How long was your chain?

Deedoodee

I’m a FTB, had an offer accepted last week. Vendor has found somewhere but his vendor’s vendor needs to find somewhere. The estate agent has told me (a few times) that this is all normal. So we currently have 4 people in the chain, could be more. 

Prices seem to be rising quite steadily around here and the longer the chain gets, the more nervous I get.

How ‘normal’/ how surprised and peeved would the EA be if I found something else? 

Snookie12cat

Chains are really normal. Mine is 3, but thats luck really. You can of course find something else, but you could be in the same predicament unless you are buying chain free. 

lookstraightahead

I don't buy with chains more than 3.

I will not wait for everyone and their dog to find a property.

I always break the chain. I will sell and go into rented. If I were you as a first time buyer, I would at the very most expect the vendors vendor to go into rented. I would probably expect my vendor to. You're in a good position op, why should you wait, presumably in rented or with parents etc or sofa surfing and paying fir the privilege, while others say they can't possibly rent, won't rent, or try to knit twenty links together.

There has to be a beginning and an end of a chain somewhere, you're doing your bit. It's not "harder" for others.

of course there are vendors who don't really want to move that much who will refuse to rent. You then might miss out on the property, which is the risk you take. 

Deedoodee

Snookie12cat said:

Chains are really normal. Mine is 3, but thats luck really. You can of course find something else, but you could be in the same predicament unless you are buying chain free. 

Yes that could be the case and a vendor might say they’ll go into rented and then change their mind. It is a tricky one. 

Deedoodee

lookstraightahead said:

I don't buy with chains more than 3.

I will not wait for everyone and their dog to find a property.

I always break the chain. I will sell and go into rented. If I were you as a first time buyer, I would at the very most expect the vendors vendor to go into rented. I would probably expect my vendor to. You're in a good position op, why should you wait, presumably in rented or with parents etc or sofa surfing and paying fir the privilege, while others say they can't possibly rent, won't rent, or try to knit twenty links together.

There has to be a beginning and an end of a chain somewhere, you're doing your bit. It's not "harder" for others.

of course there are vendors who don't really want to move that much who will refuse to rent. You then might miss out on the property, which is the risk you take. 

I think I would have accepted a chain of three (ie my vendor going into a chain- free property). 

This morning the estate agent told me the vendor’s vendor had to find somewhere but then she checked and said it’s actually my vendor’s vendor’s vendor who has to find somewhere. Which is a bit much. 

Mahsroh

I'm probably stating the obvious but the problem is the bigger the chain the more likely it is they'll be delays. It only takes one protracted issue over an enquiry to cause a delay a the bigger the chain, the greater the likelihood, or worse still, the risk of the chain breaking is greater and one of the transactions falling through. So for me personally it's less about waiting for the chain to complete and more about the enhanced risks during the conveyancing process when it is complete.

We recently had a chain of 4 parties, 3 transactions, so relatively straightforward. We still had issues and ultimately ended up completing a good 3 months after everyone had hoped due to people pulling out, homebuyer survey issues etc. and we thought we had a really simple chain. 

Deedoodee

Mahsroh said:

I'm probably stating the obvious but the problem is the bigger the chain the more likely it is they'll be delays. It only takes one protracted issue over an enquiry to cause a delay a the bigger the chain, the greater the likelihood, or worse still, the risk of the chain breaking is greater and one of the transactions falling through. So for me personally it's less about waiting for the chain to complete and more about the enhanced risks during the conveyancing process when it is complete.

We recently had a chain of 4 parties, 3 transactions, so relatively straightforward. We still had issues and ultimately ended up completing a good 3 months after everyone had hoped due to people pulling out, homebuyer survey issues etc. and we thought we had a really simple chain. 

Yeah. I think it’s all of it really. The estate agent keeps telling me this is normal and it will resolve soon but I’m not really convinced completing the chain is going to be the big problem here. I’ve never been in, or know people who have been in, a chain like this, so it’s hard to know when I’m being unreasonable re: the chain. 

A couple of other properties have come up, most look like they would also have the problem of a chain. There are a couple that look empty but more expensive and need more work. 

Belleofthebooks

Chains are just a normal part of house purchasing. They are stressful and obviously no-one likes it but most sales and purchases wouldn't happen without a chain.

We were in a 5 person chain. Our buyers had recently got married and were each selling a house to different buyers,  luckily one was a first time buyer and the other an investment purchase both had no chains underneath. Then the house we were buying had no on going chain as they were moving back in with family. It was still an extremely long and stressful purchase but worth it in the end. 

jst1986

Something with a shorter chain is no guarantee of a quicker move. I'm buying something with a chain of one and currently 16 weeks and counting! 

musehead

How does it work on completion day with longer (4+) chains with regards to getting all the money transferred across in time on the same day?

Most solicitors start at 9am and the CHAPS transfer cut-off is 3pm, allowing only 6 hours.

However, each transfer could take up to 2 hours to go through, and needs to be spotted arriving, checked and then the next transfer sent out again by a solicitor who is not busy doing something else, having lunch etc. The process needs to be repeated several times by different solicitors, with potentially up to a 2 hour gap in between each one depending on how long it takes the bank to do the transfer.

I can see a chain of 3 being easy enough to complete on the same day, but anything more seems a bit tight for time?

Snookie12cat

jst1986 said:

Something with a shorter chain is no guarantee of a quicker move. I'm buying something with a chain of one and currently 16 weeks and counting! 

Chain of 3 and 12 weeks in with many more to go... length of chain is no guarantee of quick sale.