Completely deluded seller...HELP

[FiveGensOfLove]

Hello - so, appreciate these are completely First World Problems right now, but would be glad of a second opinion.

We're buying the dream house, timing awful obviously, but had offer accepted just before lockdown. This was based on us not being in a chain, and able to complete by a certain date - seller has some financial issue resting on this. Obv not our problem, but was quite happy to oblige.

Fast forward to now and we're getting nowhere. Lender is delaying, no valuations are happening so unlikely we can even get our mortgage approved until lockdown is lifted. We'd be reasonably high LTV ratio, so all the more important to do this in person. Our broker has also been furloughed, so this is also causing delays as we're dealing with limited staff.

Am reluctant to pay for building survey/conveyancing searches until we have mortgage approval - otherwise we've just thrown money away for nowt.

My issue is that the seller is contacting me by email stressing the completion date he wants and reminding us it's 'a deal breaker'. i have explained our issues, and that there's obviously some global pandemic going on which is affecting things a bit. He's having none of it and insisting we can proceed because the house is empty.

So, what do i do? Should I go ahead with the searches etc (at cost) before the mortgage is even approved? Ideally all communication should go through our solicitors so maybe I need to be firm and suggest that - but I don't want to annoy him and risk losing the house.

Any ideas?

No prices may fall and LTV may rise so you would be daft to spend money on this at the moment.

1. All banks are likely to be stricter on high LTVs, it’s likely you’ll need a higher deposit.

1. All house prices are going to collapse. We are on the brink of a major recession/depression. It’s crazy to buy right now if you don’t absolutely have to. He’s probably putting pressure on because he’s worried about you pulling out or lowering your offer.

Mumsnet is obsessed with the idea that house prices are going to plummet and massively and never recover at the moment. It's only on this forum I'm reading such things and noone seems able to actually back up their assertions. Besides it's not actually what the OP asked.

OP, if I were you, I would direct him to your solicitor. You can make one final statement saying that you are proceeding as quickly as possible, but that CV has caused delays. Make the point that any other buyer requiring a mortgage would have the same issues and then don't respond further. You can't control what he will do, and I imagine if his financial issues are serious enough that he is selling his house then he is probably panicking. He isn't going to sell to anyone else right now, so the timescale cannot be the deal breaker he thinks it is. (Unless the house gets repossessed, in which case you can offer on it when the bank tries to sell in a few months!)

Oh and I would wait for mortgage approval. You can always tell him a vague "it's with the solicitors" for the rest

He's going to be worried that prices will crash and he's not going to be able to sell. Don't rush, wait for your mortgage offer first.

What is it with this site and predicting mad crashes all the time?

Well they’re utterly deluded if they think anyone else will put an offer in under the current circumstances. I imagine they’re getting panicky about money but that really isn’t your problem. I know it’s the dream house but if it were me I’d tell them to put it back on the market if they can’t wait and see how they get on. And I wouldn’t get the searches done because you can’t proceed past that point anyway because of the mortgage approval and it’s highly likely you’ll miss the deadline unless it’s ages away. Also, who knows how long this will drag on, how house prices will be effected and what the bank will reckon your LTV is afterwards. No point spending the money until you know you can get mortgage and that the sale is likely to happen.

I’d also stop replying to the personal emails, that’s highly inappropriate, how did they get your address?! I would ask the estate agent to have a word and reiterate all communication should go through the solicitors.

Good luck!

How did the seller get your email address? Tell him to address all questions to your solicitor.

Well they’re utterly deluded if they think anyone else will put an offer in under the current circumstances

My neighbour accepted an offer on her property yesterday. The agent did a virtual viewing.

Have you asked your lender if they are doing a desktop valuation? If valuation is to be carried out in person you will be waiting a while for the mortgage approval, however if the valuation is being done digitally, it may not take as long. Who is your lender?

If you can stomach losing a couple of hundred I would get the searches underway as that might end up being the thing that holds things back a bit.

If the house is empty you might be able to get a surveyor to go round, but I wouldn't arrange this until you have clarity over valuation and searches.

He might have a small point, as some surveyors will survey an empty house but its not worth spending out for one, if you are uncertain about the mortgage.

