FTB buying in to a chain

Jabbis

So we've just had an offer on our house accepted a couple of days ago, yay!

We're first time buyers, and living with family so ready to move in right away, but our seller is in a chain and needs to find a property first. We understand this may take some time, and we really like the place so are prepared to wait (a few months at least).

My question is, the estate agent is asking us to provide solicitor details etc, so they can take the property off the market. I'm quite reluctant to start forking out cash at this stage until the seller has had an offer accepted though.

Can anyone advise what the best action to take here is? Should I still complete the full mortgage application and appoint a solicitor, or should I be waiting for the seller to have an offer accepted as we are???

Thanks,

marksoton

It ain't your house yet!

The whole process will in all likely hood take a number of months anyway.

You can appoint a solicitor, just tell them not to carry out any work just yet. Do you have a mortgage in principle?

HouseBuyer77

You can appoint a solicitor and then instruct them to do nothing until you tell them to. They may want you to pay them an initial fee but this will be held on account for you and goes towards searches and such. Should you pull out before searches occur you'll get it back (perhaps they'll want something for the initial work of processing the paperwork and opening the file, you'll need to clarify this with your chosen solicitor).

You can also start a mortgage application but don't pay the valulation fee until you're happy the chain is complete (though if that might take a few months could be best to hold off as available mortgage products will change).

spadoosh

Probably shouldve made your bid on the basis that the property is taken off the market. Now it appears you have two choices, pay for solicitors and have the property removed off the market increasing the likelihood of you getting the property and reducing the time it takes to complete. Or not pay and wait until theyve had offers accepted etc. Sounds like theyllbe willing to still take viewings and be open to offers. Will also mean things only get rolling once your seller is ready.

Jabbis

Thanks for the advice all, and marksoton that seems like the best approach, to appoint a solicitor but ask them not to start any work.

We do have an agreement in principle. Also found the product and lender that we want so ready to take things forward as soon as we're ready.
The agent seemed more than happy to take the property off the market given they had seen our AIP and proof of deposit, but also wanted our solicitor details.
We've met the seller as well which gives a good confidence boost, and they are actively looking, so hopefully it doesn't them too long to find something...

Chocolatefund

I am in the exact same position as you are

FTB had my offer accepted some 4 weeks ago. Vendor is still trying to find somewhere to live.

I have a solicitor lined up and told them not to start any searches till the chain is formed, they were fine with that. Also the estate agent was happy to take the property off the market once I provided my DIP and solicitor/broker details.

But the waiting...it's so boring!

somethingcorporate

You should probably keep looking - these things can take time.

You're in a strong position as form the basis of the chain.

Hoploz

Yes, do keep looking, or at least keep an eye on the rest of the market. Depending how picky your vendors are, it could take a long time before they find something, or they may look for some time but give up. Probably be ok but just saying be cautious, as if people are looking for a needle in a haystack (like we were - it took us 2 years to find) something else might come up for you which is just as good.

Chocolatefund

somethingcorporate wrote: »

You should probably keep looking - these things can take time.

You're in a strong position as form the basis of the chain.

Oh believe me, I still nosy on rightmove every day. So far nothing else has come up that I want to look at so I'm quite happy to wait for now.

Still, I'm wondering what's a reasonable amount of time to give the vendor...

Hoploz

... What's reasonable to you may not be reasonable to them! There's no point putting a time limit on, if they haven't found when you decide you've waited long enough then they are unlikely to rush into buying something they don't want, just to suit you.

You just need to play it by ear, just see how it goes for a while.

mark5

Just tell the solicitor what you want and they will do it, from what I remember my solicitor wouldn't do the searches until I payed up front for them anyway, others probably would though.