What would you do?

jessielicious

There's no obvious solution, I just wondered what others would do in our situation. BF and I are first-time buyers, and are in the process of purchasing a 2 bed house. The sellers had found a house they liked, had their offer accepted and it was all looking good as their sellers were moving into rented accommodation, ie a chain of 3, excellent. But the people at the top of the chain have now said they can't sell till August or they will have to pay an early redemption fee on their mortgage. Having already paid for a survey and being keen on the property we don't really want to pull out, however our sellers have decided to stick with their purchase and hang on till August. I'm worried about this for several reasons. First, what if we wait all that time and then everyone decides they want more money as house prices have gone up? Also, we have a holiday booked 1st 2 weeks of Sept, which makes things awkward. Plus, it's VERY hard for me to get time off in August in order to buy furniture, wait in for deliveries, and actually move in. Is it worth waiting? Is it worth offering to pay something towards the redemption fee if they complete? Or should we abandon it and start again? SOOO frustrating, as this has been going on since December already.

littlereddevil

Difficult but maybe it would be worth paying something towards their redemption fee if it is not too much and you really want the house.

Wickedkitten

August? O_o

What if August comes along and they decide they don't want to sell or offer it to someone else? That's a load of time to wait for something when you haven't exchanged contracts and they can pull out at anytime.

Personally I'd go for another property.

robwend

i would ask all in the chain to lower price on all propertys so they can pay the redemption fee

jessielicious

Trouble is, the people who are facing the redemption fee are not buying anywhere, they're moving into rented accommodation so they will want as much money as they can get for theirs.

At the moment we've expressed our concerns to the EA and are hoping that the risk of our sellers losing their buyers who have no chain will spur them into finding a different property. Fingers crossed.

NastyMatt

How about paying the mortgage off with only £1 remaining? No redemption fee as the mortgage is not paid off.

jessielicious

NastyMatt wrote:

How about paying the mortgage off with only £1 remaining? No redemption fee as the mortgage is not paid off.

I asked the estate agent about something like this and he said they would have to pay it off in order to transfer the property to the new owners. Is there any way round this?

Poppy9

I wouldn't hang about for 5 months. As others have said so much could happen in this time. If the sellers of the house you are buying from want to proceed with the sale they either move out and rent for 5 months, buy another house or lose their buyer. It's not really your problem. Start looking at other houses and make sure the EA knows this. This might spur them into action. Yes you may lose your survey fee but you will have to continue paying rent until august if you don't buy.

sm9ai

Theirs nothing wrong with saying yes to keeping them on hold and looking around for other properties at the same time. If something better comes up then great, if not you have a backup plan.

Also don't forget that prices could also come down by August, so in the long run it maybe better. Also your deposit will grow whilst your waiting, saving you a lot on the mortgage payments. Even more if you invest your deposit wisely.

silvercar

Ask if everyone would be prepared to exchange now with completion in August. That way everyone is secure in the knowledge that they have got the houses at the agreed prices. There will also be no redemption fees to pay.

Doozergirl

I think you should continue to look; there's nothing wrong doing so and you may find a better house for better money. There's always something out there. If you don't find anything, you've still got this one waiting for you and five months isn't that long as long as the people currently at the top of the chain get their act together.

There's no guarantee however, that they aren't going to change their mind altogether and pull out between now and then or, more likely, find another house to buy, elongating the chain even further.

If you find somewhere you like, then subtract the cost of the survey you've already paid from the offer you would have made - you'll still have spent that money but it might make you feel a bit better if your slightly lower offer is accepted.