Can the seller just decide to put it back on the market?

Theodom11

Thrugelmir said:

Why have you waited to apply for the mortgage?  That should have been the first priority. 

We didn’t - I have added more detail in a separate note. However the Bank has said that they are inundated and therefore it’s just taking a little longer to sort things out at their end

Theodom11

AskAsk said:

it sounds like she is bluffing to get you to move with getting the mortgage offer.  if you had the survey done 3 weeks ago, why is your mortgage still under consideration?  is your bank just slow?

Yes they are slow... they’re inundated and have a bit of a backlog 

AskAsk

Theodom11 said:

AskAsk said:

it sounds like she is bluffing to get you to move with getting the mortgage offer.  if you had the survey done 3 weeks ago, why is your mortgage still under consideration?  is your bank just slow?

Yes they are slow... they’re inundated and have a bit of a backlog 

not much you can do, except assure the seller that the mortgage process is in place and there are delays because of covid 19.  let her put the property back on the market and continue with your purchase.  she is unlikely to find anyone else who can buy quicker than you.

sellers can put the property back on the market to hurry up the buyer or to have a fall back when the buyer pulls out or can't raise the mortgage.  it doesn't stop you continuing with your paperwork.

kinger101

Personally, I'd have walked away once they refused to take it off the market before survey completed.  It's unlikely that they'll find another proceedable buyer before the 23rd, particularly one willing to (a) enter a contract race, and (b) deal with your vendor.  But you can likely expect similar behaviour throughout the rest of the transaction, or chalk it up to experience and move on.

Sometimes, it's necessary to remarket a property if you're unsure of a buyers commitment (done it myself when there wasn't even a solicitor appointed at three weeks) but you've not done anything that would cause me concern.

AdrianC

Theodom11 said:

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet ... !

Opinions may differ on that.

You offered, some unspecified period ago - probably around a month?
You didn't arrange a survey until you were told that the place was staying on the market until you had.
The survey was three weeks ago.
You chose to use a surveyor not on your lender's panel, and it will be a month between that survey and the lender's valuation.
The failure to use a surveyor on the panel is probably because you didn't even have a lender in mind - and no AiP - until after that survey.
Because of that, you still don't have a mortgage offer.

Yes, it's a low LtV - but without a lender, you can't buy... Correct?

Would you be happy if it was your chained buyer who was working to this kind of timescale?

Hmm maybe you’re related to the seller? Yes I would be ok with it because I am a reasonable person. I think 3 weeks on from when we made the offer at this time of year with all the implications of Covid then I’d say we are about where we should be.  

If it helps here’s more detail.... I offered 3 weeks ago the estate agent asked for an OiP (and our solicitors details) and that is all. We had already spoken to our broker and had an Offer in principle (OiP) in hand but the finer details and formal offer couldn’t be confirmed until we found a house. The house was then marked as SSTC. 2 days later we noticed that it was back on the market (nothing mentioned to us at all about that- would you be happy with that?). Speaking to the agent she said that the seller had decided that until we’d had a survey done she wanted the house to remain on the market. She knew we had the OiP and that our formal Mtge interview was later that week, I should also point out that at this point the seller hadn’t even found a property they wanted to move to! Notwithstanding that we quickly arranged for a survey (knowing full well that the mortgage lender would require their own). The house was then put back as SSTC. A further OIP was agreed later that week with the mortgage company but it was subject to a valuation. The mortgage broker has sent an email confirming our offer subject to a valuation by the mortgage company (which they were scheduling for 23rd Dec). The seller was advised but came back today with a demand for us to have a formal offer confirmed by cob today or it’s going back on the market.... do you still think her to be reasonable?

We can only go on the information you give.

Now that you've changed the timeline and clarified that it was the offer which was three weeks ago, you already had an AiP, and the survey was about two weeks ago...

However, I do still question why you didn't use a surveyor on your lender's panel, then the valuation could have been done as part of that survey.

kinger101

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet ... !

Opinions may differ on that.

You offered, some unspecified period ago - probably around a month?
You didn't arrange a survey until you were told that the place was staying on the market until you had.
The survey was three weeks ago.
You chose to use a surveyor not on your lender's panel, and it will be a month between that survey and the lender's valuation.
The failure to use a surveyor on the panel is probably because you didn't even have a lender in mind - and no AiP - until after that survey.
Because of that, you still don't have a mortgage offer.

Yes, it's a low LtV - but without a lender, you can't buy... Correct?

Would you be happy if it was your chained buyer who was working to this kind of timescale?

