Advice needed as Vendor refuse to take house off the market

[user1478690384]

The property has been on the market since April and since, the asking price has been reduced twice. Another estate agent has also started to advertise the property couple of months ago so the property at the moment is marketing by 2 different agents.

We started viewing the house when the 2nd agents was brought in. We viewed the house through them and made an offer couple of months ago. We then found out that the property is on a short lease and it is not possible to apply for mortgage with this lease time. so we have been waiting for the freehold process to be done in the last couple of months. Few weeks ago we got the offer accepted in condition of the freehold. Finally last week I was told that it is going to be completed in the next week or 2.

I have then asked them to take the house off the market since we are ready to proceed. We are using a broker with finance in place just waiting for the freehold before we submit the mortgage application. However, we were told that they are going to keep the house on the market until we submit the application. I have sent them my broker details, the DIP and proof of my finance to show we are serious but they still refuse to take it off the market.

Yesterday I have asked a friend of mine to contact the first agent and he was told that there is a lady who has made an offer to the house but was rejected. He then asked them about the freehold situation but the agent did not aware about the completion date of the freehold so we think the offer might be a bluff from agent.

Should I insist to take it off the market or wait it out with the hope that the offer was a bluff?

Thanks.

It's pretty normal (and IMO reasonable) to say it's not coming off the market until you actually have a mortgage offer at least in principle. We used a broker and it took a while after the application went in before we actually had the offer.

Ultimately you can't make them take it off the market. I'd be inclined just to move as quickly as you can and hope they don't get a better offer in the meantime.

We have the Decision in Principle given to us from the broker. We have sent it to the vendor before asking them to take the house off the market.

We have everything prepared and ready to go. The hold up is coming from the seller side as they need to complete the freehold before we can do anything

Are you proceedable , ie. Have nothing to sell, FTB or are under offer? Your offer isn't substantiated until the mortgage has been confirmed, even though it depends upon the vendor, so yes they can keep their property on the market and could even do so until you exchange if so minded.

Hi Lizs,

we are FTB with finance in place and ready to proceed.

We took ours off the market as soon as we accepted the offer. I thought that was normal practice. They are probably hoping to attract a higher offer in the meantime.

But your finance isn't in place until you receive a mortgage offer. If that is to come through once the lease is resolved, and there seems to be little interest otherwise , I'm not sure why you are so concerned. Presumably the survey was ok? Has your solicitor got all the enquiries resolved and searches done? Until then you are not yet in a position to insist on anything.

we are concern because the other agent is saying they had an offer yesterday although it was rejected. If half way down the line when we have spent a fortune on application, surveys, solicitors and there is a higher offer coming in because the house is still in the market...

Plus we have proved that we are proceedable with finance in place

You can ask them to take it off the market. You can say that you're not willing to start spending money on legal fees, surveyor etc until they take it off the market.

But ultimately you can't insist, and they can continue to market it and pull out any time up to exchange.

Nothing is fixed until exchange . It is a risk you take buying in England I'm afraid. Are you sure it want your offer they said had been rejected, I've. Not accepted due to lease issue. It seems unlikely another buyer would just happen along and offer more. Even if that had the fact it was rejected might suggest they are sticking with yours. Was the short lease term not evident in the property details?

Has the seller now extended the lease term (lease is no longer short)?

Or have they just started the application to extend the lease and which you are paying for?

If the lease has been extended, have Land Registry registered the new lease term? Your solicitor will receive a copy of these from the seller's solicitors if this is being done. Alternatively, is this being done simultaneously with your purchase?

Mortgage lenders don't like lending on short leases of 80 years or less and therefore these are usually offered for sale to cash buyers requiring no mortgage. However, if the lease has already been extended then the property can be sold to someone requiring a mortgage. It may be that the property is still being marketed because they prefer to sell to a cash buyer without having to extend the lease, which can be costly and time consuming.

Hi Lizs,

Our offer is with the 2nd agent which was brought in later on. The rejected offer is with the 1st agent.

There is no information on the house's tenure on agent's website or rightmove. The 1st agent also didnt aware about the freehold process and when it would be completed which made me question whether the offer they had was real since it is unlikely that anyone would make an offer on a house without knowing its tenure.

I don't see why you can't apply for your mortgage. The surveyor will value on the basis it is a freehold and that will be in the instructions to the solicitor,.so they won't be able to draw down funds until it's completed.

Its a bit like a lease extension having to complete prior to or simultaneously with draw down.

As the seller I had a similar situation in which the buyer wanted me to take it off the market and the EA strongly recommended me not to
So I didn't. Could that be happening here?