NO CHAIN property now has a chain--what do we do?

jodieangell

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice, please.

On June 1st, we viewed a property that was advertised as having no chain. We loved it, put an offer in & it as accepted. At the viewing, the estate agent told us that the vendor is looking for a quick sale as she wants to move in with her partner, then buy a house with them.
Our mortgage application was submitted today (June 9th).
The estate agent called me today to say the vendor has had a change in circumstance & that she needs to buy a house. I initially said this wasn't a problem & the EA said she'd let us know when the vendor has found somewhere.
Now I'm wondering what I do in the meantime?
Me & my partner are first time buyers, so this is all very new to us. We absolutely loved the house, but should we be looking at other houses now given the change? The vendor could be looking for somewhere to buy for any range of time, days, weeks, months, etc. 
I'm worried about us waiting months for the chain to then collapse & us lose our fees & the house. 

I've also contacted our mortgage advisor to ask what this means for our mortgage application. If worst case scenario, the chain falls through & we lose the house, does that mean will we have to reapply for a second mortgage & have a second hard search on our files? Or do we transfer the mortgage offer to a different property? I do have paperwork from the lender but haven't had the chance to reread through it all today as I've had my hands full with our little one.

I've also seen posts about home buyers protection insurance--is this worth purchasing, given the new circumstances?

Thanks in advance.

DullGreyGuy

jodieangell said:

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice, please.

On June 1st, we viewed a property that was advertised as having no chain. We loved it, put an offer in & it as accepted. At the viewing, the estate agent told us that the vendor is looking for a quick sale as she wants to move in with her partner, then buy a house with them.
Our mortgage application was submitted today (June 9th).
The estate agent called me today to say the vendor has had a change in circumstance & that she needs to buy a house. I initially said this wasn't a problem & the EA said she'd let us know when the vendor has found somewhere.
Now I'm wondering what I do in the meantime?
Me & my partner are first time buyers, so this is all very new to us. We absolutely loved the house, but should we be looking at other houses now given the change? The vendor could be looking for somewhere to buy for any range of time, days, weeks, months, etc. 
I'm worried about us waiting months for the chain to then collapse & us lose our fees & the house. 

I've also contacted our mortgage advisor to ask what this means for our mortgage application. If worst case scenario, the chain falls through & we lose the house, does that mean will we have to reapply for a second mortgage & have a second hard search on our files? Or do we transfer the mortgage offer to a different property? I do have paperwork from the lender but haven't had the chance to reread through it all today as I've had my hands full with our little one.

I've also seen posts about home buyers protection insurance--is this worth purchasing, given the new circumstances?

Thanks in advance.

Presumably this is just for approval in principle? Seems very early for the full mortgage application before any of the searches etc. 

They could be looking for days or years, just as if you find another property their purchase could fall apart and then its back to the drawing board. Welcome to the joys of house buying!

At the end of the day its a big game of chicken, you could be nice and sit back and wait or play hardball and tell them you need to complete per the "quick sale" timeline else you will start looking at other properties. Sometimes you play hard and they agree they can complete quickly still and sort out some other living arrangements for themselves and sometimes they'll say they arent interested in your offer anymore

Albermarle

A problem could be that a house they put in an offer could also be in a longer chain.

Flugelhorn

I think it is quite a big thing when a chain free property suddenly has a chain, I would start looking at others. they may change their minds about selling at all 

Herzlos

Your only options now are to wait for vendor to find a new place, force the vendor to go ahead with the sale and move out, or walk away. 

From the change of circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if the vendor decides not to sell at all. There's no harm in looking for other properties whilst you wait to see what happens. 

jodieangell

DullGreyGuy said:

jodieangell said:

Hello!

I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice, please.

