Looking to buy a house. Here’s how I managed to knock £30K off the asking price for my house in Brighton – follow my tips and tricks!
A bit of background on my house buying journey
I had been house hunting for over 6 months. I had sold my first flat and moved out so that I was in a strong position as a buyer with no chain, cash in the bank and a mortgage deal in place. It was hard going as I slept on sofas for 6 months while I tried to find the perfect house. The property market in Brighton was so hectic that I had to do everything I could to make sure that I was a good prospective buyer.
After looking for ages, I finally found the house I wanted to buy. This terrace house with two bedrooms and a small overgrown garden had been vacant for over 7 years.
When I viewed the property it was early December which is a slow month to sell a house. I put in an offer – stressing how keen I was to move in which was £15K below the asking which was quickly accepted.
And yes, this house on the first viewing needed a lot of renovation works. It had previously sold, but the sale had fallen through at the Homebuyer’s Report stage (a bit of a red flag), so I had budgeted for some building works and a rewire.
As my sale was going through, I thought I’d get some quotes for work in advance of my report, to see if I could use them to renegotiate the price with my vendor, and to speed through the sale.
I paid a local electrician to come round to quote for a potential rewire. Eek. It appears a rewire is the least of my problems! When unscrewing the plug socket off the back wall, water trickled out, so the house might have a bit of a damp problem. Further inspection showed that the old window in the bathroom had been leaking down through the floorboards, down into the kitchen and behind the oven.
This means the walls of the kitchen and bathroom might need to come off. The kitchen and bathroom is dated, but I was prepared to live with it. Now they will need to be ripped out, and maybe the joists between the floors are rotten. Put this on top of a rewire, damp in the bedrooms, rotting windowsills, a boiler dating back to the 90s, plus a staircase that wouldn’t pass building regs… this house is looking like a money pit.
Before I booked my Homebuyer’s Report, I got advice from some experts. I paid one builder £50 to look around the property. He pointed out potential changes and gave me cost estimates. A good estate agent will be happy to help you do this. If the homeowner refuses to let you in, be cautious.
I put my solicitor on hold (just in case) and before wasting money on a survey, I got two builders, a plumber and damp guy to inspect the property. Yes, it cost me time and money, and slowed down the sale, but it was so worth it. Knowing what is wrong with your home in detail before you buy is way better than buying your home in a rush and then discovering your home is falling apart.
It turned out the house needs about £20-35k spending on it. So I sat down at my laptop with these quotes and wrote a detailed letter of all the costs. I explained that in the current market, a house in this state would be at a far lower price. I explained that I couldn’t rent out a room as planned, losing income; that I had to replace the kitchen and bathroom straight away; that the heating needed sorting asap and the staircase didn’t meet building regs. All this was backed up with builders’ reports and my Homebuyer’s Report (I told my surveyor what my builders had found and he added more detail to his report).
This letter was non-emotional, factual and detailed. And I told her I wanted a £28K reduction on the purchase price. As they had one sale fall through, and the place was empty, the odds worked in my favour. It was a gamble – but at this stage if she wasn’t prepared to reduce the price, then I was happy to walk away.
The vendor met me halfway. The sale went through. I now own a very rundown little house. I don’t have £30K to do the place up, but who cares? I have my own front door and a roof to call my own.
Words: Maxine Brady, www.maxinebrady.com