Buyers offered in house 2 months ago and not put in a mortgage application...

[Dollymixtureharibo]

Just need to get this out there. AIBU to wonder why the hell our buyers have not put an application in for their mortgage....

Our buyers put an offer on our property 2 months ago almost and today my solicitor informed me that our buyers have not applied for a mortgage yet due to our move date.
We are buying a new build, we have offer in place, reserved property paid for extras and have been told ready Aug/Sept but most likely August. Husband works in construction and after viewing the house a few weeks ago he thinks it will be probably 8-12 weeks.
Now we have never committed to a date but said August.
I am now really freaking out that they have not put an application in and we could lose our dream home.
Have ranted 3 times at the estate agent to question why a buyer would do this and asked for the date of the AIP expiry date to which I was told no date.
And this is now making the gut feeling I have had about the buyers make me want to just put the house back on the market as just feel this is only the beginning of a bad situation

Update. The buyers solicitor advised them to not put an application in!! FFS
They have now been told to apply. And the EA will follow up on Thursday.
My head hurts and just want to cry!

If they had got a mortgage offer earlier then it would have been put of date my August and they would have needed to apply again. Seems very sensible to me.

Out of date.

Thing is, I can get a mortgage on your house in less than a week (we've recently purchased a property and also remortgaged) but that mortgage offer expires in 3 months. So if you are 8-12 weeks from completion, that is a risk to me having my mortgage application expire, just before completion. The mortgage, if you are confident you will get one, can take very little time. Searches and queries take the time.

Assume you have the house back on the market? any takers?

I got a mortgage sorted out in a week via a broker. Why the panic? Tbh I would be more worried if they haven’t submitted local authority searches as they are taking up to 65 working days in some areas.

Surely this is better than their mortgage offer expiring because your new build is delayed? If they'd applied 2 months ago it might well have expired by the time of completion and an issue at that point would be much more of a headache...

I don't really see what they've done wrong tbh

I don't see the problem. They wouldn't want a mortgage offer to run out while waiting for a house to be built. The builders may have told you August but in reality new houses usually take much longer than planned. I imagine that's what their solicitor told them. You are lucky they are not in a hurry.

I sold my mother's house last year and at the end of the chain were a couple of ftb. Their first mortgage application was rejected and they had to reapply. They got a broker, applied and got mortgage within a couple of weeks. This was last August/Sept.

Yes actually OP I wouldn't panic from what others have said, have they started conveyancing?

Have they done a survey in your place? If not, put it back in the market now.

I would have done the same as otherwise it would have expired

I’d have no issue with this at all. Some lender issue an offer for 6 months, others offer 3. In their shoes I wouldn’t be applying until July if it was only a 3 month offer.

New builds often run behind schedule.

We had our mortgage offer 6 days after our application!

@Disfordarkchocolate

Out of date.

Mortgage offers last 6 months. And there is no logic for a solicitor to advise do not apply.

@Thecatsawinner

I got a mortgage sorted out in a week via a broker. Why the panic? Tbh I would be more worried if they haven’t submitted local authority searches as they are taking up to 65 working days in some areas.

Oh these haven’t been done either!!

Maybe I am being unreasonable then but my understanding is mortgage offers last 6 months ours is dated until the 23/10.
The house is built and fitted with appliances in and just final bits to be completed.
Their AIP expired as well?? So is that normal? Does that mean another hard search?

Sorry if I have come across like this.

They may be hanging on because they need to get stuff sorted out before their broker will put in their application - happened to me and was stuff like needing to be on the electoral role, which only updates certain times a month. They do a point thing for FTB which means they need the most points possible to get a mortgage offer. And the mortgage companies are being arseholes at the moment - so many more hoops to jump through then there used to be, particularly for FTB. So, that may well be what is happening. Or they have to pay for things like surveys and stuff and are holding off because they dont have it. However, if you are afraid it will cause you to lose the house you are buying, you are in your rights to put it back on the market due to the delay.

