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Original poster

Would you disrupt a chain for another house?

69 replies

Amerimoon · 10/12/2020 21:49

We offered on a gorgeous house a few months ago (at asking price) but were rejected as they had higher offers. We’ve now agreed to buy another house, nowhere near as nice, and the sale has progressed through surveys and most of the searches. Our house is being sold too and the chain is due to complete in January, although so date yet. Today we received a call saying the house we love is back up and the vendor wants to know if we’re still interested at that price, apparently they’re willing to go into rented. What would you do?

OP posts:
Original poster
Amerimoon · 11/12/2020 18:19

Yes they did! They said it was “the same as freehold” Hmm because it has a 999 year lease and small annual fee and then they knocked 10k off the sale price so we are continuing... but I don’t think they’ve behaved very well either if I’m honest. The whole thing is extremely stressful for everyone. If I could click my fingers and be anywhere, I’d be in the other house but not sure if that’s just a pipe dream with vendors like that. Thanks for the help all - we have a lot of thinking to do!

OP posts:
Thumbcat · 11/12/2020 18:24

If you could be sure they would go into rented then I'd say go for it. However I bought a house marketed as chain free as the vendors were going into rented and it never happened, wasn't even mentioned again, so be careful.

Noflora · 11/12/2020 18:25

I will never buy leasehold. Check what the formula is that will be used to increase the service charge and also the groundrent. A charge that eg doubles every 10 years can blight a whole estate

organisedmother · 11/12/2020 18:39

Why did they not just initially go into rented to keep their buyers happy?? Would be much quicker than losing there buyers and being in the exact same position they were probably months back.... something doesn’t add up.

If you go with the second house I would state u want the compilation to be within 8 weeks and have that signed, your buyers could also pull out if they think they many not complete before stamp duty.

Original poster
Amerimoon · 11/12/2020 19:07

@Noflora it can’t increase and there’s no service charge. I’m very sceptical about it though.

@organisedmother I agree! From what I understand, they weren’t in a rush because they haven’t found anything to buy yet so weren’t concerned about losing their buyer. They’re now saying they’ve realised it’s harder to resell at this point and would consider a deal. I don’t know what to think really.

OP posts:
DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 19:22

@Amerimoon

Yes they did! They said it was “the same as freehold” Hmm because it has a 999 year lease and small annual fee and then they knocked 10k off the sale price so we are continuing... but I don’t think they’ve behaved very well either if I’m honest. The whole thing is extremely stressful for everyone. If I could click my fingers and be anywhere, I’d be in the other house but not sure if that’s just a pipe dream with vendors like that. Thanks for the help all - we have a lot of thinking to do!
I'll be honest, I'd never touch a leasehold property. Even if you don't buy the other house, personally, I'd pull out of the leasehold one. I think you may regret going ahead and this is your gut telling you you're not 100% happy with your current purchase.

I had to pull out of a sale recently and although it was bloody hard to make that decision, I'm SO glad I did!

CatAndHisKit · 11/12/2020 21:04

It totally depends on the area - in some cities it's absolutely normal to have leasohold terraces as it's historically owned land and the charge is nominal. If this is a one-off in that location then I'd be worried purely as other people (future buyers) will be similarly prejudiced as it's not the norm there.
But 10K discount for that - that's very nice of them (again if iut's the norm for the location)!

CrimsonCattery · 11/12/2020 21:06

Those types of leaseholds are honestly not a problem. In some cities like Sheffield, the majority of houses are on such leases. You pay £2ish ground rent a year which does not increase and the company offers you the freehold every few years for £6-700ish which you ignore as not worth it. An 800+ year lease is nothing to worry about.

CatAndHisKit · 11/12/2020 21:06

They’re now saying they’ve realised it’s harder to resell at this point and would consider a deal. I don’t know what to think really.

This is just what I said in my eariler post - can't see anything weird about it, they can see now that hyper-active market of a few months ago subsided so now panicking prices will keep falling next year.

CatAndHisKit · 11/12/2020 21:07

Crimson haha I was just thinking of Sheffield too - I think the majority of terraces are leasehold and no issues for the owners.

lastqueenofscotland · 11/12/2020 21:08

I worked in conveyancing for a long time. If I had a pound for every time someone said they’d go into rented and then didn’t I reckon I could have retired at 30.

Especially people who’ve pissed about so much they’ve already lost a buyer.
Not a cats chance in hell would I be risking it.

DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 21:09

@CrimsonCattery

Those types of leaseholds are honestly not a problem. In some cities like Sheffield, the majority of houses are on such leases. You pay £2ish ground rent a year which does not increase and the company offers you the freehold every few years for £6-700ish which you ignore as not worth it. An 800+ year lease is nothing to worry about.
It's not just groundrent but the covenants that come with leasehold, permissions you need for certain things etc, personally I have only bought freehold.
movingonup20 · 11/12/2020 21:31

I would check to see if the buyers that pulled out had a survey done and if that was the real reason they pulled out, often is

CrimsonCattery · 11/12/2020 21:32

@DiesalFive in practise, that just means if you have made changes, you pay a small amount for insurance against the freeholder objecting when you sell. I made significant changes to my house and paid about £30 for insurance for the buyers when I sold in 2019. Its really not a big deal.

DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 21:37

[quote CrimsonCattery]@DiesalFive in practise, that just means if you have made changes, you pay a small amount for insurance against the freeholder objecting when you sell. I made significant changes to my house and paid about £30 for insurance for the buyers when I sold in 2019. Its really not a big deal.[/quote]
It depends from property to property I suppose - a friend purchased a leasehold house that she had a whole host of issues with due to the covenants and restrictions involved.

It's just a personal choice I wouldn't touch a leasehold; I'm sure there are fine leasehold properties just like there are tricky freeholds too, but just my preference!

NotABeliever · 11/12/2020 21:47

I would buy the house in he great location. I don't totally believe the story they've given you about why the sales fell through and if be worried that there's some other expensive reason for it but I would stil go for it.

Original poster
Amerimoon · 11/12/2020 21:48

We’ve checked o the lease very thoroughly and to be fair it’s very clear that there aren’t any restrictions on the house and the fee each year cannot increase. It’s not a terrace and we aren’t in Sheffield, but there are many leasehold properties in this area and it’s quite a standard deal. HOWEVER- we stipulated in the original viewing that we wanted a freehold and we always ask because we know how common they are around here. We were annoyed to be lied to and misled into it. Anyway that really is beside the point as I’m not basing the decision on that.. just wanted to point out that those vendors have been difficult with us too. With the other house, it’s definitely unlikely they’ll go into rented I agree. We need to decided if we’re willing to risk the sale collapsing. Perhaps we just don’t really like this house enough after all. I have a feeling this may have happened for a reason and just maybe this would’ve been a mistake. I don’t really like the house we’re buying, it’s just the best of the bunch of houses currently left in our area that ticks most of the boxes. The other house is more of a dream house.

OP posts:
Fruggalo · 11/12/2020 21:50

I disrupted my chain but did make it clear I wasn’t hanging around for six months (as we’d done for the first one).

Moved seven weeks later.
Original house sold for a higher price than we were going to pay (and that it was worth, but we paid for a more than usual level of survey which was informative and did sway us).

Napqueen1234 · 11/12/2020 21:56

Leasehold wouldn’t bother me- where we are many houses are long leasehold and it’s no issue.

I’m a heart over head person. It if was my forever dream house id do whatever I needed or do to get it. Good luck OP!

Mosaic123 · 11/12/2020 21:59

I think if you can go and see it again you will know what to do. It will help you make your mind up about the house you are currently buying too.

Saz12 · 11/12/2020 22:21

Go and view “dream house” again.

There is an irony in you wanting trustworthy, cast-iron vendors to make it worth breaking your chain (ie to allow you to be untrustworthy...).

Original poster
Amerimoon · 11/12/2020 22:29

Ha ha @Saz12 I’m not saying we are behaving impeccably if we do break the chain, we are actually very stressed at the thought of it and realise it would upset people. That’s why we’re in two minds whether to do it or not. I think it’s fair to point out that the potential vendors are untrustworthy though. I’m not trying to slight their characters (I don’t know them personally and won’t be keeping in contact) it’s just sensible to weigh it up in context of the enormous decision we’re trying to make here!

OP posts:
Sparticle · 11/12/2020 22:55

OP we aren’t buying our ‘dream house’ at the moment either but we are moving to a new city so have also taken the best one for us that was on the market. I’ve stopped looking on Rightmove because we’ve got so far down the line that if my dream home did turn up I know I couldn’t break this chain as we are desperately pushing for completion before end of March.
Saying that, I don’t actually dislike the house we are buying, I’ve sort of come to terms with the bits I don’t like in order for us to move so I know I will be able to live with those. If you really don’t like the house you’re currently buying and are feeling buyer’s remorse, maybe you should pull out of the purchase, go for the dream house (after another viewing) but you be the party prepared to go into renting if it doesn’t work out and not to lose your buyers. And yes, I know it’s far easier said than done to do that but I’ve done it in the past and actually renting took a whole level of stress out of it all.

Roselilly36 · 12/12/2020 08:13

How would your buyers take that news, as very unlikely to complete in Jan if you decide to purchase the property that is back on the market?

I would guess that there could be problems at survey or just unavailable to obtain mortgage perhaps.

I doubt if the original buyers will let you see sight of their survey. You could ask though.

Good luck with making the decision, do what’s right for you.

OfficialLurker · 12/12/2020 09:38

If you definitely want to sell and buy a new house, I would proceed with selling your house and plan to move into rented yourself. Personally I wouldn’t buy a house that is merely the best of the bunch currently available, if I knew I could afford a house that I would view as a dream house if only it was for sale when I was looking. That was my criteria for buying this house. I wanted a house that meant I wouldn’t see another house for sale and wish I had waited. We bought a house that had been on and off the market for years because the seller was a real pain and people pulled out frustrated... but we plugged on, and on, and on & rented ourselves for a while... and, in the end, got the house. But that’s my criteria and what we was were to do. So it’s a very personal decision for you to make.