I'm in the process of selling a house I inherited, probate is sorted and I have found a buyer privately (a neighbour who I know quite well). They are buying it with cash and a top up mortgage that their son is arranging with his bank (he will live there and it will be in his name). As far as I am aware the bank are processing his application and things seem to be going smoothly if a little slowly.
This was fine and I started looking for place to buy with my partner, we found a place but I've been under the impression that till my buyer has all his mortgage paperwork rubber stamped that I'm not really in a position to make an offer. However, my partner has been talking to friends who think we're good to go, her urgency has been compounded somewhat by the sellers reducing the price today.
Which leads to my question, with me having agreed a deal and the buyer just waiting for a formal yes, am I in a position to call the agents of the house we've chosen and make an offer? Or will the sellers look at my position, possibly keep the house on the market pending a more solid offer?
I appreciate this is probably a stupid question but I've only ever bought once and that was very straightforward and half a lifetime ago.
I'm out of my comfort zone, made the mistake of googling it and just further confused myself.
Any help would be gratefully received and no doubt go some way to cure the earache I've developed this evening.
Do you need a mortgage to purchase this property in addition to sale price.
If so get your mortgage agreed in principle and make an offer, the agents will then publicly announce the offer and invite people to beat your offer. If they don’t then the paperwork rolls on and hopefully in that time you would have sold your home.
Given that the seller of this home ‘probably’ needs to realise the sale to purchase their next property it’s nothing the agents and solicitors can’t handle
Cheers, that makes sense. There is no mortgage on my side, I'm adding some cash to the sale proceeds.
Good luck with the offer.Originally Posted by kace
As they’ve reduced their price they might be keen to sell because they’ve found the next house.
Thanks, thats what we're hoping, they haven't dropped it by a huge amount and only by 5% since they first listed it but I'm taking this as sign they want to get things done.
Not sure how the offer will go as we showed the estate agents our cards a bit when my other half bounced about the place, telling him how much she loved it. Thank god I'd told her to use her best poker face.
Scotland? England?
You're never really under offer with a mortgage buyer until a survey is at least booked. Once a survey is booked it means the application is submitted and the whole thing is progressing. Without a survey they haven't submitted a mortgage application and don't know what they are doing.
It wouldn’t hurt to question the buyers on the timeframe. Tell them you want to proceed quickly and why.
Are you using solicitors?
You can make an offer on the other property but their agent will want to know your position financially so you need to know your buyers.
Whenever I make an offer on a property it is on condition that if accepted they take the property off the market.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
You can make an offer at anytime for the new house, you just explain your circumstances to the seller/estate agent and they will make the judgement as to the legitimacy of the offer, like you say, they might hedge their bets and keep it on the market until the strength of your offer improves based on your sale progressing until the point that it’s likely to happen, in short, you have nothing to lose by getting an offer in now.
Cheers..
Jase
You can try, but you can't really. Any offer made without being in a position to buy (my house is on the market but I don't have a buyer yet etc) is deemed as a reckless offer and must be submitted as such to the vendor. Only a questionable agent or misguided seller would accept a reckless offer as it isn't really an offer.
Some agents do it, the vast majority don't. Any agent worth their salt or with a backbone wouldn't.
Thanks for all the help, my buyer has got as far as having their mortgage application approved at branch level and it has now been sent to head office/processing centre for their approval. The buyer is keen to get things done and I'm keen to sell, no solicitors have been instructed yet. I'll have a chat with them today to see if they can light a fire under the mortgage advisor and get things moving.
Think I'll give the agents a call and set out my position, they've been in touch since we first viewed the property and know most of what's going on, I'll see if they think my offer is worth passing on or not.
The house being reduced has set the missus to panic stations as she's convinced it's going to sell quickly and we'll miss out and to be fair I'd be pretty disappointed to see it sell now too when it feels like I'm in touching distance of selling mine.
Quick word - if solicitors aren't even instructed yet then you are 100% not under offer.
No idea what branch Vs head office level means. It's either submitted or it isn't. It isn't an expense claim which needs different levels of approval!
Your good to go. You’ve sold you house subject to contract. This is how a chain works. You do not need to wait for your buyer to have a mortgage offer.
Good luck
Offer, no. Submitted applicant aka survey booked, yes. Anything else is just "I'll buy your house for a million quid mate".
Assuming this house is not in Scotland, you can make an offer whenever you like. The English house buying system is a total shambles. You can make an offer without even having your house on the market if you like - it really is that stupid. If the seller has any sense though, they would not accept such an offer from such a person.
I know of someone who had her offers accepted on 3 properties at the same time, but was still viewing more houses!
Many 'cash buyers' arrange a mortgage after their offer has been accepted etc
In your position I would get out there and make an offer. You are in a decent position, but you are moving through the process, which can of course collapse at any point even if everyone in the people in the chain are all 100% committed. Whether or not the buyer accepts your offer or not will depend on their position (financially and timeline) and how solid THEY believe your offer to be. As a buyer, you really have nothing at all to lose by making an offer - but do not waste the sellers time if you are not committed to doing the deal.
This, get the offer for your house in writing so you can show the Estate Agent of the house you want. Can't harm to make an offer of a few percent below the asking price.
