I'm looking for some advice on our current sale and purchase as we're unsure whether we should continue waiting or start considering other options. For your information the sale was agreed in September.
We are selling our property to a buyer,* *Louise, who seems very keen to buy our home. We have exchanged several emails directly and she has always come across as genuine, pleasant and proactive. She has been open about her circumstances and has consistently reassured us that she wants the purchase to proceed.
Louise has explained that she is separating from her ex-partner and is in the process of a transfer of equity on their existing property. My understanding is that she needs to be released from her current mortgage before her mortgage offer for our property can be formally issued. There are solicitors involved as they are disagreeing about how much she is owed.
From what we've been told:
Her solicitor has confirmed there are no outstanding enquiries.
Searches have been received.
The mortgage offer for our property is still awaited.
Louise has advised that she and her ex-partner have been trying to resolve the financial settlement.
We have since been told there may be disagreement regarding the equity split, and communication from the ex-partner's side appears to have stalled.
Louise believes matters are progressing, but there is very little concrete evidence available to us showing how close things are to being resolved.
What makes this difficult is that everything else appears to be moving well:
Our own purchase has no outstanding enquiries.
Searches have been completed.
The rest of the chain is progressing, although there have been some delays elsewhere due to another party changing solicitors.
Our concern isn't really with Louise personally. In all communications she has been courteous and appears committed to the purchase. The issue is that the transaction seems dependent on a situation that is outside her direct control, and we're struggling to judge whether we're looking at a delay of a few weeks or potentially several months.
We're trying to be fair and reasonable because we appreciate these circumstances can be stressful for everyone involved, but at the same time we have our own onward purchase to protect.
A few questions:
Has anyone experienced buying from or selling to someone who needed a transfer of equity completed before obtaining a new mortgage?
If there is a dispute regarding the equity settlement, how long can that realistically take to resolve?
At what point would you start remarketing the property while still keeping the current buyer involved?
What evidence or milestones would you be looking for at this stage to demonstrate that genuine progress is being made?
If agreement has already been reached and it is simply awaiting lender approval, what sort of timescales are typical before a mortgage offer is issued?
My gut feeling is that Louise genuinely wants to buy the property and is doing what she can, but because the matter now involves solicitors, lenders and an ex-partner, I have no idea whether we are close to a breakthrough or still at the very beginning of a potentially lengthy process. Louise has also said she is willing to negotiate if necessary to help move matters forward.
Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.