Vendors lost their desired house, should we wait?

silk_2 · 3 September 2013 at 10:09AM

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I have experience of trying to buy 2 houses, when the vendors, just didn't seem to have any hurry..

I will bear that in mind, thanks.

I did contact the vendor yesterday (politely) explaining we are feeling very nervous now and wondered if we could exchange for completion on 7th Oct.. giving him plenty of time to either buy or rent in meantime. he skirted the question again and just said they are trying their best and will have an update soon.

I am getting nowhere with him. Like you say, I don't want to push too hard and lose the sale.. but then again we are so unclear on what is happening that we've started to look at houses on the market again anyway - with the full intention of buying one if we see a decent one with no chain.

As mentioned elsewhere in this post we personally can't afford the gamble of not securing a house before next year, and we are getting no assurances other than word of mouth that the vendor will definitely sell.

silk_2 · 3 September 2013 at 10:14AM

Almo wrote: »

I think you should carry on looking at houses - not only as a tactic but also so you can hit the ground running if it all falls apart again. I'd be upfront and say you do really want their house but can't wait indefinitely.

How easy is it for you to drop the offer 1.5k - will you need to get a new mortgage offer etc? I'd be very reluctant to pay 1.5k F&F if it was agreed to facilitate a quick sale!

We are looking and have mentioned "it's on the table" that we will pull due to how badly things have gone so far.

I am not sure how easy it would be to drop the 1.5k because our solicitors are so useless that I'm not even sure they have the 1.5k as part of the sale in the first place. I requested they do it as a separate transaction for f&f and I've not yet seen any paperwork around it - just the contracts & mortgage for the value of the house. Better still I've seen that our vendors have included pretty much all f&f as part of the "sale price" - but the sale price excludes the extra 1.5k! I suspect we were supposed to loan 251,500 or something and declare the portion over 1,500 f&f but nobody told us that so we didn't have a clue.

In either case it's a right mess!

makeyourdaddyproud · 3 September 2013 at 1:48PM

silk wrote: »

...As mentioned elsewhere in this post we personally can't afford the gamble of not securing a house before next year, and we are getting no assurances other than word of mouth that the vendor will definitely sell.

What do you mean by that? Are you saying there's no other houses you're ever likely to buy by then?

moneyistooshorttomention · 3 September 2013 at 2:22PM

My take on that would chime with OP's. I tend to think that these current Government schemes are a disaster waiting to happen, but that the most immediate effect will be to push up houseprices come the beginning of next year (ie when that help comes in with the cost of buying "secondhand" houses).

I understand why OP feels under pressure and the fact that that whole scheme is a "balloon waiting to burst" will probably not stop it inflating in the short-term.

PaulLuke · 3 September 2013 at 2:31PM

silk wrote: »

but the sale price excludes the extra 1.5k! I suspect we were supposed to loan 251,500 or something and declare the portion over 1,500 f&f !

If your price is 250,000 and there's an additional 1500 on F&F be very sure that the F&F covered by that 1500 is genuinely worth that much. You can expect HMRC to take a long hard look at the transaction when completing the stamp duty as 250000 = 2500 stamp duty and 250000.01 = 7500.03!

makeyourdaddyproud · 3 September 2013 at 2:44PM

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

My take on that would chime with OP's. I tend to think that these current Government schemes are a disaster waiting to happen, but that the most immediate effect will be to push up houseprices come the beginning of next year (ie when that help comes in with the cost of buying "secondhand" houses).

I understand why OP feels under pressure and the fact that that whole scheme is a "balloon waiting to burst" will probably not stop it inflating in the short-term.

Until then it's speculation. I'm not seeing large rises in at least 3 counties when my relatives live, and there's still retrenchment is some areas of SE. OP's concerns are unfounded if it is "huge" rises he is wrestling with.

bloolagoon · 3 September 2013 at 4:52PM

I want to buy in the north east of England and I cannot buy or rent despite being in a good place as a buyer.

Mainly as the local private school merged with the local primary school (the first of its kind in the UK), so the market has gone bonkers. We have been planning a mice there way before this merger was ever known, and wish we took the plunge last year.

Prices have risen since the merger announcement and renters are now only taking long term renrs.

Because its not fair on our buyers we have decided to release them from the offer and tell them to look elsewhere and if I can go ahead we will honour their offer then if they wish.

I find it hard not being able to communicate directly as you do not know what the estate agent is saying really.

silk_2 · 4 September 2013 at 3:41PM

EA called.. Latest news is one for the vendors would be up for renting, but her husband has cold feet over the idea.

So I explained to him we won't pull for sake of it but we are looking because we need a backup plan / need to buy before 2014.

I reiterated that if they will just rent we will exchange right now.

I get the feeling it's going nowhere though..