I have just re-read this thread again.
OP, one thing you do need to do ASAP, is give your buyers a hefty nudge to get their solicitors instructed (and their formal mortgage offer sorted) ASAP. Without that their offer is essentially not moving forwards and it is arguable that your house is not actually formally under offer. Until your buyers commit financially, they have nothing to lose by messing you around while they get their ducks in a row, or just change their minds!
It may be that the lack of estate agents is not helping the process along its regular path, but you (or someone) does need to make the buyers pull their fingers out, particularly now you are making an offer on the property you want to purchase, as you want to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible and money will now start to change hands.
Personally, I would not take any buyers offer seriously until they have committed financially to the purchase, ie solicitors and mortgage/surveyors fees.
As above, the more stages along you and your buyer is, the more legitimate your offer will seem to your seller and agent.
Cheers..
Jase
I'd definitely have some worry beads if it's because the bank is working slowly on the mortgage, i'm moving just now and the mortgage was sorted out in an afternoon, any slowness on this will be down to the buyer who isn't getting the correct information to the bank for them to make the mortgage offer.
It is just an offer until then though, as a buyer i wasn't really committed until i started to pay a solicitor and 600 quid for a survey, an offer is pretty much worthless, to both seller and buyer.
+1, communicate with your buyer! I`ve just agreed to buy a house locally, there's no estate agent involved and I`m buying it without selling mine first. I`ve established a good rapport with the seller, that's one advantage of dealing without an estate agent, but in communication. Years ago I sold a house myself and within a few days I had the name and details of the solicitor they were using.
You need to 'oil the wheels' to be sure the process is happening, if your buy's dragging his heels you need to give him some encouragement.
Thanks all, much appreciated. I'll have a chat with the buyer today.
Its all a bit complicated in that the Dad is having to go on the mortgage but not the title of the house as the son doesn't meet the criteria for the loan he wants alone and if the Dad is on the title there'll be more stamp duty to pay and no first time buyer incentive.
I've had a look at the Barclays website as thats who they're using and it seems that as part of the process the underwriters at head office have my place valued before acceptance (no idea how long that takes). Things were held up originally by Barclays asking for copies of paperwork from the Dad that he had to request from the tax office on a 10 working day turnaround.
I think a lot of the lack of urgency was down to me initially as I wasn't in a huge rush to sell but then up popped the house we've fallen for. I'll suggest we get our solicitors sorted and then pop in and have a chat with the agents for the property I want to buy and fill them in.
I'm starting to see what an estate agent does for their money! And also what a confusing mess our system is.
I know it is none of your business and therefore out of your control, but if my buyer was arranging their mortgage through Barclays, that would fill me with absolute dread as the seller.
I know this is just one example and may therefore not be fair or representative, but my last house sale collapsed right at the last moment due to Barclays doing sweet FA with my buyers mortgage application over the course of 3 months, until we finally gave our buyers an ultimatum to put up or p1$$ off. Barclays then finally confessed to the fact that they had pulled ALL mortgage deals for the time being due to uncertain property market conditions (late 2017). All the while our buyers 'Barclays Premier' advisor was getting them coffee and biscuits while telling them that everything was fine and they were just waiting for the final paperwork to be signed - ie it was utter BS.
Fortunately my buyers were financially in a good place, so when they finally went through a reputable local mortgage broker they managed to secure an offer within 48hrs, so it all worked out well in the end. It still cost us a lot of stress and worry though.
I would NEVER EVER organise a mortgage or re-mortgage direct with a bank, it would always be through a decent broker.
Not sure how you could communicate that to your buyer though without looking like an interfering git!
Its funny you should say that because my image of Barclays is pretty much a hopeless bunch of incompetents.
As a bit of background I worked in a bank for a decade or so and told my buyer the other day that mortgages aren't really a banks bread and butter and cited the true story of my other half attempting to get a mortgage with Lloyds and being left in tears during the meeting when the computer literally said no, for no reason that anyone in the origination could explain.
I wouldn't use a bank but as you say how can I push them without seeming like I'm interfering?
I can’t see a lender lending to an applicant but them not being on the mortgage deed. Anything is possible i guess but that is pretty left field
I'll be honest I hadn't heard of it happening but googling tells me joint mortgage sole ownership is a thing. They've told him he needs independent legal advice, I suspect in much the same was a guarantor is jointly and severally liable for the debt, they'll come after him if his son fails to pay and they need to know he knows that.
I think the prospect of doing it is less scary to him than having a new neighbour for the first time in nearly 40 years.
To be honest the buyers financial arrangements are not your concern, except knowing if they have the necessary finances or not. I'd be wanting a bit more input and solid commitment from them or be thinking they're just dreamers. Seen that happen loads of times before, 2 months down the line.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I was recently involved in an attempted property purchase which fell through because of a right of way issue. But before the vendor's estate agent would mark the property as on hold they carried out their money laundering due diligence on me, wanting details of the funds and how savings had been accumulated. Likewise my solicitor would not confirm the offer to their solicitor until he had done the same checks and wanted to see bank statements etc.
This was all to make sure the funds were legal and that I wasn't a time waster.
Hopefully your solicitor will advise on anything you need to do/consider.
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