Is this normal? First time buyer and probate property

[mathis2006]

Hi,

First time buyer here.
We found a probate property we loved our offer was accepted on the 12/03.
We hired the solicitor and got the memorandum of sale issued on the 14/03. We were told the probate application would be submitted within days, they assured it was a simple probate with 1 bank account.
Since then the probate application has not been submitted (confirmed by estate agent) they are awaiting paperwork from the care home. Online the current probate processing time is 16weeks.
I am wondering what should our next steps be? I am weary of submitting full mortgage application before the probate has been applied for and at least 4 weeks in as I wouldn't want the mortgage offer to expire. Is this reasonable?
When shall we do the level 3 survey?
There is little communication from either the solicitor or the estate agent. I emailed the solicitor on the 22/03 with all our informations but no feedback since? Is this to be expected?
It feels like since our offer has been accepted it has been complete radio silence.
When shall we expect to complete? Is September possible?

Looking at the timeline, it would seem that the property was on the market before the owner died, which must complicate things.

All you can really do in any scenarios involving uncertainty from the seller is, in my opinion, leave your offer on the table, ask your solicitor not to start work and continue to look at other properties. If you see something else then you have a decision to make on which you think you like better or might progress faster.

For the mortgage, applications can sometimes be moved to different properties - we had 3 properties fall through due to chain issues and we moved each mortgage offer to the new property each time, keeping the rate. But valuations were free (desktop as our LTV was over 60%) and we had surveys arranged independently of this. If you are having to spend any money on survey for the mortgage I would wait to apply.

We don't have a mortgage, we are buying it with money from an inheritance.

As we aren't in a chain we aren't in any rush but I do hope its sorted by the end of may as we want to have the renovation work done and be moved in by September ready for the new school year.

This

Sorry.

In my case (and others on this thread) the house was marketed when the owner went into a care home.
Offer was made and accepted on the house and was taken off the market.
Owner died.
Probate had to be applied for before the house sale could complete.

No one is in control of when someone dies.

At any point the buyers can withdraw their offer.
In 2 cases just on this thread probate and house sale completed within 6 months and no breakdown of the sale.

I can't see what your issue is with a blanket 'don't do it?'
House buying is very rarely straightforward and you have to assess each house/seller/buyer to get a good understanding if the property is going to be worth the agro.
Buying a probate property isn't the deal breaker you think it must be.

If I was offering on one I would expect to be kept informed about when forms etc are completed, who is filling in the forms (solicitors or family) how large/complicated the rest of the estate is. How many beneficiaries and are they all motivated to sell etc.

But if I was buying a non-probate property I would have questions about the seller's circumstances too. Have they found another property to offer on? Would they go into rental to maintain a chain? Why are they selling? Etc etc.
Not to be nosey, but to try and get a good feel about how serious they are, how motivated to sell, and how likely they were to dick me about.

From working with a solicitors with Probate Registry, it can take a long time for a Grant of Probate to be granted, some registries have backlogs, most do really.

It can take as a pp says, up to 10 months to proceed and to complete. As far as I recall, though from my experience there can be delays, though they were usually less, say about 4-6 months maximum. Also, don't rely that much on estate agents, the vast majority we had to deal with were useless, they're only really bothered when their commission cheque comes through.

[[https://lockings.co.uk/tips-for-buying-a-probate-house/

I think if OP is prepared to wait for say until the end of the year then she should hold out. However, if she wants to be in the house by x month (September) then she should be aware that there will be delays. You can't just hurry along the Probate Registry (the amount of times I was on the phone to them asking of the Grant of Probate had been granted for x client and was told, no, not yet).

We waited until probate was granted before selling the house we had been left.

We recently got probate within about 6 weeks for a straightforward estate well under the IHT threshold. It might not be as long as people are suggesting.

Thanks everyone! We are ready to wait, it is the lack of communication really that is frustrating.
I will make sure to ask further details about the estate/benefiaries.... And request to be given more updates. They did say it was a simple probate with 1 bank account and 1 beneficiary.
The house fits all our needs and I am sure they will not want to lose us, as being chain free and offered very close to asking price. I have faith they will be proactive.
However we will not spend more on survey/solicitors/mortgage survey.... Until they are at least 4 weeks into their probate application.
We will keep looking though, at least the longer it goes on the more chances we have of lower rates.

If I were you, just keep on (not too much) at the solicitors handling the house sale, they in turn will be dealing with the solicitors handling the probate case/matter. I can't recall if the same solicitors can deal with both.

The solicitors dealing with the probate though, will be waiting for the relevant Probate Registry (there are loads), and it's pointless you ringing the Probate Registry or even the solicitors dealing with the probate, because all they'll say is "we're waiting for the Grant to come through". What I often heard from Probate Registries when we rang for an update was "we have a backlog of cases to work through and it can take x weeks", ring back in 2-3 weeks to see where your case is. They're also government offices though so sometimes, even though they shouldn't be, be slow.

As pps have said, sometimes it takes a quick time, sometimes not.

From one website there are 11 District Probate Registries and 18 Sub Registries. We used to deal with Winchester for some reason but we were based in SW London.

Probate added about five weeks onto our purchase so it isn't necessarily really long! That wasn't on the house we were buying, it was on the sheltered housing flat our seller was buying. It was annoying as we'd been told it was 'chain free' when we viewed and we were worried at the time that this could add months on.

But it sounds positive if it's a straightforward estate and only one beneficiary. It's far more complicated if several beneficiaries and they start arguing about the property value!

Also, it could well end up being quicker than ending up in a chain of four or five where everybody has to get their sales/purchases lined up - and you could well end up with a probate property on the end of that chain holding everything up!

So did we - MIL died early Feb and it came through in 6-7 weeks. My OH did the paperwork online and as he already had POA, he was able to get it done quickly, as he had access to her accounts etc. It was very straightforward, no tax to pay etc.