Selling and moving in with family - solicitor advice

Goldust

Hi,


As per some of my other posts and comments recently, we're moving in with family members while waiting for our house to be build which is likely to be around 6-9 months.


I've priced up solicitors online and have seen many come with a "no sell, no cost" guarantee.


In the current climate with possible swings in house prices and Brexit uncertainty I'm particularly interested in this kind of deal as it minimises any waste if a buyer pulls out or tries to lowball me once an offer has been accepted.


Is this wise? What's the best approach here? House is going on the market next week hopefully...

poshphil

I guess I'd be wondering if a buyer tried to reduce the price, where the solicitor would stand on this. Because no sale, no fee for them. They don't really have any interest in getting what's best for you, just in completing the sale regardless.

lisyloo

Solicitors have nothing to do with price negotiation. Estate agents maybe.
I think it's a great idea as it means your solicitor is motivated to complete.
I've recently had great experiences with both solicitor and EA but I chose the more expensive EA who was worth it as they got me full asking price.
Doesn't make sense to skimp on quality IMO.


I would expect them to be more expensive though because (of course) they have to cross-subsidise those cases they don't get paid for.

chunkytfg

Goldust wrote: »

Hi,



In the current climate with possible swings in house prices and Brexit uncertainty I'm particularly interested in this kind of deal as it minimises any waste if a buyer pulls out or tries to lowball me once an offer has been accepted.

.

Are you sure the no sale no fee deals apply if you choose to pull out due to low ball offer changes? I get it if the sale falling through is not your doing but you pulling out might still have a small fee attached?

Goldust

chunkytfg wrote: »

Are you sure the no sale no fee deals apply if you choose to pull out due to low ball offer changes? I get it if the sale falling through is not your doing but you pulling out might still have a small fee attached?

It's a good point and one I wanted to ask them. I was hoping that if the sale was agreed then the sale amount is agreed at that moment in time so it would be classed as the buyer pulling out if I refuse to accept a lower offer having already accepted a higher one and started the process.


But then these are solicitors I'm dealing with!

Goldust

Thinking about it a bit more, I could mitigate some of the risk here depending on when I need to appoint a solicitor.


If I'm just selling, would I appoint after the buyer has had the survey done? If so, that reduces the risk that any nitpicking on the survey (which I know does happen!) causes a buyer to try to knock money off.


I'm not expecting anything major to come up and of course that kind of stuff would be taken into account but surveys can be scary and certainly were to me as a FTB.


A later solicitor appointment reduces the risk that I pay one to get started and then the buyer tries to later knock large amounts off the offer. Appreciate this can happen at any time but straight after a survey seems to be a critical point in the process...

missile

I would not choose a solicitor based solely on price.

Goldust

missile wrote: »

I would not choose a solicitor based solely on price.

I'm pragmatic about the price and certainly wouldn't go for the cheapest without the proper due dilligence. My concern in more around mitigating how much I would lose if a buyer agrees a price and then later tries to negotiate a reduction which I consider excessive or unreasonable.

lisyloo

If that a risk you want to cover then isn't that a question you need to ask the "no sell, so fee" solicitors? Obviously what is reasonable is somewhat subjective.

eddddy

Goldust wrote: »

My concern in more around mitigating how much I would lose if a buyer agrees a price and then later tries to negotiate a reduction which I consider excessive or unreasonable.

Terms of "no sale, no fee" deals can vary - so check them carefully.

Some say that if one sale falls through, you must give the same solicitor the next sale (sometimes within a time limit).

Others seem to have no strings attached.

Also, price negotiations aren't the only reason sales fall through.
A (possibly unreliable) survey suggests the following :

46% were attributed to the buyer changing their mind or the seller feeling that the sale was not progressing quickly enough.

23% fell through because either the buyer or seller wanted to renegotiate after the initial deal had been agreed

one in 10 of the sales that fell through did so because the property survey highlighted issues that caused the buyer to pull out of the sale

Link: https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/number-property-sales-falling-uk-reaches-decade-high/

For example, you might want to give-up and re-market after 2 months waiting for somebody lower in the chain to get their mortgage arranged, even though your buyer has a mortgage and wants to keep waiting.

Will the 'no sale, no fee' terms let you do that?

Lurkingtoposting17

My solicitor does no completion no fee. They take out insurance, they still get paid.
I've had to pull out of two properties due to structural reasons, one early in process, one late. The £80 insurance policy x 2 saved me £1600.
Hopefully they won't be using the insurance this time around!