Could we buy house now and agree an exchange date for July?

bigtel_2

Hi,

Myself and partner went for a second viewing tonight for a house we like and want to purchase.

The house has been up for sale since September and last week was dropped 5k. The owner is pregnant and is due in 9 weeks. She is a bit worried if it gets any closer to her due date she would be giving birth and moving in the same week!

So since the drop in price they have more viewings but she agreed with her partner that if no firm offers came in this week they would take it off the market until after the birth of the baby.

Her other option is if they are happy with the price offered then sell the house and agree a date of around July to give her a couple of months rest. She did state though if they saw rented property they were happy with sooner they would take this option and move in there if needed.

Myself and partner are happy to wait till July. We are FTB's so no rush, It gives us more time to save for furniture etc, we could stop looking for houses! and we think it's worth the asking price and other houses in the area are 10k more and need a lot more doing to them. Also buying it now reduces the risk of if house prices went up etc.

We got our mortgage in principal on the 18th of Feb (Which I believes lasts 90 days)

So my questions are:

Is it possible to purchase the house now but agree an exchange date of July? Would the mortgage etc only start from this date if it's possible?

Will I need to get my mortgage in principal renewed nearer the time?

Hope I make sense!

Thanks

G_M

If you don't Exchange, nothing is guaranteed and eithr side can change their mind.

You could Exchange now, with an agreed Completion date later (july, whenever) but bear in mind if you need a mortgage, any mortgage offer is likely to exoire before then, requiring a new mortgage application, which of course might or might not be approved.

Property prices might also change between now and July, but if you've Exchnged then the price is fixed.

bigtel_2

Makes sense G_M.

Thanks for that.

Dan-Dan

dont forget as well , if you were to exchange now , you would need to get insurance for the property , also you have no real way of knowing what damage or lack of maintenance is occuring in the intervening months
Are you 100% sure this is the house you `must` have?

DigForVictory

Long as you exchange, sure.
Just bombproof it with your solicitors (some kind of insurance policy?) in case there's a sudden surge in house prices & the seller wants to reap the benefit.

Just listen to your solicitor when they list off what they recommend to cover the intermediate period!

Doozergirl

It can be done. Bear in mind that if you started now, it wouldn't be unusual to be exchanging contracts in May anyway. Lokking to exchange then with a view to completion in July would probably be suitable to both parties if you can work your way around the mortgage offer (many people have to!)

bigtel_2

Thanks for all the comments and help.

Much appreciated.

Mortgage_Mark_2

Mortgage in principle or mortgage offer?

If it's just in principle that's technically only really valid on the day that it's done as it is simply a credit score. A mortgage offer, issued after all underwriting has been completed and the valuation satisfactorily carried out, can usually be extended - although it's worth pointing out that certain lenders, Halifax as an example, issue theirs for six months.

If you haven't got the formal mortgage offer yet then it could be even better news, as the 90 days will start from issue.

Edit: Just read your post again and you certainly have an Agreement in Principle. One other thing worth pointing out is that if you were to go down the route of exchanging now and completing in the summer, you're legally bound to pay the exchange price and could be in a bad situation if the market crashes and your mortgage offer needs to be renewed, as you could then have to stump up the difference in cash.