On June 1st, we viewed a property that was advertised as having no chain. We loved it, put an offer in & it as accepted. At the viewing, the estate agent told us that the vendor is looking for a quick sale as she wants to move in with her partner, then buy a house with them.
Our mortgage application was submitted today (June 9th).
The estate agent called me today to say the vendor has had a change in circumstance & that she needs to buy a house. I initially said this wasn't a problem & the EA said she'd let us know when the vendor has found somewhere.
Now I'm wondering what I do in the meantime?
Me & my partner are first time buyers, so this is all very new to us. We absolutely loved the house, but should we be looking at other houses now given the change? The vendor could be looking for somewhere to buy for any range of time, days, weeks, months, etc. 
I'm worried about us waiting months for the chain to then collapse & us lose our fees & the house. 

I've also contacted our mortgage advisor to ask what this means for our mortgage application. If worst case scenario, the chain falls through & we lose the house, does that mean will we have to reapply for a second mortgage & have a second hard search on our files? Or do we transfer the mortgage offer to a different property? I do have paperwork from the lender but haven't had the chance to reread through it all today as I've had my hands full with our little one.

I've also seen posts about home buyers protection insurance--is this worth purchasing, given the new circumstances?

Thanks in advance.

Presumably this is just for approval in principle? Seems very early for the full mortgage application before any of the searches etc. 

They could be looking for days or years, just as if you find another property their purchase could fall apart and then its back to the drawing board. Welcome to the joys of house buying!

At the end of the day its a big game of chicken, you could be nice and sit back and wait or play hardball and tell them you need to complete per the "quick sale" timeline else you will start looking at other properties. Sometimes you play hard and they agree they can complete quickly still and sort out some other living arrangements for themselves and sometimes they'll say they arent interested in your offer anymore

We already had the DIP, this was the application for the formal one. The credit checks have been done & the valuation is being booked. The advisor said once we've received the formal offer, it's valid for 6 months & we can transfer to a different property if we need to. But yes, you're right--this does feel like chicken!

jodieangell

Flugelhorn said:

I think it is quite a big thing when a chain free property suddenly has a chain, I would start looking at others. they may change their minds about selling at all 

Yes, I agree. The other properties we had saved just aren't as nice compared to what we'd proceeded with, so we'll keep an eye out for other properties while we see what happens.

jodieangell

Herzlos said:

Your only options now are to wait for vendor to find a new place, force the vendor to go ahead with the sale and move out, or walk away. 

From the change of circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if the vendor decides not to sell at all. There's no harm in looking for other properties whilst you wait to see what happens. 

I wouldn't be surprised either. We did have a few other properties saved to view, but they just don't seem as nice compared to what we had gone ahead with, so we'll keep an eye out for other properties while we wait to see what happens with this one. My partner is of the mindset that we should try to force them to go ahead as they had their house on the market for ages, reduced the price several times under the pretence that they wanted a quick sale, & now this happens

Albermarle

jodieangell said:

Herzlos said:

Your only options now are to wait for vendor to find a new place, force the vendor to go ahead with the sale and move out, or walk away. 

From the change of circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if the vendor decides not to sell at all. There's no harm in looking for other properties whilst you wait to see what happens. 

I wouldn't be surprised either. We did have a few other properties saved to view, but they just don't seem as nice compared to what we had gone ahead with, so we'll keep an eye out for other properties while we wait to see what happens with this one. My partner is of the mindset that we should try to force them to go ahead as they had their house on the market for ages, reduced the price several times under the pretence that they wanted a quick sale, & now this happens

The Vendors might have relationship problems/disagreements.
It is not unheard of .

Yorkie1

You're in a relatively fortunate position in that you don't have a chain underneath you. From what you say about nothing else being as nice, I'd sit tight for a bit - if something else comes up which you really like, and your sellers still haven't found anything, then you could investigate that. But in reality, as you are first time buyers, it's probably quite likely that most sellers would be in a chain and you'd be back to square one anyway.

jazzyja

Just like to jump in here and say….i am a vendor who never once said I was moving out and suddenly my buyer claims they have been told I was. We’re 10 weeks in, I’m not ready to exchange for at least another 4 weeks and they’re threatening to pull. The EA has clearly lied to someone along the line. It happens! Me personally I’m moving to a house with no chain and my mortgage offer is in place. If your  vendor finds a house with no chain it and they have the mortgage/funds they need….all should be ok