[Scotland] - Seller dragging feet on formal acceptance?

UndergroundSaxClub

Hello friends,

Very naïve first time buyer here, looking for some advice.

I'll post a bulleted breakdown of events below with a small description of concerns under it

• In market for new house March 2023
• Receive a Decision in Principle end of May
• Find a flat I like
• Have viewing and put in offer, 2.5k under valuation (80k) via my solicitor
• Seller verbally accepts this offer on the 19th of June (19/06/2023)
• Work with First Mortgage for an official mortgage offer on the property, accepted by a lender 1st of July 01/07/23
• Inform my solicitor who is still waiting for an official letter of acceptance from the seller 06/07/2023
  

Being a noob in this field I do have some questions/concerns. I'm wondering if this timeline makes sense or if I should start to worry?

This feels like the seller is taking a very long time to commit to a formal acceptance after verbally accepting. This is of course their right, I think they are holding out for a while to see if any other offers come in? The flat in question is currently listed as "under offer" on all websites where advertised.

I'm also wondering if I have prematurely gotten acceptance from the mortgage lender without official confirmation from the seller, I'm wondering should the seller pull out if this will affect my eligibility to receive a mortgage in the future, or if the current offer can be amended for a different property?

Lastly, I'm unsure if there is a "legal" responsibility but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

Apologies for the scattered post, I'm a bit frazzled with the gap between verbal and official acceptance.

If anymore information is required I will be happy to provide.

user1977

Haven't you discussed all of this with your solicitor? What is the seller's plan - are they buying? They may be going slow until they've found somewhere and figure out likely timescales. And/or these days often they simply wait until they know you have a mortgage offer.

Very unlikely to be competing offers, the Scottish rules make gazumping etc much harder for anybody to do.

sheramber

but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

Offers would not be sent to him, they would go to the estate agent selling the property.

You may be told there other offers but you will not be told of the amount of any other offers.

The  seller may agree a higher offer  without negotiation,  or if several offers are received it could go to a closing date where you are able to give your best offer in a blind bidding system.


When we bought our last house the seller verbally agreed our offer but the agent did not send the formal acceptance.

We contacted the seller , who confirmed they accepted the offer and had told their agent to accept. They chased the agent and discovered the agent was still raranging viewings.  

Formal acceptance was received that afternoon.

UndergroundSaxClub

Thank you both for such quick replies.

user1977 said:

Haven't you discussed all of this with your solicitor? What is the seller's plan - are they buying? They may be going slow until they've found somewhere and figure out likely timescales. And/or these days often they simply wait until they know you have a mortgage offer.

Very unlikely to be competing offers, the Scottish rules make gazumping etc much harder for anybody to do.

The seller stated verbally to me they'd be moving around mid August during the viewing. I'm not sure how much this plays into it, unless they don't have an exact date they can put on paper yet. Even so, is this not done part of missives after a formal written letter of acceptance?

sheramber said:

but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

How would your solicitor know if the seller received any other offers.

Offers would not be sent to him, they would go to thee estate agent selling the property.

Are you selling in Scotland?

Sorry I am the buyer. I'm unsure how it works. I thought with offers/notes of interest all parties involved were given a chance to be alerted of competing offers. Yes this is in Scotland.

MeticulousMark

Hi there! 
             Scotland based and bought a couple of places in the last 3 years.

If you have heard verbally from your solicitor that their solicitor has accepted it is on. You are all good. The chances of it not happening now are next to nil. Their solicitor would not allow them to entertain other offers as it would be breaking their legal/ethical code to do so if they have accepted verbally. 

Don't worry about the 'under offer' on the website - the very fact it now says that means it is no longer for sale and it's yours. The estate agent will not accept viewings and their solicitor will not entertain offers.

It isn't uncommon for it to show as under offer for MONTHS. Last time we bought the time between us viewing and moving was 42 days and websites had our house as 'under offer' for weeks after we even moved.

Your solicitor and theirs now work on something called a qualified acceptance. This can take up to a month and can often involve lots of back and forth. You may well not be copied in to or told about any of this til it's ready. You will get it pretty soon to sign. When it is agreed it a move-in date will also be agreed.

Next stage is exchange of and finally signing of missives. This usually takes a few weeks but in a push can be done in a couple of days. Both times we bought ours were signed the day before we moved.

