How long to wait for vendor to find somewhere to buy......

[PogoBob]

.....and are we being totally unreasonable not to apply for a mortgage until they have?

Had a sale fall through a couple of month back which obviously lost us money so am a little cautious this time around.

Had offer accepted on property 3 weeks back, vendors had apprently been viewing and seen houses they liked but obviously not offered as they didn't have a buyer. We were happy to give them some time as we didn't want to complete until the end of January (DS due New Year).

They haven't found anything yet but apprently know exactly the type of house and the exact area (EA seems to think this is a good thing - makes me think of a needle in a haystack!!)

I'm now starting to wonder how long to give them and when is acceptable/reasonable to start putting a little bit of pressure on them to find something. She is due DC1 around Easter so does have a deadline of sorts but that's a bit of a way away.

EA is also pressuiring us to apply for a mortgage - we had a mortgage offer on the first property but couldn't transfer it to this one. My concern is we sink more money into surveys, mortgage booking fees etc. and then get to the end of the 3 month valid offer period without them having found anything!

Is this one of those times where we just haveo gamble and hope that it alls comes together?? (dear god house buying is stressful!!!!)

[PigletJohn]

You make it sound as if they are expecting you to wait indefinitely, which is not reasonable. What will they do if you have the mortgage and contract ready to sign and they haven't made up their mind?

You can't rely on the agent to tell you the truth or to care much about the money he wants you to spend.

Keep looking for another house with a more committed seller.

[Flossiechops]

I agree with piglet, what if they don't find anywhere for months? Christmas is coming and vendors tend to wait until spring. Could they go into rented? We did just so our sale went through. I don't think I would apply for a mortgage as the sale isn't priced able at the moment. So stressful!

[ClareMarriott]

Dear Pogo

Just a few things......Remember the estate agent is working for the vendor not you. You will need a mortgage in place because how else are you going to fund the purchase unless you are cash buyer ? Also I would arrange for a survey of the property you want to buy because there may be things that are highlighted in it that may cause you to withdraw your offer. It may be a cost at the moment but nothing is signed and sealed until the contracts are signed.

[PigletJohn]

hi clare

but how much should she be willing to pour down the drain spend on a house where the vendor shows no sign of being ready to move?

[PogoBob]

Thanks all, lots of fair points there.

part of the problem is I don't trust the EA, it's a branch that is known for putting a spin on things, unfortunately they seem to handle 75% of the property type we want in this area so a bit stuck with them.

Going to go into the branch this afternoon and put some pressure on - the daft thing is the EA is threatening to put the house back on the market if we don't put in the mortgage application - bit of a stupid threat as there aren't exactly a lot of buyers out there at the moment!

PigletJohn - would look at other houses but there just isn't really anything on the market that we haven't already looked at!

[FishfingersAreOK]

Could you not try and get some timeline/deadline agreed - with penalties if not met. Eg you will get mortgage application/survey started - but that vendors agree to move out by x. If they don't and you have to incur further costs (re reapplying for mortgage) then they reimburse you?

They may be scared of progressing looking if they think you are not serious. They may be worried that you do not appear committed. At least if you start conveyancing process then you have their/your solicitors involved to bypass conversations with the EA

[PogoBob]

Thanks fishfingers. They seem to except that we are serious but also appear to be on the hunt for their forever house in a popular area of the city!

Guess we will just play it by ear for a little while longer, it they've really seen as many properties as the EA is trying to get us to believe there isn't anything else left for them to see as nothing new coming on. We're not ready/willing to commit money etc. with any commitment from them so will chase up for answers.

We have got solicitors on board, just not applied for the mortgage or searches yet.

[Ladymuck]

If you have a mortgage "agreed in principle" ie subject to survey, then I would expect this to be all you need until the vendor says that they are in a proceedable position.

[ClareMarriott]

Pogo

If your offer was accepted at the beginning of this month, the vendors have been viewing properties before that time and you have suggested completing at the end of January, like Ladymuck says, if you have a mortgage in principle and can arrange for a survey of the property, the vendors will see you as being serious about moving the purchase forward. What will the survey cost in your neck of the woods ? £500 ? Your solicitors will carry out any searches that are necessary so don't worry about doing that yourselves and remember the Christmas and New Year breaks will take time out of anything happening.

[Mintyy]

I don't agree with Claire's advice at all! Don't spend money on this house yet.

[Flutterbutterby]

I don't think anyone in our chain started surveys etc until the chain was complete. It took us about 4 weeks (we offered but missed out on a couple) to find somewhere and our vendors took about 3 weeks. The bottom of the chain and then our buyers waited, as we then did. Our vendor's vendor wasn't buying thankfully. A chain with 4 properties and 5 'families' took from approximately April to the October to complete by the way (although it did collapse once as our buyer's buyer dropped out and they had to find another).

We did start to get pressure from our buyers (via our EA) as they had wanted to move in the school holidays. We weren't in a rush though and weren't going to make a rash decision just to please them. We didn't put our vendors under any pressure but their EA kept us up to speed, no pressure from them for us to survey or anything.

[nocake]

You should be able to get a mortgage agreed in principle without spending any money. You'd be mad to start spending until the chain is complete. If the EA hassles you just threaten to pull out. In the current market they need you more than you need them.

[pootlebug]

I agree with those saying hold off until they have some more concrete plans. If she is due with DC1 at Easter I can see a potential situation where if they have found nowhere by Feb (and the market will hardly have tons of new stuff on around Christmas) they'll decide to stay put until post-baby.

[PogoBob]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post - it actually turns out that they have found somewhere and had an offer accepted - plus it's chain free and both vendors happy to wait until end January to complete

Did have a little (pregnancy hormones induced) hissy fit at the EA for not having told me this earlier as the vendors told them on Saturday afternoon and they only got round to telling us at 3pm this afternoon! Earlier information would have saved me from being up at 5am this morning worrying

Going to avoid the EA now and do everything through the solicitors. Mortgage application going in tomorrow so all systems go!