Advice Please

Burnred

Hi there,

My girlfriend and I are currently going throught the process of buying a house, so far we have done everything needed on our end including paying the deposit to our solicitors for holding while the vendor finishes passing infomation to her solicitors. We first asked for a completion date of 30th January which came and went with hardly any help from the Estate agents, now we have asked for a completion date of 27th Feb but we have been informed by our solicitors that the vendor hasn't even got a mortgage offer on her new purchase so it seems that we are going to have to wait until she has got that sorted and all the legal stuff on that purchase.
Luckily we are in a position where we don't have to give much notice and are already packed and ready to move, the things that are affecting us are that we are losing interest on the deposit and that our life cover policy has started, but we still have to aerrange time off work and rental vans etc.
Also since we applied for the Mortgage in November the house prices have carried on decreasing and it seems that we already in negative equity before we even move in so again we are losing money befroe we even start.
Any advice on how to speed up the process so we can get into our new property would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

maninthestreet

Have you exchanged contracts yet? I suspect the answer is NO if the vendor still hasn't got a mortgage in place for the property they are buying.

Burnred

We haven't exchanged contracts yet, I understand that is the next step for us to do but we are waiting for the vendor on this issue.

IHS88

Hi Burnred

Fingers crossed for you that the vendor is able to get a mortgage. Maybe this is what's causing the delay?

I'd definately ask the estate agent, "Is the vendor having difficulty raising finance"? I dont think this is a cheeky question. Lets be honest, you need to know whats going on and where you're going to be living!

With regards to the price you are paying. The last thing I'd want to see you do is purchase a property and have negative equity from day one.

If I was you, I'd reduce the price you have agreed to pay, to reflect the fall in the market. You can only do this if you havent exchanged contracts.

Also, make sure your solicitor is on a "no sale, no fee" agreement. If the sale does fall out of bed, the last thing you want is a legal bill. Sure you'll have to pay for his/her dispersements but their fee should be waivered.

Hope all goes well for you!

Mini_Bear

Definately offer a reduced price to the vendor - it may give her an incentive to hurry up. But if she is having difficulty raising her own mortgage i suggest you walk away - it could turn into a very long and stressful process unnecessarily as you are in the best position.

Burnred

We were also wondering if it would be possible for the vendor to sell us the porperty and for her to move into rented accomodation, we are not sure if this is an option sellers could do in these situations.

poppysarah

Burnred wrote: »

We were also wondering if it would be possible for the vendor to sell us the porperty and for her to move into rented accomodation, if this was an option possible in these situations.

You could suggest it.

QTPie

Burnred wrote: »

We were also wondering if it would be possible for the vendor to sell us the porperty and for her to move into rented accomodation, we are not sure if this is an option sellers could do in these situations.

Keeping a chain in this climate is VERY hard, I don't think it is unreasonable to ask at all: certainly, as sellers, that was what we intended to do.

Good luck.
QT

CLS26

Burnred wrote: »

Hi there,

My girlfriend and I are currently going throught the process of buying a house, so far we have done everything needed on our end including paying the deposit to our solicitors for holding while the vendor finishes passing infomation to her solicitors. We first asked for a completion date of 30th January which came and went with hardly any help from the Estate agents, now we have asked for a completion date of 27th Feb but we have been informed by our solicitors that the vendor hasn't even got a mortgage offer on her new purchase so it seems that we are going to have to wait until she has got that sorted and all the legal stuff on that purchase.
Luckily we are in a position where we don't have to give much notice and are already packed and ready to move, the things that are affecting us are that we are losing interest on the deposit and that our life cover policy has started, but we still have to aerrange time off work and rental vans etc.
Also since we applied for the Mortgage in November the house prices have carried on decreasing and it seems that we already in negative equity before we even move in so again we are losing money befroe we even start.
Any advice on how to speed up the process so we can get into our new property would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

With regards to the deposit, if your solicitor is holding it in their client account, I would suspect that the interest rate will be pretty good - you may want to check with them that they have moved it onto special deposit, as the interest rate should be higher. I believe they are obliged to do this where (a) the amount held is substantial; or (b) the amount is going to be held for a long time (by long, I mean anything longer than a couple of days).

CLS

Burnred

With regards to the deposit, if your solicitor is holding it in their client account, I would suspect that the interest rate will be pretty good - you may want to check with them that they have moved it onto special deposit, as the interest rate should be higher. I believe they are obliged to do this where (a) the amount held is substantial; or (b) the amount is going to be held for a long time (by long, I mean anything longer than a couple of days).

This may be a silly question but does that mean that the interest being made on our deposit will be paid to us or go into the solicitors pockets.

Also thanks for the advice to everyone who has posted

Premier_2

Burnred wrote: »

...the things that are affecting us are that we are losing interest on the deposit ...

Why have you paid the deposit already? Most solicitors don't ask for that until they are about to exchange.

You might be due some interest on the money held, but with BoE rates currently at just 1%, don't expect it to be much.

Burnred wrote: »

..Also since we applied for the Mortgage in November the house prices have carried on decreasing and it seems that we already in negative equity before we even move in so again we are losing money befroe we even start.
Any advice on how to speed up the process so we can get into our new property would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Are you sure?
According to the Halifax, average prices rose last month by 1.9% and are even higher than they were in November.