We've withdrawn our offer!

Eejay

sulphate wrote: »

We live in a terrace and our garden is bigger than my in laws', who have a detached house.

I'm pregnant too, the idea of going through this problematic transaction with a newborn, or worse, having it fall through and have to house hunt at that stage, seems like a nightmare to me.

I could MAYBE understand your willingness to proceed if the tenants had been given notice but it sounds like that hasn't even happened.

I have seen some nice terraces in other places, but not in the area we're searching - they literally crammed as many in as they could when they built them. I'm not being 'snobby' about it; we have spent numerous hours a week on Zoopla trying to find a house we're interested in but the majority lack outdoor space, are nowhere near suitable bus routes, or have particularly bad crime statistics. We started looking at the start of the year and there are only a couple that we have even considered looking at. Our search area is ridiculously limited and it's making it really difficult.

CH27

OP you & your husband are bonkers. This will cause you no end of problems.
Walk away.

DRP

CH27 wrote: »

OP you & your husband are bonkers. This will cause you no end of problems.
Walk away.

Or it might not...

The thing with this site is that we encounter worse case scenarios quite frequently, making it feel like these predominate.

Although I would never recommend to someone to do what the op is doing, in all likelihood it'll work out fine.

To give an example, when we moved house recently, in order to facilitate the chain, our vendors moved into their vendors' (empty house) prior to exchange. Potentially very risky for their vendor but everything worked out.

Data_Monkey

DRP wrote: »

Or it might not...

The thing with this site is that we encounter worse case scenarios quite frequently, making it feel like these predominate.

Although I would never recommend to someone to do what the op is doing, in all likelihood it'll work out fine.

To give an example, when we moved house recently, in order to facilitate the chain, our vendors moved into their vendors' (empty house) prior to exchange. Potentially very risky for their vendor but everything worked out.

If it was just a case of inconvenience and a bit of hassle as the worst case scenario I'd agree with you. When I bought my first house, the vendor gave me the keys a couple of days before completion so that I could move my stuff in and even sleep there the night before. The money went through, I didn't burn the house down while it was still his, or change the locks and squat.

But if the bank really will refuse to release the funds with a tenant in place, then it's very bad news. It's a big leap of faith that you're taking and bearing in mind how flaky the estate agent is, you don't have control over the situation and to me, the risk is too great.

It's up to you though, and I hope it works out - it sounds like you've set your heart on this one. I do just worry that you are letting your heart rule your head, which isn't smart where housebuying is concerned.

Eejay

Having a nightmare getting hold of the woman dealing with the mortgage. Tried her mobile, tried to get a couple of questions answered via a general mortgage number, and then tried another number hoping to get through to the branch - they tried to put me through but nobody was answering the phone so they've sent an email requesting someone call me ASAP.

She's a really nice woman when we can get hold of her, but she does seem to be causing a lot of the delays (probably not entirely her fault when her colleagues can't even be bothered answering the phone). After all, there was a week and a half delay between the appointment and submitting the mortgage application because we couldn't get through to her, and now it looks like there could be another delay. I know we went further afield to get an appointment, but I wish it could have been nearer so I could easily turn up at the branch and wait to speak to someone! I was tempted to go there this afternoon, but it would have taken at least an hour and it would be nearly closing time by the time I arrived.

On the plus side, the woman I spoke to on the general mortgage number said that despite the situation being a bit strange, it's not a problem at their end - if the tenants didn't get out on time, it would be for the solicitor/EA/vendor to sort: they'd keep out of it and simply refuse to release the funds. She and her husband sold a BTL property a while ago and the buyer refused to exchange until the tenant left - the tenants left on a Friday and then they exchanged/completed on the Monday. He obviously wasn't such a pushover lol

I know people on here are mostly trying to help (and I appreciate most of the help, advice, and even some of the more amusing digs!), but I do think some people are misleadingly sharing their thoughts/opinions/concerns as though they are fact. Numerous people have said it's not possible to do it this way around, that we'd be responsible if the mortgage didn't come through because the tenants weren't out, etc. The woman assured me that although we'd have lost quite a bit of money on the solicitor, survey and searches, there'd be no fines from their end, and the solicitor assured me that it would be the vendor breaching the contract if the tenants didn't leave, not us. After all, if the mortgage was withheld because the tenants weren't out, it's the vendor's problem! I understand it comes with risks, but they aren't quite as horrific as some people are implying.

I'm actually glad I've got involved with it now anyway - it's something to pass the time and take my mind off these last few weeks of pregnancy (I'm getting very impatient!). In fact it's less stressful being involved in some ways because I know exactly what's going on and I'm not being left wondering until my husband's next 'loo break' :rotfl:

ognum

Eejay wrote: »

Having a nightmare getting hold of the woman dealing with the mortgage. Tried her mobile, tried to get a couple of questions answered via a general mortgage number, and then tried another number hoping to get through to the branch - they tried to put me through but nobody was answering the phone so they've sent an email requesting someone call me ASAP.