YABU. A mortgage takes very little time to get, if they got one 2 months ago they would be risking it expiring, especially if there was any delay with your purchase. I think you either need to be happy to move early or accept they won't do things months early just for your peace of mind.

They are probably wanting to get a firmer idea of your timelinewhich will likely be delayedbefore they commit money on something that they'll lose. So either break the chain or accept that they will put payments down later.

A mortgage offer is only valid for 3 months I think so they are probably waiting for June/July

Mortgage offers last 6 month. I think AIP last less long.

@Flowers500

I’ve just remortgaged. 2 salaried people in stable jobs, low multiple, low LTV, freehold, immaculate credit records etc
Ie the most straightforward application it’s possible to have

And it still took over 6 weeks
There is a backlog of surveyors to do valuations, there is a backlog with conveyancing firms to do the legal, the mortgage companies want ridiculous amounts of extra paperwork etc

It is supremely naive to assume everything will go through in a few weeks so OP has every reason to be pissed off

If it’s had appliances fitted you won’t be waiting 12 weeks to move.
My DH owns a building company and we don’t allow any later than 28 day exchange OR a 10% deposit of the total cost paid in 28 days.
It’s the reason many new build buyers move into rental after selling their homes so they can pay the deposit.
If you’re aiming for august, your buyers have plenty of time to get their mortgage.

[quote GappyValley]@Flowers500

I’ve just remortgaged. 2 salaried people in stable jobs, low multiple, low LTV, freehold, immaculate credit records etc
Ie the most straightforward application it’s possible to have

And it still took over 6 weeks
There is a backlog of surveyors to do valuations, there is a backlog with conveyancing firms to do the legal, the mortgage companies want ridiculous amounts of extra paperwork etc

It is supremely naive to assume everything will go through in a few weeks so OP has every reason to be pissed off[/quote]
It would depend on the mortgage company, but if they are planning to use e.g. Halifax then the current turnaround time is 2 weeks (I know as currently finishing mine). Taking them 1 week to book survey (until recently they were doing desktop, they took 3 days). I don't think my mortgage broker would even have had an initial conversation with me if I was planning on Aug/Sept move.

Convayencers are delayed, it would be almost impossible to get anything through before July at the moment. But they're not moving until much later this year.

These people above are not moving until Aug/Sep, with no date actually agreed!!! Unless they are in an area known for significant backlogs then no there is no issue

@Babygotblueyes

They may be hanging on because they need to get stuff sorted out before their broker will put in their application - happened to me and was stuff like needing to be on the electoral role, which only updates certain times a month. They do a point thing for FTB which means they need the most points possible to get a mortgage offer. And the mortgage companies are being arseholes at the moment - so many more hoops to jump through then there used to be, particularly for FTB. So, that may well be what is happening. Or they have to pay for things like surveys and stuff and are holding off because they dont have it. However, if you are afraid it will cause you to lose the house you are buying, you are in your rights to put it back on the market due to the delay.

Thank you.

Probably came across horribly in my opening post.
Just frustrated when they wanted to put terms in about us vacating the property beginning of August and now they have been advised by a solicitor to not put application in, shouldn’t that be the broker who advises?

The house next door to us went up a few weeks after we sold and sold straight away so if we did relist we could probably sell it again. The property next to us sold for £9000 more then what we accepted on ours. I don’t really want to do that though.

@Babygotblueyes

Mortgage offers last 6 month. I think AIP last less long.

No. Some mortgage offers last 6 months but not all. The ones we've been dealing with recently have only been 3 months.

Can I just add that our mortgage took 2 weeks to come through.
Also why did our broker not tell us to wait?
Seems like everyone is working to different timescales.

My biggest concern is we have paid money to purchase this house and if the mortgage falls through or they take took long the house develop could pull the house from us.
I can see the logic now for our buyers but this does not leave us much scope if if goes tits up!!
Surely people can see why I’m pissed off?
(Also side note I didn’t need this today as my child woke with a cough and had to go for a Covid test. So wasn’t in the right frame of mind to deal with it hence coming here to get logic)

Thanks everyone for your input it’s been constructive.