Persuading a seller to sell to me although no cash at the moment

Murmansk

I own outright a house worth £220,000. I want to buy a flat for £120,000 in another town and move in there in the next few months at which point I'll sell my house. The flat in question is back on the market and I want to persuade the seller/agent I'm a good prospect to buy it, but I have no cash as the moment.

My partner's due to inherit enough money to pay for this flat in the next couple of months and will be able to fund it then.

I'm interested to hear any opinions on strategy to persuade this seller I'm a good prospect so I don't miss this particular flat.

gettingtheresometime

Murmansk wrote: »

I own outright a house worth £220,000. I want to buy a flat for £120,000 in another town and move in there in the next few months at which point I'll sell my house. The flat in question is back on the market and I want to persuade the seller/agent I'm a good prospect to buy it, but I have no cash as the moment.

My partner's due to inherit enough money to pay for this flat in the next couple of months and will be able to fund it then.

I'm interested to hear any opinions on strategy to persuade this seller I'm a good prospect so I don't miss this particular flat.

Get a mortgage on your property and then pay it off when your partner receives their inheritance

G_M

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Get a mortgage on your property and then pay it off when your partner receives their inheritance

and/or when you sell the property.

Murmansk

But applying for and setting up a mortgage will take quite a while and there seem to me massive early redemption penalties.

I need documentary evidence for the estate agent to prove I am a good prospect - how quickly would a lender give me a letter to show the estate agent saying they'll give me a mortgage?

robsmg

Applying for and setting up a mortgage can take as little as 2 weeks now.

A lender will only give you a piece of paper stating that they will give you a mortgage when they send your legal team a mortgage offer, anything else is only an 'indication' unfortunately sometimes indications aren't worth the paper they are wrote on.

For an offer, you would have to have the offer accepted, a survey done, the application accepted etc...

you may be better having a look at bridging finance however it can be expensive

steampowered

My understanding is that early redemption penalties would only apply to fixes (such as 2-year fixes). I don't believe they apply to tracker mortgages?

The reason why you pay early redemption penalties is that the bank has to terminate the interest rate hedging product it needs to purchase to give you a fixed rate.

You'll lose out on the arrangement fee but that shouldn't be too much.

HouseBuyer77

there seem to me massive early redemption penalties

Not all on products. MSE's own mortgage comparison tool allows you to find mortgages that have no early repayment charge: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/best-buys/

Frankly if you all you've got is the promise you'll see an inheritance shortly that's enough to purchase outright in cash I doubt the seller will jump at the chance.

Cash buyers are great assuming the seller cares about moving quickly and said cash buyer actually has the cash (i.e. £ in bank account, can be transferred within a few days). Right now they may be rather wary as all you don't yet have the cash.

hazyjo

If I was a seller, it would all sound very scammy to me (appreciate it's not, but it's how it would sound). I definitely wouldn't agree to anything. If it's still on the market when you have the cash, then I'd sell to you (or if it falls through with another buyer).

There will be other properties. I'd just sit tight.

Or sell your property now? That's the usual way... then offer when you have a buyer.

Jx

TBagpuss

I don't think you an persaude the seller or the agent that you are a good prospect, becuae right now, you are not - you aren't proceedable as you don't have a source of funding or (on what you have said) a deposit.

SoI think you need to decide how you are going tofund the purchase.

The obvious way would be to get a mortgage on the new flat. Speak to an independent mortgage advisor and they should be able to tell you what you can borrow. You can decide to get a mortgage with no ERC or alternatively to get a short fix and plan to pay the mortgage of at the end o the fixed period, even if that potentially menas haing the money from your house sale or your partner's inheritance in savings for a while. or you could ook at the nibers and find that a mortage with an ERC may be cheaper than one without even factoring in the ERC.

Second option would be to get a mortgage on your curent property, to raise the funds to buy the second one. Agsain, you'd ned to speak to a mortgage asdvisor abut this, and be clear with them about when you xpect to sell / your partner to get her inheritcance so they can advise about the best optins for you.

Third Option would be put your house on the markey now, and let the seller and the agents know that you are selling, and do a linked sale and purchse. This is slower, but may not matter if your seller isn't in a hurry.

4th option - you say your partner is due to inherit money in the next 'couple of months' what exactly does that mean? Do you mean that she will be receiveing funds in that timescale? If so, then a letter from the executo / solicitor dealing with the estate confirming that she isdue to reiceve at least £120K and that the funds will be available by [date] may be handy - but in my experience probate isn't usually quite that eact - it can be quicker or sloer than expected, so your partner would ned o talk to the executoror their solicitor to find out the position and how precise they can be about timings.

ThePants999

TBagpuss wrote: »

The obvious way would be to get a mortgage on the new flat.

No it wouldn't - the OP said they have no cash, ergo they have no deposit. They need to borrow the entire asking price. Obvious way to do that is mortgage on current property, i.e. your option 2.

lincroft1710

Murmansk wrote: »

I want to persuade the seller/agent I'm a good prospect to buy it, but I have no cash as the moment.

My partner's due to inherit enough money to pay for this flat in the next couple of months and will be able to fund it then.

This reminds me of the Billy Bunter stories where Bunter would blag food on the promise of "receiving a postal order next week"