First time buyer Need help

ali137

Hi

My offer for a house (under £250,000)has been accepted and i am arranging the mortgage with a broker.

The estate agent said if i put £500 the house will be off the market and no one can make an offer. If i buy the house they will give this money back. If i don't buy the house the money will go. Has anyone been in this situation.

Can someone please tell me how long does it take to get a mortgage and a survey done on the property. I presume the back will carry out the survey???

Nicki

Yes. I paid a £5k non-refundable deposit on my purchase to the seller's solicitor, and my purchaser paid a £10k non-refundable deposit to my estate agent on my sale. In both cases the terms under which the buyer could withdraw were made clear (ie if the seller couldn't show title or the survey did not support the valuation or revealed work costing more than a set amount) and the money was held in the third parties client account, not to be released without the consent of both parties.

Hope this helps

SquatNow

Have you got a mortgage offer in principle already? And I don't mean a self-cert one.. a proper mortgage where you have already had to provide proof of income etc????

A_Nice_Englishman

This is what the Ombudsman for Estate Agents Code of Practice
says about deposits and passing on offers

Deposits
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland

8a As a general rule, you should not take pre-contract deposits, which have no validity in law and can give consumers a false sense of security. However, in the case of new home sales, you may take into account specific instructions from sellers. Ifa deposit is taken, then a written receipt must be given, and the circumstances under which the deposit and any interest accrued are refundable must be clearly stated in writing.

8b You must not hold a deposit, or any other money belonging to a seller or buyer client, unless you are covered by adequate insurance.

8c Any money held must by law be in a separate client account or accounts, as set out in the Estate Agents (Accounts) Regulations 1981. You must be able to account immediately for all money you are holding on behalf of a client.

8d By law you must not deduct any cost or charges from any client’s money you hold, unless your client has given you written authority to do so. You should ensure that your client’s authority is obtained at the time of the deduction or that you give your client sufficient notice prior to the deduction to object to it.

In Scotland

8e Estate Agents or anyone engaging in estate agency work cannot accept pre-contract deposits.


and

6. Submission of Offers
6a By law, you must tell sellers as soon as is reasonably possible about all offers that you receive at any time until contracts
have been exchanged (in Scotland, missives have been concluded) unless the offer is an amount or type which the seller
has specifically instructed you, in writing, not to pass on. You must confirm each offer in writing to the seller, and to the
buyer who made it, within two working days.


You should really have got a morgage agreed in principle before you made the offer. This basically means that the bank agrees that it will lend you up to £x, based on your income and credit rating. Then, once your offer has been accepted, they will do a valuation survey to confirm that they are willing to lend on the actual property you want to buy.

Note that the bank's survery is purely for the above purpose. It won't tell you if there are any defects in the property, only that it is worth more than they are lending you. You will therefore probably want to get your own survey done.

Sellers will often take their property off the market once you have proved you have a mortgage arranged in principle and the survey done (or at least booked). This doesn't stop anyone making an offer, whcih the esate agent is obliged to pass on to the seller. (It's different if you're in Scotland but I'm not familiar with their processes)

ali137

A_Nice_Englishman wrote: »

Note that the bank's survery is purely for the above purpose. It won't tell you if there are any defects in the property, only that it is worth more than they are lending you. You will therefore probably want to get your own survey done.

Where can i get a surveyor to do an independent survey for me???? Do you know any company who do the survey.

Nicki

ali137 wrote: »

Where can i get a surveyor to do an independent survey for me???? Do you know any company who do the survey.

The mortgage company will give you a choice of which survey to get, and will organise it for you by a surveyor on their panel. The cheapest option is a valuation which as a nice Englishman says doesn't tell you about defects. The middle one is a Homebuyers which will tell you about most issues, and the most expensive is a full structural survey which is recommended if buying an old property or one in very poor repair

A_Nice_Englishman

ali137 wrote: »

Where can i get a surveyor to do an independent survey for me???? Do you know any company who do the survey.

Search on http://www.ricsfirms.com/vw/search/location.aspx for a surveyor in your area who does residential surveys.

we_are_always_skint

my husand is a director of estate agents and he said it is illegal in england for estate agents to take and/or hold deposits for sales. the only deposits that can be taken are holding deposits for new properties and they have to be passed straight onto builder

it looks to me like they are just trying to make you make a decision now - dont part with any cash