Hmm maybe you’re related to the seller? Yes I would be ok with it because I am a reasonable person. I think 3 weeks on from when we made the offer at this time of year with all the implications of Covid then I’d say we are about where we should be.  

If it helps here’s more detail.... I offered 3 weeks ago the estate agent asked for an OiP (and our solicitors details) and that is all. We had already spoken to our broker and had an Offer in principle (OiP) in hand but the finer details and formal offer couldn’t be confirmed until we found a house. The house was then marked as SSTC. 2 days later we noticed that it was back on the market (nothing mentioned to us at all about that- would you be happy with that?). Speaking to the agent she said that the seller had decided that until we’d had a survey done she wanted the house to remain on the market. She knew we had the OiP and that our formal Mtge interview was later that week, I should also point out that at this point the seller hadn’t even found a property they wanted to move to! Notwithstanding that we quickly arranged for a survey (knowing full well that the mortgage lender would require their own). The house was then put back as SSTC. A further OIP was agreed later that week with the mortgage company but it was subject to a valuation. The mortgage broker has sent an email confirming our offer subject to a valuation by the mortgage company (which they were scheduling for 23rd Dec). The seller was advised but came back today with a demand for us to have a formal offer confirmed by cob today or it’s going back on the market.... do you still think her to be reasonable?

However, I do still question why you didn't use a surveyor on your lender's panel, then the valuation could have been done as part of that survey.

I don't think there's anything particularly unusual in that.  I've always used a separate surveyor for a full survey.  Some lenders only allow an upgrade to a homebuyer's report.  Some people prefer it if their lender doesn't have access to more detail.

Thrugelmir

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet ... !

Opinions may differ on that.

You offered, some unspecified period ago - probably around a month?
You didn't arrange a survey until you were told that the place was staying on the market until you had.
The survey was three weeks ago.
You chose to use a surveyor not on your lender's panel, and it will be a month between that survey and the lender's valuation.
The failure to use a surveyor on the panel is probably because you didn't even have a lender in mind - and no AiP - until after that survey.
Because of that, you still don't have a mortgage offer.

Yes, it's a low LtV - but without a lender, you can't buy... Correct?

Would you be happy if it was your chained buyer who was working to this kind of timescale?

Hmm maybe you’re related to the seller? Yes I would be ok with it because I am a reasonable person. I think 3 weeks on from when we made the offer at this time of year with all the implications of Covid then I’d say we are about where we should be.  

If it helps here’s more detail.... I offered 3 weeks ago the estate agent asked for an OiP (and our solicitors details) and that is all. We had already spoken to our broker and had an Offer in principle (OiP) in hand but the finer details and formal offer couldn’t be confirmed until we found a house. The house was then marked as SSTC. 2 days later we noticed that it was back on the market (nothing mentioned to us at all about that- would you be happy with that?). Speaking to the agent she said that the seller had decided that until we’d had a survey done she wanted the house to remain on the market. She knew we had the OiP and that our formal Mtge interview was later that week, I should also point out that at this point the seller hadn’t even found a property they wanted to move to! Notwithstanding that we quickly arranged for a survey (knowing full well that the mortgage lender would require their own). The house was then put back as SSTC. A further OIP was agreed later that week with the mortgage company but it was subject to a valuation. The mortgage broker has sent an email confirming our offer subject to a valuation by the mortgage company (which they were scheduling for 23rd Dec). The seller was advised but came back today with a demand for us to have a formal offer confirmed by cob today or it’s going back on the market.... do you still think her to be reasonable?

However, I do still question why you didn't use a surveyor on your lender's panel, then the valuation could have been done as part of that survey.

That's probably what has frustrated the vendor. Surveyor has been but wasn't to perform the valuation for mortgage purposes. Now there's the real possibility of the mortgage offer not being made until the New Year. 

Marvel1

It's not good.
1. Yes
2. No

AdrianC

fleur8 said:

I don’t think that sellers have any understanding of the current wait for a mortgage. 

So where is the seller moving to?

NameUnavailable

I would be tempted to back out of this.

The vendor will keep applying pressure and threaten to put the place back on the market as things progress - there are often hiccups along the way that delay things - you'll be spending more and more with the very real risk that the vendor will just pull the rug from under you at any point! Cut your losses now and let them get on with it.

I offered on a place recently, on with multiple agents, I was being pressured to instruct solicitors but didn't want to incur costs whilst another agent could potentially gazump me. I'm still wary now and there needs to be an element of trust in any negotiation.