Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Buyer doesnt have deposit. Help!

108 replies

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 02:52

Hope someone can help as I need advice. We are at the exchange stage of house buying and sellingI have been told today that our 'first time buyer' doesn't have deposit funds as he is waiting on funds from the sale of his partners flat. House sale is in his name only and any flat she owns shouldn't come into it surely? Estate agent said they know nothing of another property to sell and are desperately trying to speak to his solicitor etc. Where do I stand? My vendor and us are all set to exchange and we thought our buyer was too, now it seems he lied. How did he get mortgage offer without proof of funds? I'm lost for words and totally gutted and can't sleep for worrying. This flat is allegedly four weeks away from completion so do I have to wait it out or can I insist he exchanges asap and has to' borrow' the deposit?

OP posts:

UsernameSaved · 14/11/2020 03:39

You can exchange on a deposit of £1. This risk is that they don't complete.

wirldsgonemad · 14/11/2020 04:48

What foolish partner would give the proceeds of their flat sale to their partner and not be naked on the mortgage or deeds??

thalassoma · 14/11/2020 04:55

How much is the deposit?
What does your solicitor recommend doing?
Surely they can borrow an amount 5K?? to exchange with that would cover your expenses if exchange broke down.
If credit worthy enough to get a mortgage they must have access to a credit card/loan? Not your problem if thats expensive for them.

GreySkyClouds · 14/11/2020 06:21

You need a new buyer. It’s already deceitful that you weren’t told this before.

SilkieRabbits · 14/11/2020 07:02

I would be questionning your estate agent as to what checks they did and ask solicitor / EA what proof of mortgage offer their is. It all sounds very odd / fishy and would consider aborting if not resolvable very quickly. Very odd someone with give their partner cash with no stake in house.

Panicmode1 · 14/11/2020 07:08

Our chain collapsed because the first time buyers at the bottom pulled out on the day of exchange, because they didn't have the right funds 🙄. They 'forgot' about the 10% and had 'miscalculated' the total amount with fees ....HOW?! Fingers crossed your buyers get themselves sorted out quickly so you can be on the move.....

gungholierthanthou · 14/11/2020 07:11

Very surprising that it has got to this stage without him having to provide proof of funds. My dd is house hunting and her mortgage advisor has had to have proof of deposit to even get an AIP.

Original poster

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 07:11

I'm assuming 10-15k deposit but not sure , I only found this out at 4pm Friday. Estate agent couldn't get through to solicitors and I couldn't get reach mine either. Vendors and us were expected exchange to happen yesterday.we have been waiting almost 4 months due to one thing and another and I'm dreading telling the vendor the bad news.

OP posts:

Legolight · 14/11/2020 07:13

I'm also really surprised your estate agent has let it get to this stage. We're buying and selling at the moment and we had to show proof of funds (bank account) and mortgage at the beginning of the process.

Original poster

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 07:15

I also can't understand how they got mortgage offer without proof of funds for deposit, and on sols forms it states clearly to prove where deposit is coming from, sale of house/gift/savings etc. Why was it not brought to attention then?

OP posts:

Mindymomo · 14/11/2020 07:18

It’s very frustrating that buyers don’t need to put down deposit until exchange, as this must happen a lot. I’m really sorry as it sounds like your stuck for the moment.

dalrympy · 14/11/2020 07:20

It's too risky. If he's relying on funds from another sale like that and it hasn't actually gone through or is in your chain it would be easy for it to fail.

I'd be asking my EA what happened here. How did they let him proceed?

My mum provided a lot of my deposit and she had to jump through a lot of hoops to prove she had the funds well before any talk of exchange.

You can agree to reduce the deposit he has to pay but as PP said. It's your compensation when the sale falls through

dalrympy · 14/11/2020 07:21

When is the chain suggesting completion? Will he have the funds then and how much of the final money is coming from his partner?!? All seems very strange!

Doodlepip23 · 14/11/2020 07:30

Similar thing happened to my dad when he was selling, the chain almost collapsed. Luckily a new buyer came in and everything progressed as it should. The first buyer had lied about his deposit and eventually stopped answering his phone. Like PP said it’s odd that it has got to this stage without EA/conveyancer discovering this already, normally there would be a need for proof along the way, surely? Either way it seems a real flaw in the system. I’d be giving your buyer a time limit OP (say til end of next Friday) to get themselves sorted, otherwise your EA needs to start pushing your property again and see if they can find another buyer. Good luck.

