How to buy a house without an estate agent

UnderOffer

Your friends solicitor and the landlords solicitor make contact and start the process of selling house to your friends. 

youth_leader

Apologies for the misleading title, I've got vertigo and on travel sickness pills, not thinking straight.  I've just found the edit button and changed it.

eddddy

youth_leader said:

Thank you everyone, I should have been more concise.  I am asking on behalf of friends, their landlord has offered to sell them the house they have rented for many years. They will need to get a mortgage so assume that will involve a survey.  I will give them my solicitor's contact details.  

Having an estate agent involved would have probably helped the purchase move along more efficiently - especially if the buyer is an inexperienced FTB.

The kind of stuff the EA would do includes:

• Checking that the buyer has a mortgage AIP and really does have the deposit
• Prompting the buyer to instruct a solicitor
• Prompting the buyer to apply for a mortgage
• (Prompting the buyer to arrange surveys - although EAs often prefer buyers not to.)
• Telling the buyer when it's time to chase their solicitor
• Telling the buyer when it's time to chase their mortgage lender
• Reassuring the seller that the buyer is moving forward
• Re-negotiating the price - for example, if a survey shows up unexpected problems
• Resolving conflicts between buyer and seller - hopefully stopping minor issues escalating (e.g. an argument over who pays for a £150 indemnity insurance policy.)

So perhaps the landlord will do some of that, or even better, perhaps the buyer has more experienced house-buying friends who will help them with that.

user1977

eddddy said:

youth_leader said:

Thank you everyone, I should have been more concise.  I am asking on behalf of friends, their landlord has offered to sell them the house they have rented for many years. They will need to get a mortgage so assume that will involve a survey.  I will give them my solicitor's contact details.  

Having an estate agent involved would have probably helped the purchase move along more efficiently - especially if the buyer is an inexperienced FTB.

Though much of the above is less vital in this case - even if things drag on, the seller and buyer simply continue as landlord and tenant until whenever completion of the purchase can take place. No need for anybody to worry about a chain remaining together, or finding a better buyer.