FTB - Chain not moving!

DragonQ

I'm at the start of a two-property chain but annoyingly the house our vendors are buying is tenanted so it'll take at least 2 months for them to move. We've done everything our side (mortgage sorted, solicitors sorted, even a joint account set up) but we pretty much have a 2 month wait before the process will even move forward. Bit annoying since we'd hoped being FTBs would speed things up a lot!

questionss

Double post sorry!

questionss

pinkteapot wrote: »

To others in this situation - try to resist pressure from the EA and avoid applying for your mortgage or instructing your solicitor until the chain is fully formed. That means starting with a FTB/cash buyer and ending with a chain-free property.

There is simply no point doing all your work beforehand. Even if you do, once the last buyer/seller finds their seller/buyer, they need do all their paperwork. Everyone can just do it at the same time, once the chain is formed.

If you get started earlier, you simply risk wasting money on mortgage applications, surveys and solicitors.

When we last moved, we didn't apply for the mortgage or have our solicitor start work until the chain was sorted. We had an AIP and told the EA which lender and solicitor we'd be using. If you sound organised and positive, they'll know you're not just time-wasters.

Nice in theory but not realistic where we are; too much competition it's a sellers market. Add into that that our vendors had already surveyed etc the upper chain and we were told that they wanted us in a position to exchange at short notice. Our mortgage options were limited & application took several face to face meetings too

always_sunny

short notice and property purchase in England just doesn't go together!

Maybe I am not used to the English way of purchasing properties but I would feel very uncomfortable with a non binding 'promise' to buy something for so many months.
If the seller decides to change their mind, nothing you can do but the sad face...

I would look for plan B - maybe something better comes along!

questionss

always_sunny wrote: »

short notice and property purchase in England just doesn't go together!

Maybe I am not used to the English way of purchasing properties but I would feel very uncomfortable with a non binding 'promise' to buy something for so many months.
If the seller decides to change their mind, nothing you can do but the sad face...

I would look for plan B - maybe something better comes along!

I wish - we're waiting & "gambling" as is the lower chain. Worst case we lose about £1500 but there's very little on the market in our price range & area. We've been looking since June and only seen 2 we like one of which was £250k over ideal budget - not surprisingly our offer on that was rejected! £1500 as a percentage isn't too bad in our case. It's a bit less if we find something else & transfer the mortgage.

michelle09

pinkteapot wrote: »

To others in this situation - try to resist pressure from the EA and avoid applying for your mortgage or instructing your solicitor until the chain is fully formed. That means starting with a FTB/cash buyer and ending with a chain-free property.

There is simply no point doing all your work beforehand. Even if you do, once the last buyer/seller finds their seller/buyer, they need do all their paperwork. Everyone can just do it at the same time, once the chain is formed.

If you get started earlier, you simply risk wasting money on mortgage applications, surveys and solicitors.

When we last moved, we didn't apply for the mortgage or have our solicitor start work until the chain was sorted. We had an AIP and told the EA which lender and solicitor we'd be using. If you sound organised and positive, they'll know you're not just time-wasters.

I really wish we'd stuck to this. We're pulling out of a purchase because it's taking too long. (It's all very well to say that it's a silly reason but the vendor isn't exactly paying our rent while we wait). We told them we had a limited amount of time to move and over two months later they haven't even found a property yet.

Just had an offer accepted on another house which is chain free (thankfully!) but we'd paid for the mortgage/surveys on the original property. Currently trying to sweet talk our lender into letting us move the booking fee.


There really is a steep (and expensive) learning curve for this. Good luck, OP!

marksoton

questionss wrote: »

We've been looking since June and only seen 2 we like one of which was £250k over ideal budget - not surprisingly our offer on that was rejected! £1500 as a percentage isn't too bad in our case. It's a bit less if we find something else & transfer the mortgage.

Either this is a typo or you need to reassess your expectations!

questionss

marksoton wrote: »

Either this is a typo or you need to reassess your expectations!

Nope & not really - ideal budget is up to £1million. Although we could go higher if it was right. This was on at 1.25 but needed updating & had been for a long time. We offered 1.05 they went back to a previously declined offer of 1.09
The one we're hopefully buying is under a million but will need an extension & a new kitchen.

There's so little on the market we're viewing everything from about 700k to 1.25M

marksoton

questionss wrote: »

The one we're hopefully buying is under a million but will need an extension & a new kitchen.

You're buying a property for just under one million pounds and it NEEDS an extension and new kitchen......

kinger101

There's no point putting pressure on the people. Someone isn't going to buy a property they don't want just to make you happy. The best thing you can do is look for somewhere chain-free and if that's better, buy that instead.

It was a mistake to commit to any spending until a chain had completed.