Has anyone got any bad experiences of buying selling houses in Sheffield?

My partner and I bought our first house together in Sept 01. It then took 10 months before we were able to complete and move in. It was the single most stressful event I've experienced. It was made worse by the fact we had to move out of our rented accommodation and stay with family for what we thought would be a short time. We put all our possessions in storage and lived out of a suitcase, and then the storage company told us they had lost our container (luckily they found it again)! There were loads of other cock-ups before we exchanged and completed (most of them made worse by the estate agents - who I won't name).

People who are not from Sheffield are gob smacked when I tell them the process of making an offer with the city's estate agents, i.e. the business of closed or final offers.

Hi,
I totally sympathise with you. My partner & I recently bought a house and we had so much trouble with the agent. They were very rude on the phone, didn't co-operative with us and worst of all didn't even pass on our offer to the vendor of the property.
We were then accused by the agent of guzumping even though our offer was never passed which legally the agent must do.
The agent wrongfully told the other party that their offer had been accepted but they should have gone back to us to see if we would like to increase our offer. We worked out our finances and decided to put in way over the asking price as we fell in love with the house and didn't want to loose it.
Luckily we had regular contact from the vendor from the start and when we spoke to them about our offer they knew nothing of it and were equally as furious as we were at the agent for not passing on the information.
This situation would have been avoided had the agent communicated and given us the respect that we deserved as decent honest customers.
People from where I come from cannot believe it.
The issue will be taken further with the agent SM.

HI,

I haven't a horror story as yet but may soon do if we move to Sheffield!

What's this about closed and final offers? Sounds very different to the way the rest of the country works - tell me more!

What do you think we should/shouldn't do if we find a place we like?

Thanks,
Matt.

Originally posted by "mattgreen"

HI,

I haven't a horror story as yet but may soon do if we move to Sheffield!

What's this about closed and final offers? Sounds very different to the way the rest of the country works - tell me more!

What do you think we should/shouldn't do if we find a place we like?

Thanks,
Matt.

We recently sold our house in Crookes and it was quite painless, if you exclude having 30+ people trailing through your house.

The process begins with the agents valuing the house and advertising at that price. Anyone interested will then contact the agent and put in a bid, either higher or lower depending on the property/area. In Crookes it's unlikely to be lower. If anyone else is interested then they will put in a bid higher than the latest one. In our case the bids went up by £200 - £500 a time. A good agent will let the vendor know each time a bid is received.

After a period of time the vendor gets p****d off with strangers gawking at his house and says lets close at 12 o'clock on whatever day. The agent then rings round all the bidders and tells them the last time for bids.

As bids are received, the agent may, or may not, ring round the other bidders and advise them of the situation. In our case, a couple were so keen on getting the house they camped out in the agent's office on the morning that we closed and bang on 12 o'clock topped the last offer.

This may be peculiar to Crookes as terraces there sell like hot cakes. Ours went up by about 20% over the asking price and in the 2 years since I've been led to believe that they are now selling for 25% on top of that.

Happy hunting.

Unfortunately when the vendor asks for final offers the estate agents cannot disclose what the other potential buyers have offered. So in a sense you're bidding in a blind auction - or this is what happened in our case and all other instances I've heard of where there is more than one interested party.

In every case I know about the main job of the agent is to ring all interested parties every time a new offer is received. Particularly in the final stages. Our agent spent all morning ringing up the bidders and telling them the new bid. Again, this may be peculiar to the north of the city. We had 12 people bidding on our last house, 4 of whom remained right up to the wire.

If we ever move again I will seriously consider selling privately and cutting the agent out of the whole sale.

That's the very reason why I've been wanting to buy privately. I wish to avoid all the aggro and cr*p that comes with buying a house and have advertised on this board
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=822
also put ads in local shops, handed leaflets to parents at my daughters school and this week put an ad in the Gazette.
However, I've had no replies at all even though I have sold my own house so there is no chain etc.
Is anyone buying at the moment and are things cooling down ?
Is anyone thinking of selling in S10 (Lodge moor, Fulwood area) ?

Not quite desperate..........yet.