The mortgage offer doesn't affect any of this and it isn't really possibility your seller can pull out so don't worry (unless exceptional circs)

If you are worried keep pestering your solicitor. You can ask him if he has received a draft qualified acceptance. The reality is though they tend to be very blasè about the whole thing as once the offer is verbally accepted there is very little that can go wrong and it is very straight-forward.

I totally feel your pain and would be also wracked with worry. Honestly though it is incredibly rare for the sale not to go ahead once its been verbally accepted. 

Best of luck in your new home.

sheramber

UndergroundSaxClub said:

Thank you both for such quick replies.

user1977 said:

Haven't you discussed all of this with your solicitor? What is the seller's plan - are they buying? They may be going slow until they've found somewhere and figure out likely timescales. And/or these days often they simply wait until they know you have a mortgage offer.

Very unlikely to be competing offers, the Scottish rules make gazumping etc much harder for anybody to do.

The seller stated verbally to me they'd be moving around mid August during the viewing. I'm not sure how much this plays into it, unless they don't have an exact date they can put on paper yet. Even so, is this not done part of missives after a formal written letter of acceptance?

sheramber said:

but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

How would your solicitor know if the seller received any other offers.

Offers would not be sent to him, they would go to thee estate agent selling the property.

Are you selling in Scotland?

Sorry I am the buyer. I'm unsure how it works. I thought with offers/notes of interest all parties involved were given a chance to be alerted of competing offers. Yes this is in Scotland.

It is up to the seller if it goes to a closing date.

When mu son sold his flat he had several offers but was happy with the highest one and accepted it. He chose  not go to a closing date

MeticulousMark

To follow on to sherambers comment.

It can't go to a closing date now as your offer has been verbally accepted. It has skipped the whole process of notes of interest and then closing date as they have accepted your offer. This is very common nowadays and is what happened during both my house sales. 

user1977

UndergroundSaxClub said:

Thank you both for such quick replies.

user1977 said:

Haven't you discussed all of this with your solicitor? What is the seller's plan - are they buying? They may be going slow until they've found somewhere and figure out likely timescales. And/or these days often they simply wait until they know you have a mortgage offer.

Very unlikely to be competing offers, the Scottish rules make gazumping etc much harder for anybody to do.

The seller stated verbally to me they'd be moving around mid August during the viewing. I'm not sure how much this plays into it, unless they don't have an exact date they can put on paper yet. Even so, is this not done part of missives after a formal written letter of acceptance?

The formal acceptance is part of the missives, not a separate thing. And generally that will state what the date of entry is to be (if you hadn't proposed one in your offer) - so the sellers may want to clarify their plans before potentially committing to a date.

sheramber

MeticulousMark said:

To follow on to sherambers comment.

It can't go to a closing date now as your offer has been verbally accepted. It has skipped the whole process of notes of interest and then closing date as they have accepted your offer. This is very common nowadays and is what happened during both my house sales. 

the offer should still be accepted  in writing

Until missives are signed and exchanged the sale is not final and either party can opt out.

Son had an offer accepted verbally and the next day was told the seller had had a higher offer and did they wish to go higher.

They did not.

koalakoala

sheramber said:

but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

Offers would not be sent to him, they would go to the estate agent selling the property.

You may be told there other offers but you will not be told of the amount of any other offers.

The  seller may agree a higher offer  without negotiation,  or if several offers are received it could go to a closing date where you are able to give your best offer in a blind bidding system.


When we bought our last house the seller verbally agreed our offer but the agent did not send the formal acceptance.

We contacted the seller , who confirmed they accepted the offer and had told their agent to accept. They chased the agent and discovered the agent was still raranging viewings.  

Formal acceptance was received that afternoon.

In Scotland we buy and sell through a solicitor. No estate agent usually involved

user1977

koalakoala said:

sheramber said:

but I believe my solicitor should tell me if any other parties are interested within the property or if the seller receives a competing offer so that I am able to renegotiate?

Offers would not be sent to him, they would go to the estate agent selling the property.

You may be told there other offers but you will not be told of the amount of any other offers.

The  seller may agree a higher offer  without negotiation,  or if several offers are received it could go to a closing date where you are able to give your best offer in a blind bidding system.


When we bought our last house the seller verbally agreed our offer but the agent did not send the formal acceptance.

We contacted the seller , who confirmed they accepted the offer and had told their agent to accept. They chased the agent and discovered the agent was still raranging viewings.  

Formal acceptance was received that afternoon.

In Scotland we buy and sell through a solicitor. No estate agent usually involved

Plenty of estate agents around, especially in the west.