House-Buying Jargon Explained

Finance

House-buying jargon explained

Lovely as it would be for estate agent sites to have just interested in nosing round the house. Don’t be an Amazon-style ‘Buy It Now’ button by the listed surprised if you are ‘vetted’ before you can arrange price, working out how much you’ll actually pay for a a viewing. house can be a confusing process. Let’s break down In all cases, the key is to remember that the listed some of the unfamiliar abbreviations and explore price just tells you about the seller’s perspective and what actually determines the price. it takes two sides to make a deal. Before making an ‘Offers in the region of’ (or ‘OIRO’) is usually an offer, you should look at listings for similar properties indication there’s a bit more flexibility than with a in the area (and recent prices for sold properties) listing which just has a price. The seller would like to along with your own finances and mortgage options. get the listed amount (or ideally more) but might well You’ll come across all manner of theories about be open to a lower offer, so don’t be afraid to try. how much to offer and how to deal with counter‘Guide price’ is sometimes used in the same way as offers. Perhaps the best guideline is that when you ‘OIRO’, though you’ll need to check the listing as make your initial offer, you should be uncertain this could also mean the property is being sold at about whether it will be accepted. If you ‘know’ it’s auction. definitely going to be rejected, you could risk being ‘Offers in excess of’ (or ‘OIEO’) can work in a couple seen as a time-waster and lose out to a more realistic of ways. Sometimes it really is the lowest amount buyer. If you ‘know’ it’s going to be accepted, you risk the seller is willing to accept. That said, if you aren’t being left with a niggling feeling you’ve overpaid. taking the mickey and you’re in a strong buying Once you’ve agreed a price, the seller will need position, it won’t do any harm to offer less and see to fill in a Property Information Form that details what happens. exactly what fixtures and fittings are included in Sometimes, though, ‘OIEO’ is estate agent code for the sale price and which they are offering to sell for “The seller thinks this house is worth more than I do.” an additional fee. Avoid any In that case, if you’re happy to risk somebody else suggestion of paying a clearly beating you to it, you may want to keep an eye on inflated price return for keeping the listing. the house sale price under the ‘Price on application’ or ‘POA’ usually sparks the stamp duty threshold. This is old joke about “If you have to ask how much, you an outdated ‘dodge’ that will can’t afford it.” With houses, though, it’s usually a now attract the unwelcome sign that the seller is concerned about time-wasters attention of HMRC. 30 Please mention The Villager and Town Life when responding to adverts