Col S

Originally posted by "Dug"

Unfortunately when the vendor asks for final offers the estate agents cannot disclose what the other potential buyers have offered. So in a sense you're bidding in a blind auction - or this is what happened in our case and all other instances I've heard of where there is more than one interested party.
That all depends on which Estate agents are selling the property!
Halifax Estate agents wont disclose to the public what the highest offer is, so in that sense it's blind!
Blundells on the other hand will flit between all parties concerned and tell them if the other party have raised the bid and by how much!

Originally posted by "Cols"

That's the very reason why I've been wanting to buy privately. I wish to avoid all the aggro and cr*p that comes with buying a house and have advertised on this board
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=822
also put ads in local shops, handed leaflets to parents at my daughters school and this week put an ad in the Gazette.
However, I've had no replies at all even though I have sold my own house so there is no chain etc.
Is anyone buying at the moment and are things cooling down ?
Is anyone thinking of selling in S10 (Lodge moor, Fulwood area) ?

Not quite desperate..........yet.

Col S
Where are you wnting to move to if you sell?
I've got my house up for exchange in the ad's part of the forum!

Originally posted by "DaBouncer"

That's the very reason why I've been wanting to buy privately. I wish to avoid all the aggro and cr*p that comes with buying a house and have advertised on this board
http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=822
also put ads in local shops, handed leaflets to parents at my daughters school and this week put an ad in the Gazette.
However, I've had no replies at all even though I have sold my own house so there is no chain etc.
Is anyone buying at the moment and are things cooling down ?
Is anyone thinking of selling in S10 (Lodge moor, Fulwood area) ?

Not quite desperate..........yet.

Col S
Where are you wnting to move to if you sell?
I've got my house up for exchange in the ad's part of the forum!

We've sold in Penistone and want to buy in the Lodge Moor, Fulwood area to be nearer the school. Funnily enough, we'll end up living near Crystal Peaks when we have to move in with the in-laws at the end of June. Only for a short while (I hope).....

Originally posted by "DaBouncer"

Unfortunately when the vendor asks for final offers the estate agents cannot disclose what the other potential buyers have offered. So in a sense you're bidding in a blind auction - or this is what happened in our case and all other instances I've heard of where there is more than one interested party.
That all depends on which Estate agents are selling the property!
Halifax Estate agents wont disclose to the public what the highest offer is, so in that sense it's blind!
Blundells on the other hand will flit between all parties concerned and tell them if the other party have raised the bid and by how much!

Blundells will disclose what other offers have been made on a house up to the point where the vendor asks for final offers - at which point they don't disclose them, therefore it is blind bidding.

I agree! I'm in the middle of trying to move to Sheffield from Kent. I've sold mine and eventually managed to buy in Sheffield, but what stress. Nobody from down here can believe that you offer first and then you go into a bidding war with other prospective buyers. It really isn't a fair system, it makes you pay more for something that maybe, really wasn't worth it paying those extra thousands for.

Wish me luck with the move :)

Originally posted by "nic"

I agree! I'm in the middle of trying to move to Sheffield from Kent. I've sold mine and eventually managed to buy in Sheffield, but what stress. Nobody from down here can believe that you offer first and then you go into a bidding war with other prospective buyers. It really isn't a fair system, it makes you pay more for something that maybe, really wasn't worth it paying those extra thousands for.

Wish me luck with the move :)
Well with you moving up from kent... you should be able to outbid any native sheffielder on a home! :D

oi :)
we're not ALL rich beyond our wildest dreams u know.
i'll be living by myself, which is hard on the pocket in itself. I must admit tho, I couldn't afford to buy anything anywhere near as good as what I've bought in Sheffield. I'm really looking forward to a new adventure. BTW, I bought with Haybrook, absolutely no problem at all.

Originally posted by "nic"

oi :)
we're not ALL rich beyond our wildest dreams u know.
i'll be living by myself, which is hard on the pocket in itself. I must admit tho, I couldn't afford to buy anything anywhere near as good as what I've bought in Sheffield. I'm really looking forward to a new adventure. BTW, I bought with Haybrook, absolutely no problem at all.
Where abouts you made your property purchase may I ask?

In Beighton.
That's next to Sothall right?

The bidding system is fine for the sellers but only works when a property is popular. Less popular properties go the same route as anywhere: put a value on it and hope that someone comes near the asking price. Buyers can then bid below which happens when you find out a property has been around for a while.

We have fewer instances of gazumphing up here with our peculiar method though no doubt someone will come back with a contradictory story.

