More in chain than we thought

lookstraightahead

We are the top (or is it bottom) of our chain (the ones with nothing to sell). We presumed, wrongly, based on the vendors EA, that there were only three in the chain altogether, including ourselves. We have a solicitor and finalising details to turn our AIP into a full mortgage offer. Prior to officially instructing our solicitor and completing the paperwork, we thought we would check with the vendors EA that there are only three in the chain. It now appears not, and there are at least 4 (awaiting confirmation of this).
i do not want to spend hundreds of pounds retaining people I might not need. 
I know our vendors don't want to break our chain and go into rented, but I'm not happy sitting in rented while everyone else is comfortably waiting and in no rush.
Thinking of pulling out, looking for something else, and advising our vendor to come back to us when they have decided what to do.
i also think our vendors might have decided to buy something different over Christmas which increased the chain.
What would you do? 

Falafels

lookstraightahead said:

I'm not happy sitting in rented while everyone else is comfortably waiting and in no rush.
Thinking of pulling out, looking for something else, and advising our vendor to come back to us when they have decided what to do.
i also think our vendors might have decided to buy something different over Christmas which increased the chain.
What would you do? 

It's a very frustrating business, but I'm afraid that's part of the whole house buying/selling process. All very stressful.

To answer your points:

- There's nothing to suggest that everyone else is comfortably waiting and in no rush. On the contrary - although it's getting very tight now - there's huge pressure to complete before March 31st because of SDLT. The more expensive the property, the greater the savings and hence greater pressure.

- Whilst chains have the potential to add uncertainty, it's by no means a foregone conclusion. My property transaction with a chain of 4, including a divorcing couple, went from start to finish more quickly than my partner's. He was selling to his tenant.

- If you want the property, hang on in there. If you don't, then pull out and look for somewhere else as you suggest. 'Advising your vendor' to come back to you is likely to backfire if you do want the property; however if you're worried about the chain there's nothing stopping you from withdrawing and starting again. You may even find something which suits you better.

What makes you think your vendors decided to buy something different anyway?

lookstraightahead

Falafels said:

lookstraightahead said:

I'm not happy sitting in rented while everyone else is comfortably waiting and in no rush.
Thinking of pulling out, looking for something else, and advising our vendor to come back to us when they have decided what to do.
i also think our vendors might have decided to buy something different over Christmas which increased the chain.
What would you do? 

It's a very frustrating business, but I'm afraid that's part of the whole house buying/selling process. All very stressful.

To answer your points:

- There's nothing to suggest that everyone else is comfortably waiting and in no rush. On the contrary - although it's getting very tight now - there's huge pressure to complete before March 31st because of SDLT. The more expensive the property, the greater the savings and hence greater pressure.

- Whilst chains have the potential to add uncertainty, it's by no means a foregone conclusion. My property transaction with a chain of 4, including a divorcing couple, went from start to finish more quickly than my partner's. He was selling to his tenant.

- If you want the property, hang on in there. If you don't, then pull out and look for somewhere else as you suggest. 'Advising your vendor' to come back to you is likely to backfire if you do want the property; however if you're worried about the chain there's nothing stopping you from withdrawing and starting again. You may even find something which suits you better.

What makes you think your vendors decided to buy something different anyway?

The EA has said the road they are buying on, yet before Christmas we were told a different area (same town).
I get the feeling the last people in the chain haven't found anywhere yet - but still waiting for confirmation.
Thank you for your thoughts - I just feel we would have been left to fork out money with more uncertainty than necessary and sometimes it's difficult to know what questions to ask.

greatcrested

Look. You can and will never know the full story. The EA only knows as much as they are told, which may or may not be the full and accurate story, plus they will spin things to some extent totry to keep everyone on track.

Whether the chain is 3, 4or 5 makes little differece. A chain of 3 might hit a bump an take twice as long as a chain of 5.

You just have to be patient. Property deals always take longer than anyone wants or expects.

"I get the feeling the last people in the chain haven't found anywhere yet" You might or might not be right. No point in speculating. Just progress your purchase and your solicitor will Exchange when everyone is ready.

lookstraightahead

Greatcrested - thank you for your advice. We're having a full structural survey so I know it will take a lot of time - some of it on our part - but I do feel that at least the chain should have an end point before we pay anything upfront. You're right though I don't know the full position. 

greatcrested

lookstraightahead said:

Greatcrested - thank you for your advice. We're having a full structural survey so I know it will take a lot of time - some of it on our part - but I do feel that at least the chain should have an end point before we pay anything upfront. You're right though I don't know the full position. 

Even if you personally contacted each seller in the chain and got personal assurances of their circumstances, you still could not be sure you knew the full position.........

lookstraightahead

greatcrested said:

lookstraightahead said:

Greatcrested - thank you for your advice. We're having a full structural survey so I know it will take a lot of time - some of it on our part - but I do feel that at least the chain should have an end point before we pay anything upfront. You're right though I don't know the full position. 

Even if you personally contacted each seller in the chain and got personal assurances of their circumstances, you still could not be sure you knew the full position.........

True. I will wait to serve what Monday brings but won't instruct anyone until I know at least the basics. Scary how quickly you can lose money though. 

hazyjo

Are you saying you don't think the the chain is yet complete? It should be complete before you spend money. Get the EA to clarify. Sounds like you've asked, so just keep pushing for that info.

If it is complete, I wouldn't worry about the length. My last chain had 5 or 6 links. Was maybe a couple of weeks slower as we all struggled to agree dates for exchange and completion. I've had very short chains which have fallen apart before.

So long as everyone is good to go, just go along with it.

lookstraightahead

hazyjo said:

Are you saying you don't think the the chain is yet complete? It should be complete before you spend money. Get the EA to clarify. Sounds like you've asked, so just keep pushing for that info.

If it is complete, I wouldn't worry about the length. My last chain had 5 or 6 links. Was maybe a couple of weeks slower as we all struggled to agree dates for exchange and completion. I've had very short chains which have fallen apart before.

So long as everyone is good to go, just go along with it.

Yes my worry is that chain is not complete and we'd could've have quite happily paid for instructing our solicitor formally. No one to tell us otherwise !

peterhjohnson

When I last bought, there was (allegedly) no chain above me, my sellers were going into rented. But this plan changed and a further two links in the chain quietly appeared. Annoying!

lookstraightahead

peterhjohnson said:

When I last bought, there was (allegedly) no chain above me, my sellers were going into rented. But this plan changed and a further two links in the chain quietly appeared. Annoying!

Yes I can believe this happens. The thing is we have nothing to sell and we are holding the chain in place and therefore paying rent to wait for others who don't want to go into rented. We turned down another property with no chain at all (it was empty), because we were told this one was a short chain (by the vendor's EA of course). I know things can always change but we will have missed out on any opportunity for SD relief, and still be paying rent.

Im quite a head rules my heart person when it comes to houses - I've been through some rough times and I'm just thankful to no longer be robbing Peter to pay Paul, and I don't want to be paying for others people who don't want any discomfort in their lives, at my expense. My assumption to begin with was that our vendors would of course move out into rented, but my husband is more reasonable. Now that more people are probably involved I'm less keen to proceed. However I will wait to gather as many 'facts' as I can, before paying for anything, or making rash decisions.