Selling is a nightmare!!!

skinnermann

Just a quick rant. We are in the middle of a house buying/selling chain, and agreed a sale on our house on April 7th. We chose our buyer because they stated they wanted a quick transaction and they were desperate to move from rented - which suited our vendor and subsequently theirs. We raced through the buying process, completed the surveys and searches (as did the others 'up' the chain,) sought building regs for some work at our buyers' request, and were ready to go after around 4 weeks.

Then nothing. We tried to contact them, and their solicitor - nothing for around a fortnight. Then one day their solicitor phoned up stating they were still waiting for their mortgage offer. We couldn't believe a) they'd been so evasive, b) neither our solicitor or estate agent even bothered to check, and c) it's taken so long - they had their survey on our house at the end of April.

I appreciate now that post MMR regs a lot of mortgages are taking ages to process, but our pre MMR offer runs out in August - after which, we definately wouldn't be offered what we need to buy. Looks like selling to a first time buyer is not always the best option nowadays - we had an offer under the asking price from a cash buying landlord, and refused on principle. How stupid. We're now waiting every day for the phone to ring with news. It. Never. does. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

marcusanderson

Sorry to hear about your woes.

Can you claim a discount on any of the monies paid over to your estate agent and solicitor, not least for incompetency?

Realopinion

I think it sounds more like the Buyer's solicitor who weren't on their game. Your solicitor has gotten you to the point where you can go within 4 weeks (very good - who are they?); however your buyer seemed to not have gotten their mortgage offer through and with all the noise in the papers at the moment, this could be an affordability issue.

Now, this is a difficult situation, but there are definitely things you can do:

1. Place the property back on the market with the Estate Agent and start taking viewings. Explain to the Buyer's sols that you are happy to proceed but will market until the buyer can demonstrate they have the where with all to buy the property - a mortgage offer
2. You are ready on your sale - As soon as another buyer comes forward your solicitor can amend the contract pack and send through to the buyer's solicitor.

Things you want to know about your current buyer's position:

1. Have they done property searches? Local authority, drainage, enviro
2. Have they organised a mortgage valuation (if it isn't at this stage then it doesn't bode well for selling to them)
3. Have they reviewed the contract paperwork and raised enquiries? Some solicitors hold off doing this until they get a mortgage offer (not very helpful)

If your mortgage offer expires in August and your worried about this, you could look into getting a bridging loan. This covers you so you can buy the property and is redeemed when you sell yours. Yes, it has interests costs and there is a worry about what if your property doesn't sell, however, if you had two offers fairly quickly before, this might mean you get another offer again quickly.

All in all, get your property back on this crazy housing market and start selling it to another person. It is still available for the original buyer should they get a mortgage offer, however it is only fair to market until they pull their fingers out. You've got to make sure you are looking after your interests.

Good luck and let me know if any of this helps.

skinnermann

Thanks for the replies. And thanks for the advice. I know they have had all searches back on our property, but haven't yet reviewed the contract - probably for the reason you stated, and I will find out.

I will also discuss with my wife about re-marketing. At least a few threats might jolt some life into somebody.

starsign47

I am in the same situation as yourself and its SO frustrating, and as a result my house is going back on the market on Tuesday. Good luck,

Threebabes

skinnermann wrote: »

Just a quick rant. We are in the middle of a house buying/selling chain, and agreed a sale on our house on April 7th. We chose our buyer because they stated they wanted a quick transaction and they were desperate to move from rented - which suited our vendor and subsequently theirs. We raced through the buying process, completed the surveys and searches (as did the others 'up' the chain,) sought building regs for some work at our buyers' request, and were ready to go after around 4 weeks.

Then nothing. We tried to contact them, and their solicitor - nothing for around a fortnight. Then one day their solicitor phoned up stating they were still waiting for their mortgage offer. We couldn't believe a) they'd been so evasive, b) neither our solicitor or estate agent even bothered to check, and c) it's taken so long - they had their survey on our house at the end of April.

I appreciate now that post MMR regs a lot of mortgages are taking ages to process, but our pre MMR offer runs out in August - after which, we definately wouldn't be offered what we need to buy. Looks like selling to a first time buyer is not always the best option nowadays - we had an offer under the asking price from a cash buying landlord, and refused on principle. How stupid. We're now waiting every day for the phone to ring with news. It. Never. does. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

We are in a similar position.

Buyers said they were ready to get sorted, put offer in, we accepted and then nothing for 5 week. Still trying to sort their mortgage out. Driving me mad...

Threebabes

Realopinion wrote: »

1. Place the property back on the market with the Estate Agent and start taking viewings. Explain to the Buyer's sols that you are happy to proceed but will market until the buyer can demonstrate they have the where with all to buy the property - a mortgage offer.

Thats what we have done ....

Atomix

All the above - PLUS get your ea to phone that landlord ASAP!

LisaLou1982

Have they had the survey done? The underwriting process can take some time and a lot of lenders are doing this in the first instance now, so although it appears to take a while, it speeds things up towards the end.

My survey was done within a week of agreeing a sale as i arranged a private one. The underwriting with my lender took 7 weeks due to their backlog. Nothing i could do about that

skinnermann

They had their survey done around 8 weeks ago. As I said, I appreciate the delays although it's still nerve wracking - it's the lack of communication which has compounded things.

May1987

We are FTB and had to wait seven weeks for our mortgage offer due to Nationwide admin errors and delays. Towards the end we were phoning them twice a day, getting told 'you'll have it by close of business' and then hearing nothing. They might be in a similar situation...


Our sellers' estate agent told us she'd heard Santander are taking 12 weeks on some apps at the moment (!)


But I agree they should have updated you on their progress.