Can/should my estate agent give me info on the full purchase chain?

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987764#Comment_81987764

Another consideration is that if you have 5 different solicitors corresponding that's going to up the costs significantly. And there's also the possibility that one of more would have to bow out when they discovered they were dealing with more than one part of the chain.

I would assume that ALL the solicitors in the chain would refuse to participate in any wider contact than normal with the direct buyer/seller solicitor.

Brie

@Albermarle - I would hope all the solicitors would refuse. But if they weren't restricted in this it would be such a nice way for them to pad out their bills. Not that I'm saying they are greedy or anything.

TheJP

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987497#Comment_81987497

They are not going to tell you the address of the houses in the chain, to be honest the EA selling the house you are buying wont even know this information. All they will know is their status in the chain. You are action very fickel, the chain does not revolve around you and will work at the pace it needs to. No EA or socilitor that isnt dealing directly with your EA or solicitor is going to listen to your 'pressure'.

TheJP

That would be an absolute nightmare, random people ringing EAs putting pressure on, asking for updates would double the time it would take to complete the sale. Stop being entitled and just let the system do its thing.

TheJP

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81987732#Comment_81987732

So if before exchange a house on the same street comes onto the market, no chain, sligthly bigger, more modern for a similar price to the one you are buying. You wouldnt be interested? You would commit to this sale?

Herzlos

You're not going to be able to do anything about it other than obsess about details you can't access or help.

You should be checking with your estate agent that they are in talks with agents throughout the chain and that things are progressing, but beyond that you may as well not worry about it.

(I was quite fortunate in that all 4 houses in my chain were the same EA chain so communication was pretty decent)

jez9999

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81988583#Comment_81988583

If it meant the whole system lost the whole problem of chains falling through, absolutely.

TheJP

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81988645#Comment_81988645

that’s not what I asked. I asked if a better property came available for a similar price and you could pull out and buy it to get better value for your money, would you?

jez9999

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81989417#Comment_81989417

If you're trying to make some kind of a point about a benefit of the current system, I'm not really buying it. I'd rather have a system that locked in a commitment to purchase. And tbh I'm not sure I'd even buy the "better" property under the current system if my current purchase had months of progression behind it.

BungalowBel

Just a little anecdote to hopefully amuse people: When I lived in Spain, there was a British couple who needed to sell their house because they could not afford the mortgage as they had no work. Sold it pretty quickly and the buyer paid a deposit (around £25k) which then made the sale legally binding. The buyer pulled out sometime later, which meant that the couple could keep the deposit, which was enough to pay off their mortgage. They still have the house, nearly twenty years later.