Sale can't complete for 5 months, what can I (buyer) be doing now?

Hebblethwaite

Hello all,

Always had sensible informative advice here before, so hoping for more of the same. After six months of serious house-hunting (and nine years of wanting to buy a house but it not being the right time), I've had an offer accepted on a house I really like. The vendor will be moving to a new-build that isn't due to be ready until October, and the sale of her house is being handled by a national EA/conveyancer who works with the developer. I have a brand new DIP via a broker, as the EA wouldn't accept the one I had from L&C as there was no hard credit check involved in this. However, there seems little point in making a formal mortgage application now (and my broker has advised against it) as a mortgage offer will expire before completion and will involve another hard search of my credit file. We don't anticipate any issues with me receiving a mortgage offer as I am putting down a 35% deposit, am in very secure employment, currently only spend around £900/month (including rent/bills), and am only looking to borrow about 2.5x my gross salary. I was in MSE credit club until a few months ago when my account broke (and the only way to fix it according to admin was to delete it and start again), and there were no highlighted issues (though I need to re-register with the credit club to make sure nothing has changed).

I am determined to do everything I can (within reason) to make sure that this sale goes through. Obviously, I need to have a conversation with the EA about when the mortgage application will go in so that they aren't expecting this to happen immediately. However, before I do this, I wondered what I can do to ensure it is very clear that I am serious about this house and committed to buying it. Up to now, I have been dealing with the local EA who were marketing the house on behalf on the national agent - I feel like I developed a good relationship with them and would be able to have a sensible conversation about this. However, I am now dealing with the national EA and am less sure how to approach them. I am hoping that this is a situation they will have encountered regularly, because of the type of sales they deal with, but a bit worried they will be pushing me to move things forward anyway. 

I have instructed a solicitor and will provide those details to the EA, but the solicitor probably won't recommend doing much until a mortgage offer is through. I was thinking I could just crack on with getting a survey done (I want a structural survey as it's an older house with a flat-roofed extension, though it all looked in good shape to me), but will that also be dependent on my lender? (Though if the lender I have a DIP with reject me, I suspect there must be a very black mark on my credit file that I am unaware of and it will take several months to get that sorted.) I was also going to drop a brief note to the vendor to let them know how delighted I am to have had my offer accepted and give them a brief heads-up about the time scale of the mortgage application. 

Is there anything else I can (or should) be doing to demonstrate commitment at this point? I really want this house!

getmore4less

Don't forget new builds have a habit of getting delayed.

Hebblethwaite

getmore4less said:

Don't forget new builds have a habit of getting delayed.

I know, I considered that when I made my offer. I am in a position to wait and presume they will do everything they can to get it done before the end of the year so it counts for that quarter's sales. Hopefully in by Christmas, even if there are delays! Though it would be nice to feel confident it was going to be ready on time when I actually do submit my formal mortgage application. I'm told the build is progressing well, though I am planning to pop up for a nosy at some point.

AdrianC

No, there's nothing much you can do to "demonstrate commitment", short of exchanging on the purchase. And that would require you to have all the mortgage and legal ducks ready to go.

Skiddaw1

You come across as extremely commited so I'd guess that you'll come across that way to the national EA too. Hope it all goes well....

getmore4less

The biggest issue here is as flexible as you are if the builder sees a quick buck by sticking it back on the market they will have no morals in doing that.

In a moving(up) market there is that risk if you delay, against the risk of a mortgage offer timing out.

The ones living in it will have to exchange with the builder to secure their new build and price.

lookstraightahead

Why do you need to prove your commitment when they are the ones delaying things? 

Hebblethwaite

AdrianC said:

No, there's nothing much you can do to "demonstrate commitment", short of exchanging on the purchase. And that would require you to have all the mortgage and legal ducks ready to go.

So do you think there will be an expectation I should be applying for a mortgage now, even though the offer will expire before completion? I guess I can only ask them and hope they are honest.

Hebblethwaite

lookstraightahead said:

Why do you need to prove your commitment when they are the ones delaying things? 

I shouldn't need to, but I suspect I do.

Hebblethwaite

getmore4less said:

The biggest issue here is as flexible as you are if the builder sees a quick buck by sticking it back on the market they will have no morals in doing that.

In a moving(up) market there is that risk if you delay, against the risk of a mortgage offer timing out.

The ones living in it will have to exchange with the builder to secure their new build and price.

Yes, this is what worries me. The house hasn't been part-exchanged though, so the vendor would have to agree. I have met the vendor, and they seemed the type to decline to consider other offers once they had agreed to a sale, so I'm hoping for the best  

lesalanos

You might as well get the survey done now.  The last thing you want is to wait months then discover issues