First Time Buyer Mortgage Advice in Hull
Making an offer on a property is not easy; could you offer less? Is the property worth the seller’s asking price? This gets even more confusing if you are a first time buyer in Hull and the property and mortgage world is all new to you. If you have already found a property, you will likely want to bring the house price down as much as possible, but on the other hand, you may feel awkward about making a lower offer, in fear of it being rejected. This is all part of the negotiation process.
Unless you make an offer very close to the asking price, it is unusual for your first offer to get accepted. Your seller also has plans to move into a new property and they will want to get as much as they can from selling their house.
As a mortgage broker in Hull, we usually tell our customers to try and find the “magic number” – an offer that is neither too low nor too high that you are offering more than the property’s true value. This “magic number” can be tricky to find and as we said before, you may not find it with your first offer.
To give yourself the best possible chance of success, we would recommend speaking with a mortgage advisor in Hull. Our experts will be able to walk you through the steps on how to make an offer on a property and the art of negotiation. We can even help you make an offer if you need help with this part of the process. Unfortunately, you aren’t the only person looking at the property and having an expert by your side could give you a one-up over other potential buyers.
Getting Ready to Make an Offer and Negotiating Asking Prices
Quick tip – if your first offer is accepted the chances are your opening bid was way too high! Always offer less than you are truly willing to pay.
Getting your Mortgage Agreed in Principle
Estate agents will ask whether you are a cash buyer or need to take out a mortgage to purchase the property. They need to check this before you can make an offer on the property. If you are a cash buyer, it is extremely likely that the seller will accept your offer as you are able to pay for the property in full right away.
Estate agents will also want to perform some anti-money laundering checks on you to prove your identity and address. Some corporate Estate Agents exploit this diligence (aka Offer Qualification) in order to cross-sell other products and services to you – one example is using their in-house mortgage advisor. You do not need to use their in-house team, you can go to any mortgage advisor in Hull, just like ourselves.
If you are looking to take out a mortgage on the property, you will need an agreement in principle. This is a document issued by a lender stating that they are willing to let you borrow from them providing that you back up your income and affordability via evidential documents.
Once you have your AIP, use this as evidence to the estate agents that you are able to borrow for the sale of the property.
Our mortgage advisors in Hull are able to arrange an AIP for you within 24 hours. If you need a quick turnaround or need your current AIP renewed, get in touch and we will sort this for you.
Sell Your House Before you Make an Offer
If you are moving home in Hull and want to make an offer on another property, we would recommend listing and selling your current property before so.
This is because the sale of your property will give you a deposit for your new purchase. The issue sometimes is that you might not really be looking for a new home until a specific one comes up for sale!
If you end up in this situation, go ahead and look at the property, there is no harm in doing so. You could even try and negotiate a price with the seller from a position of weakness, there is nothing to lose. The only problem here is that if the seller agrees on a price since you haven’t sold your current home yet, the estate agents may leave the property on the market anyways. If you are really unlucky, another buyer who can advance right away might swoop in and be offered the property. Remember that the seller is also looking to move home, therefore, they want the purchase to be as fast as possible too.
Get Organised
Get everything ready before your offer, so that if it is accepted, you are ready to proceed right away.
Your AIP is agreed in principle for a reason, as you have not supplied any evidential documents to the lender yet to show that you can afford a mortgage of this amount.
Get all of your paperwork in order. You will need proof of ID, proof of address, proof of your deposit, 3 months’ bank statements, payslips and your latest P60. When submitting your mortgage application with a mortgage broker in Hull like us, we will sort this out for you and make sure that your application looks the best that it can do. You will work with a dedicated case manager throughout the application stage of the process and they will be your first point of contact for all of your mortgage questions.
Emotional Connection
We know that everything can get a bit much during the home-buying process. Declined offers, other buyers and property surveys can put a lot of stress on you!
We like to think that it is sometimes not about the best offer or the best buyer, but the emotional connection between the seller and the buyer. For example, if you are planning to build a family in this house and the seller has raised their own family in the house, it could resonate with them if you tell them your plans.
Listen Out for Clues
If you do get a chance to speak with the seller about the property, it does no harm to find out about their future plans. Have they already found a property to move into and want a quick sale? What are there reasons for moving? How many people have made an offer on the property?
Some of these little details can sometimes help you negotiate your asking price. For example, if the property has been listed for a few months with little interest, there may be something wrong with it that only pops up on a property survey or upon inspection.
If you manage to get answers to some of your questions, it could help you work out why the property is valued at the price it is and whether or not you could potentially make a slightly lower offer.
Date Last Edited: 12/06/2023
