Two months since accepted offer - we were just told two more months until completion

reckless_ladybird

Hi!
I always get great advice on here and I'm in need of some right now.

Our circumstance -
first time buyers, lots of rejected offers in the London suburbs, then first offer just outside London - accepted on 15th Feb. Pre-offer, the mortgage adviser quoted us 250k, after the accepted offer he advised us to try with 245k instead, which we did. Initial check was fine, then MA said lender only agreed to lend 240,600. We decided to borrow to fill the gap, to then receive our mortgage offer for 239k (plus fee of 1200 added to the repayments) i.e a slightly bigger gap then we thought when agreeing. Interest rate - 2.05%.
We put our offer on the property on the understanding there is no chain. It's being rented out and the EA gave us the impression that will not be delaying things as the tenants are 'aware' (the tenant was in when we viewed the property) and the landlord will give them a notice. We are also currently renting, so we didn't really think it will be any problem.
Today - two months after the offer was accepted - our solicitor told us that two months notice was just served to the tenants and they will be vacating the property on the 19th June. Then we will be going to view just before exchange (about 20th). There is an extra fee to pay to our solicitors if we complete within week after exchange so we will probably wait for 8 days after the exchange to complete. This is taking us to end of June.

This feels like an awfully long time.

We have our doubts that may be if we had offered less we would have still got the property (its the first property we offered on outside Lnd). It is not in great cosmetic condition and will need some updating. The lender valued it for what we offered but online when I look at zoopla property valuations the value has come down since Feb by 6k - not sure how this is being calculated as there are no properties of this size sold recently in the area. We are also a bit worried about the extra travel expense (we work in Lnd) and the property is not walk-able distance to the train stn. However, it seems to be a really nice area, and the house should be OK as a home for the long term.

So lots of confusion already, and to be told to wait another two months is very, very disappointing. Any advice/ similar experience shared will be so welcome.

smcqis

Why would the vendor accept less when they know you will pay more?

reckless_ladybird

What if zoopla is right and value of the property has come down since we put our offer?

AnotherJoe

Properties don't come down in price according to some mysterious formula and Zoopla is not some all immutable force. Zoopla estimated what it's as worth in Feb and is estimating what it's worth now. word "estimate" aka guess.

If the price comes down it will be because you offer less and the vendors accept. On the other hand they may tell you to go forth and multiply and sell to someone else for more. Only time will tell. They certainly have plenty of time to market it again.

Only time will tell if the tenants will vacate in 2 months time as well. They could hang on for another 6 months.

reckless_ladybird

This is really the most difficult decision we had to take. Constantly weighing the pros and cons and still not sure what to do.

AnotherJoe

Id start looking at other houses that did not have tenants in them.

Debtslayer

It doesn't really sound like your hearts set on the property tbh.
You need to decide if you really want the house and would you he gutted if you didn't get it? If not then I'd walk away and find another.

reckless_ladybird

That's a good point, of course.The issue is one of us is keener than the other. And because we have been house hunting for a year (and putting offers above asking price) with no results, we are frankly scared to let go of the only house they agreed to sell us. But, there's lots of things that make us unsure. And the money we had to borrow on top from a friend makes me think we need to negotiate the price down to make it worthwhile. However, if the seller hasn't incurred much loss, and they know they have the time to market again, we probably won't get anywhere. I do feel they have been dishonest to not have given the tenants notice until the other day.

Thrugelmir

reckless_ladybird wrote: »

What if zoopla is right and value of the property has come down since we put our offer?

I was able to increase the value of my property on Zoopla by "improving it". Makes the values quoted totally questionable.

TrickyTree83

You should probably consider the vendors reaction to you asking for a reduction in an already agreed price, especially if you've already had the survey and not negotiated down based on that and the vendor has also given notice to the tenants.

If it was me I'd be fuming. You may lose the property by trying to negotiate them down at this stage.

Trying_to_be_good

This is the decision process we all go through every time we're buying a home - it's pros versus cons, rarely is a property exactly right. It's worth what you, or others, are prepared to pay and as the valuation has agreed the price you've agreed to pay is a good sign. Have you seen the number of posts here on valuations coming in under the agreed price?

The rest is personal choice - longer commute and higher cost, how you're going to get to and from the station, how much work the house needs/you want to do and how long the property will suit you for. Again, as the valuation is OK and you have an offer, it suggests a working kitchen, bathroom, heating etc.

If it helps, draw up a list of good points and bad points. I've done this before I've started looking in the past - what's really important to me, what I'm happy to compromise on.

Good luck - exciting times!