Offer accepted - how long is acceptable to sort out mortgage/soclictor?

littlesaint

My husband and I heard that our offer on a property was accepted on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, this week has been very busy workwise this week - I have been working lates and spending the morning doing freelance work - and we have not had very much time to devote to sorting out our mortgage and solicitors. I have got loads of quotes for solicitors and my husband has been talking to our mortgage brokers.

We had hoped to get a mortgage directly with the Post Office but I found out on Thursday that they had raised interest rates on the product we wanted so we are going down the broker route.

Our broker is looking at product for us and is going to go through the options with my husband on Wednesday - it would have been earlier but he has had annual leave and there is now a bank holiday. Unfortunately, I am working late on Wednesday so we won't be able to finalise the mortgage until Thursday morning. I hope to sort out the solicitors then too.

Here is my concern. Our successful offer was significantly less than asking in a very bouyant area of the country and the property is still on the market. Our offer was accepted on the basis we are first time buyers with an AIP, which we have from our broker. But the property is still on the market - most seem to stay on the market after offers are accepted in this area.

We are getting lots of calls from the agent marketing their conveyancing and broker services. On each occasion we have told us that we are sorting things out ourselves. I know it has been less than a week and will be just over a week by Thursday, but do vendors expect you to be on the case immediately after an offer's accepted?

Ideally we would have like to have done that (it would get the agent's broker and conveyancer off our back) but with work commitments, changes in interest rates and brokers being on holiday it has been difficult. I am starting to feel the pressure!

robatwork

You should have (or still can) ask them to take it off the market now they have accepted your offer. Also when the EA's conveyancers call just tell them you already have instructed one

littlesaint

robatwork wrote: »

You should have (or still can) ask them to take it off the market now they have accepted your offer.

I think we will do that - certainly after the bank holiday is up.

I am not too worried about telling the agent's conceyancer and brokers to get lost. But whenever they call they ask us which lender / solicitor we are going with - I guess we could just pick one.

drummer_666

robatwork wrote: »

You should have (or still can) ask them to take it off the market now they have accepted your offer. Also when the EA's conveyancers call just tell them you already have instructed one

they'd be a bit foolish to take it off the market before seeing a decision in principle

seeing as it is now saturday, the next working day is wed, you will have sorted which lender you're going for thursday. Get him to email you the decision in principle and forward that straight to the EA.

That means you by Thursday the house will be off the market. Although other people that have viewed today, wed or even previously can still offer, at least it will be off the market Thurs.

Make sure the broker emails you the form Thursday morning too, so you can print it fill it in, scan it in and email it back so that he can submit the application the same day.

Fortheloveofmoney

We have accepted an offer on our property and we've asked the EA to keep marketing it until the buyers have booked a survey. To me this is the point at which a commitment is shown.

Just keep your vendor (via the EA) up to date on your progress as this will stop them feeling nervous.

littlesaint

My husband has told the agent that we plan to have a mortgage and solicitor sorted by Wednesday or Thursday.

The annoying thing is we have tonnes of time to sort things out this weekend but won't be able to do much - other than get nervous - over a bank holiday weekend. The one crumb of comfort I can take is that the same agent has discouraged us from viewing properties that are listed as on still being on the market on Right Move because they are under offer.

Any other suggestions about how we can hit the ground running on Thursday would be much appreciated!

AMO

On the purchasing side you have more time although if you got the house at a good price it is possible the house seller may accept other offers if you dilly dally too much. In essense, their estate agents will cut off other bidders once they have accepted. However, a standard clause will be that you will have setup a mortgage and sent out a mortgage valuation survey within 3 weeks of acceptance. So that doesn't give you much time.

The key thing to note is that in yesterdays world of economic boom, people outbid each other and gazumping was rife. However, today, that is not the case. You might see that as an advantage, but it comes with a downside. People buying houses tend to look for other houses to get better value whilst they are waiting. As there is no deposit requirement and a verbal contract is not legal like it is in Scotland, its your buyer you need to be concerned about.

AMO

Of course, if you're a first time buyer or one without a house you're going to be okay!

littlesaint

We are first time buyers. Didn't know about the three week thing. One week will be up on Tuesday! We'll make sure we can sort eveything out on Thursday then. I have a morning off work on Thrursday because I have another late so I can spend lots of time on this.

Fortunately we don't need to exchange until early July because we can't complete till August 16th (that's the date stipulated by the guy at the top of the chain).

To be fair to the agent himself he has been good at keeping us posted and he hasn't been too pushy so far, just politely enquiring how everything was going. I think he's probably get more pushy next week so really want to sort this out before we get nervous buyers - I see enough of them on this forum!

Gentoo365

The estate agent is not likely to actively promote the property as that sale is 'in the bag' as it were.

If someone rang up for a viewing the EA is likely to say something like

"that one is sold subject to contract, however I have some similar properties that you will really like including one that has just come on the market today, when can you see it"

EA would rather not cannibalise their own sales for a small increase in commission.

In my case I had a phone call from the EA about 2 weeks after offer accepted asking what was going on as valuation had not been arranged.

Also, they need the solicitors details to send the memorandum of sale.

jozbo

Sorry to jump on your thread but we also had our offer accepted on Tuesday.
I have sent off paperwork to mortgage lender to be processed on weds. We are just getting a valuation with them and going independent for a homebuyers report.
Should I wait until the valuation has been carried out before booking te survey? Only I anticipate that if valuation comes out lower we may need to negotiate and sale could potentially fall through.

Dont want to pay out on HB report until sure the lender is happy (we have got to this stage before only for sale to collapse)
?