Originally posted by "nic"

In Beighton.
That's next to Sothall right?
Yeah it's right next door!
Anytime you fancy a pint in the Gypsy Queen (Nr Crystal Peaks)... you'll find it, giz a shout! :D

This is a subject I know a bit about as I am a sales negotiator. It is up to the Estate agent whether or not they disclose any offers on a property to those who are bidding, and sometimes I am sure that the offers are inflated by the estate agent. A vendor is not always advised to take the highest offer but one in a position to proceed.

Muggins
I'm in the process of looking for a house at the moment. Looked at a few but not seen one yet to put an offer in. Looking to buy in S10 (Lodge Moor etc). Are the horror stories true about the bidding wars ? Our house is sold (STC).
Any hints, tips and advice greatly appreciated.
Regards

Col S

Yes they do exist! Its taken me over six months of looking (plus another two months of the actual legal process of buying) to move up here from London.

Top tips:
-don't look at anything at the top end of your budget (allow around 10% slack for bidding - more for very popular areas!)
- check the property websites on a Thursday afternoon/evening - they usually are all updated by then (although Blundells sometimes has the odd property pop up on a Friday morning)
www.vebra.com - Blundells, Saxton Mee, Haybrook, Spencers
www.elr.co.uk
www.reedsrains.co.uk
www.winkworth.co.uk
www.halifax.co.uk
- try to arrange viewings that weekend or the next at the latest (popular houses quite often go within a couple of weeks)
- if you find something put in a low (but realistic offer) to register your interest
- try to find out from the agent if the vendor intends to go for sealed bids (this varies from agent to agent and whether there is a lot of interest in the property)
- keep chasing the agent (they won't tell you anything - they are incredibly complacent at the moment!), but sit tight and don't raise your offer until the vendor has agreed a closing date or the agent has decided that there are no more parties interested and wants to close the deal.
- if its sealed bids - don't disclose anything beyond your first offer and just offer what you can afford/what the property is worth to you
- if there is an open bidding war keep your nerve and remember its just like an auction -don't get carried away! and set an upper limit also don't go up in big jumps(£500 - £100 depending on your price bracket). I saw properties where people were bidding in £10k increments - it was madness!
- pray your vendor is not too eccentric (there seem to be a lot of them about) with strange ideas:not wanting to sell/ taking forever to make a decision/setting unrealistic completion deadlines/ignoring the agent and selling privately...

Lastly good luck - because you'll need it!

Originally posted by "mh"

Yes they do exist! Its taken me over six months of looking (plus another two months of the actual legal process of buying) to move up here from London.

Top tips:
-don't look at anything at the top end of your budget (allow around 10% slack for bidding - more for very popular areas!)
- check the property websites on a Thursday afternoon/evening - they usually are all updated by then (although Blundells sometimes has the odd property pop up on a Friday morning)
www.vebra.com - Blundells, Saxton Mee, Haybrook, Spencers
www.elr.co.uk
www.reedsrains.co.uk
www.winkworth.co.uk
www.halifax.co.uk
- try to arrange viewings that weekend or the next at the latest (popular houses quite often go within a couple of weeks)
- if you find something put in a low (but realistic offer) to register your interest
- try to find out from the agent if the vendor intends to go for sealed bids (this varies from agent to agent and whether there is a lot of interest in the property)
- keep chasing the agent (they won't tell you anything - they are incredibly complacent at the moment!), but sit tight and don't raise your offer until the vendor has agreed a closing date or the agent has decided that there are no more parties interested and wants to close the deal.
- if its sealed bids - don't disclose anything beyond your first offer and just offer what you can afford/what the property is worth to you
- if there is an open bidding war keep your nerve and remember its just like an auction -don't get carried away! and set an upper limit also don't go up in big jumps(£500 - £100 depending on your price bracket). I saw properties where people were bidding in £10k increments - it was madness!
- pray your vendor is not too eccentric (there seem to be a lot of them about) with strange ideas:not wanting to sell/ taking forever to make a decision/setting unrealistic completion deadlines/ignoring the agent and selling privately...

Lastly good luck - because you'll need it!

This is really useful info are you in the business? I'm not moving but will keep a copy of what you've said should I change my mind. :D

No I'm not in the business - I found out the hard way!