What to do now we have made an offer on a house...

wafers

We have just accepted an offer on our house, so have put in a fair offer on a house we really want.
The chap buying our house is renting so is in a good position. The old lady whose house we have offered on, is due to move into a new house with a granddaughter.
We told the estate agent our offer on Saturday but haven't heard back yet, so expect something on Monday.
After reading a thread on here just now about the idea of making offers on the understanding that the house in question is taken off the market, I am wondering if we should have asked the same? I really don't want anyone else to come along and try gazumping us, but am concerned if the vendor does take her property off the market for us, and our sale falls through, we would be in a sticky situation?
Any advice appreciated!

kingstreet

Are you taking yours "off the market" for your purchaser?

TBH, even if you do this, or your vendor does it, if the Agent receives an offer from someone else, the Estate Agency Act says the agent must communicate the offer to the vendor.

I'd say make speedy progress towards exchange and if someone else does come along, you and your vendor should view the current buyer as in a better position to proceed quickly as they are already progressing well.

tyllwyd

I wouldn't worry too much about it - the usual situation is that once an offer is accepted, the vendor will take the house off the market and if the sale falls through at a later stage, the house will go back on the market. But unless you have agreed to any special condititions, as the person whose attempted purchase falls through there is no come back on you. If you just change your mind and pull out, there might be arguments about wasted costs higher up the chain, but I don't think that is all that common.

wafers

kingstreet wrote: »

Are you taking yours "off the market" for your purchaser?

TBH, even if you do this, or your vendor does it, if the Agent receives an offer from someone else, the Estate Agency Act says the agent must communicate the offer to the vendor.

I'd say make speedy progress towards exchange and if someone else does come along, you and your vendor should view the current buyer as in a better position to proceed quickly as they are already progressing well.

Makes sense. Any particular pointers to making speedy progress? Is it a case of calling solicitors on a regular basis for updates, or are there particular 'tricks of the trade'?!

m_13

I think a lot of it is about being on the ball and knowing where you are. For example, our new mortgage is with HSBC. We went into branch and did the money laundering/identity stuff. I then rang every day until it appeared on the system. When it did, the branch had done it wrong and we had to go in again and redo it (they had forgotten to stamp and mark the photocopies as true copies). We managed to get into the branch and redo before the letter arrived telling us to do so and saved two days.

It's been like that throughout. They asked us to send a cheque and then said it had to clear (which took three days) so I paid with a debit card over the 'phone and they tore up the cheque. They said that the surveyor would contact us but we asked for their contact details and chased them.

If you know what's required of you then get ahead with filling in forms, looking out receipts and paperwork your solicitor will ask for, thinking about what you are willing to leave, what you want to take and what you would sell.

We've also used a solicitor we can walk to. We drop things off and then confirm we have done so by email. It's making things easier and quicker.

Good luck. This is our eleventh move so we're slicker but still the waiting is horrible!

wafers

Thanks for the ideas! We made an offer and after a bit of wrangling, it was accepted. Just waiting for solicitors to do their thing now. Fingers crossed and touch wood!