Close to exchange/completion

peanutjimmy

Hi guys,
Long time lurker, finally signed up! Hoping someone may be able to advise. I am a FTB, and there are currently 3 of us in a chain. Both me and my seller are more or less ready to exchange, all pre completion paperwork signed and received; along with deposits sent to the solicitors.

I was in the process of organising a potential completion date with my solicitor today, who then advised that the vendor at the top of the chain are still awaiting mortgage offer and they have a help to buy loan which they are waiting to be funded.

Both the solicitor and estate agent are now trying to escalate the Help to Buy side of things, but they cannot now guarantee any completion date let alone progressing to exchange just yet.

I was just checking to see if anyone else has had a similar experience as ideally both me and my seller were looking at a March completion. 

Thanks for your help!

bucksbloke

Sounds like you need a lot more disclosure about that sale, as if it is a HTB - it can only be a newbuild - you need further info of what stage the build is at. 

Slithery

If the buyers at the top of the chain don't yet have a mortgage offer then you're nowhere near exchanging contracts.

Thrugelmir

peanutjimmy said:

I was just checking to see if anyone else has had a similar experience as ideally both me and my seller were looking at a March completion. 

Little point in discussing things. Until it becomes clear that exchange through the whole chain is on the cards. 

peanutjimmy

bucksbloke said:

Sounds like you need a lot more disclosure about that sale, as if it is a HTB - it can only be a newbuild - you need further info of what stage the build is at. 

According to the estate agent, the house is due to be signed off on the 13th March. 

Slithery said:

If the buyers at the top of the chain don't yet have a mortgage offer then you're nowhere near exchanging contracts.

This is where I'm confused with things. I've gone back to the estate agent to try and clarify things.

peanutjimmy

Managed to get a response from the estate agent regarding the top of chain purchase. They waited for the Help to Buy Authority to proceed until they sent off the mortgage application, which he advises is standard practice.

We are now waiting for the authority to exchange paperwork to be received from Help To Buy, so it certainly sounds a little more hopeful than yesterday!

peanutjimmy

So I've now had a further update from the estate agent. He has apologised, as it is in fact the authority to proceed that they are waiting for. Once that is back, they will then request the authority to exchange.

According to the estate agent, the mortgage application should not be submitted until the ATP, but to save any further delays they have submitted this earlier this week.

The EA still seems confident that we will be in a position to complete this month, but does it sound as if he is just telling me what I want to hear? 🤔

Surrey_EA

peanutjimmy said:

The EA still seems confident that we will be in a position to complete this month, but does it sound as if he is just telling me what I want to hear? 🤔

With just over three weeks left of the month and one party only just applied for a mortgage. I'm afraid that the chances of moving by the end of March are pretty slim. 

kingstreet

peanutjimmy said:

Managed to get a response from the estate agent regarding the top of chain purchase. They waited for the Help to Buy Authority to proceed until they sent off the mortgage application, which he advises is standard practice.

We are now waiting for the authority to exchange paperwork to be received from Help To Buy, so it certainly sounds a little more hopeful than yesterday!

With BPHA (Midlands & London HTB Agent) currently processing PIFs from 04/02/20, waiting for the ATP before applying for a mortgage is currently stark, raving bonkers.

peanutjimmy

Surrey_EA said:

peanutjimmy said:

The EA still seems confident that we will be in a position to complete this month, but does it sound as if he is just telling me what I want to hear? 🤔

With just over three weeks left of the month and one party only just applied for a mortgage. I'm afraid that the chances of moving by the end of March are pretty slim. 

This is what I was thinking! My solicitor is trying not to give any false hope which is fair.

kingstreet said:

peanutjimmy said:

Managed to get a response from the estate agent regarding the top of chain purchase. They waited for the Help to Buy Authority to proceed until they sent off the mortgage application, which he advises is standard practice.

We are now waiting for the authority to exchange paperwork to be received from Help To Buy, so it certainly sounds a little more hopeful than yesterday!

With BPHA (Midlands & London HTB Agent) currently processing PIFs from 04/02/20, waiting for the ATP before applying for a mortgage is currently stark, raving bonkers.

The EA advised the ATP was sent off last week, and the current turnaround is 14 days (Oxfordshire), and then the ATE turnaround is currently 4 days. It all still seems to make it extremely tight to be in a position to complete by the end of the month! 🙈

peanutjimmy

Have been chasing both solicitor and estate agent over the past week.

Don't want to keep hounding them, but last email was on Wednesday when estate agent advised documents were due any day now.

Thinking I might send another email today just asking if they have any approximate dates when things are expected! 

Stressed doesn't quite cover it! 😭