How does someone buy a house when in a chain? All the agents want chain free

clockworks_2

Please bear with me. I am new to all this!

I have only ever bought one property the flat I live in.

I have found another property I want to buy and my offer has been accepted.

The property I am buying is not lived in and is chain free as it is a probate property.

However I need to sell my flat as the money released will pay for deposit, fees, stamp as well as towards the refurb costs of new place.

The agents think I am chain free- but I am not, I am worried I will lost the property if they find out I need to sell my flat.

Is the agent obliged to hold the property till I sell my flat?
What can I do?

david29dpo

1. No they are not
2. Sell first.

Nynaeve

They are not obliged to hold the property for you.
You generally sell, then start looking.
Flats can take a while to sell depending on where you are - why did you tell them you were chain free when you're not??

cte1111

It would be better to wait until you have had an offer accepted on your own property, before offering on a new property. You can't expect someone to take their property off the market when you could take a year or more to sell your own.

Of course we all love to be chain free, however most of us aren't. You do need to be honest with people as much as possible. The prospective property is not yours until contracts are exchanged, so right up until the date of exchange, the buyer could pull out or accept someone else's offer.

clockworks_2

But then if you sell first are you obliged into giving an exchange date when you haven't found somewhere to move first?

I would have been - the other properties I had enough to buy and move into. The one I have found needs complete refurb which means I need to raise more money for the work- which is why I need to release the cash.

The agent hasn't been great so far and mucked me around , I am hoping the fact that the seller is a probate property will work in my favour as they may not be in a rush to sell.

pinkshoes

clockworks wrote: »

But then if you sell first are you obliged into giving an exchange date when you haven't found somewhere to move first?

I would have been - the other properties I had enough to buy and move into. The one I have found needs complete refurb which means I need to raise more money for the work- which is why I need to release the cash.

The agent hasn't been great so far and mucked me around , I am hoping the fact that the seller is a probate property will work in my favour as they may not be in a rush to sell.

If you sell first, THEN you find somewhere to live, and the exchange date will be when everyone is ready to move.

You would only be chain free if you sold your flat, completed, moved into rented, and THEN bought another house.

I'm not sure you are in a position to say that the agent has mucked you around when you have LIED about your position. I sold my flat to a chain free buyer, and accepted a lower price because of this. If I'd then found out that he'd had a property to sell first, I would have been furious!

With no offer on your property, you are not in a position to buy.

notanewuser

Can you afford a bridging loan?

Tixy

clockworks wrote: »

I am hoping the fact that the seller is a probate property will work in my favour as they may not be in a rush to sell.

I would think the exact opposite is more likely to be the case. As a probate property they are probably more inclined to want to sell as quickly as possible to whoever can complete first.

cte1111

clockworks wrote: »

I am hoping the fact that the seller is a probate property will work in my favour as they may not be in a rush to sell.

I'm selling a probate property, I am certainly keen to sell as soon as possible. I'm having to pay bills on a property that is empty and I have never lived in.

I'm sure lots of us look around at prospective properties, whilst ours are up for sale. Then, when you receive an offer on your home, you know which house(s) you would like to offer on. What isn't on, is to mislead everyone and say that you don't need to sell yours, when you do.

I can understand how it has happened, as you were looking at other houses for which you wouldn't need to sell yours. Would you be able to complete on the refurbishment property, then not move in until yours has sold and you could afford to start the work? If not, then you need to let the vendor know.

Padstow

I think the confusion here is the term "sell".

When an offer is made on your property, it is by no means "sold". It could take many weeks before exchange of contracts, that is the point of no return.
Meanwhile, the potential buyers may have their mortgage refused or the survey shows faults where they don't wish to proceed, or whatever reason.

Please don't view properties until you have an offer. I had all sorts wandering around who hadn't even put their property on the market. Most are dreamers. I once lived next door to a retired couple whose Sunday afternoon entertainment was viewing luxury bungalows that they had no intention of buying.
It drives us sellers mad as we can't live a normal life when expecting viewers.

I put a stop to it and told EA only serious buyers allowed.

Dropped 150k but hey ho!

OP, I suggest that you google, "steps in house buying", or something similar, where you can familiarise yourself with the process.

You sound very green in the house buying business, so to take on a property that needs lots of work, dealing with trades etc would be too much.

mrginge

clockworks wrote: »

The agent hasn't been great so far and mucked me around

Unlike your good self of course, who has acted impeccably throughout.