How long is it acceptable to give buyer to obtain mortgage before putting house back on the market?

NatNat77

Hi all
So we accepted an offer on our 4 bed house from a FTB the day after it went on the market in September. The only people to view. We had an offer accepted the following week. We got our mortgage offer over 2 weeks ago and our buyers valuation on our house was done first, almost 3 weeks ago and same lender as us. They still don't have their offer though and are not paying for searches etc until they get it, but are confident their conveyancer will deal with all paperwork within 5 weeks...!(they're apparently aware that the searches are taking forever).

I don't want to lose them and I'm aware how long some mortgage applications are taking but I'm thinking of putting our house back on the market in the hope we might attract a cash buyer or someone who needs to purchase something quickly, and if they get their offer in the meantime then great, as it's been 2 months now. There's been very little contact and I'm just not sure how committed they are, although they did seem so at first, and am worried the length of time it's taking is cause for concern and maybe he can't get the mortgage.

Our seller is a cash buyer and their vendor is going into rented so that completes the chain, although that purchase has only recently been agreed so they're early in the process.
I don't want to put it back on the market particularly but if I'm going to, I'd rather do it within the next week or so rather than on top of Christmas, and it has to be soon if we're going to catch the stamp duty deadline. 
Am I being unreasonable or am I right to be a bit worried? I've asked the EA to call me and if he doesn't by lunchtime tomorrow I'll call him, I was thinking of saying if no offer by mon/Tues put it back on unless he can seriously reassure me otherwise. I'd be grateful for opinions! 

princeofpounds

So we've gone from September to November and they haven't even secured their mortgage offer? Have they given any possible explanation why? Covid or no Covid, it should not take that long, with the possible exceptions of a complex self-employed case where the accounts for the firm need to be manually reviewed by the underwriter, or a severe delay in the valuation survey perhaps.

If they haven't spent anything at all on the transaction after three months - no mortgage offer, no searches, no survey... they aren't that serious. Not a single step of progression has been made, except perhaps appointing a solicitor (?)

AlexMac

Lean on the EA to chase them; that's what you're paying them several thousands (more than your solicitor's fees) to do!

On our last sale, we had a brilliant EA who knew how to apply tactful pressure to buyers and solicitors, and who kept us updated throughout. 

I'll let others comment on your Q... when to re-market (or threaten to)

Good luck

Othmas

If it’s helpful, we applied for our mortgage on September 22nd. Valuation October 20th. Mortgage offer November 10th. So 7 weeks in total. 

However, we started the searches at the same time. So at the time of the mortgage offer, we were almost at the point of exchange. 

Carl2510

A cash buyer won’t mean a speedier process, I had a cash buyer after first lockdown and it still took from offer in 16/07/20 to complete on the 03/10/20 and that was chain free.

sheramber

I sold   my house in recently. The estate agent told me that a t present lenders were being very wary of FTB and it was  difficult for them to get a mortgage. Also, due to covid and working from home, what used to take 6 weeks was taking 10 weeks. 

Thrugelmir

Sounds as if they delayed their mortgage application.  Are the buyers currently in rented? 

Has the EA been able to provide any further background information? 

NatNat77

Thanks everyone, I'm glad I'm not being unreasonable. I don't have much background info but they're in rented atm, with a young child so I think the husband might be the sole earner, but I don't know. Our house sold for over £550k so although I don't know how much deposit they have it's presumably quite a big mortgage that they need. I guess they may have delayed making their application but we got the impression they wanted to move quickly and we were worried we'd hold them up! We were told he had a DIP but I don't know how much weight you can give them really as there are no guarantees are there and they're based on what you tell them... 

I mentioned going back on the market in my earlier msg to the EA asking him to call so I imagine he's scrambling around for updates before calling back but I will definitely lean on him. I'll give him until lunchtime tomorrow to call.
Very grateful for the input 

Doodlebugs

We are in a similar position. We accepted an offer early September and found out this week our buyers do not have a mortgage offer yet and are in the process of changing brokers. Not clear if they are starting a new application as well. Our EA has said the buyers have requested surveys and we’ve had enquiries through from their solicitor but if there’s an issue with them getting a mortgage then none of that progress matters really. 

We’ve debated putting ours back on the market because of location it may take a while to find a new buyer and we don’t want to lose our onward purchase. It’s hard to say how long to give the buyers a chance to get their mortgage sorted. Hope your EA has some positive news for you today. 

moneysavinghero

They are possibly on furlough and the bank is making them wait to get back into actual employment before they will process the mortgage.

pimento

We waited 12 weeks for our buyer to get a mortgage.  To be fair though, they were doing all the other paperwork in the meantime so when the mortgage offer did finally come through, they were just about ready to exchange