When to start searches etc

spoovy

We're first time buyers, have agreed a price on a property and the notice of sale has been sent to our solicitor.  Our vendor has not found anywhere yet, I get the impression they've only just started looking.
Everyone now seems very keen for us to proceed with the next stage which I understand would be getting searches done, and then arrange a building survey.  Up to this point we haven't spent any money.
Given that money spent on searches and surveys is gone even if the sale falls through for some reason, would it make sense to wait until our vendor has found somewhere to buy and is therefore at the same stage of the process themselves before paying for searches & survey?  Or is there some good reason to get as much done as possible as quickly as possible at this point?

user1977

The "good reason" is to avoid the process becoming even more long-winded than it already is - because searches take a long time, and even arranging a survey takes a while these days. And if the survey is going to reveal any surprises, you want to know about those earlier rather than later, in case you have to renegotiate the price (or abandon the purchase completely).

But as you say, you would take the risk of those costs being "wasted", so it is a bit of a gamble.

Snookie12cat

spoovy said:

We're first time buyers, have agreed a price on a property and the notice of sale has been sent to our solicitor.  Our vendor has not found anywhere yet, I get the impression they've only just started looking.
Everyone now seems very keen for us to proceed with the next stage which I understand would be getting searches done, and then arrange a building survey.  Up to this point we haven't spent any money.
Given that money spent on searches and surveys is gone even if the sale falls through for some reason, would it make sense to wait until our vendor has found somewhere to buy and is therefore at the same stage of the process themselves before paying for searches & survey?  Or is there some good reason to get as much done as possible as quickly as possible at this point?

I wouldnt do anything until the chain is complete-  like you say, you could spend all this money and they dont find anywhere or they dont find somewhere at the speed you like and you might end up not buying it.
You are only as fast as the slowest person in the chain, so there is no point you being ready to exchange long before the chain is ready to start.

Dom25

My experience is I pulled out my first property was offer accepted on June. It was the same your  situation that vender did not find property yet. After 5 months , my side was ready  but they have not still found their house. That’s why I gave up and I’m in process of buying new property. It wasted me my money, a lot of houses on the market and 5 months for nothing. 

I think that you should not do anything until your vender  find their property and looking for others property at the same time. Like I said, if you pay anything too earlier that you could lose everything. Secondly, if you apply for your mortgage too soon, it will expire until 6 months only that you could have to apply again. Personally, I think you should ask and  check their vender’s situation to avoid waste your time and your money fee.
Good luck !

ktwllmskw

We are in this situation and I wish we had waited to do searches / survey. Five months after our offer was accepted our sellers still haven’t found anywhere, while never communicating to us this was the case. Our mortgage offer will expire soon and what we spent on conveyancing and survey is going to be dead money unless a minor miracle happens and our sellers find somewhere at lightning speed. 

We’re FTB and saved and saved to have enough for a deposit in London. Now a decent chunk of it has been wasted. So next time, we won’t be in such a rush to do searches etc. The system is broken. 

Dom25

ktwllmskw said:

We are in this situation and I wish we had waited to do searches / survey. Five months after our offer was accepted our sellers still haven’t found anywhere, while never communicating to us this was the case. Our mortgage offer will expire soon and what we spent on conveyancing and survey is going to be dead money unless a minor miracle happens and our sellers find somewhere at lightning speed. 

We’re FTB and saved and saved to have enough for a deposit in London. Now a decent chunk of it has been wasted. So next time, we won’t be in such a rush to do searches etc. The system is broken. 

I was the same your situation. I put too much hope on my dream house and tried to be very patient to wait for the vendor finding house. My mortgage had trouble so I had to take quite long time to sort it out. Luckily, I pulled out not too late. We are FTB and have no experience that is a problem. 

Thrugelmir

Have you had your mortgage approved yet? 

spoovy

Our mortgage was approved a few days ago yes.