Sellers still looking, EA advises proceeding with mortgage app?

May1987

We are FTBs and found a flat we liked at the weekend, our offer was accepted subject to sending our DIP to the estate agent, which we did on Monday. We also have a solicitor in place. The EA originally told us the sellers had found somewhere they liked, but it turns out they have lost it (to a buyer with no chain) so are still looking. The EA has advised us to:

1) do nothing re. solicitor/survey until chain is complete
2) submit mortgage application now

Obviously I agree with point 1 but is he correct on point 2? Wouldn't this mean paying the mortgage arrangement fee?

If the sellers can't find anywhere or take too long, and we end up going with a different property, what if the price is higher - would this entail going back to the mortgage company to change the particulars of the application/offer?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice/tips. We are new to all this.

kay_1

We had an offer accepted on a property at the beginning of February and applied for our mortgage straight away for peace of mind really and to show we were serious. We paid for the valuation and mortgage application fee. 2.5 months on our seller still hasn't found anywhere and we're getting sick of waiting as we have sold our house and have moved in with our parents. Also the longer she's taking, the closer we are getting to our mortgage offer expiring.

We are going to start looking elsewhere but obviously it means we're going to lose out on money if we find somewhere else.

No advice really but that's the way we done things and I kind of wish we hadn't now!

D00gie72

I believe you can usually add the mortgage arrangement fee to the loan - meaning you don't pay it now. then as long as you pay the arrangement fee within 2 weeks of completion you wont have to pay any interest. if the sale doesn't go through you wont have to pay the arrangement fee - at least that's what happened to us last year when our first sale didn't go through - we didn't have to pay any mortgage fees.

hazyjo

I wouldn't be spending anything until the chain was complete. No guarantee they will ever find anything and they may well pull out.

The mortgage will only be valid for probably 3 or 6 months. What's the point of arranging it now? It takes around 3 months for a sale/purchase from offer to completion. You could well end up out of pocket.

Jx

koneko

We were in this situation, had to wait 5 months for vendor to find somewhere to buy, but we did wait as we love the house. We held off doing anything just in case and I'm glad we did as our mortgage offer would have expired.

G_M

Sellers still looking, EA advises proceeding with mortgage app?

Of course he does. He does not have to pay the mortgage application fee. Or Valuation/survey.

He just wants you, the buyer, financially committed to the purchase so he does not lose you.....

hazyjo

koneko wrote: »

We were in this situation, had to wait 5 months for vendor to find somewhere to buy, but we did wait as we love the house. We held off doing anything just in case and I'm glad we did as our mortgage offer would have expired.

Also, be very careful about agreeing a price on a property in an incomplete chain in a rising market. If it takes 5 months for them to find somewhere like koneko's did, you may well find them hitching up the price or remarketing after a few months! Obviously they risk losing the next one without a buyer, but when the market's frantic, it might not take long to get one...

Jx

koneko

We were really worried about this, but thankfully our vendors had lost a buyer previously before us and lost a house because of it, so they were just grateful that we were patient I think. They knew full well if they tried to get more out of us, we'd have walked away!

polarization

If I were you, I will not spend anything at this stage. My friend in the same situation before. She spent the money for the survey and arrange for the mortgage and valuation. The vendor did not have any progress in looking for houses or any sign to move. At the end, my friend had to offer another house and lose nearly £1,000.

There is no difference to start your survey or mortgage application when the vendor is ready as they also need to go through the process themselves.

Once you spent any money, you will try to convince youself to wait for teh vendor even a voice in your head telling you they are not actively looking for a place as you don't want to waste the money spent.