Long gap between offer and mortgage offer

kazzamunga

So we made an offer on a house on Saturday 1st February, set the ball rolling immediately on the Monday afterwards, with the mortgage application being submitted by last Friday. After some initial faff over a wrong address, the mutually agreeable date (for the vendor and lender) has been set for a valuation survey....25th February?? So we won't even know if the lender agrees with our asking price offer until almost a month after we made the offer? Is this ridiculous, or is it just me? I had a sale that fell through in November and cost me a load of money, so I do not want to proceed with anything until we know the lender will lend...but I didn't expect to have to wait a month for this! Last time it was less than a week! Am I being unreasonable??

ThePants999

Not at all unusual, I'm afraid. Get used to everything in this process taking longer than you'd think is reasonable.

kazzamunga

How come it was so quick last time then, before everything fell through? I have been stuck in this cycle since bloody August last year, it is absolutely doing my head in. 

ThePants999

It's pretty random - depends on the mutual availability of the surveyor and the vendor. Some banks do their underwriting before the valuation, then it can take even longer.

Are you not getting an actual survey, on top of the mortgage valuation? You can always ask your own surveyor for a valuation.

kazzamunga

So today is apparently the long-awaited valuation day, but still no news yet, and apparently no one is able to tell us what time the survey is booked in at. I wouldn't mind, but it took them two weeks to figure out a mutually agreeable date with the vendor, and the estate agent has been really curt in her emails. Can't believe it's 25 days later and we still don't even know whether we have a mortgage offer. Totally Kafkaesque. 

kazzamunga

ThePants999 said:

Are you not getting an actual survey, on top of the mortgage valuation? You can always ask your own surveyor for a valuation.

We're getting an RICS Level 3 Building Survey next week - don't think that gives a valuation. Even if it did, would the bank take that on board?

MCI

It took a few days after the mortgage valuation for us to hear back and receive a report. I wouldn't worry. This is just the way it is.

kazzamunga

I put my flat on the market last August, so at this stage I'm getting a bit fatigued by the whole thing. Plus last time we tried to buy a house (which fell through) I think the valuation bit was done and dusted within a week or so. To wait almost a month to find out whether we can even move ahead at the price we've offered seems completely ridiculous to me. I have a friend who just moved home to Finland, and she said over there you can buy a house within a week or two. And when you look at the actual piddly tasks that need doing, why should it take any longer than that? Everyone involved seems to think their time is much more important than mine. 

bucksbloke

Quite a few people get through Christmas and New Year and then think they will start looking for new house, so you end up with the number of valuations having a peak - also last two weeks have been half term weeks and so people take holiday! This can all impact the valuation.

On the last house (a new build), we went with Nationwide and they told us the nearest valuation was three weeks away! This was completely unacceptable to our housebuilder who wanted to exchange within 28 days, so we called Nationwide and asked what they could do? They arranged for the valuation to be completed by another valuation company on their panel - it happened four days later. It's worth asking if there are any alternatives!

kazzamunga

Yeah true, it was the vendor as well, she was away for two weeks but as usual (based on my experience of estate agents) I only got half the story. No one said 'she's accepted your offer but she'll now be away for two weeks', there was just this really long period where I couldn't work out who was stopping the valuation from happening earlier, but in the end it turned out that it was the vendor going on holiday. Anyway, she's back now, but now the issue is that the wheels at TSB seem to be broken. The survey hasn't signed it off yet, if there are issues it has to go to the underwriter, blah blah blah. Literally, it'll be over a month to get to step one of the process. Cheers guys. I am so over it all. I honestly never want to move again, assuming this even goes to plan this time. Next time I want to feel like this I'll just set fire to £1000 in the garden - would at least be quick and easy.

kazzamunga

Oh, here we go. They can't lend because there is a socialist club next door (you know, like a working men's club, like they have in the north...). So that's great. Knew there was some kind of curve ball coming. I think my hair might start falling out at this rate.