Please help me make a decision about buying houses

[Thora]

trashpony water board is the MoD one.

1927 that's totally what I'm worried about (it falling through in 6 months time and having no house and not enough money to buy) but there's just so little available at the moment. The cheaper house also doesn't look like a good bet now in terms of how long it might take.

 

[trashpony]

I’d just stick with her then. exchange now and then you’re safe. Nothing better is likely to come up if prices are going up. And you can stay where you are until you know you’re going to complete.

I’d think you could probably do with turning down the stress a bit too. House buying is bloody awful and you've been on a massive rollercoaster already and you don’t even own a house!

 

[Thora]

Well I put in an offer today in on a 3rd house
Genuinely seems to be chain free at least…

 

[equationgirl]

I love how open you are to opportunity Thora

 

[Riklet]

Well I put in an offer today in on a 3rd house
Genuinely seems to be chain free at least…

No harm but why not stick with the first one and focus on making that happen? It sounds good no? Is there any date yet regarding exchange? Have you got a laywer who is beavering away without too much nagging?

 

[Thora]

No harm but why not stick with the first one and focus on making that happen? It sounds good no? Is there any date yet regarding exchange? Have you got a laywer who is beavering away without too much nagging?

My worry about sticking with the first one is that we won't complete til end of May/June (if no delays) and they vendor could pull out and leave us 6 months later still with no house and now unable to afford something.

 

[Ted Striker]

Silly question, but for the house from the chain involving the new build, could you not exchange and agree to complete on a certain (normal timeframe) day, and if they aren't sorted you will agree to rent it back to them in the interim (at an agreed amount that should possibly be inflated enough from them to be extra motivated to move)?

You won't move in when you want, but you will have certainty, and they will take the interim financial hit (rent vs mortgage), and risk of their newbuild delaying

 

[cybershot]

If you exchange they are legally obliged. It's highly unlikely they will pull out and they are probably as keen to secure the money to know their new house isn't also going to fall through.

May/June will be here in a jiffy.

 

[Thora]

If you exchange they are legally obliged. It's highly unlikely they will pull out and they are probably as keen to secure the money to know their new house isn't also going to fall through.

May/June will be here in a jiffy.

They are legally obliged, but there's not really anything to stop them pulling out. Maybe a few grand to cover our costs but that's it and the house is now worth a lot more than when we made our offer.

 

[Thora]

Silly question, but for the house from the chain involving the new build, could you not exchange and agree to complete on a certain (normal timeframe) day, and if they aren't sorted you will agree to rent it back to them in the interim (at an agreed amount that should possibly be inflated enough from them to be extra motivated to move)?

You won't move in when you want, but you will have certainty, and they will take the interim financial hit (rent vs mortgage), and risk of their newbuild delaying

We have offered/requested various things along these lines but the vendor won't agree to anything like that. They are in a much stronger position than us and know they could sell again quickly.

 

[Riklet]

My worry about sticking with the first one is that we won't complete til end of May/June (if no delays) and they vendor could pull out and leave us 6 months later still with no house and now unable to afford something.

It sounds like youre being way too accommodating with this though. Youre just letting your offer sit with no clear date or plan. Dont you want this house in the end? Nail these vendors down! If they wont then threaten to pull out. What is the current situation legally? Dont they want/need to sell it?

IMO its the perfect situation to get money knocked off fir the rent/hassle and exchange now. Then complete in May with a written deadline. As Prunus said in post 1 you can sue them if they pull out. In your situation I would use the leverage you have with this place to make it happen at a good price. No it might not be perfect but you could be looking for years otherwise.

 

[Thora]

It sounds like youre being way too accommodating with this though. Youre just letting your offer sit with no clear date or plan. Dont you want this house in the end? Nail these vendors down! If they wont then threaten to pull out. What is the current situation legally? Dont they want/need to sell it?

IMO its the perfect situation to get money knocked off fir the rent/hassle and exchange now. Then complete in May with a written deadline. As Prunus said in post 1 you can sue them if they pull out. In your situation I would use the leverage you have with this place to make it happen at a good price. No it might not be perfect but you could be looking for years otherwise.

