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Original poster

Vendor threatening to pull out after 6 weeks

82 replies

AnxietyForever · 30/07/2021 12:04

So we've only just had our mortgage application approved on Tuesday, survey yet to be booked.
Payment for searches on Tuesday to solicitor (waiting for mortgage acceptance)

Vendor apparently really concerned it's taken 6 weeks to get to this point.

Given us 1 week for the survey to be booked via the bank or is pulling out.

We're FTB so this is all new to us, is the estate agent having us on or is this how is goes?

OP posts:
Original poster
AnxietyForever · 30/07/2021 16:36

Also I've been advised our searches would take approx 3 weeks but could be sooner, gosh I'm so stressed with it all!

If they pull out, they pull out. Nothing I can do but I really want the house.

OP posts:
Constantcrayfish · 30/07/2021 16:37

We once got an AIP which was utter bullshit. Turns out (this will shock you) that the people who offer you giant sums of money aren’t as thorough with the underwriting as the actual underwriters. So we lost hundreds of pounds of conveyancing costs and the building society got to ask us what we expected from ‘just’ a customer relations manager.

Commissioning searches immediately is pretty common though and a sign of commitment to the purchase.

MiaRoma · 30/07/2021 16:40

6 weeks? Wow. No wonder the vendor is pissy

Thisisanartattack · 30/07/2021 16:40

@AnxietyForever if I were you and really wanted the house I would send payment for the searches ASAP and then send evidence to this of the agent, this might be enough to appease the vendor. If your offer has gone to valuation it is looking positive.

I have always instructed searches as soon as offer was accepted but I have never not been confident in securing the mortgage. I know other people have different approaches to this. As a seller I would be wary of no searches being ordered after all this time as it would make me suspect that you were not committed or you were struggling to get a mortgage.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 30/07/2021 16:54

@AnxietyForever The mortgage company will do a valuation - basically a light check to make sure that the house is worth what they’re lending you. Most people choose to also have either a homebuyers report or a building survey, which you pay for, and which tell you the condition of the house, any repairs it needs, etc. Typically you get that ordered quite fast at the start.

Some of the bigger banks do offer that as well, and you can pay the extra to the bank, although there’s a backlog of surveys right now - Barclays told us they were no longer offering that.

Typically the mortgage company would do their valuation; either in person or a desktop one.

You’d order your survey with a third party; and also your searches.

That would all come back, you’d do any required negotiations; and the solicitors would sort out the contracts that you’d sign to exchange.

If you wait for your mortgage offer to come back first, you can save money if you get declined the mortgage (as you haven’t paid for the searches or survey) but everything takes a LOT longer. It’s not really the done thing anymore. If you didn’t clear that with your seller in advance, that’s probably why they’re nervous and thinking of pulling out.

If you’re at the valuation stage, you’re in a good place to order your own survey & the searches now anyway - hopefully that will be enough to reassure the seller that you’re serious Smile

Lunde · 30/07/2021 16:57

Our broker said we don't need our own survey because the mortgage company will do one?

Are you only getting the mortgage company valuation survey?

That is really risky as it will not tell you much about the condition of the property or repairs that need doing

Marmitemarinaded · 30/07/2021 16:58

To put in an offer and not have a mortgage in principal
Or at least be confident enough to say…. Proceed, we have a sufficient deposit and our credit history is such that we will almost certainly be accepted

Is unfair

Marmitemarinaded · 30/07/2021 16:58

Proceed with the searches

BlueSurfer · 30/07/2021 17:00

@AnxietyForever

Ok just to clear up some points

Our broker said we don't need our own survey because the mortgage company will do one?

Broker also said not to pay for solicitor to do searches until mortgage was approved

Apparently mortgage has been approved subject to valuation which is what we're waiting on now?

Mortgage broker said we didn't need our own survey because the mortgage company will book their own (which we pay for)

Mortgage offer took a while because I was on maternity leave (back now) and needed a few follow up documents which took some time to be verified

Have I been given bad advice from broker?

Have I been given bad advice from broker?

Yes.

Marmitemarinaded · 30/07/2021 17:03

Broker not ping bad job if suspects the op not going to get a mortgage

Doing a very good job actually

unfortunateevents · 30/07/2021 17:04

Your mortgage broker is not giving you great advice and you don't seem to be terribly clued-in on the whole process. Do you have knowledgeable friends or family who could help you as FTB? As someone above has explained you don't HAVE to have your own survey done and can just rely on the mortgage company/bank survey but that's not a great idea. All the mortgage company wants to know is that they can get their money back in the event of having to repossess the property, the survey will not be as thorough as anything that you might instruct yourself. The broker advising that you not send money for the searches to your solicitor until the mortgage was approved was also not great, I'm surprised your solicitor didn't point out the issues with that. Right now it looks to the vendor as if everything is taking way too long and you have "no skin in the game" so could change your mind at any time.

