport normally sorted it out as they were supposed to avoid the estate.

 

Buying a house is strange though, you have all these lists of what you both want and not want but in the end I have found after a few mins you know if its right for you or not

 

We had a choice of either a fully renovated (very high spec) end of terrace with no real opportunity to develop much further to a semi needing updating, both at the same price. In the end there was no choice and downsizing went out of the window, but that's another story.

[Reorte]

Buying a house is strange though, you have all these lists of what you both want and not want but in the end I have found after a few mins you know if its right for you or not

I think that's probably the crux of it. You make up your mind fairly quickly and everything else is just trying to justify it to yourself (anything serious coming up in the survey notwithstanding). That just leaves the tricky bit of not being taken for a ride due to being too keen - most of the time they'll be trying it on to squeeze a bit more out of you, so you need to be prepared to walk away, the odds of losing it due to taking that position aren't too high (although you always get some sellers who are convinced it's worth far more than anyone will ever pay so it never sells).

 

When I bought mine I was told "Oh, it just sold this morning!" when I asked for a second viewing. A few days later "the buyer has withdrawn, are you still interested?" Right...

[BG John]

I had my offer accepted on a house in a great position, with a railway at the front, and canal at the back. My dog and I went to test the local pub at lunch time, and it seemed OK. Then after lunch, I had a call from the estate agent saying that the owners had decided to sell to someone who had wanted it for some time, but couldn't get the money together. Amazingly, they got the money the very day my offer was accepted! It may have been a good thing that I lost it, in some ways, but the potential problems were nothing compared to those at the place I finally ended up with!

[chris p bacon]

So far of all the houses I've built I've known if they are going to buy within 2 minutes of being in the house, only got it wrong once.

 

I had one couple where it was obvious the woman wanted it but the husband was trying to play it cool, as we stepped out the door he said "how bigs the garage as I work on a classic car I've got" as I clicked the button on the electric garage door to reveal a 1 and half sized garage I looked at his face and thought.....Gotcha....   

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

One thing that I consistently found made it easier to play hardball with estate agents, was having several options in the area around the target of interest. If the agent called with a 'we have another offer/ vendor wants more' play, you come back with just seen something else very attractive, call me again tomorrow evening or whatever. But it is necessary to actually walk the talk and see those other properties with proper enthusiasm. Agents talk to each other like grannies in an old folks home, they have nothing much else to do much of the day (red-hot property locations excepted, advertised 08.30, three viewings over lunchtime, two offers received by end of afternoon...). You know it's working when the estate agent calls you and brings up a property that is on another agent's books, to ask how it compares with what you have looked at from their stock in play.

 

It is all a guessing game -  even for the agents - to know just what money a property could sell for.

[hayfield]

I think that's probably the crux of it. You make up your mind fairly quickly and everything else is just trying to justify it to yourself (anything serious coming up in the survey notwithstanding). That just leaves the tricky bit of not being taken for a ride due to being too keen - most of the time they'll be trying it on to squeeze a bit more out of you, so you need to be prepared to walk away, the odds of losing it due to taking that position aren't too high (although you always get some sellers who are convinced it's worth far more than anyone will ever pay so it never sells).

 

When I bought mine I was told "Oh, it just sold this morning!" when I asked for a second viewing. A few days later "the buyer has withdrawn, are you still interested?" Right...

 

The price of the property is what it is worth to you. Our previous house was on the edge of the estate, overlooking fields and at the end of a cul du sac, at the time I was willing to pay (did not have to) 10% over the asking price to secure the location. When it came to sell the property if we had paid the extra it would have been a small fraction of its selling price, certainly made the property more expensive than those without the view and on drive through roads.

 

But what is good for one person may be a put off for another

 

The best advice I have been given, is to buy the worst house in the best street you can afford. We nearly got there this time

[hayfield]

Out of interest how in the OP's house buying getting on ?