First time buyer concerns

firsttimebuyer_99

Hi all,
I hope someone can put my mind at rest!! My partner and I are buying our first house together. We found the perfect place, put in an offer, it was accepted. We paid for a valuation, paid for initial searches after our solicitor received the draft contract, then '!!!!!!!' the seller pulled out, refusing to give an explanation.

We have now found a second house. We put the offer in on 21st January - 4 weeks ago. Our solicitor has still not received the draft contract - he has only received the property details and fixtures & fittings forms (fully completed). I don't know whether we should be concerned - possibly paranoid after being burnt the first time - but it seems to be taking ages without anything happening.

The other issue is that the house currently has a tenant. When I put the offer in, I stated that I would like confirmation that the tenant has been given notice. I was told that the tenant was the seller's son, so could move out at any time.

Anyone have any advice (or reassurance or warnings!!) for me?

Thanks : )

Flat_Eric

firsttimebuyer_99 wrote: »

Hi all,
I hope someone can put my mind at rest!! My partner and I are buying our first house together. We found the perfect place, put in an offer, it was accepted. We paid for a valuation, paid for initial searches after our solicitor received the draft contract, then '!!!!!!!' the seller pulled out, refusing to give an explanation. Sorry to hear that

We have now found a second house.We put the offer in on 21st January - 4 weeks ago. Our solicitor has still not received the draft contract - he has only received the property details and fixtures & fittings forms (fully completed). I don't know whether we should be concerned - possibly paranoid after being burnt the first time - but it seems to be taking ages without anything happening.

Hello Sorry to hear your first property fell through. After four weeks, I would have expected your solicitor to have received the draft Contract. Has your solicitor sent off your searches? The plan needed to accompany them normally forms part of the contract package - by contract package I mean Contract in duplicate, Official Copy Entries and Title Plan (the Official Copy Entries are a Land Registry document evidencing who owns the property, address of property, details of things affecting the property etc plus Location plan), fixtures and fittings form, sellers property information form etc. If your solicitor hasn't received all of this then I would be asking him to chase the seller pronto and find out what the delay is - as FTB you can move quickly so why are they dragging their feet? My house purchase as a FTB took 8 weeks! I would also perhaps keep an eye on right move and other house websites just in case this one doesn't happen either.

The other issue is that the house currently has a tenant. When I put the offer in, I stated that I would like confirmation that the tenant has been given notice. I was told that the tenant was the seller's son, so could move out at any time.
As there is a tenant in the property, I would make sure your solicitor is aware of this and ensure that the contract has a clause in it that states the property is sold with vacant possession. You mention that it is the Landlord's son - if that is the case then it may well be the case that he will just move out when required but if was not a relation then there may be further delays while the appropriate notice is served on the tenant and this can delay the transaction so I would ask your solicitor to confirm that it is indeed the sellers son, ensure there is an appropriate provision in the Contract and ask your solicitor to confirm with the seller that his son will move out once exchange has taken place. Hope this helps.

firsttimebuyer_99

Hi Flat Eric, thanks for the info. No, the solicitor has not sent off the searches yet; he told me he is waiting for the draft contract before doing this. After I posted my last message, I rang him and apparantly the EA had chased him that day. He explained that he was waiting for info from the vendor's solicitor and I believe that the EA informed the vendor of this, who said he would chase his own solicitor, fingers crossed. Apparantly my solicitor has tried to chase the vendor's several times, and told me that the other solicitors appear to be extremely slow. I hope they're just slow, and not looking to back out like the last ones!!!

Thanks for the advice about the tenant - I will chase this up and make sure my solicitor is aware of the situation.