Am I doing this in the wrong order?

Richardwilson84

Hello everyone,

I've had a read through the helpful MSE guides for first time buyers but I'm finding it all very daunting and sort of stumbling my way through.

A bit of background:
I made a bid for a property in early December, originally rejected but vendor then went with the bid as other buyer couldn't get mortgage (according EA).

EA rang Xmas eve eve to say vendor had accepted my bid if I still wanted the property. Xmas has stalled proceedings a fair bit but I have an AIP from co-op, I've picked a solicitor - but not signed papers yet - and telephone call with mortgage advisor from co-op this Saturday.

My dilemma:
Should I wait to see if I can get a mortgage offer before progressing with solicitors? The AIP was for £280k and I only need £181k. A surveyor has been in touch, under direction from my chosen solicitor re: fees to get going with the survey, however, I don't want to spend money without a mortgage confirmed, as I risk losing money. It's a bit of a catch 22, as I'm worried this delay may be annoying the vendor.

Is this the normal way to go about it? I didn't secure a mortgage earlier as I didn't have a property for the mortgage. I'm growing paranoid at the time, MSE guide suggested a mortgage could take 2-3 weeks to be confirmed.

Thanks for any help in advance, I do regularly trawl the forums but only just posting to try and get a bit of direction.

Regards,
Rich

Hedgehog99

If your AIP is still valid (& isn't about to expire) & it is for more than you now need to borrow, what's the problem? Why do you think you'd get rejected now if you're asking to borrow less than you've proved you could afford?

What's your seller's desired timetable?

Richardwilson84

I think it is the worry over the delay during the festive period playing on my mind and although the AIP is far in excess of the required amount there's that whole unknown/waiting game.

I haven't asked on the vendor timescale, thanks I'll ask the EA tomorrow when I ask about a copy of the leasehold document.

LauraB89

Similar thing happened to us - I stalled the solicitors until I had the mortgage agreed as I had this worry that it wouldn't get approved.

I think that if you are confident that the mortgage will be approved you can go ahead with the solicitors, but I wanted to be 100% sure before I did

LB

nubbins

You can stall on search fees etc but you may find that once you appoint them you will have something to pay even if your purchase falls through. You are going to have to spend out on a lender valuation/survey before you get an offer from them as well.

If you want to minimize the risk of losing money then go with a solicitor that offer no completion no fees and a lender that has a product which includes a free valuation.