Buying a House

Buying property is one of the largest and most significant financial transactions that we ever undertake. Given this, it's surprising that we are likely to have decided that we want to buy a particular property, within a few minutes of seeing it.

Most vendors use an estate agent to sell their property. The reasons are obvious:

• Maximum advertising exposure for the property
• Management of viewings
• Bid handling

This means that as a purchaser, you must also deal with an estate agent who is acting on behalf of the vendor. A good estate agent, will smooth the process for all parties, weeding out "dreamers" and dubious offers for the vendor, and keeping potential purchasers informed of developments. Occasionally I hear of "conspiracy theory" stories involving the estate agent. Whilst these may, in the odd case be true, I believe in most circumstances they are not.

If the estate agents fee is 1.5% of £200,000 for example, i.e. a whacking £3,000, attempting to ramp up the price to £220,000 (an extra £300 on the fee) hardly seems worth the effort if it would slow down the sale and possibly jepordise it. My advice is to treat the agent without suspicion, unless you get indications that more care is needed.

What an estate agent looks for in a purchaser

The estate agents job is to forward bids from suitable potential purchasers to the vendor. The ideal bidder for the agent fits the following list:

• They do not have to sell a property in order to purchase the property they want to buy. This means that they are either a first time buyer, have already sold their existing property, are a TRUE cash buyer, or will rent out their existing property.
• They can demonstrate that they can proceed quickly. This means, proof of available money for a cash buyer, an agreement in principle, for someone who needs a mortgage, or confirmation from a mortgage broker that the applicants circumstances are viable, if the existing property is to be rented out.

Potential bidders who need to sell their existing property, but have not yet marketed it, will be unlikely to be taken seriously. They are however of interest to the estate agent as a potential vendor.

What you need to do

• Decide on the price range of properties that you would like to buy, and set the upper limit.
• Obtain an agreement in principle for a mortgage
• Arrange to view suitable properties
• Make offers on those that you would like to buy

Article Source: http://www.theukarticledirectory.co.uk