Buying a House

[Sorry Pete]

I've had an offer accepted by the seller on a house. It was offered to us by the agents prior to it going onto the market, and we had a look and made our offer. The thing is, as opposed to the other properties we'd seen, this comes with a chain in that the sellers haven't found an onward property to purchase yet.

Ordininarily, this would have put us off completely, am I foolish to continue with the purchase?

From the stats, 1 in 3 purchases with a chain fall-through, and we'd like to make those odds more favourable. Is there any way we can make anything legally binding at this point?

Am I right in thinking that no money can change hands till the exchange of contracts?

Are there any conditions I can add to the offer that's been accepted? As it stands, the property will not be marketed/viewed by prospective buyers as rightly, it shouldn't. We have a buildings survey booked for Friday, and our solicitors will be instructed by the estate agents within the next two days.

I feel very much left flapping in the breeze playing ball on a timeframe that the sellers decide. The main problem isn't moving-in asap, but we don't want this deal to fall through. I think I'm probably answering my own questions the more I type this, but do any of you have anything to add?

Thanks in advance.

 

[wemorgan]

If you want that house in particular to any other then the chain is a frustrating consequence you have to suffer for the moment I feel. One technique you might try to speed things up is: ask the seller to move in to rented accommodation if there is no prospect of completion within 3-4 months.

AFAIK any nominal deposit you have made so far ~£200 is fully refundable until contracts have been exchanged. Though if it all falls through you legal fees up to that point may not be refunded.

Good luck.

 

[kth286]

It is a very flimsy situation indeed and anything can and probably will happen.

I would not be spending money on surveys etc at this stage.

Getting an agreement for them to go into temporary accomodation and agreeing to sign contracts within say the month would be a good option, depending whether you are in a position to preceed - is mortg offer involved etc.

 

[Beetnik]

Depends very much whether they're:
a) we don't need to move but are looking for somewhere else but it has to tick all the right boxes and we're prepared to wait for a year to find it and if we don't we'll stick where we are ... or:
b) we both start new jobs in a town 150 miles away on 1st July and will be moving come what may.

There's a continuum of reasons to move and you need to find out where they are on it before you make your decision.

Ask them.

 

[Sorry Pete]

Thanks so far, the situation is that the seller has recently divorced and is looking for a smaller property. I haven't had any direct contact with her, only through the agent. They say she's eager to move, and is interested in some properties the agents have shown her, though I've taken everything agents say with a large pinch of salt.

I've no reason to disbelieve them, though I wonder whether they're painting a rosier picture than it is.

I suppose the flip side is I can pull-out if anything else turns up in the meantime?

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Is the chain just you and the person selling? You don't have a house to sell?

If so, this is reasonaly uncomplicated.

If I were you I'd hold off instructing any survey until I'd met the vendor and got a feel for her REAL intent to sell, divorces are often difficult because of the emotions involved.

Are you paying cash? If not, let the lender instruct the valuatio in their own time.

 

[markmifsud]

if she is only "interested" in some other properties, then she has not quite started the process. Maybe ask if she could sell and rent a place in the mean time, as right now your on a rolling 6 week wait.

 

[Sorry Pete]

Thanks, have yet to speak face to face with the seller. We'll be paying cash, and our move isn't dependant on our sale.

 

[PXW]

If you're paying cash, you are the bottom of the chain and you are the very best possible buyer from her point of view. If she is trading down due to divorce she is likely to have an economic imperative to move, even if it is not hugely urgent/desperate at the moment. I'd be inclined in those circs to go via the agent and give her a window, as suggested above. It puts her in a strong buying position anyway (chain complete below her) though it may mean she has to rent if she can't find anywhere quickly - though that in itself is not a bad position for her to be in, as worst case she becomes a cash buyer herself.

I'd chat to the agent about possibilities. If she is in principle willing to risk going into rented, then there is nothing legally to stop you doing a quick exchange of contracts with a delayed (eg 3 to 4 month) completion. You might even want to cross her palm with another thou or two to encourage her to do that.

 

[nickcc101]

Problem is no seller or agent will take your offer seriously unless you have accepted an offer on your house. Over the past 40 odd years we have moved 14 times, some Company moves and others our own, in most cases we have been prepared to move into rented to ensure the sale went ahead and then look for the house we wanted in the area we wanted. For the sake of 6 months rent the reduction in stress was more than worthwhile.

 

[rossyl]

All good advice.

- Put a time limit on your offer.
- Give her a time limit to have exchanged contracts buy.
- Don't forget that surveys and checks will all take time (at least one month) so you should factor that in to any time period.
- There are no legal obligations before the exchange of contracts, on either party.
- You would want to conduct your surveys before exhcnage of contracts, because if you exchange you are obligated to buy the property. You don't want to find out after that the foundations are cracked, and there's massive subsidence. You'll be financially penalised if you pull out after exchange.

Basically, you almost definitely are going to have to put some money on the line (for surveys and checking of deeds) that might be lost if the seller pulls out. This is always the way these things go.

The seller would not want to move out until she's sure you are buying. She won't have any reason to be sure until all surveys/legal come back ok.

You should set a deadline for exchange of contracts, with an obligation she'll move into rented accommodation if she hasn't found a property by that date.

The liklihood is she will not find another property, and be able to buy in time. She still has to look, put in offers, have those accepted, maybe sort out a mortgage...etc etc.

 

[Sorry Pete]

Thanks all. Rossyl, the time limit on the offer sounds, well, sound. Our move isn't constrained by finding a buyer, so we can be pretty flexible with a time frame. Obviously, if she hasn't found anywhere else to move to in 6 months we'd have to reconsider the deal. My rationale behind having a survey done so promptly was precisely so that she knows we're serious, and we can discount the buy if it turns out something's structurally wrong.

I'm guessing I'll start talking to her about time limits after the survey, or should I get the ball rolling asap?

I would have thought that 12 weeks would be a reasonable time for her to find a property to move-on to. While we were property hunting, places were coming onto the market all the time, and unless there was something glaringly wrong, they were being snapped-up fairly quickly. We'd missed-out on a few while deliberating.

On another note, the 300D just passed its MOT today, no advisories