Offer accepted, waiting for vendors to have an offer accepted

chockydavid1983

Hi everyone

I had an offer accepted on a house last week. I am a first time buyer and the purchase price is just below full asking price.

I received a letter from the vendors' estate agents today stating:
"Before a sale can be exchanged a number of key actions need to be completed by you and your advisors. Please ensure we are provided full evidence of these actions over the coming days and weeks in order that we may consistently communicate your commitment to the purchase of this property when we provide updates to our client."

The key actions are obviously getting a mortgage, conveyancing and surveys but what should I get done now and what should reasonably be allowed to wait until the vendors have had an offer accepted on a property please? I want to demonstrate my commitment to buying the property but at the same time not incur unnecessary expense should the sale end up not going ahead.

I have a decision in principle from late last year that needs re-doing due to recent changes in legislation so I am in the process of doing that and hence getting my mortgage application started. However, I think the legal searches and surveys can wait until the vendors have had an offer accepted? I believe I am in a strong position as a first time buyer at close to asking price.

I was also wondering how long I should reasonably give the vendors to have an offer accepted please? I was thinking that after 4-6 weeks, I should ask if they have considered renting? They are aware that my current rental contract ends on August the 25th.

Thanks,
Chris.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Give them 4 weeks or look for another property were the vendors CAN exchange in reasonable time.

pinkteapot

We didn't incur any costs until the chain was complete (waited for our vendors to have an offer accepted, then had to wait till the person they were buying from had an offer accepted). There's simply no point spending money on mortgage application, solicitor etc.

Get quotes from solicitors and decide which one you'll use, but don't instruct them (return all their forms) until the chain is complete. Similarly you can look at mortgages and decide which to go for. If you're using a broker they can prepare your application (fill in the form and save it on their system), ready to 'push the button' as soon as you've got a complete chain.

You can tell the EA which solicitor you will be using and that your mortgage application is ready to go, but you won't incur any expenses until the chain is complete.

Ring the EA on a regular basis (weekly) and ask what the progress is with the chain. They'll know you're serious.

If you're on a deadline (need the property by 25/8) you may end up having to give up on this one and buy something with no onward chain.

chockydavid1983

Thanks Foxy.
I think I'll give them 4 weeks and start looking at other properties again probably a week before or sooner if something really good comes up.
Is it reasonable to not proceed fully with conveyancing and surveys until a chain is complete?

Chris.

sterl1ng

I am in same situation as you, as FTB my offer was accepted 3rd March, its been over 7wks and vendors are still looking as not heard anything from EA...though we did know that there weren't looking beforehand as they needed a buyer in place before looking. We haven't done anything as yet in terms of mortgage application as I'd be concerned that I'd lose out on valuatoin costs plus solicitor suggested we don't action them until offer for mortage goes through. We are just hanging on edge of our seats as we really want to move and they cannot rent anywhere and already have made clear so its a case of being patient.

If you can wait otherwise you may lose out on fees.

pinkteapot

chockydavid1983 wrote: »

Is it reasonable to not proceed fully with conveyancing and surveys until a chain is complete?

Yep, it's what we did.

There's no point spending any money at this point. You could do everything now but your vendor won't start doing their legal stuff until they've found something, so you and your team will be twiddling your thumbs waiting for them. You won't speed things up by starting early, and you risk losing money if they just change their mind and decide not to move because they can't find anything. Best approach is for everyone in the chain to do all their conveyancing etc simultaneously when the chain is formed.

Be firm with the EA. Tell them that you're absolutely committed, give them the name of the solicitor you'll be using (and mortgage company if you like) but say that they're not going to be instructed until the chain is complete. Tell them you're getting everything ready so that as soon as the chain is formed you can move fast.

Call them regularly for chain updates and stress that you want to be in by August. After a few weeks, as if the vendor would consider renting.

You may well find that the vendor's vendor also then needs to go out and find something.

Our chain took about two months to form.

Yorkie1

OP, you say your tenancy ends on 25 Aug. What do you actually mean by this? Is it the end of a fixed period, or have you received a s.21 notice from the LL / LA?

chockydavid1983

Thanks for your replies guys.
You've basically confirmed what I thought but was unsure of as I haven't actually been through the process before.
Yorkie1, I am currently sharing with 5 other people and we are on a yearly assured shorthold tenancy that runs until 25th of August each year.
It's fairly relaxed in the house whereby people just decide if they're leaving or not each year (2 left last year and we then found replacements).
I think I have to give at least a month's notice (maybe 2) so would like to be exchanging contracts in the next couple of months or so and then completing by August 25th.
But then even if they find somewhere, the chain would still need to be completed (unless they bought an empty property or a new build of course)
So I think I will give them a few weeks and then ask the EA to ask if they would consider renting, which would massively simplify things for me and secure them the sale.
If they don't find somewhere soon or consider renting, I will be starting to look elsewhere because as much as I like the house and it's a reasonable price (it was the upper bound of where I was prepared to go for that property), if it doesn't go through none of that matters.

Thanks again guys,
Chris.