Can I move mortgage offer to a different property?

her234

We sold our property in early February and then found a property to buy shortly after. Offer was accepted and all was good. The sellers are looking to relocate and due to COVID lockdown, they weren’t able to carry on searching which has meant they still haven’t found anywhere to go. Somehow, there was some confusion amongst solicitors and even though the whole chain had agreed to a completion date of the 3rd August, somehow the sellers were unaware of this and now won’t commit to a date which is jeopardising the whole chain. I actually had to contact the seller directly to find this out as my solicitor was have trouble getting any replies from theirs. I think it’s some purple bricks associate solicitors that just don’t seem to be very engaged.
in response to my making contact, I received a very aggressive email back saying it was ridiculous to expect them to move out on that date. I understand COVID has cause issues with moves but surely, if you want to sell your house, you would just move in with family or rent somewhere. (They has been trying to sell with no success for quite some time, and we turned up out of the blue, agreed £1k under asking and we were ready to move!).
Anyway, what I’m basically asking is can we buy somewhere else instead? We have a mortgage offer in place from Nationwide on this property but would we have to start a new application from scratch if we were to move to a different property? We have found two other possible properties but they are £10-20k more so we might have to increase our borrowing slightly.

[Deleted User]

They may not have family to move in with. And they may not want the upheaval if moving twice and being locked in to a rental agreement.

You'll effectively be starting again with a new property and it will almost certainly take longer than just waiting to complete on your current purchase, but the option is there if you want it.

eddddy

her234 said:

 I actually had to contact the seller directly to find this out as my solicitor was have trouble getting any replies from theirs. I think it’s some purple bricks associate solicitors that just don’t seem to be very engaged.

in response to my making contact, I received a very aggressive email back saying it was ridiculous to expect them to move out on that date. 

Going off topic, but.... this is more an 'Estate Agent Problem' than a 'Solicitor Problem'.  Perhaps the result of having an Estate Agent like PB in the chain.

A good estate agent would be progressing the sale, making sure that everyone is kept informed, negotiating completion dates...
... and acting as a middleman to filter out aggressive comments and resolve disagreements amicably. Essentially because they want to get paid.

On the other hand, PB are paid in advance, so they have very little incentive to work on keeping the chain together until completion.

HomeownerDreamer

I think most lenders would make you start a new application but there may be exceptions so best to ask your lender what they would do. I had to switch house as the first one was valued at zero. Had to start a new application and lost the product I had originally as it wasn't on offer anymore.

her234

eddddy said:

her234 said:

 I actually had to contact the seller directly to find this out as my solicitor was have trouble getting any replies from theirs. I think it’s some purple bricks associate solicitors that just don’t seem to be very engaged.

in response to my making contact, I received a very aggressive email back saying it was ridiculous to expect them to move out on that date. 

Going off topic, but.... this is more an 'Estate Agent Problem' than a 'Solicitor Problem'.  Perhaps the result of having an Estate Agent like PB in the chain.

A good estate agent would be progressing the sale, making sure that everyone is kept informed, negotiating completion dates...
... and acting as a middleman to filter out aggressive comments and resolve disagreements amicably. Essentially because they want to get paid.

On the other hand, PB are paid in advance, so they have very little incentive to work on keeping the chain together until completion.

Yes absolutely. Unfortunately it was PB and they are awful to work with. I have been in contact with the agent we used to sell our house for advice which has been helpful. 

AdrianC

her234 said:

Somehow, there was some confusion amongst solicitors and even though the whole chain had agreed to a completion date of the 3rd August, somehow the sellers were unaware of this and now won’t commit to a date which is jeopardising the whole chain.

In other words, the whole chain hadn't agreed to a completion date.

her234

AdrianC said:

her234 said:

Somehow, there was some confusion amongst solicitors and even though the whole chain had agreed to a completion date of the 3rd August, somehow the sellers were unaware of this and now won’t commit to a date which is jeopardising the whole chain.

In other words, the whole chain hadn't agreed to a completion date.

Yes. Although my solicitora have said they had confirmation that it had been agreed by the whole chain. I’m still unsure where the breakdown occurred.

her234

HomeownerDreamer said:

I think most lenders would make you start a new application but there may be exceptions so best to ask your lender what they would do. I had to switch house as the first one was valued at zero. Had to start a new application and lost the product I had originally as it wasn't on offer anymore.

My concern is having to start a new application. We are porting some of the mortgage as we have an existing mortgage with nationwide. But since the offer was made, I have been put on flexible furlough and so my earnings are slightly less at the moment. Although I will definitely be taken back in the next month or two. I only work part time so I am not the main earner and my husband has not been furloughed so hopefully it won’t count against us too much. 

greatcrested

Your mortgage offer is for that property. OK, your personal finances etc have not changed soyour eligibility toborro the agreed amount will(probably) be unaffected.But the lender still has to be satisfied that the new property is sufficient security for the loan, so... new application, new Valuation, new mortgage offer.