Updates In A Property Chain?

Jodzz

Hi all,

FTB here... We've recently had an offer accepted on a house, and the vendor is looking at buying a particular house which has no chain.

We have set all of the wheels rolling for our end but I was just wondering, would someone inform us when the vendor gets an offer accepted on their new house (ie when the chain completes)? Or do things just plod along in the background?

If someone is going to contact me, is it the estate agent or is it me who should be chasing for updates?

Thanks in advance...

PasturesNew

If you want updates you need to ask to be kept updated - by the seller, possibly through his estate agent.

As a rule, most people hear nothing/know nothing. You just plod along, responding to what the solicitor says/does.

Jodzz

Great, thanks for such a quick reply.

May give the EA a call later in the week then and ask if I can be kept in the loop if it's not too much trouble for them.

Thanks again

G_M

It's one of the few constructive things a decent estate can do once the price has been agreed.

Give them a ring once a week for an update, or if you trust them just ask them to contact you when their client (seller) finds somewhere. And then make sure you confirm that they ARE buying a chain-free property.......

Bill23h

Keep hassling the seller or his agents for progress reports and don't be put off with generalities - ask for specifics -Has he had a survey?, had a mortgage approved?, ask for time scales when he intends to do the next step. DON'T sit back and wait - keep on at your solicitor also, noisy wheels get the oil.


I've just lost a house because the vendors assured me there was no chain. After weeks of stalling, turned out they WERE putting a chain together. They delayed so they could move directly, and by delaying, lost me my buyer. So beware of anything that looks like stalling tactics.

Jodzz

Thanks G_M, I think the EA is actually an okay one as far as EAs go, so I'll give them a call and gauge their reaction as I think I could trust them to call me.

Fingers crossed all is as it appears!

Jodzz

Thanks Bill23h, didn't know I could ask such direct questions, so thanks for the heads up. As I said above I think the EA is a good one so wouldn't mind keeping me in the loop but I'll definitely keep calling every week or two, just didn't want to be the annoying buyer!
Thanks!

Bill23h

May give the EA a call later in the week then and ask if I can be kept in the loop if it's not too much trouble for them.


Don't forget you are valuable - it's FTBs that make it happen for everyone else, so DON'T be apologetic - you ring them and demand the information. You are in the strong position!


Note what G_M says about chains, too - it's obviously not just me....


Good luck!

Jodzz

I definitely will give them a call, thanks everyone!

EA seems okay so fingers crossed!

SmlSave

Estate agents are good for a general update but keep in mind

A. they want to keep everyone happy so often tell you what you want to hear.
B. They don't always understand what they've been told.
C. They want the sale to complete asap so they get paid which can make them very pushy

Richard_Webster

By all means chase estate agents for updates but please do not necessariuly believe what they tell you. They are often reliant on third hand and out of date information they get from other estate agetns and regrettably many EAs do not know what key questions to ask.

It is pretty normal for a client to ring his solicitor and say that everyone in the chain has agreed such and such a date to complete and we can all excahnge tomofrrow. So having had the contract signed solicitor makes phone call to try to exchange and later that day or the next day solicitor above phones back to say that the solicitor 3 above him in the chain hasn't even had a draft contract on his client's related purchase so there is no way the date for completion suggested is going to be achievable.

So when a client phoned me saying evryone had agreed some date, I warned them this may not necessarily be the case form my own bitter experience. Sometimes they listened, sometimes not.

Very often someone has made some expensive commitment based on naff information provided by estate agents. People give notice on rented, take time off work etc etc. Moral is not make such commitments until contarcts have definitely been exchanged.

So whilst EAs can give some useful info - e.g. when completioon can't take place (someone up chain going on holiday for 2 weeks) it ias very dangerous to rely on it.

Some solicitors will try to check chains out through other solicitors but it is very time consuming and not practicable in many cases - so the advice is to be patient.