When to instruct Conveyancer?

ironlady2022

Hi,

My house will be marketed towards end of this month. If the vendor agrees to sell me his house this week, when do I appoint and instruct a Solicitor. Is it when I've got a Buyer for my house, which will be May?

babyblade41

you instruct when you have a buyer & when the chain is complete

Thrugelmir

Unless you are in a proceedable position the vendor may decide to continue to market their property. 

eddddy

mayling03 said:

Hi,

My house will be marketed towards end of this month. If the vendor agrees to sell me his house this week, when do I appoint and instruct a Solicitor. Is it when I've got a Buyer for my house, which will be May?

It would be sensible to get quotes from solicitors now, and decide which one to go with. But you can instruct them not to do any chargeable work until the chain is complete, for example.

Then, if you get an offer accepted for a house you want to buy - you can immediately provide your solicitor's details - which shows some level of commitment and good organisation.


But...

• It's unlikely that you'll get an offer accepted on a house to buy, until your own house is 'under offer'.

• You seem to say that your current house will go 'under offer' in May?  Do you mean you hope that will happen? Or is there some reason that you know that will happen?

(And have you got a mortgage agreement in principle? Again, you might not get an offer accepted on a house to buy, until you have that.)

ironlady2022

eddddy said:

mayling03 said:

Hi,

My house will be marketed towards end of this month. If the vendor agrees to sell me his house this week, when do I appoint and instruct a Solicitor. Is it when I've got a Buyer for my house, which will be May?

It would be sensible to get quotes from solicitors now, and decide which one to go with. But you can instruct them not to do any chargeable work until the chain is complete, for example.

Then, if you get an offer accepted for a house you want to buy - you can immediately provide your solicitor's details - which shows some level of commitment and good organisation.


But...

• It's unlikely that you'll get an offer accepted on a house to buy, until your own house is 'under offer'.

• You seem to say that your current house will go 'under offer' in May?  Do you mean you hope that will happen? Or is there some reason that you know that will happen?

(And have you got a mortgage agreement in principle? Again, you might not get an offer accepted on a house to buy, until you have that.)

Thank you. I'll ring up and get quotes with a few Sol. You've just reminded me.

My offer has been sent to the vendor today for consideration as it's private at this stage. House is not on market. 

May to sell as photos booked for 21st April. 2 weeks viewings and then choose Buyer as my property is in a desirable location so i know it'll sell quick.

Mortgage - I'm just porting over. 

eddddy

mayling03 said:

My offer has been sent to the vendor today for consideration as it's private at this stage. House is not on market. 

Ok - if it's a private sale, without an estate agent advising the seller, it's very unpredictable what the seller will ask you.


An estate agent would ask you quite a few questions to determine your "proceedability" - like whether your house is under offer, whether there is a chain beneath you, how far your sale has progressed - plus details of you mortgage - like LTV etc.

But a private seller might not know to ask those questions.


(Fwiw, I dealt with a private seller who didn't ask those questions. A few weeks after accepting an offer, the seller was shocked to find that the buyer didn't have a complete chain under them. The seller was angry with the buyer for not saying, and the seller stormed off in a huff and refused to sell to that buyer.)


"Porting a mortgage" means getting a new mortgage with the same terms as the old one (e.g. same interest rate). It usually involves making a new full mortgage application - including affordability checks, credit checks etc.  Are you borrowing the same amount?

It might be worth calling your mortgage lender to ask what the process will be, and ask if there are any reasons that they might refuse an application to port.