A number of banks are lowering the ltv they will lend at, in part because of the difficulty of surveying in person for their own valuation purposes. I'd want to know I could still get a mortgage before proceeding with the rest.
www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/banks-and-building-societies-begin-cutting-mortgage-lending-leve/

My neighbour accepted an offer on her property yesterday. The agent did a virtual viewing. That’s amazing, they must be thrilled! Still I don’t think it can progress unless it’s an empty house and a cash buyer - we’re selling right now and thankfully meet this criteria so much to our relief the solicitors have been given the ok from their regulator to go ahead with a simultaneous exchange and completion next week! And the chances of the OP’s seller finding another buyer who is willing to buy without actually seeing the house, doesn’t need a mortgage, god knows about the survey, and can meet this fantasy completion deadline, is so so tiny. The seller definitely doesn’t have the leverage they think they do.

We also put our house for sale 3 weeks ago and received numerous offers. Video tours of the house and garden and finer details.
Have accepted a cash offer and we are proceeding now.
Don't believe everything Mumsnet posters tell you.

Not much you can do is there? You're doing everything you can but the other institutions are either stalled or massively delayed. No surveyors will be going round, they might do it remotely if possible, but in honesty it's not your fault. If it's a deal breaker for the seller then they'll be disappointed.
He was right in that the move, in theory, could still have happened. If you could find a removals firm willing to move you!
Tough situation :(

Are you selling your current house? Just because you’re moving into an empty house, you’re not moving from one. The seller seems a bit hard of thinking. I wouldn’t book a survey without a mortgage in place. How much do you actually want this house? Searches etc can be carried out very fast.

Watching with interest as we’re in the same position but on the other side. We accepted a much lower offer on our empty property before lockdown on the basis there was no chain and the estate agents telling us a mortgage application was in progress and could be completed before the end of summer. We have just found out that the buyers haven’t got a mortgage in place and are unlikely to be able to sort anything out in the near future. We are torn between whether to relist it in the hope we can get another buyer in a better position (very unlikely), take the property off the market or rent it out for now. Sorry no advice to be helpful but our Solicitor said as the property was empty Surveyors and Conveyancers alike can still act.

It's all massively frustrating, isn't it? I'm not bothered about house prices per se - this is a long term buy so while it would obviously be lovely to get it cheaper, I'm resigned to the price we'd agreed (unless there's obv a huge drop while conveyancing is ongoing).

Seems like it's just a waiting game. I think I just feel (rightly or wrongly) really frustrated and guilty that we haven't been able to move forward as planned.

@4bagpuss I'm sure your buyers will be feeling the same - it's a horrible feeling. I'm sure that's not much help when you're in the middle of it. I have lots of sympathy. And while it's true in theory that surveyors and conveyancers can still act when a property's empty, it looks like our lenders won't value it regardless, and need to take a view on whether to just do a desktop one. There is a massive delay in anyone acting at all and doesn't seem to matter that the property is empty. So there's a difference between what people are saying, and what's actually true in practice.

Doesn't help either of us! Good luck, though.

Sorry, I know it doesn't help you OP but I hope it might help others... my aunt is in the process of buying a house and have had all surveyors etc to the new property all since lockdown and they're now very close to exchange... so things are moving in some areas and with some lenders still. Don't assume the whole property market has shut down because it really hasn't and people are finding ways around this. It's it worth finding another broker and lender who are still pretty much functioning as normal?

It's only a "deal breaker" if the vendor thinks he can sell it to someone else, quicker or for more money. Can he?

He knows that if he loses this sale he won't get anther for months and if he does it would be at a much reduced price.

It depends how your nerve is but if you go with the orginal deal, it's likely you're paying too much now times have changed. If the emotion can be taken out of it, take the risk of telling him you can't meet his deadline and will have to withdraw. It's highly likely that when this valuation is done the LTV will be too high, if it was already expected to be high and he will have to reduce his price if he's still to sell to you.

Sounds like he needs you alot more than you need him. Ignore and keep going. Do it in an orderly process and don't bow to the pressure. You are right to wait for mortgage approval before continuing.

Why is the seller contacting you directly? Is it a private sale? Usually everything is done through the agent initially and then further down the line through solicitors. (We are in the process of buying a house at the moment).