Right to wait until seller has found a house?

decca2013

We've just had an offer accepted - were first time buyers living in rented accommodation.

The Estate Agent wanted to know we're proceedable before taking the house off the market, so we've shown them a mortgage agreement in principle. Now they are saying they want things to move quickly and need to know who our solicitors is etc, they even said they could arrange this themselves which I declined because we would rather go with a recommended one. They now want confirmation that our mortgage application has gone in. We mentioned to the estate agent we want to get an independent survey done so now they're asking when this will be. The estate agent seems to want to 'hurry things along' (things which will cost us money!) when the seller has only just started their househunting.

Am I right to want the seller to find a house (so they're definitely moving, not deciding to stay put) before spending any money on this transaction?

I was thinking it would go like this:
Estate agent confirms seller has found a house
We pay for our own independent survey (about £300-400 in our area)
If the survey is OK, we then get our mortgage advisor to put in our application (this is costing us £200) and our chosen solicitor gets going on searches etc (initial £400 for this, with more further down the line).

Does that sound right? Or is it normal to start spending on costs like these before the seller has found their house?

sparky130a

Don't allow the EA to dictate such things.

Having said that i'd probably progress the mortgage application to a) Show i'm serious and b) allow the mortgage company to carry out a valuation and confirm they are prepared to lend. More for my own piece of mind rather than the vendors.

That should buy you a bit of time before surveys etc.

sulphate

Tell the estate agent you are not prepared to spend £££ until the chain is complete. In particular, mortgage offers are only valid for a few months so if you applied early in the process you could end up having to reapply.

AnotherJoe

It's chicken and egg but in your case I'd just be very clear that you have no intention of spending money until your vendor has found somewhere to move to. That could potentially mean they keep it on the market but OTOH you could spend a lot of money and the vendor find nowhere and change their mind about moving,

In the meantime I suggest you keep looking as well.

decca2013

Thanks for the replies! It definitely feels like the estate agent is putting pressure on us, but I wonder if that was to try to bully us into using their solicitors and mortgage service! Hopefully we can get them off our backs by saying we have everything lined up, just aren't ready to push the button until the sellers position is more firm.

sparky130a

decca2013 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies! It definitely feels like the estate agent is putting pressure on us, but I wonder if that was to try to bully us into using their solicitors and mortgage service! Hopefully we can get them off our backs by saying we have everything lined up, just aren't ready to push the button until the sellers position is more firm.

Quite possibly. Just make your position clear.

thesurveyor

The EA doesn't really have a say in these matters. Personally I would wait as you could spend a fortune and have the vendors pull out. Or alternatively proceed and set a completion date.

AnotherJoe

thesurveyor wrote: »

The EA doesn't really have a say in these matters. Personally I would wait as you could spend a fortune and have the vendors pull out. Or alternatively proceed and set a completion date.

Not practical if the vendor hasn't found somewhere yet. More pragmatic to keep in touch with the EA to understand vendors position, and looking.

hazyjo

sparky130a wrote: »

Don't allow the EA to dictate such things.

Having said that i'd probably progress the mortgage application to a) Show i'm serious and b) allow the mortgage company to carry out a valuation and confirm they are prepared to lend. More for my own piece of mind rather than the vendors.

That should buy you a bit of time before surveys etc.

Beware that most mortgage products are valid for 3 or 6 months and extending the offers isn't always possible. Average purchase takes 3 months. Not sure I'd start anything until the entire chain was complete, but appreciate if figures are tight then you might want to think about risking applying now. If the sellers can't find anywhere, they may give up altogether.


Jx

sparky130a

hazyjo wrote: »

Beware that most mortgage products are valid for 3 or 6 months and extending the offers isn't always possible. Average purchase takes 3 months. Not sure I'd start anything until the entire chain was complete, but appreciate if figures are tight then you might want to think about risking applying now. If the sellers can't find anywhere, they may give up altogether.


Jx

Agreed. And i'd only do so if it were a 6 month offer.

But £200 is a speck of money in the grand scheme of purchasing. As said though, i'd do it for my own piece of mind rather than the vendors.

saajan_12

Don't let the EA pressure you into spending money before you're comfortable the vendor is moving. However remember the EA will often want to push the sale along to make you feel more tied in and get their commission earlier. The may be in the vendor's ear that you are dragging your heels and just cause confusion.

A cheap way to to keep everyone happy could be to 'instruct' your solicitor and pass on their details to the vendor/EA, but ask your solicitors to not start searches etc until you give the go ahead.