Vendor refuses to take off market...

[dynevoran]

Would you just walk away? Great house on great street. needs full renovation and extension and loft doing. Agreed a price yesterday. now they came back and said they'll keep on market. we have cash in the bank and had agreed 10k more on a previous property on which santander had fully approved the necessary mortgage subject to valuation (those vendors just left the country for 8 weeks and haven't found something yet so we had to walk away from that transaction due to them not seemingly wanting to sell.

we said we would send a copy of bank statement showing deposit and a pdf of the documentation from santander showing the amount they agreed subject to property valuation. Yet she still refuses to take it off the market and started asking for an agreement in principle for her property (which is less reliable than our approved amount albeit based on a different address). And anyway an agreement with a property name on it is a formal mortgage offer and I'm just not prepared to spend money on survey and waste time for someone who is already at this early stage messing us around.

What do you all think? Walk away straight away?

[TeaBelle]

Sounds like they are holding out for more money. I'd be tempted to walk away but it would depend how rare the house is - if it's in a village where houses rarely come on the market then you may have to think more than an area where there are several houses that you like

[dynevoran]

It's not rare at all. Attractive to is because it's vacant and we aren't in a chain. but realistically it's 10 a penny. The offer they verbally agreed is over their asking price already. Plus there are two other houses on the same road not sold yet and one on the next road which is the same but with a loft conversion who have just dropped their price.

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

I'm sorry, but I can see her point of view. You aren't prepared to get your survey done and a formal offer made from your lender, unless I'm missing something here, I wouldn't take it off the market yet. I can see why she feels you are messing her around.

Sorry.

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

I would only procede with it if they take it off the market I think. It's normally the way it's done unless the purchaser has still to get a competed chain behind them.

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

Just read your second post. So why do you want this house at over the asking price and when others are available? Simply because it's not in a chain?

[dynevoran]

We are prepared to get the mortgage company valuation done on Monday as its just a drive by that they do!
We are also prepared to get the survey done as soon as I can get a surveyor which from phone calls last week is probably 7 working days as they are so busy. we agreed to send evidence of deposit and amount santander agreed to lend. It has been to the underwriters and been agreed!

[dynevoran]

Because it's vacant and because apparently the lowest they will take is 5 over asking price.

[dynevoran]

I will get the survey done as soon as the surveyors can but it's a Sunday and I can't do anything today! I can make the app for survey at 9am on Monday morning!

[Foxsox]

Honestly?
With two others in the road
Walk away

[EssentialHummus]

I think they are using your offer to tell other would-be buyers, "We have an offer of £x on the table, so if you want the house it'll be offers over £x only." Which is shit, if that is what they're doing. I'd be minded to revise this offer and put a deadline on it, and certainly make any future offers valid for a week or so only.

I had this happen to me once and it was crazy-making.

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

Catch 22 I guess. You both have your reasons for your POV.

If it were me I'd be looking at the one with the loft conversion already done (and the others).

It's convenient it's already vacant but they don't seem to feel forced into selling quckly & it's not in a chain, but they can still pull out, so I'd not place too much importance on either of those things myself.

[ExtraHotLatteToGo]

Well, you didn't say you were going to do it Monday morning in your post, you said...

'...anyway an agreement with a property name on it is a formal mortgage offer and I'm just not prepared to spend money on survey and waste time for someone who is already at this early stage messing us around'

[APlaceOnTheCouch]

I wouldn't take it off the market unless your solicitor had submitted a formal offer and proof of funding. Having an agreement in principle on another property, doesn't mean you automatically get funding for the next property you like.

You lose momentum if you take a property off the market and then the buyer can't secure funds. It also raises questions for other viewers if they think a sale has been aborted. There's absolutely no need for the seller to put themselves in that position.

If you want the property then get all your paperwork and funding together, and I'm sure the seller will then take it off the market because it will be sold to you.

[iyamehooru]

When I had a buyer for my home (first viewer and he was cash buyer) I agreed for the EA not to market the property but the for sale board remained up and sold didn't go on until contracts were exchanged. Do they mean that or are they still accepting viewings? Unfortunately in England gazzumping can happen.

[dynevoran]

Sorry extra I wasn't clear. I'm totally willing to do survey asap. I just am not prepared to do a survey on a property when the vendor won't take it off the market on agreeing an offer. I think the frustration is getting in the way of me setting this out coherently!

[dynevoran]

a place we don't have an agreement in principle, it's a fully approved offer subject to valuation of the property only. Ironically she is asking for an agreement in principle which is less of a reliable document. We have a solicitor but she isn't prepared to instruct one until she sees an agreement in principle. so now we would have to go back to santander and ask for an agreement in principle based on basic information like earnings rather than actual documentation being reviewed by the underwriters.

She basically wants a lower standard of proof than we are offering. I'm just a bit jarred that the online estate agents doesn't seem to know that an agreement in principle carries less weight than an offer subject to valuation.

[BombadierFritz]

Surely the timeline is really close though? So you get suveyors sorted then house is off the market? Its a week either way. No big deal if it is still technically on the market for that week. Unless it is a bargain or houses are going fast - in which case youshould get a move on

[dynevoran]

I guess so. It just feels like we already can't trust them and the risk of gazumping or them changing their mind seems higher than I felt yesterday.

I think the fatigue of house hunting is clouding my judgement. It's all so stressful and emotional for me

[Bunbaker]

A lot of estate agents advise not taking a property off the market until it looks like the buyer is serious. They might just be following advice from them.

[dynevoran]

I get what you're all saying and thanks for input.

Have deposit. Have offer subject to valuation. Keen to get valuation and survey done as much as physically possible.

This is our third house purchase and we have just never encountered these problems before but maybe I need to take a step back and just bite my tongue, jump through hoops and hope for the best.

[lalalonglegs]

Could the estate agent not offer a compromise: the house is removed from the marketing for 10 days, say, in order for you to get whatever sort of proof is needed and then, if you have been shown to drag your heels, it goes back on again?

[dynevoran]

They've taken it off after lots of to-ing and fro-ing. Horray. Feeling less excited than I was earlier now and definitely not letting myself get too emotionally involved...if I can. Will sort santander and our surveyor tomorrow morning and hopefully that should be done by the end of the week. I hate moving house!!!

[APlaceOnTheCouch]

I hope it all goes well for you

I think the market is different now and mortgage lenders are being incredibly fickle (in a way that they weren't in the past). I work in property and it's more and more common for mortgages to fall apart at the last minute; for mortgages agreed in principle to then be denied in actuality, etc. It's created a lot of uncertainty and most property professionals are aware of that so it could have been coming from their solicitor.