Would you buy a house if the seller hadn't even started looking for somewhere to move to?

[IBlameTheDog]

DS out an offer in on a house. Had all the checks done by the agent who have marked it as SSTC. I asked him to find out how long the chain is and he's just been told that the seller hasn't even started looking?

DS not too bothered as it give him more time to save up but I don't want to spend any money on surveyor, searches etc until I know she's definitely leaving.

She did reduce the price in September and has accepted a slightly below the asking price offer so it seems she does want to go.

Would this put you off? Can you insist on a time limit? I've never experienced this before.

I would put an offer in if I was interested yes, but wouldn't escalate it until the seller had found another property.

I wouldn't, but I've been burnt by this in the past. We had a perfect house and sat on it for a year as they said they wanted somewhere with a nice garage/workshop. They never seemed to be actively looking and a year later we just gave up.

I think that's the way chains go isn't it? You offer on a property once you've got an offer on your own. Otherwise you aren't proceedable.

You aren't supposed to look until you are sold these days.

Isn't a problem in itself. Ours found a house quite quickly.

I did wonder whether that's still a thing - having to sell your home before you start looking. I've never done that, always found a house I liked then put mine on the market.

I'll try and relax a bit then, I suppose he doesn't actually have to do anything at this point. I just didn't want him to find 6 months down the line that she still hadn't found anything.

Buying a house is stressful!!

This is what I'm worrying about. How long do we give her??

This. Lots of sellers wouldn’t let me look at their house until I’d sold mine 🤷‍♀️. Which I can kind of understand but I wanted to be in a position where I had a shortlist of houses we’d already seen /potentially know which one we wanted to make an offer on as soon as ours sold.

This is normal, isn't it? You often can't even book viewings if your own property isn't proceedable? So she couldn't have started looking until she'd accepted an offer?

You can always ask what her timeframe is for looking and whether she'd be prepared to go into rental if she hasn't found somewhere within x months? And state that you don't want to go to the expense of requesting searches or having a survey until she's found somewhere?

I'd weigh it according to feeling for the house, value for money, location, chance of finding another one, urgency...

I’d talk to them/the estate agent and ask them what their plans are and how fast do they expect to be able to move. When the guy made an offer on our house I reassured him that we had two strong contenders for a house for us and we’d be deciding very quickly. I never bothered going to view the houses which we hadn’t been allowed to view the previous weekend, they’d fucked me off to be honest! 😀

She’s selling to your son, a FTB, so is now in a nice strong buying position. I bet she’ll have an offer accepted soon. Don’t worry too much.

If I were your son I’d hold off on the survey and solicitor until he’s been told she’s found somewhere, though.

You can't make a serious offer on a new house until you have accepted an offer in yours. So the usual next step is they go looking. Then when the chain is complete is when anyone starts spending money on surveys, legal fees etc. So will suit your son ok it sounds like. The issue is you could be waiting forever so it's good to have a time limit.

When I found our house our chain was ready below and my vendor took a long time looking. In the end I said I can't wait any longer and would be looking elsewhere but my offer was still on the table till I found something else. My vendor only wanted one specific village nearby which would have been a second choice area for us. In the end we both ended up viewing the same house. I said first choice sell it to her. Second choice if she wasn't interested we were buying it. She did buy the new one and we did buy hers. It's just about being transparent with everyone.

I think it’s pretty normal to be honest.
They probably haven’t started looking because they probably decided to wait until their house was SSTC which it now is.
If you’re going to start looking at houses before you’ve sold I think you’re wasting your time because the chances are it could sell before then!
Doesn’t take that long IMO to find a suitable property - and you’d be more motivated to do so when you have a buyer.

I do agree - hold back on surveys etc until you have an update that the vendor has had their offer accepted on a property.

Many vendors don't want viewers (and won't allow someone to view) that are not in a proceedable position, so its very common.

We are currently on the market but haven't viewed anything yet ourselves. However we do have a shortlist of houses we are keeping an eye on and know exactly what we want to view as and when we do eventually sell. When we have an offer we will be in a position to get on the phone and arrange viewings straight away and then be in a position to offer ourselves. It is possible his seller has done the same and is not completely oblivious to what is out there. Hopefully it won't take them too long to find something themselves.

Give them a reasonable amount of time and it will soon become clear if they are dragging their feet and then he may have to make a decision to put some pressure on them.

It shouldn't take too long for the chain to be complete and then your son can order surveys etc at that point.

Yes, house buying and selling is stressful!! But try and relax, there is a long way to go yet.

I’ve been burnt both ways. I waited nearly 2 years for one vendor to find somewhere whilst he came up with all sorts of excuses. By the time I pulled out Covid had screwed the market and it was all a mess. Now trying to view others but some vendors have outright refused to even let us have a first viewing until we have an offer and are proceedable.

It’s perfectly normal to start looking once property is sold , in our area they often restrict viewings to people that are able to proceed

Don't forget we're coming into the quiet (or dead!) time of year for the property market and there won't be much supply for her to look at until spring, so there's little point demanding she finds somewhere before that.

Thanks everyone.

I'll tell DS to hold off spending any money until she's able to proceed.

It will suit him for a few months but I just hope she finds somewhere relatively quickly 🤞🏻

I have never experienced this not proceedable thing. Have always house hunted in parallel with listing for sale. House I am in now, we had our offer accepted way before our previous house has been sold. In my experience, there is no set rule around having to wait for an offer before you can make an offer. It depends on too many factors.

This is where you can become such a good purchaser - say to the vendor or EA, you will do everything in a timely manner once the vendor has found a property, but as a FTB you can be flexible as to how long it takes and when to complete if that helps the vendor. At the same time you also say of course DS is excited about purchasing a first home so hopes it moves quickly once the vendor has found their onward purchase.

What this does is makes your DS seem like the perfect person to purchase the house and all being well less likely to be messed around.

This is what I would advise your son to do:
Engage a solicitor but ask them not to run up any costs until he gives them the go ahead because the seller has not found anywhere yet.
Tell the EA that’s what he’s doing so the EA can read between the lines the seller needs to get a move on with finding somewhere because the buyer is keeping their options open.
Keep an eye on other houses coming to market while waiting for her to find something in case something better comes along.

Round here people are still only allowing g proceedable viewings. We had a buyer, couldn't find the right house, lost our buyer and interest rates went up so we came off the market. Two houses came on last week that are perfect for us, we aren't allowed to view them. It's a ridiculous system.

I put my house on the market and started looking then. I wouldn't accept an offer from someone who wasn't in a position to proceed.

Not only have we not been allowed to view anywhere until we had a buyer, one EA wouldn’t let us book a viewing until we’d had a sales “screening” call with their mortgage broker!