Offer accepted - Instruct solicitor or wait until Mortgage offer

Giggidy

We have recently had an offer accepted on a house after ours went under offer in November, and not sure which to do first. Instruct a solicitor or get started on our Mortgage application first. We are using a mortgage broker who informed us that we need to ensure we use a solicitor that is on the lender's approved panel, which of course we will only know which lender once we start the mortgage application process. We do have quotes from several local property solicitors / conveyancers on hand for to compare costs and so on. The estate agent we're using has said however that we need to instruct our solicitors asap to get the ball rolling. Just slightly confused as how best to proceed, instruct solicitor but then have to pay an extra fee if they are not on the lender's panel, or start the mortgage application and tell the solicitor not to do anything (chargeable) until the offer comes through?

Snookie12cat

Speak to broker, apply for mortgage, then once you know who you are going with instruct solicitors. When offer comes instruct the searches.

user1977

Most conveyancing firms of any size are on the panels of most of the main lenders, so this is only really an issue if you're going with an obscure lender (or a tiny conveyancing firm).

KeepOnKnitting

I've used conveyancers who weren't on the panel. They just got put on the panel, it was never a problem. In fact, I have never used a firm from the panel.

AFF8879

I would instruct a solicitor first so that you can get all the ID checks, property information forms etc completed. You shouldn’t apply for a mortgage until the chain is complete - are your sellers still looking for their next purchase?

anselld

What is the position up the chain?  I personally wouldn't do anything until the chain is complete to the top and everyone is proceedable.

Tiglet2

Giggidy said:

We have recently had an offer accepted on a house after ours went under offer in November, and not sure which to do first. Instruct a solicitor or get started on our Mortgage application first. We are using a mortgage broker who informed us that we need to ensure we use a solicitor that is on the lender's approved panel, which of course we will only know which lender once we start the mortgage application process. We do have quotes from several local property solicitors / conveyancers on hand for to compare costs and so on. The estate agent we're using has said however that we need to instruct our solicitors asap to get the ball rolling. Just slightly confused as how best to proceed, instruct solicitor but then have to pay an extra fee if they are not on the lender's panel, or start the mortgage application and tell the solicitor not to do anything (chargeable) until the offer comes through?

I would have instructed a solicitor to do all of the preliminary pre-legal stuff but asked them to put the file on hold until I had found a property to buy.  What do your buyers think about the lack of progress, knowing that they offered in November?

Giggidy

AFF8879 said:

I would instruct a solicitor first so that you can get all the ID checks, property information forms etc completed. You shouldn’t apply for a mortgage until the chain is complete - are your sellers still looking for their next purchase?

anselld said:

What is the position up the chain?  I personally wouldn't do anything until the chain is complete to the top and everyone is proceedable.

Before viewing I was informed the sellers have found somewhere and had an offer accepted.

Tiglet2 said:

Giggidy said:

We have recently had an offer accepted on a house after ours went under offer in November, and not sure which to do first. Instruct a solicitor or get started on our Mortgage application first. We are using a mortgage broker who informed us that we need to ensure we use a solicitor that is on the lender's approved panel, which of course we will only know which lender once we start the mortgage application process. We do have quotes from several local property solicitors / conveyancers on hand for to compare costs and so on. The estate agent we're using has said however that we need to instruct our solicitors asap to get the ball rolling. Just slightly confused as how best to proceed, instruct solicitor but then have to pay an extra fee if they are not on the lender's panel, or start the mortgage application and tell the solicitor not to do anything (chargeable) until the offer comes through?

I would have instructed a solicitor to do all of the preliminary pre-legal stuff but asked them to put the file on hold until I had found a property to buy.  What do your buyers think about the lack of progress, knowing that they offered in November?

Our buyer is a landlord who is happy to wait, he will only be renting the property out in the summer.

ele_91

Like everyone has said I would wait for the chain first. What about your sellers seller? Have they got somewhere?

For the mortgage it depends how confident you are you will get an offer and how fast you want to proceed. We’ve never waited for the offer as I’ve never been in much doubt I would be offered a mortgage. But your situation might be different. 

Giggidy

ele_91 said:

Like everyone has said I would wait for the chain first. What about your sellers seller? Have they got somewhere?

For the mortgage it depends how confident you are you will get an offer and how fast you want to proceed. We’ve never waited for the offer as I’ve never been in much doubt I would be offered a mortgage. But your situation might be different. 

Our seller is buying a property chain free. I am pretty confident we will get a mortgage, just unsure about instructing a solicitor at this stage to do the preliminaries and start being charged. One we are thinking of instructing has already said we need to put £500 into account, and if the transaction falls through even before searches etc, most of that will be swallowed up just for that. So I am reluctant to do that at this stage but already have been asked by both estate agents to send solicitors details, even though we are still waiting to hear confirmation from the vendor the the chain is complete. Before we put our offer in estate agent said it was, but the vendor said otherwise when we went for a second viewing yesterday.