House selling/buying dilemna

[Zelly80]

Hi, apologies for the long post ahead and thanks. I recently saw a house we liked and went to view. We made the mistake of falling in love with it straight away. We asked for a second viewing to be sure and immediately wanted to offer. However our house wasnt on the market yet. So we immediately gor our house on with the same agent, thinking it would offer some leverage with the process. Our house, a 3 bed terrace in London sold within the month. We were then told by the agent to put in our offer. The house we love is a 4 bed detached 2 miles from us which has been on the market for around a hear at various prices and estate agents. Last price guide £650k-£700k. The estate agent told us to our final offer of what we could afford. We went with a cheeky offer to start of £630k. This was accepted. Im told, with a lot of convincing. Current situation is, our house is STC on Rightmove, however buyer still hasnt got an approved mortgage. We have an approved mortgage and survey done however the vendor is still choosing to market the property and remains as such on Rightmove. They are pensioners looking to downsize in Billericay, Essex to a 2 bed bungalow. The estate agents have become uncommunicative and dont seem to offer anything motivating apart from the vendors are still looking and the offer being accepted dependant on the fact they find something they like. I mean I do understand that they wont want to rush however how long does one wait? I know i dont have any rights to push them but its the not knowing which is very difficult. We have done everything we can possibly do but its so frustrating. Ive lost confidence in the agent and the fact they aren’t communicating is making me worry, why put my house STC if our buyer hasnt got a mortgage. We have a written confirmation of offer received both on my house on the house we like. We have also received a memorandum of sale for ours but it just seems pointless. I have 6 months on my mortgage offer and just don’t know what to do. When i call the agent i feel like a nuisance. Do i risk losing money by offering higher, but even if we did, how would this change the situation? Highest i would feel comfortable with is £650 but surely they would have sold by now? I dont want to risk losing the house for 10-20k however i just dont know what is on the buyers mind. It seems very clear they are waiting for more offers, but why accept mine. Is it very rude to go speak with them directly? Do i push the agents? Any advice welcome and appreciated.

Have you received a memorandum of sale for the house you are buying? Are you sure that the offer was accepted? I would expect the house to be taken off the market if they are serious about selling to you. As it is, the EA may be using the offer you made as a means of encouraging other buyers to offer more. It all sounds a bit dodgy IMO. Almost certainly the vendors are hoping to get a higher offer, but you don't want to be in the position of bidding against yourself if there are no other offers on the table, so I wouldn't be proactively increasing your offer at this point. Clearly your timescales are not aligned with theirs, so in your position I'd be continuing to look at other houses - if they can't commit to you, then you shouldn't feel committed to them. You may find another house that you love with more motivated sellers.

No MOS received on the house we would like to buy. I wasn’t sure if we would get one. The only letter we have is an offer accepted one. But I suppose this really doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Thanks for your kind advice. I really hope we do find something else we like as much.

You're welcome.

My understanding is that the MOS is drawn up as soon as an offer is accepted, at which point the property is deemed sold STC. It's odd to receive confirmation that the offer is accepted but no MOS. This is not advice, but I would personally be inclined to say to the EA that unless you receive an MOS by the end of the week, and the house is taken off the market, you will be withdrawing your offer. Otherwise they are stringing you along.

Best of luck - I hope you find something else soon.

They have you 'under offer' , i.e there is an offer on the table, but they haven't chosen to firmly accept if there is no MOS. Agree with @ClematisBlue49 , they're bullshitting you.

I'd ask to speak to the estate agent manager and find out the full score. We've purchased a place once that was a repossesion , the bank (via the estate agent) accepted our offer, but we had 28 days or something to exchange, during which time the seller could consider other others, but even then, we had MOS and our solicitors were talking from moment the offer was accepted.

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. The 'selling' history says it all. They want as much as they can get but haven't found anywhere to move to so don't know how much they need.
I'd run a mile. How much love can there be, is it such a unique property?

So did I read correctly that you’ve had a survey done on the house you hope to be buying?
If so, they are treating you very shabbily. I agree with @ClematisBlue49 that you would not be unreasonable to be a bit more assertive here. Either you get a MoS and the house is taken off the market or you are withdrawing your offer.

They are clearly messing you around and would be happy to gazump you if a higher offer came along. The marketing history is already a red flag. Why have you had a survey done on the house if you haven't even received a memorandum of sale and the chain is not complete?
Either pull out or get tough and tell them you will pull out if they don't stop marketing the house. Definitely don't offer them more money. They have chosen to accept your offer, no one forced them to do so, but they are not serious about selling.

Thank you once again. I will call the agent next week. Sometimes you just need to hear these things from someone else.

Hi, we applied for our mortgage and the survey was done as part of our application. Which was approved. Sorry if i have misled anyone. We paid our mortgage advisor £700 so far and then £100 to the EA as part of some ID verification process.

Whats now worrying me is we are STC on Rightmove but our buyer has no confirmed mortgage.

I honestly thought it would be a good idea to use the same agent to buy and sell but its turning out to be a lot of heartache.

thanks for giving your time to reply.

But the sellers of the place you want to move to haven't found anywhere either have they? Sounds a mess and the EA would make me nervous.

No apparently sellers are still looking… 😐 they have been in market on and off since last March last year. Maybe as they are older sellers they needed to sell to buy without mortgage but still would have thought they would have had some idea.

It sounds very unsettling. We nearly bought our house from an elderly couple and they weren't the easiest to deal with. In the end we found somewhere else near the other one and nicer. :)
TBH I have to ask why have you paid £700 to a mortgage advisor, there's reputable brokers out there who don't charge a fee.
Even if you go to the EA and give them an ultimatum what good will it do if the old couple haven't found anywhere?
Can you take your 'paid for' mortgage elsewhere, you might be waiting on this house next year. What confidence have you that somewhere down the selling line the old couple wouldn't back out?

There are no guarentees in the house-buying process but some transactions are easier than others.

Perhaps they can't accept your offer as you don't have a proceedable buyer yourselves yet? The EA has to wait until your buyer has proof of funds before they can advise you to accept.