Buyers waiting for mortgage offer

ellectrastar

Hi,

I agreed to a sale of my property over two months ago now. A contract of sale and transfer of deeds has been signed. Asked for an update from my solicitor as been quiet for a couple of weeks and they have said the seller's solicitor are waiting for the mortgage offer. What exactly does this mean? Maybe I'm being stupid but I thought that was meant to be all sorted before you put an offer on a place? When I purchased a property before I am pretty certain it didn't take this long...

Thanks in advance.

aneary

You can't get your mortgage offer until you place an offer and have it accepted on the property. The mortgage is linked to the property not just the person. Only an AIP/DIP can be obtained before.

Has the survey been completed yet?

Surrey_EA

A formal mortgage offer, is confirmation from a lender that they will lend the required amount of money, that along with any deposit will cover the purchase price of the property in question.

It is wise to discuss the amount one can borrow with a lender before putting an offer forward, and many buyers obtain an agreement in principle (AIP). Which is essentially an indication from a lender that, subject to certain checks and a valuation of the property, they will lend up to a certain amount.

However, until such time as a specific property has been identified to purchase a buyer cannot make a full mortgage application.

Once the application process is underway it may take as little as 2 weeks for an offer to come through, or it may take several months, depending on the circumstances, and complexity of the specific case.

As the EA that you're selling through to speak to your buyer and find out more information about what stage the process is at.

Has a surveyor visited your property to carry out a valuation yet?

ellectrastar

No, no survey. No one's been in touch at all. I keep expecting something to come through but would have thought this should have happened by now...?

ellectrastar

I haven't spoken to our estate agent (who were Purple Bricks), just liasing with our solicitor. Would it be worth contacting the agent as well?

Edited to say sorry, I think that's what you were saying Surrey_EA - to contact them, right?

G_M

Purple Bricks.

Well that is one of the disadvantages of using a cheap online EA. You get less follow up support. They will I believe get paid whether this sale goes though or not.

A traditionl EA costs more, but ony gets paid on successful Competion, so they have an incentive to spend time facilitating things.....

Having said that, 2 months, no survey, no mortgage yet, I'd be concerned.

Ask both PB and your solicitor for a clear explanation of how far the buyers have got, and what timescale they expect.

Might be worth letting your buyers know you are considering putting the property back on the market if things don't start moving within this week.

edit: Ah! Yes:

you’ll pay when your property sells or after 10 months, whichever is the sooner.

so they really don't care if it sells or not.......

Surrey_EA

ellectrastar wrote: »

I haven't spoken to our estate agent (who were Purple Bricks), just liasing with our solicitor. Would it be worth contacting the agent as well?

Edited to say sorry, I think that's what you were saying Surrey_EA - to contact them, right?

If it's PB, you might be lucky and be able to get them to chase up. But reports here seem to be a bit hit and miss as to their effectiveness and enthusiasm.

As they're paid their fee upfront there is no incentive to chase everyone up, unlike a traditional agent who gets paid only if the sale reaches completion.

Do you have any direct contact with your buyer?

ellectrastar

Thanks G_M - have had no problem with Purple Bricks. The local agent has kept in touch and said if I need help just ask so I've just contacted them as well. I thought dealing with our solicitor would have sufficed but I guess now. When I asked the solicitor for an idea of timescale they came back and said they hope this offer will be fairly imminent as the buyers have had plenty of time. But as before, no survey or anything yet so I don't know...

I do know that it's a long time. I bought a house before and it was all done in about six weeks. I think I just have landed some problem buyers maybe.

G_M

My mum's (probate) house took 4 months. During that time the (supposedly) cash buyers

* anounced they had to sell their BTL to fund the purchase
* announced they were also applying for a mortgage
* changed lender to get a better deal
* announced their solicitor was not on the new mortgage lender's panel
* so changed solicitor and started again........

Surrey_EA

ellectrastar wrote: »

have had no problem with Purple Bricks

But it's seeming like they're not keeping you terribly well informed of how the sale is progressing, as after 8 weeks it is not clear whether your buyer has done much about arranging finance.

ellectrastar wrote: »

I thought dealing with our solicitor would have sufficed but I guess now. When I asked the solicitor for an idea of timescale they came back and said they hope this offer will be fairly imminent as the buyers have had plenty of time. But as before, no survey or anything yet so I don't know...

Your solicitor will be in a position to keep you informed of how the legal process is going, but is unlikely to be able to provide much information about the mortgage arrangements of your buyer.

ellectrastar wrote: »

I do know that it's a long time. I bought a house before and it was all done in about six weeks. I think I just have landed some problem buyers maybe.

Most sales average around 12 weeks, so your previous experience was unusually fast. There may not be any issue with your buyers, but you need more information in order to be certain. No survey or valuation after this length of time would start to ring alarm bells.

wantonnoodle

ellectrastar wrote: »

I do know that it's a long time. I bought a house before and it was all done in about six weeks. I think I just have landed some problem buyers maybe.

To be honest - if you went from offer to completion in 6 weeks previously, you were very lucky. The average time from offer to completion is around 12 weeks and when we bought last year we took 17 weeks. Due to survey issues, it took us 8 weeks to get a successful mortgage offer, so things are not always as straightforward as it seems