Owning your own home

I've just called the estate agent about the two flats I'm seeing tomorrow: one is now under offer. They won't tell me how much for. I pointed out that I may be willing to go higher, and they said they still can't tell me. Baffling.

I'm also confused about this IFA thing. It is a lot of money to pay, but he'll find a good deal and guide me through the process.

A decent agent should still show the property even if if is recently under offer. Only when both sets of solicitors details are in and communication has started should it (kind of) be left alone. So many deals get agreed on a Thursday/Friday, only for people to find something else over the weekend on zoopla etc and the agent arrives in on Monday morning to find the deal has fallen to bits.

If you like it and really want it you should get the survey in sooner rather than later. This demonstrates to the agent and the vendor that you're willing to spend money and proceed at a pace which suits all.

Then you can negotiate to remove it from the market etc.

The vendor doesn't actually have to stop marketing the property, but can refuse to entertain any further viewings on it. This is only really important if it's for sale through multiple agencies.