Fed Up WWYD?

Lilly11a

Hello Lovely Money Savers,

I've been trying to move since March- have a 2 bed flat and a 14yo boy and 11 yo girl so they desperately need their own rooms.

Flat under offer within a week- to a btl landlord who understandly is now getting fed up of waiting.

house one offer accepted early April survey fine, he found a property, fell through May and then couldn't find anything else.

house two saw in June, follows 6 weeks of negociation. needs loads of work electrics boiler kitchen replaster etc . agree a price mid august. Survey last Thursday and finds subsidence ( well I suppose that is what surveys are for) and mortgage now needs full structural before making a decision on lending.

Now like most people, subsidence scares me. I'm also quite annoyed as assuming the vendor was aware and hoping to sneak through it and pass the problem onto someone else( although why you wouldn't just get it fixed on your building insurance before putting for sale is beyond me).

I'm probably now out at least 3-4k on the two purchases once I pay off the solicitor. I'm also tired with the whole process and getting nowhere in six months. It's quite draining.

Would you?

- get the further structural survey (1.5k?) to see how bad it is, knowing if the bank turns round and puts a 30k retainer on the property or says won't lend will have to pull out anyway ( and if I resell have to declare the subsidence )
- pull out of this one and start looking again. I might lose my buyers but the market has risen and my flat is v sellable to ftbs and btls. I don't know if I have the energy for this.
- give up trying to sell for now and try again next year. So then lose what ever I have paid out so far and annoy my estate agent .

Thanks for reading my essay

booksurr

wwyd ? is that English?

Lilly11a

WWYD= what would you do?

It's used quite a lot on these and other forums and English is an evolving language so if it is not in the Oxford English yet it will be in the next few years.

I'm sorry to offend you so much you needed to comment on that rather then helping with my problem.

CobaltBlue_2

I would walk away from the house with subsidence.
There are so many houses for sale without subsidence, why give yourself the hassle?

How have you spent 3-4k?
Conveyancing on 2 houses plus one survey should be about £1,500 max...

booksurr

IWWIOIF = I would write it out in full when asking a question, and no it is not common on these boards to use text speak

so is your offer on house 1 still in place or have you withdrawn that?

as for house 2 only you can decide if you want to spend the extra money required on a survey to establish what work is required to fix the subsidence. But having done so you would then always have a reduced market when selling as others would avoid a property with such a history.

Much simpler to walk away and regard the cost incurred to date as being well spent on avoiding something which will cost more to fix compared to other places on the market. yes you may well lose your buyer but if your property is as marketable as you state then that buyer is easily replaced and there are lots of other properties out there for you to buy

Lilly11a

Ok I'm sorry about the text speak- I frequent the families and relationship forum part more and it is much more common on that part.

I did withdrawn the offer on the first property simply because the mortgage will be with the same bank and I can't have more than one mortgage offer in place at a time ( I assumed maybe wrongly). However, the 1st property I am not convinced will ever sell as the vendor is so slow ( it was also up for sale a few years ago and nothing happened ). I think he would accept my offer again but it would never progress any further.

I have paid out building survey 670 + searches 450+ broker fee 300 on first property and valuation survey 450 on second property. I assume I will need to pay the solicitors for work done so far and then also estate agents 1600+vat if I pull out as have offer on the table still.

If my buyers pulled out I would probably get another 10-15k for my flat so part of me thinks that it would be better to just sit and do nothing and wait for them to drop out . I would then have more options as to what to do.

Talking with my friend, I think I am going to call the estate agent of 2nd house on Tuesday and say the vendor will need to pay for the survey and any associated works ( or their building insurance).Or I pull out. In any case they would need to declare it now to any potential buyers . Not withstanding the issues I listed before I am paying what I think is top price for the house without any subsidence issues.

ognum

Lilly11a wrote: »

Ok I'm sorry about the text speak- I frequent the families and relationship forum part more and it is much more common on that part.

I did withdrawn the offer on the first property simply because the mortgage will be with the same bank and I can't have more than one mortgage offer in place at a time ( I assumed maybe wrongly). However, the 1st property I am not convinced will ever sell as the vendor is so slow ( it was also up for sale a few years ago and nothing happened ). I think he would accept my offer again but it would never progress any further.

I have paid out building survey 670 + searches 450+ broker fee 300 on first property and valuation survey 450 on second property. I assume I will need to pay the solicitors for work done so far and then also estate agents 1600+vat if I pull out as have offer on the table still.

