Buying a new build - signing missive

TClite

Hi,

I'm looking for advice on my situation, ill try explain as best I can and will post further information as required.

Me and my girlfriend are purchasing a persimmons new build with an expected completion date of June 2013. Thus far we have signed a pre-reservation agreement (no fee - promo in SEPT) and have a mortgage agreed in principal with Skipton. Persimmons process is to have a missive concluded 4 weeks from the pre-reservation (NOV 2nd) this is now where our problems begin, Skiptons offer will be withdrawn after 6 months from when its translated to a full offer and my Solicitor will obviously not let me sign a missive without it which effectively means my mortgage offer will run out before I move in and dont want to risk being rejected for trying again plus I have a good rate which I dont want to miss out on. Whats more persimmons want me to pay £2000 after conclusion of missive 7 months before we have our house which seems unreasonable but im prepared to live with given we want the house.


My question really is, what can I do to have them delay the missive to a more reasonable timeframe so my mortgage doesnt expire? Do you think its unreasonable that I have to sign these legal fine points before a brick is layed 7 months before the house is built?

Hopefully this makes sense

scottishblondie

I have signed the missives on my new build recently - however the structure of my property is already there, and it will be completed before my mortgage offer expires.

I was told I had to conclude missives within 2 weeks of paying the reservation fee, but it took more than a month in the end due to clauses that I was unhappy with. I also had to pay an additional £2k within 7 days of concluding missives, which my solicitor stated was normal with a new build.

I think in this case you need to be guided by your solicitor, as they must have dealt with this type of situation before. You could also speak to the lender about obtaining an offer with a longer expiration date, but I don't know how that would work.

Whatever you do, don't let the builder pressure you into doing something that you are not comfortable with!

TClite

Its nice to hear from someone who was in an almost identical situation. According to my mortgage advisor Skipton will unlikely change their offer, but I will persue this. Surely persimmons would do everything in their power to keep us involved and not push us away with this formality? As a first time buyer this is a stress we could do without

googler

Get your solicitor to lean on their solicitor.

TClite

googler wrote: »

Get your solicitor to lean on their solicitor.

sounds interesting, having no experience what so ever here, do I simply phone and ask for this to be done? Also is it likely to be something he would be prepared to do as part of our agreed fees?

googler

Your solicitor should be looking after your interests. The fact that he/she won't conclude missives on your behalf without your mortgage being in place bodes well in this regard.

You should expect him or her to make reasonable efforts on your behalf to ...persuade, shall we say, the other side to change entry dates, etc to match your needs if there's a likelihood of you failing to complete if they don't.

Whether they charge you extra for this or not will depend on what you agreed to in their terms of engagement.

TClite

ill look into this and the update thread with any results for people who might find themselves in a similar situation.

littlesparkles

I take it you are in Scotland? I am buying a new build in England and was told the expectation was to exchange within 28 days of reservation. However the sales rep said this hardly ever happens. I reserved at the start of July and I still have not exchanged now (but close to it). The delay is due to the solicitor being slow (but the builder's recommended one and they are paying him...) and I put several queries to the builder's solicitor and these have taken ages to come back. Also my solicitor is pushing for a long-stop date so that I can pull out if the house isn't complete by x date - this happens to be the day my mortgage offer expires. Also he is making sure that I exchange contracts subject to being able to secure a suitable mortgage upon completion. This means I can pull out if my mortgage offer is withdrawn.

Good luck!

TClite

littlesparkles wrote: »

Also my solicitor is pushing for a long-stop date so that I can pull out if the house isn't complete by x date - this happens to be the day my mortgage offer expires. Also he is making sure that I exchange contracts subject to being able to secure a suitable mortgage upon completion. This means I can pull out if my mortgage offer is withdrawn.

Excellent, I should ask my solicitor if we can arrange something similar. Was this all part of the fees or are you having to pay extra for these efforts? thanks.

EDIT: yes, Scotland

littlesparkles

I just have a set fee with the solicitor.