Offer accepted subject to vendor finding a property? 15 October 2014 at 7:39AM in House buying, renting & selling 17 replies 6.7K views

Loopy28

Finally had an offer accepted on a house that I love-got that tingly feeling when I viewed it

I accept that the sale is subject to the vendor finding a property to buy. What concerns me is the EA said there isn't much about at the moment for what he is looking for. This is right as I have looked and there just isn't much coming to the market at the moment.

I am proceeding with the sale of mine regardless and can move in with family if there is a gap. I will be subject to an early repayment charge of just under 3k on my mortgage if there is more than a 3 months gap between selling and buying but could probably recoup a lot of this through savings during the time of living with family so will take the hit if needed.

But how long is realistic to wait? e.g. I could wait until next Spring and vendor could decide they can't find anywhere or when they do, the vendor of that house might need to find somewhere..it could go on and on.

I have been told the vendor won't go in to rented so I am both elated at being accepted and deflated that there is very little supply of houses for him to look at.

Seabee42

To be honest this is completely normal, i.e. most sellers have to find somewhere else. You have been told quite honestly that the seller is struggling to find somewhere at the moment.

Effectively you are waiting for someone else to put their house on the market that the seller wants to buy. (And assuming they win the bid).

If this is the house for you, you could very much face the fact that they do not in fact find anywhere. Do not spend to much on the purchase until they have found somewhere.

Doozergirl

I agree with the above. Don't even start the conveyancing on this purchase until the vendor has found.

I also wouldn't really stop looking - just in case.

Penelopa.Pitstop

I can tell you how it looks from the other side. I'm looking for a house but I saw only 3 houses I liked in more than 3 months since I started intensive search and I look at whole Surrey. I'm quite open minded about location but have strict criteria.

I was refused to view one of the houses because my property is not on the market and sold or I'm not renting.

But I'm not going to put my flat on sale until I can see something I like. Otherwise it will be waste of time and money for the potential buyer. I may be looking for 3-6 months and not find something I want and I don't want to be under pressure to find anything because buyer is waiting.

D00gie72

In my House move last year I experienced both ends of this scenario. First I had a buyer and no where to move into - then later on I'd found and had an offer accepted on a house - but didn't have a buyer at that time. Believe me - neither situation is fun and there's no 'correct' way to do it.
At least your vendor is being honest with you. All you can do is keep in touch via the agent to check how their search is going. Also be realsitic about moving in with your family. You could be stuck there for some while if your vendor decides not to move - then you have to start your search all over again. Also agree with others - don't spend a penny on conveyancing until your chain is complete. Good Luck

cloo

Penelopa.Pitstop wrote: »

I can tell you how it looks from the other side. I'm looking for a house but I saw only 3 houses I liked in more than 3 months since I started intensive search and I look at whole Surrey. I'm quite open minded about location but have strict criteria.

I was refused to view one of the houses because my property is not on the market and sold or I'm not renting.

But I'm not going to put my flat on sale until I can see something I like. Otherwise it will be waste of time and money for the potential buyer. I may be looking for 3-6 months and not find something I want and I don't want to be under pressure to find anything because buyer is waiting.

We wondered whether we should hold of selling until we see something we want, but we knew here in London we would be unlikely to have an offer accepted without at least being on the market, even though we've had our eye out for ages and haven't seen much.

As it happens we're apparently going to get an offer today, have a place we want to offer on and if we don't get this one, there is another interesting one to see on Saturday.

googler

The problem is that the offer doesn't form any part of your contract to buy, and nothing is agreed upon when you offer.

In Scotland, an offer comprises the price, any conditions applicable, and crucially - the entry date. Accept the offer, and you're agreeing when you will hand the house over to the buyer. 99.9% (approx.) of Scottish sales complete with the entry date unchanged from the offer, so we have none of the hanging around that the OP will experience.

If you want the system in E&W to change, lobby your MP.

Loopy28

Thank you for your replies.

I will tell my solicitor to hold off on anything with the new property until the vendor finds somewhere. I am not going to apply for the new mortgage until this happens either.

I will proceed with my sale as I think this will also put me in a better situation as I am then ready to go when either this vendor finds somewhere or if something else comes to the market that might be suitable I guess I will be in a better situation as I will effectively be like a FTB.

It would seem in my area that people don't put their houses for sale in the Autumn, not at the moment anyway!

Hoploz

It took us ages to find. The original house we went on the market to buy was taken off the market and it took us almost a year to find something else. (we had specific criteria and did not need to move so we held out to find the right house)

We marketed our house half heartedly, took it off the mkt for a while. Found another house, then straightaway remarketed and got a buyer. Thought it was all going to happen ... Then the second house was taken off the market as well!!

That was early Feb. unbelievably a few weeks ago we completed on our sale and purchase! Our buyer held on, so when the second house we wanted came back on (and we won the sealed bids!!!) the transaction could go ahead quickly.

Basically, it could be that your seller does take a while, but will probably find something in the end. Depends how long you are prepared to wait. We were astounded our buyer held on 7 months with no movement, but it happened. (of course prices had shot up in that time so he ended up with a bargain as well!) But I would suggest you look at other things until they find something.

enthusiasticsaver

It depends on how much you love the house and whether you are willing to move in with family for what may be a considerable period of time. This time of year is slow for properties coming on to the market as no one wants to move around Christmas or in the winter. It took my daughter and son in law almost eight months to buy their current house which they moved into six weeks ago. They lost one buyer and one house they loved and ended up doing as you are considering and completing on their sale before their purchase and moved in with us for six weeks but they got a house they loved eventually. You would be in a good position if chain free though but presumably you may have storage costs unless you can store your belongings with family/friends etc. One word of warning though, my daughter had a fixed rate mortgage on her flat she was selling and was told by Halifax there was an early repayment charge but if she completed on her new mortgage within three months it would be refunded. They completed on their purchase 10 weeks after their sale and were told that the old mortgage should have been "ported" to the new one to avoid the penalty and were then told they would not get back the penalty of around £1500 after all. I told them to persist, complain and go to Head office if necessary and eventually Halifax relented and paid it back. Keep any documentation saying the penalty will be repaid if you complete on your new mortgage within 3 months.


Good luck.

ali_hire

We've seen a huge increase in the number of people selling, renting for a short term and then buying again. The issue being that is very easy to sell a house in this area but not easy to find something.

The only slight concern I'd have in your position is your time spent out of the market. If house prices start to rise (they have sharply in my area) you could find yourself unable to buy the type of property you are able to now.

I'd get your sale done, move in with relatives and keep looking at the internet for anything new.

Much as you might really like the house you've offered on you have a slight risk of the vendor wanting more money for it if we're talking about a wait of 6 months.