If my buyers pulled out I would probably get another 10-15k for my flat so part of me thinks that it would be better to just sit and do nothing and wait for them to drop out . I would then have more options as to what to do.

Talking with my friend, I think I am going to call the estate agent of 2nd house on Tuesday and say the vendor will need to pay for the survey and any associated works ( or their building insurance).Or I pull out. In any case they would need to declare it now to any potential buyers . Not withstanding the issues I listed before I am paying what I think is top price for the house without any subsidence issues.

In my experience subsidence is not something that is a quick fix. Most people make a claim on thier insurance and that requires the insurance company to monitor the subsidence for at least a few months before they pay out and the work commences.

Secondly now you know there is subsidence you are going to have to declare it to your future insurance company which means they are unlikely to give you cover for it.

I think I would walk but only you know what is best.

Your buyer will not drop out if he knows your flat is now worth £15k more than his offer, I am a LL and I wouldn't!

M

AdrianC

You don't say where in the country you are, but it sounds like it's a seller's market there. So if this sale falls through (which might not be a bad thing if prices have risen that much) you might be best off finding the right place for you, THEN putting your flat on the market.

DandelionPatrol

Lilly11a wrote: »

house two saw in June, follows 6 weeks of negociation. needs loads of work electrics boiler kitchen replaster etc . agree a price mid august. Survey last Thursday and finds subsidence ( well I suppose that is what surveys are for) and mortgage now needs full structural before making a decision on lending.

...

I'm probably now out at least 3-4k on the two purchases once I pay off the solicitor. I'm also tired with the whole process and getting nowhere in six months. It's quite draining.

Would you?

- get the further structural survey (1.5k?) to see how bad it is, knowing if the bank turns round and puts a 30k retainer on the property or says won't lend will have to pull out anyway ( and if I resell have to declare the subsidence )
- pull out of this one and start looking again. I might lose my buyers but the market has risen and my flat is v sellable to ftbs and btls. I don't know if I have the energy for this.
- give up trying to sell for now and try again next year. So then lose what ever I have paid out so far and annoy my estate agent .

Thanks for reading my essay

House 2 has issues and you acknowledge that the money you have spent so far is in order to find out if there are issues. So mentally write off the money you have spent so far.

Is it worth £1,500 on another survey to risk finding you would be stuck with a £30,000 retention? Your choice, really ...

If you don't have the energy for to make the decision, you really need to take a rest and recharge. Never mind annoying the Estate Agent. Actually, the last thing you should do is press on with this purchase to avoid annoying your Agent.

booksurr wrote: »

IWWIOIF = I would write it out in full when asking a question, and no it is not common on these boards to use text speak

WWYD is quite common on these boards, but unusual on this particular forum.

Hoploz

It sounds as if you should probably walk away from this house with subsidence. You don't have the heart for the possible implications, and I don't blame you, you've been through the mill and you are under horrible pressure.

This month is often quiet for properties coming to market, you might find something else comes on in sept or October.

I think it's unlikely you would need to pay your estate agent commission if you do not sell. It might be worth checking.

I have heard of this 'ready and willing buyer' clause (though only on this forum, never in 'real life') but I think this is a nonsense clause - deals fall through all the time for reasons much later on in negotiations - how would an EA ever know whether it would have gone ahead or not!

Also just to add that my buyer waited 6 months last year! I almost wished he would pull out as prices rocketed and we could have got another 30k for our house after all that time, but we went with him when we eventually found just because he was waiting and it meant the deal could go ahead quickly without remarketing and risking losing the house we wanted.

... So, take a breath. Have a fresh look at what's in the market now, and just hope you find something new.

Might it be an option to sell and rent for six months? Just to give yourself some space? It depends on how far your flat would increase in value.

Or maybe you could explore a let-to-buy? You remortgage your current flat if there is enough equity in it to get a standard mortgage on the new place while you keep your flat? That way you wouldn't have the stress of a sale and purchase at the same time, if it could work financially.

Rambosmum

WWID? I'd get my sale over and done with and move in to rented, giving me at least 6 months to look for a property in the area I want without subsidence. Yes, it means a second move in a year and you'll lose money on credit checks and moving fees but you'll keep your sale and be out the house. You'll also be in a good position when you do find the house you want.

As long as the kids rooms have their stuff in it and they can get to school and have friends over they'll be fine. I used to like moving at their ages - it was exciting planning my new room and stuff (I moved about 5/6 times by the time I was 12, we then moved in to the 'forever home', as an adult I now realise how much of a pain moving is, but I loved it as a kid- depends how you sell it to them!).