She's a really nice woman when we can get hold of her, but she does seem to be causing a lot of the delays (probably not entirely her fault when her colleagues can't even be bothered answering the phone). After all, there was a week and a half delay between the appointment and submitting the mortgage application because we couldn't get through to her, and now it looks like there could be another delay. I know we went further afield to get an appointment, but I wish it could have been nearer so I could easily turn up at the branch and wait to speak to someone! I was tempted to go there this afternoon, but it would have taken at least an hour and it would be nearly closing time by the time I arrived.

On the plus side, the woman I spoke to on the general mortgage number said that despite the situation being a bit strange, it's not a problem at their end - if the tenants didn't get out on time, it would be for the solicitor/EA/vendor to sort: they'd keep out of it and simply refuse to release the funds. She and her husband sold a BTL property a while ago and the buyer refused to exchange until the tenant left - the tenants left on a Friday and then they exchanged/completed on the Monday. He obviously wasn't such a pushover lol

I know people on here are mostly trying to help (and I appreciate most of the help, advice, and even some of the more amusing digs!), but I do think some people are misleadingly sharing their thoughts/opinions/concerns as though they are fact. Numerous people have said it's not possible to do it this way around, that we'd be responsible if the mortgage didn't come through because the tenants weren't out, etc. The woman assured me that although we'd have lost quite a bit of money on the solicitor, survey and searches, there'd be no fines from their end, and the solicitor assured me that it would be the vendor breaching the contract if the tenants didn't leave, not us. After all, if the mortgage was withheld because the tenants weren't out, it's the vendor's problem! I understand it comes with risks, but they aren't quite as horrific as some people are implying.

I'm actually glad I've got involved with it now anyway - it's something to pass the time and take my mind off these last few weeks of pregnancy (I'm getting very impatient!). In fact it's less stressful being involved in some ways because I know exactly what's going on and I'm not being left wondering until my husband's next 'loo break' :rotfl:

OP, like many people who post on forums you have decided to only take the information you want from here. That is your choice, posters are simply warning you what could happen, then it's down to your choice.

Frankly I think you are being a bit naive but we all have to start life experiences from somewhere.

Ivana_Tinkle

WHOA - everyone back up a bit!!! The page from the property info form relating to tenants is mysteriously missing! So you actually have no idea what kind of tenancy they're on, how long it could take to get them out or even if it's possible to evict them at all. Shall we all just hope this is a troll thread?

System

This could possibly be the dumbest thing you ever do.

Just because a seller is in breach of contract does not mean that you could also not end up in breach of contract! You leave yourself open to a liability.

Eejay

ognum wrote: »

OP, like many people who post on forums you have decided to only take the information you want from here. That is your choice, posters are simply warning you what could happen, then it's down to your choice.

Frankly I think you are being a bit naive but we all have to start life experiences from somewhere.

I have read every single response, we've considered the pros and cons and decided we're in a situation where the benefits likely outweigh the risks. In fact because of the advice on here we very nearly pulled out, but things are beginning to look up now. Much of the information - positive or negative - was useful because it encouraged us to look at the situation more carefully and make informed decisions. It wasn't a case of just seeing what I wanted to see - I'd have had to look very, very hard!

I have checked, double checked and triple checked that what we are doing is allowed. The only thing we will lose is money, which I guess on MSE forums is most people's biggest concern - hence the name! For me, it's not so much - money is replaceable, after all. I wouldn't allow for us to get into a situation where we were likely to lose several thousand, but the figure is small enough for it to not matter too much; as I explained in a previous post, the sale of our other property has given us a fair amount of unexpected money that we are prepared to take a small gamble with. According to Zoopla, the value over the past few years increased by about 5.5%, but we're looking to come out with over 36% more. To lose a small amount of that is not going to affect us too badly - and it's not likely that it'll happen (although it's a possibility, of course).

Many purchases fail for other, completely unpredictable reasons. At least we are going into this fully aware of the risks. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. At least we'll know we tried - and if it does go to plan, we'll have a house we like that has squirrels in the garden! It'll be awesome :rotfl:

Eejay

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

WHOA - everyone back up a bit!!! The page from the property info form relating to tenants is mysteriously missing! So you actually have no idea what kind of tenancy they're on, how long it could take to get them out or even if it's possible to evict them at all. Shall we all just hope this is a troll thread?

The EA has told us several times that it's a 2 month notice period, but of course it depends on the day of the month as to whether it takes a little longer than that. The solicitor has seen a copy of the tenancy agreement according to the EA - not sure if they actually have, but it's just one of the risks we're prepared to take. I don't particularly trust the EA, but I can't see any benefit to them making these 'facts' up - if the sale doesn't go through, they don't get paid.