Go ahead or wait for vendors

Tigerstripe

Had an offer accepted on a house last week. We have a MIP and I've contacted a solicitor. Vendor's EA said not to spend any money yet. Not sure why? Seller is looking to move locally to a bigger property and was keen on us being FTB.

So, do we go ahead and complete our full application for the mortgage or wait for the vendor to find somewhere? Looking at ~£650 in upfront fees (booking, valuation, house buyer report).

We're keen to reserve this particular mortgage deal but it's a lot of money upfront when there is no further progress yet until seller has found a house. Is it the done thing just to get going once offer has been accepted?

Kynthia

You usually wait until the chain is complete before spending money. If you pay for a mortgage offer and valuation then that money may be lost if the vendors take months to find somewhere else or cant find something so decide not to sell.

moneyistooshorttomention

I wouldn't have been too happy if my EA had taken that attitude when I sold my last house. Mine said "The sooner she starts spending some money, then the sooner we have some evidence of her commitment as a buyer" and was keen for her to get on with getting herself "committed". I agreed with him, ie that it would help minimise the chances of her letting me down. It was good news to me when I could see she would have spent hundreds of £s that she should proceed with purchase as agreed. That is what happened.

In my case, there was no question of waiting for a "chain" to form up, as I had already found my house (the one I now have) and my vendor wasn't purchasing another house. However, even if my own vendor had been purchasing somewhere else, I expect my EA would still have wanted that "evidence of commitment" from my buyer asap and I would have agreed with them.

anselld

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

In my case, there was no question of waiting for a "chain" to form up, as I had already found my house

... so your circumstances were completely different to the OP. It is nonsensical for the OP to spend money; it is the OP's vendor who now has to show evidence of commitment by finding somewhere to buy.

kingstreet

Th EA is being remarkably candid and perhaps indicating they are not convinced the vendor will actually sell, IMHO.

Wait until the chain forms before spending money.

pinkteapot

Definitely wait. We had an offer accepted and accepted an offer on our own house, but we didn't do our mortgage application, instruct solicitor or order the survey until the chain was complete. This is pretty standard. We were lucky in that it only took a month. If your seller takes ages to find something, you may get fed up and look elsewhere (depending on how quickly you need to move).

Also, if your mortgage offer is approved the offer they make will normally only be valid for six months (or, weirdly in Santander's case, five months). It can usually be extended by a few weeks, but you don't really want to risk the offer expiring and you having to re-apply because it took your vendor four months to find a house.

Talc1234

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I wouldn't have been too happy if my EA had taken that attitude when I sold my last house. Mine said "The sooner she starts spending some money, then the sooner we have some evidence of her commitment as a buyer" and was keen for her to get on with getting herself "committed". I agreed with him, ie that it would help minimise the chances of her letting me down.

But it is easy to advise others to spend their money. What about the seller's commitment? Agent is right.

princeofpounds

Letting people spend money to become committed is all very well, but if a delay is possible it's also a great way to generate poison in the relationship.