Would this time frame put you off buyers/make you pull out?

[TomRipley]

First time buyers so not sure about the time frames really or how long the process should typically be.

Our offer was accepted 16th October, we had a mortgage in principal.

Going through the mortgage process with our broker to secure it but it hasn't been approved yet. The lender keeps asking for documents from us which we provide. All ok so far but have asked now for information relating to my DH's bonus which isn't available until the end of November. Add in to this our broker was off for the whole of the half term so that slowed things a bit.

We have solicitors ready, have paid for all identity checks etc but we don't want to pay for anything else until the mortgage is secure so have told them where we are.

So as it stands nothing else will be happening until the end of November.

If you were the seller would this put you off or is this time frame reasonable?
We did meet the sellers and they were lovely, liked us (I think) and knew we loved and were serious about the house.

They have their new home to move in to so not relying on the sale to move as such.

We can afford the mortgage but are jumping through a lot of hoops for it as I'm self employed and the lockdown year (catering sector) left me unable to make any money at all really. It really brought down my average earnings and how much we could borrow.
Work is back to normal but that tax year is obviously still there and affecting things.

The seller doesn't know any of this I presume but the waiting around must be off putting but am I over thinking or is this all normal?

If you were going to wait 7 odd weeks to order searches while nothing happened yep I’d be pretty hacked off to be honest…

Just get the searches applied for, they're about £250

I think you need to get your searches started, as if you don't start that till November it could hit a snag and run into Christmas. But you can only ask I suppose. We'd probably have said no and relisted unless we saw some other sign of faith like searches or survey.

There’s no way to know how sellers will feel. If the house was on the market for ages with no buyer, they’ll probably be more inclined to wait. If they were messed around by a previous buyer, probably less so.
But I’d agree with the PPs saying you shouldn’t do nothing at all for the next few weeks.

Are they selling through an agent? I'm surprised the agent hasn't asked these questions.

TBH £250 ish for searches in the grand scheme of buying a house is nothing! Yes, I am afraid I wouldnt be happy with you waiting until the end of November

we don't want to pay for anything else until the mortgage is secure

That’d make me worry that you don’t think you’ll get the mortgage.

And after waiting 10 weeks for someone to get their mortgage offer this year, I wouldn’t wait again, especially not for this type of follow up… but I appreciate that’s not what you want to hear!

The least you can do is order the searches and move ahead with things while you’re waiting for the proof of bonus, I think.

But before you do that, I’d talk to your broker about how feasible it is that you’ll get the amount you’re asking for, and if you’ve got a back up plan for if you don’t.

We met all our offerers and most were lovely and stressed how much they wanted the place, but sadly, that doesn’t mean they can get a mortgage for it.

That length of wait for a mortgage isn't normal. I'm surprised the agent hasn't been chasing you for updates. How long was the house on the market when you made the offer? A mortgage offer at the end of November (at the earliest), would then mean you'd be well into December before you'd done valuation and I'd assume you'd also want a survey. At least get the searches underway, as others have said, the cost is tiny in the scheme of things.

Thanks everyone for replying, I definitely agree as we love the house and don't want the buyers to think we're not serious.

House was on the market in July and sold but the buyers pulled out so it came back on in September.

It will be more like 5 weeks from offer accepted until we have this final piece of paper the lender needs. The hold up with that is down HR at my DH's work so unfortunately we can't get it any quicker.

We are confident we'll get the mortgage and have a back up but this one has the better rates so it's the preferred one for us.

They just need to see a bit more proof of income as my lockdown year was so poor. They won't include previous good years. My DH's bonus and pay rise (banking sector) will bump it up to more than enough and they're happy with that but obviously need the proof!

I think we'll cough up for the searches, ours are £335 not £250!

Get the searches started before the seller puts it back on the market.

Agree , get the searches started and inform the estate agent dealing with the sale when you have done so and they can pass the good news on that you are putting money into the process which demonstrates your commitment