Original poster

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 07:31

I don't know anything else. They came to view as a couple, then offered above asking price, she said she has sold her flat (no.memtion of him living in that flat). Memo of sale came from EA with his name only on as a FTB, our vendors have no chain as are moving into another property they already own outright. We were the only 'chain' now it's seems they have created another link and I can't understand how they thinks it's ok. She has said hers is going through conveyancing and is about 4 weeks from completion but surely that's a separate thing altogether and he needs to get a bridging loan/borrow or whatever.? No word from solicitors either side, I'm guessing bi have to stress all weekend now, but I wasn't aware they could exchange with a smaller amount??

OP posts:

MummaGiles · 14/11/2020 07:37

I wonder if they’ve structured it like that so they can take advantage of some sort of first time buyer assistance. Hence her not being named in the purchase if she isn’t a FTB. I know that doesn’t help you OP, just trying to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing.

dalrympy · 14/11/2020 07:37

He's probably getting all the FTB perks so they've done it like that.

Stamp duty.

Has she exchanged and when is she completing is the main question

spinningaround72 · 14/11/2020 07:38

I would be harsh and say the sale is in his name so he needs to get it sorted. We were asked to provide proof of deposit before any of our house purchase started, without it i dont think the seller would have withdrawn the house from market. I suspect only he is buying your home so they can use the first time buyer isa and she will be added to the deeds later.

MollyButton · 14/11/2020 07:38

I would be very worried to be honest. When my husband (at the time) was going to give me money for the purchase of a flat in my name, we had to fill in a lot of forms for the money laundering regulations. I would suspect that this must fall into the same problem, and those forms and checks can take ages.
I am very surprised that his Solicitor hasn't been dealing with this for a while now.

17thEarlOfOxford · 14/11/2020 07:47

You can exchange with any deposit amount you like. The risk you'd be taking is that if your buyer fails to complete then the deposit you get to retain is smaller. You could however sue your buyer for damages to make up the difference, although I'm guessing you would prefer not to go that route.

Original poster

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 07:48

EA wasn't aware of it all, she was as suprised and angry as me about it when I told her and is trying all ways to help us and get answers. My solicitor also presumes it's FTB and deposit is in place, totally unaware of this until found out from buyers yesterday at 4 pm, too late to do much then. I still want to move asap and love my new house and could wait a few more weeks if absolutely necessary ( vendors won't be happy either Nd they are lovely people who I don't want to upset) I just feel lied to and angry.

OP posts:

Random63638 · 14/11/2020 07:54

On the bright side he may have provided all the evidence because he does have the deposit but he wants to keep his money in an investment or something more beneficial to him, so he's messing about hoping you accept a delay? If you're 100% clear it's not ok and he has to honour his commitment he might "find" the money? You can at least ask the ea what financial evidence they have seen.

Original poster

Moversnotshakers · 14/11/2020 08:16

I think he told his solicitor the truth that there is a chain, but us and the EA a lie to say there isn't. Or maybe they showed evidence of funds by borrowing Nd giving back or maybe even spent it and were relying on the flat sale to go through before this one was done. ? Where do I stand now, nothing can be done until Monday now, and as tempted as I am to to tell him to fuck off and pay up, I haven't said anything back direct. ( They contacted me direct through messenger and that's how I found out) I have just notified my vendors and they are at a loss for words and I just hope we get this sorted quickly.

OP posts:

Jessbow · 14/11/2020 08:17

You stand in exactly the same place as you did the day you put your proprerty on the market

You cannot force anyone to do anything, no one has signed or committed to anything yet.

His solicitor will know where his funds are coming from, and would be very suprised he's taken the contract thus far if he wasnt sure there were funds in place

FinallyHere · 14/11/2020 08:29

insist he exchanges asap

Not sure how you can insist. You could

Refuse to exchange without the agreed deposit and possibly risk the sale.

Agree a lower deposit and accept the risk that they can't actually complete either

Withdraw and find another buyer.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5