LIZS · 30/07/2021 17:08

Get on with the searches. Some areas are horribly delayed and you may need to pay for a personal one rather than wait for Local Authority to respond. You can choose to rely on the mortgage survey but a homebuyers or valuation is not particularly detailed and the surveyor may only do a drive past or desktop exercise. If you want to investigate beyond the superficial you will need to pay for a full survey. Your broker sounds feeble, I hope you are not paying them.

Original poster
AnxietyForever · 30/07/2021 17:10

The searches have been paid for and are in the process.

OP posts:
PurBal · 30/07/2021 17:11

From memorandum of sale to mortgage approved (including valuation) it took us 5 days (yes, during Covid) including a weekend. We had AIP, your broker should have got all the documents prior to you putting an offer in tbh, waiting until after the fact seems odd to me. S/he would have known you’d need extra paperwork due to mat leave. You need to arrange a separate survey (ours was done within 4 weeks from MOS), or I would anyway. A
valuation “survey” is not the same as a full building survey. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both carried out by surveyors (but with different training).

PurBal · 30/07/2021 17:12

Our searches took 12 weeks!

AntiHop · 30/07/2021 17:16

How quickly did you apply for the mortgage after you had the offer accepted? Did you have an offer in principle already?

Definitely get your own survey too. The bank's survey is a basic one. I'd never buy a house without a full survey (I did buy my flat with just the basic one though).

ChicChaos · 30/07/2021 17:17

OP, the only time we've used our own survey was for a house when we were buying it cash - the survey cost a fortune and the purchase fell through! So I can absolutely see why you'd just use the mortgage valuation and if there are any serious problems it may well raise them anyway.

Something I found during our last property purchase was that the conveyancer wanted to do the searches last. I think it's not having the survey booked in that has spooked the vendor, the survey is a sign that you are moving forward with the purchase. Hopefully it will go ahead soon, good luck with the purchase OP Flowers it is a very stressful time!

LIZS · 30/07/2021 17:19

Are you using a local solicitor or a remote conveyancing firm?

dottypencilcase · 30/07/2021 17:19

Your broker seems like a conman. He's given you bad advice.

unfortunateevents · 30/07/2021 17:23

Calling the broker a conman is a bit harsh I think but he's certainly not given you very complete advice or pointed out pros and cons of various options. Having said that, he possibly assumed you knew more about the process that you apparently do!

MySecretHistory · 30/07/2021 17:31

@NotYourHolidayDick

Holy shit, I got to exchange in 22 days last time I bought a house.

Searches get paid for instantly! Mortgage in principle should have beeb done upon offer, and then full application goes in alongside searches.

6 weeks later I'd be pulling out too!

I completed in 4 weeks after offer and they took 5 days to accept
titchy · 30/07/2021 17:33

Your broker is shit. You'd be a complete idiot to rely on just the mortgage valuation. Book your own surveyor now.

fellrunner85 · 30/07/2021 17:40

Mortgages are very odd at the moment, IME. We applied for ours a few months ago and it should have been entirely straightforward - very affordable, relatively low LTV, no extenuating circs such as being on maternity or being self employed. Despite the AIP having been approved no bother, and the paperwork all ready and submitted through our broker, the lender took FOUR MONTHS from AIP to being close to an offer. Despite endless chasing from us and also from the broker. So we sacked off that lender, after months of "it'll be with you tomorrow" and went with a different major high street bank. Then it only took them three days Hmm

So it may not be the OPs fault the mortgage is taking so long. Some lenders are shit, even when an AIP and all the paperwork is ready. But the vendor is right to be twitchy - I would be.

Marmitemarinaded · 30/07/2021 17:57

@unfortunateevents

Calling the broker a conman is a bit harsh I think but he's certainly not given you very complete advice or pointed out pros and cons of various options. Having said that, he possibly assumed you knew more about the process that you apparently do!
I suspect the broker didn’t think the OP would secure a mortgage offer Hence didn’t want them to spend on searches etc
Vslightlystressy · 30/07/2021 18:05

I think you have out too much faith on what your broker has said. The usual process is to identify how much you can borrow, find a property, offer, have offer accepted, get solicitors on board and then get mortgage sorted asap, with survey and searches following shortly after. As a vendor I would be getting v twitchy with it taking this long to get your mortgage sorted and whether there is an issue with your borrowing ability - you are now playing catch up to keep their faith in you so I would be pushing everything through quickly - survey (over and above the banks basic valuation which isn’t for you - it is assurance for the bank that the proper is suitable for them to lend against), searches, legal queries etc.

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