Moving fees

[MilloT]

Hello everyone, can someone advise what order I should do things when moving please?

Some background info. I’m buying and selling at the same time into what seems like a long and potentially fragile chain. Because of this I’m trying to minimize any costs for as long as possible. Obviously I appreciate that at some point I am going to have to put some skin in the game but want to put that off for as long as possible without causing grief to the rest of the chain. I have had my offer on the house that I’m buying accepted but not sold my house (it’s not even on the market yet!) but plan to sale quickly by pricing aggressively and confident that I will be sold within a week or two for several reasons that aren’t really I mportant to this thread. Estate agent wants solicitor details but I would prefer to wait to get a buyer for my house before instructing. Is that fair?

What Is the usual first step as it all seems chicken and egg. For example, I want to apply for my mortgage but the one I want has a significant application fee. I remember when I bought my current house the mortgage lender (same one I plan to use this time) had an approved list of solicitors that I was obliged to use, so I can’t instruct a solicitor until I apply for the mortgage right? How can I do this without spending potentially wasted £s?!

If you're convinced you're going to sell it quickly, what's the problem?

The sellers of the house you intend to buy will be wanting some signs from you that you're serious, hence wanting your solicitor's details etc.

I'm actually surprised they've accepted your offer if your house isn't even on the market yet. It's not the sign of someone committed to the chain.

Maybe have a survey on the house you want to buy? This shows good intentions. Also put your house on the market ASAP.

It costs nothing to get a quote from a solicitor and choosing one. You don't actually pay them at that point but can pass along their details to give the vendor confidence that you're serious. Tell the solicitor to wait for you to say go to do any work on the conveyancing. Changing solicitors won't be a big deal if you need to.

I'd also get your mortgage agreed in principle with the lender so you can show that to the vendor as well. Then once you have a buyer do the full mortgage application.

Thanks, didn’t know that you can instruct a solicitor without incurring cost so that is something I can do now. I’m 100% committed but clearly I dont want to shell out thousands of pounds on survey/mortgage fees etc until the point that it is absolutely required. Is it really normal protocol to do this as soon as you get offer accepted? genuine question

Yes. I would be highly sceptical of a buyer who didn’t immediately give me solicitor contacts and I’d also want proof of funds (mortgage offer in principal in your case plus proof of deposit) before even considering an offer. Doing it your way makes the chain way more likely to collapse.

Kazzyhoward, you shouldn’t be surprised. My offer was a good one, and the estate agent knows that I’m in a good position with regards to finances and is aware that my house can be sold quickly.

I'd be really surprised if the vendor took the house off the market without at least seeing prof of funds or mortgage in principle. Is it still on rightmove? Yes, you generally move swiftly forward with doing the survey etc soon as the offer is accepted. What would be the reason for delaying?

I agree with everyone else. I wouldn't formally accept an offer (and certainly not take my house off the market) for a buyer who hasn't even got their house on the market and hasn't got proof of cash, or agreed mortgage to show me / Estate Agents.
I would not be impressed at a buyer not able to give me their solicitors details either.
You ask if it is fair - I'd say no, but, more worrying for you than my opinion as to if it is fair, is the fact that the people who own the house you want to buy may well decide you aren't serious and then sell to someone who is.

We're in a similar position although our offer hasn't been accepted as we aren't proceedable, I'm amazed they accepted yours!

We have:

1. put our house on the market (paid £180 for this)
2. got our decision in principle from mortgage company

Next steps:

3. if/when we get an offer on ours we will officially submit our offer to house we want
4. if accepted, both houses come off market, will instruct solicitors (ours cost £250, rest is on completion)
5. get full mortgage offer (pay valuation fee)
6. everything else paid for on completion.

Yes house is removed from market. Like I said I have proved to estate agent that finances are well in place. Mortgage is formality as it will be 80 LTV or there about. Assume that has been passed on to vendors too and they are happy to be patient and take a good asking price offer. Will instruct a solicitor tomorrow.

@MilloT it's not so much finances but the fact that generally speaking it's in the vendor's interests to keep it on the market until it is a done deal. In the time they take it off the market to the time you take to sell yours they could of had an offer, if yours doesn't sell they've lost a buyer or multiple buyers means potential bidding war. They have nothing to gain by accepting your offer before you're proceedable so that's why it's unusual. That's how it usually is but as you've said your house will sell very easily they're perhaps aware of that so happy to take the risk. My vendors won't 😭

Sorry to hear that Avalanching, must be frustrating and this thread won’t help. My offer was in the condition that they remove the house from the market, I can only assume they didn’t want to lose an asking price buyer for sake of waiting two weeks or so. Personally I would do the same if I were in their position, but sounds like many wouldn’t. Hope you sale soon

That's great @MilloT I hope you get a quick sale, in your shoes I would instruct the solicitor now. I won't do it until our offer is accepted in case someone beats us to it and that would be £250 wasted (we won't be moving if we don't get this house). I've contemplated whether we should try to offer more on the premise they take it off, but tbh we can only just about do the guide price anyway and if we want a quick sale we will probably need to lower our expectations, we don't have much equity so limited wriggle room!

Thank you avalanching.
But Didn’t someone say a few posts back that it doesn't cost anything to instruct a solicitor? Why would you waste £250?

@MilloT my solicitor asks for £250 up front and the rest is paid on completion. They're no purchase no fee though (which I've had to take them up on in the past) Some want a fair bit up front I believe, I guess they all operate differently.

Sorry so if I was to instruct them now I'd have to pay £250, if the house ended up being bought by someone else we wouldn't be selling or buying so that £250 would be lost as it's non refundable.

We only accepted offers on the proviso their house sold and they became proceedable, viewings happened in the meantime. It costs nothing to instruct a solicitor and some have policies to cover some of the legal fees if things go wrong. You will have to pay for a survey or mortgage valuation first, then searches.

I think we had to pay our solicitor a small sum to cover id checks and money laundering (I may be wrong and it’s for something completely different) was less than £100 the rest is paid on completion.