What happens now?

gashead1985

Hi

More advice needed please! Offer on my first house has now been accepted! Estate agent is going to contact solicitor and said we will receive a pack from them. But i still unsure what will happen next? The vendors are yet to find a property but have seen some they are keen to make offers on...and i think there is a possibility they would move in with family if they had too. Just wondering is there anything we can do along the way to speed it all up?

Thank you!

Richard_Webster

Go and see the sellers personally and ask them whether they are prepared to move out without completing the purchase of another property. Do not rely on anything the estate agents tell you on this subject!

If they say they are prepared to do this, ask them how they will do it. (Lots of people haven't thought it through, and when they do, they realise that if they haven't go friends or family to put them up, then nobody is going to let a house to them just for a few weeks, but only on an AST for 6 months.)

If, as is most likely, they are looking for a house to buy then you will just have to wait until they find and their sellers find, etc all the way up the chain and you won't be able to do very much to speed things up other than threatening to pull out, which the sellers might not take seriously unless it is very much a buyer's market in your area.

Even if they instruct solicitors who send draft contract papers out to your solicitors it won't mean that exchange of contracts will necessarily happen until the whole chain above is ready to proceed.

bandofbrothers

Unless you know the buyers it would be advisable to not just turn up at their front door !

Some people do not appreciate face to face discussion on this and can see it as harassment !

Ensure your paperwork is returned promptly and fullly filled out.
Take this direct to your solicitors as not to rely on the post.

Richard_Webster

Unless you know the buyers it would be advisable to not just turn up at their front door !

Some people do not appreciate face to face discussion on this and can see it as harassment !

That's fair enough, but if you want to find out what is really happening there is no substitute for talking to the sellers. Anyway if they won't talk about that kind of thing are they trying to hide something?

If OP found out that the sellers are going to faff around and not make up their minds for ages then then he might be better off buying something else and would not want to spend money of a mortgage application/solicitors etc.

mufi

Richard_Webster wrote: »

then nobody is going to let a house to them just for a few weeks, but only on an AST for 6 months.)

Not much help to the OP but, out of season, holiday cottage companies will often be delighted to rent out a vacant property for a few weeks at lower rates than usual. As a little bonus, the rent will often include utilities.

Grimbal

Could I just gently suggest that, however fast you want to move in, you must be prepared for the length of time house moving takes. All the links in chain have to be allowed to form - don't immediately assume that your vendors are willing or able to rent or move in with relatives just to suit a FTBs eagerness to get into their house. It can be quite frustrating as a FTB - you have no one under you & you're all ready to go! I can appreciate that you just want to get on with things, but don't let the chain fall through just because you want the keys in a month or so,

caeler

Your estate agent should be looking to verify the 'chain'. They need to understand your position through your solicitor (ie. mortgage in place ready to go, etc) and that of those within the chain. Those you are buying from have not found anywhere therefore you will not progress until they have or commit to going into rented, etc. I think you need to push your EA hard to find out what their position is, other wise you need to keep looking or risk wait months and months. Good Luck.

Quenastoise

Firstly, congratulation of finding a potential home and getting your offer accepted. Like the others say, you only have limited control on the whole process, obviously the shorter the chain the easier the process but there is no guarantee when buying and selling houses that things will proceed smoothly, even with a short chain/cash buyer until you actually exchange contracts. You can keep abreast of the seller's progress in finding a house through the estate agent, if it turns out that they are not able to find a replacement property /get finance for a new house within a reasonable amount of time, then it's up to you to decide if you are wasting your time buying that particular house or not. Bear in mind that mortgage offers only have a short lifespan from agreement in principle to completion.

One thing you can do from your end is ensure that all your ducks are into place, ie your finances are organised, the solicitor is given what he needs from you immediately, you have all the guarantees relating to the house ready, etc. Then it's a matter of following things up with the solicitor/the estate agents/the mortgage company to make sure that everything proceeds at the right speed.

Good luck

gashead1985

Thank you for all your advice! Hopefully the sellers will find a property soon! Our EA has said give them a month and we could then ask them if they could move out? Guess they can only say no!

Quenastoise

A month sounds reasonable ! It's actually not too much time when you don't have too much time to visit houses/can't make your mind up/there aren't a lot of properties on the market, but that gives them some time to consider their options.
Hope it all goes smoothly for you !