Fed up

GN2020

Hi everyone, 
Not a question really, just wondered if anyone had been in a similar situation and how they got on. 

We’re FTB, in September 2020 we put an offer in on a property which was accepted. The property had been up for sale for 16 months at this point. 

The owner was in a care home and we were told the family had POA.
Mortgage approved in December 2020 after a lengthy wait due to nationwide being swamped with applications.
Second week of December our solicitor found out that the POA hadn’t actually been registered with the court of protection. So the POA couldn't be used and we had to wait for it being registered.
Should the estate agents have checked all of this before they marketed the house? 

Unfortunately, the owner very sadly passed away in January 2021 while the application for it being registered was going through. 

We’ve been told that probate was applied for in February 2021 and that it shouldn’t take too long as the estate was very straightforward. 

Fast forward to today - our mortgage offer expires on June 17th (that’s with a 2 week extension from nationwide) and to top everything off, our landlady has said last night that in July she’s putting the apartment on the market 😩
To be fair to our landlady, she’s given us extra time as she wanted to sell it in January. I’ve kept our landlady updated at every turn and she’s been very understanding. 

If we’re still here I know she’d have to market it with tenants in situ - but what if someone snaps it up straight away. 

Our solicitor is blaming the sellers solicitor for being slow, their solicitor is saying they’re doing everything they can...I don’t know if I’m coming or going to be honest. 

Our broker has been amazing throughout this, couldn’t ask for anymore from him to be honest. 

Just frustrated with the whole thing, especially when I’m seeing on the other board about probate that other applications are coming back within a couple of months. 

If anyone has been in a similar situation, how did you get on? 

This house ticks every single box, we’ve invested money and time in this already, we don’t want to pull out at all - it’s just the extra stress now of another mortgage application pending and the fact that now, we can’t stay for an indefinite period now we know the landlady is going to sell the apartment. 

Didn’t think for a second that when the mortgage was offered we’d still be here 6 months later. 

Keswick1uk

As the house is empty, can the executors let you rent it for 6 months? All done proper like.

Keswick1uk

It's probably another legal minefield if you do but makes sense in practice!

moneysavinghero

If we’re still here I know she’d have to market it with tenants in situ - but what if someone snaps it up straight away

You would still be tenants in situ - selling the property does not end the tenancy. Any buyer would have to give you the required legal notice (currently 6 months).

Angela_D_3

Dont they only have 12 months to sort this out ?  Im sure i read that somewhere 

Thrugelmir

Has probate been granted yet? 

July is a few weeks away and the sale transaction will take time to go through. No need to panic. Plenty of time for matters to be resolved. At least there's no chain involved. 

You are unlikely to lose the mortgage. Unless your circumstances have changed. 

Mildreds_Earrings

GN2020 said:

Unfortunately, the owner very sadly passed away in January 2021 while the application for it being registered was going through. 

We’ve been told that probate was applied for in February 2021 and that it shouldn’t take too long as the estate was very straightforward. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the property that we finally purchased last month (hurrah!) well the Owner died in March 2020, the beneficiaries applied for Probate as soon as was possible. They put the property on the market in October 2020. Our offer was accepted in December 2020 but Probate wasn't granted until March 2021.  We were told their Probate application was a very straightforward case too.... 😏

The Probate delays were due to Coronavirus and staff working from home (Google it).  Things might be better now that restrictions have lifted slightly but I'm just giving you our experience.  All the best. 

diggingdude

I reckon it's pot luck how quickly it is sorted. Covid has become a justification for poor customer service for so many companies and organisations

md258

My BIL has just completed (today) on a probate property. They offered in February and did all the legals while waiting for probate to be granted "any day". Everything was done and ready to exchange from their side when they found out there was some query from HMRC and that was why it hadn't been granted.  When they (and their solicitor and the EA) found this out, they put pressure to get it sorted and probate was granted a week later. Fast forward 2 1/2 weeks and they have the keys.

Weathergirl_76

One of my friends was in the process of purchasing a property (pre-exchange) and the seller died. She had to wait for probate which took around 4 months (this was during lockdown). On the positive side, once probate was done, she exchanged and completed the same day, around 2 weeks later. Her buyers mortgage offer was running out, so to keep the chain moving this is what they did. I remember her telling me she was sick of living around boxes, her conveyancer was telling her there was nothing they could do but wait. 

Try and get as much sorted out now as you can, so that when probate comes through, you can exchange shortly after. Even if the flat gets a buyer soon, it takes time. Your landlady seems reasonable and helpful which is a massive bonus! Good luck. 

GN2020

Keswick1uk said:

It's probably another legal minefield if you do but makes sense in practice!

Ah, we did think of that but our solicitor seemed twitchy when we suggested it and said she wouldn’t reccomend it at all. 

She used the words “legal nightmare” 🤣