When can I stop mentioning my preference for delayed completion date?

stephaniesays

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

kingstreet

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

stephaniesays

kingstreet said:

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

Because I thought the deposit would have to be transferred to solicitors at exchange of contracts? Is that not the case? 

housebuyer143

stephaniesays said:

kingstreet said:

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

Because I thought the deposit would have to be transferred to solicitors at exchange of contracts? Is that not the case? 

No, deposits for completion only. I would stop mentioning it now tbh. 

stephaniesays

housebuyer143 said:

stephaniesays said:

kingstreet said:

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

Because I thought the deposit would have to be transferred to solicitors at exchange of contracts? Is that not the case? 

No, deposits for completion only. I would stop mentioning it now tbh. 

Ok great, thanks! I will stop mentioning it- is it fairly easy to create “natural” delays along the way if things start going a bit too quick? It’s just tough because I don’t want be dishonest but I know that it could end up taking way longer than October if the vendors are in a chain etc 

artyboy

housebuyer143 said:

stephaniesays said:

kingstreet said:

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

Because I thought the deposit would have to be transferred to solicitors at exchange of contracts? Is that not the case? 

No, deposits for completion only. I would stop mentioning it now tbh. 

Eh??? Deposits are normally paid on exchange.

saajan_12

Four months might be the average, but that means half of all transactions are shorter and then would be wondering why you're dragging feet. Not only crappy to the seller, but it could also come back to bite you if they pull out and you've wasted fees. I'd stop viewing until you're in a position to progress a sale, or at the least mention it for any houses you view until ~July. 

Re exchange v completion: 
You would need an exchange deposit upon exchange, which is usually 10% but can be negotiated to be a lower amount. The rest of your money ie mortgage and the rest of your equity (aka mortgage deposit) can be sent just before completion. 

So depending on how much money is outside partner's LISA, you could exchange with just that and then add the partner's LISA money just before completion. That means you can exchange earlier, giving the seller the commitment they're looking for, but its a proper exchange after all the searches and surveys so you're not just handing over money for nothing. 

stephaniesays

saajan_12 said:

Four months might be the average, but that means half of all transactions are shorter and then would be wondering why you're dragging feet. Not only crappy to the seller, but it could also come back to bite you if they pull out and you've wasted fees. I'd stop viewing until you're in a position to progress a sale, or at the least mention it for any houses you view until ~July. 

Re exchange v completion: 
You would need an exchange deposit upon exchange, which is usually 10% but can be negotiated to be a lower amount. The rest of your money ie mortgage and the rest of your equity (aka mortgage deposit) can be sent just before completion. 

So depending on how much money is outside partner's LISA, you could exchange with just that and then add the partner's LISA money just before completion. That means you can exchange earlier, giving the seller the commitment they're looking for, but it’s a proper exchange after all the searches and surveys so you're not just handing over money for nothing. 

Thanks for your reply, this makes sense and is not something I’ve heard about before re exchanging vs completion- so just as an example, say if there’s £10,000 in the LISA and the rest is coming from my LISA (£19,000), we could negotiate to send £19,000 over at exchange with the rest at completion? 

Mutton_Geoff

As the old sayings go, you have to put your money where your mouth is. Deposit always required on exchange.

housebuyer143

artyboy said:

housebuyer143 said:

stephaniesays said:

kingstreet said:

stephaniesays said:

Hi all- first-time buyer here, so feeling a bit out of my depth. Any knowledge you can impart will be appreciated! 

We’ve been viewing properties over the last few months mainly to get a feel for the market. Our full deposit won’t be accessible until late October, as part of it is in my partner's Lifetime ISA and we don’t want to withdraw early and lose the bonus/ incur a penalty (around 2400).

We recently saw a house we really liked and put in a full asking price offer, with the condition that we wouldn’t be able to exchange until October. We were just trying to be transparent in case the sellers needed a quicker sale. They were interested but came back asking for a 5% (14,000) non-refundable deposit to show commitment- we declined.

My question is: at what point should we stop mentioning the October timeline? Given that many sales take around four months anyway, is it better to hold off mentioning it unless specifically asked? 

Why aren't you able to exchange contracts earlier with completion on your preferred date in October?

Because I thought the deposit would have to be transferred to solicitors at exchange of contracts? Is that not the case? 

No, deposits for completion only. I would stop mentioning it now tbh. 

Eh??? Deposits are normally paid on exchange.

😂😂 Yeah, I'm forgetting exchange deposit. I assumed they meant all the money for the property deposit, but maybe not. 

10% is normally needed at exchange, sorry 

saajan_12

stephaniesays said:

saajan_12 said:

Four months might be the average, but that means half of all transactions are shorter and then would be wondering why you're dragging feet. Not only crappy to the seller, but it could also come back to bite you if they pull out and you've wasted fees. I'd stop viewing until you're in a position to progress a sale, or at the least mention it for any houses you view until ~July. 

Re exchange v completion: 
You would need an exchange deposit upon exchange, which is usually 10% but can be negotiated to be a lower amount. The rest of your money ie mortgage and the rest of your equity (aka mortgage deposit) can be sent just before completion. 

So depending on how much money is outside partner's LISA, you could exchange with just that and then add the partner's LISA money just before completion. That means you can exchange earlier, giving the seller the commitment they're looking for, but it’s a proper exchange after all the searches and surveys so you're not just handing over money for nothing. 

Thanks for your reply, this makes sense and is not something I’ve heard about before re exchanging vs completion- so just as an example, say if there’s £10,000 in the LISA and the rest is coming from my LISA (£19,000), we could negotiate to send £19,000 over at exchange with the rest at completion? 

Essentially yes, depending on what those numbers are as a % of the purchase price. If those numbers are real, and 5% was 14k, then 19k is 6.8%, which is probably borderline acceptable. If there's a long chain above the seller, then it may get more tricky, as the same exchange deposit gets passed up the chain for what might be more expensive houses. However they may well agree, in which case the sequence would be 
- complete all searches, surveys, etc
- exchange in the normal timeframe with 19k 6.8% deposit paid
     Incl: agree that if you fail to complete, you'll pay the remainder to make it 10% (though that is super rare)
- complete in Oct, paying the rest of the deposit and mortgage to make up the total purchase price