Had an offer on house - was this the right thing to do?

redrabbit29

About two weeks ago someone offered on our house and I accepted. The Estate agent told me he does not have an Agreement in Principle and he can't get one until a month later as he is waiting for a payrise from work and then the mortgage can be agreed to.

I told estate agent that I felt uneasy about this so said that I didn't want to take it off the market, and then start trying to buy other houses all based on this pay rise.

The buyer then said he may be able to borrow money from his parents, and they are all coming round today to look at the house and possibly agree to lend him the money.

Am I being awkward or paranoid?

Maybe I should have just taken it off the market? He did say he would organise surveyors and things once it was off the market but it still seemed very loose

SG27

Currently he is not procedable and you could argue that he shouldnt be viewing houses until he is.

I would do as you have done. Provisionally accept his offer but let him know that until he is procedable you will still be taking viewings. I think that is fair.

pinklady21

Bottom line is - is your "buyer" procedable?
If not, keep your house on the market until you find a buyer who is.

Margot123

Are similar houses in your area selling quickly?
I think I'd base my acceptance (or not) of this buyer based on that.

They appear keen, so why not let them and their family have a viewing. You can talk to them, sound them out, and then make a risk assessment based on the knowledge you glean from the interaction.

Every transaction is a gamble, and sometimes it's the 'strange' ones that turn out OK. Until exchange of contracts, you never know whether it's sold or not anyway.

redrabbit29

Part of the reason I am nervous is that since we accepted this offer we have been to see a few others to buy. We found one we like and my partner wants to make an offer.

She seems happy to make the offer and pay for surveyors, solicitors despite the person buying our place not being proceedable

I don't feel comfortable spending £3-4K on these and even offering when I still don't feel 100% happy with this buyers position.

I also have visions of him coming with his parents wanting their opinion, only for them to say it's not a good property

need_an_answer

I am currently in a not proceedable chain and have been advised that I should instruct a solicitor to work for me but as yet hold off on searches etc until the chain is complete.

In your case do as I have done I'm proceedable so have put in an offer that has been accepted and we are now waiting for the next steps as is our solicitor.

We have demonstrated a level of commitment without actually getting the solicitor doing searches until ready.

franklee

redrabbit29 wrote: »

I don't feel comfortable spending £3-4K on these and even offering when I still don't feel 100% happy with this buyers position.

Agree with need an answer. Make the offer but hold off on spending money until the chain is compete. After all the vendors may take ages to find somewhere etc. up the chain. Plus leave yours on the market.

redrabbit29 wrote: »

I also have visions of him coming with his parents wanting their opinion, only for them to say it's not a good property

I wouldn't worry about having visions, let parents view, be there too and see what actually happens.

Wyndham

No mortgage lender will be happy with some of the money being borrowed from elsewhere. If the parents want to gift the money, that's different, but if they are loaning it then it will cause a problem.

Doesn't sound to me as if they are procedable. And if money is this tight, it may also cause problems. Proceed with care!

Red-Squirrel_2

If the buyer needs to wait for a pay rise to be able to borrow what they need, they may well be pushing it on affordability anyway, there!!!8217;s no guarantee they!!!8217;ll ever actually be proceedable.

Thrugelmir

Have they "all" been round today? How your buyer funds the purchase is their issue. If there's no forward progress. Remarket the property. This buyer can always return at a later date.

redrabbit29

I wasn't there when they all came round today. I called EA but he's out. Spoke to manager who said if there was an issue then the EA would have called him.

We have gone ahead and put an increased offer in on a house we like. I'm pretty sure it will be accepted as it's our 3rd bid and £10k more than our original. Also the sellers indicated they would accept it.

I won't be spending money immediately so hopefully we get things moving with our buyer and the whole thing runs smoothly