We're supposed to be exchanging soon/now with a flexible completion date. We have to reapply for our mortgage first though.
We have tried to pin them down on a set completion date, or completing before our current mortgage offer runs out at the end of April, but they don't want to do that and have said if we don't want to go ahead they will pull out and remarket the house.
Houses have been selling on first viewings or within a day of going on the market, and the house is worth a lot more than it was 6 months ago, so they really have no reason to try to keep us.

 

[Riklet]

We're supposed to be exchanging soon/now with a flexible completion date. We have to reapply for our mortgage first though.
We have tried to pin them down on a set completion date, or completing before our current mortgage offer runs out at the end of April, but they don't want to do that and have said if we don't want to go ahead they will pull out and remarket the house.
Houses have been selling on first viewings or within a day of going on the market, and the house is worth a lot more than it was 6 months ago, so they really have no reason to try to keep us.

Good plan on getting mortgage fully sorted and clear asap. And ok, but what are they offering in exchange for that? Money off asking price or some allowance from the final sale price?

You should be getting a fair whack off if they expect you to wait for 6 months. They should be happy to be getting it all sorted too rather than remarket. Has this been discussed? I would push hard for sure. But sounds good that exchanging looks realistic soon. Did you have a survey.. no issues? Nothing to ask for money knocked off there?

 

[hash tag]

My worry about sticking with the first one is that we won't complete til end of May/June (if no delays) and they vendor could pull out and leave us 6 months later still with no house and now unable to afford something.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is nothing to say this won't happen with house no 3.

We're supposed to be exchanging soon/now with a flexible completion date. We have to reapply for our mortgage first though.
We have tried to pin them down on a set completion date, or completing before our current mortgage offer runs out at the end of April, but they don't want to do that and have said if we don't want to go ahead they will pull out and remarket the house.
Houses have been selling on first viewings or within a day of going on the market, and the house is worth a lot more than it was 6 months ago, so they really have no reason to try to keep us.

An extended, flexible completion on a new build being passed down the buying chain is pretty much the norm. I can't remember the legal side of things with regards to the mortgage if you were to exchange while the mortgage is still in date, there might be small print saying that's all that is required. Failing that, your lender should appreciate this and unless things have changed radically, the mortgage could be easily extended. I think you will be virtually back to the beginning of the mortgage dealings if you change to a new property.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Good plan on getting mortgage fully sorted and clear asap. And ok, but what are they offering in exchange for that? Money off asking price or some allowance from the final sale price?

You should be getting a fair whack off if they expect you to wait for 6 months. They should be happy to be getting it all sorted too rather than remarket. Has this been discussed? I would push hard for sure. But sounds good that exchanging looks realistic soon. Did you have a survey.. no issues? Nothing to ask for money knocked off there?

You're assuming that Thora ie purchaser holds the cards here, but in reality, for the reasons Thora has already explained, it's the vendor who holds the cards.

There's no incentive for the vendor to give Thora a discount in recompense for Thora and her family being strung along and waiting for a 'how long is a piece of string' completion and moving in date, because the market is moving so fast.

As Thora's already explained, if she tries to play hard ball and insist on setting a completion date, or else they withdraw their offer and walk, the vendor is simply going to call their bluff and say 'walk, then', because they know they can put their house back on the market and sell it for an even higher price within a week, possibly even 24 hours.

And the vendor knows that Thora's got more to lose in this scenario, having forked out for surveyors and a certain amount of legal fees to date.

And the vendor also knows that if they exchange, the cards in their hand become even stronger, because then they can take their sweet time till completion (what if the property developer of their new build goes bust because of increasing cost of materials/labour?) safe in the knowledge that they have Thora's deposit, and if Thora gets fed up of waiting and wants/needs to buy somewhere else, then she will forfeit the deposit on top of writing-off the cost of survey and legal fees to date.

Thora simply doesn't have the negotiating power you think she does in this scenario, sadly.

 

[Thora]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is nothing to say this won't happen with house no 3.

An extended, flexible completion on a new build being passed down the buying chain is pretty much the norm. I can't remember the legal side of things with regards to the mortgage if you were to exchange while the mortgage is still in date, there might be small print saying that's all that is required. Failing that, your lender should appreciate this and unless things have changed radically, the mortgage could be easily extended. I think you will be virtually back to the beginning of the mortgage dealings if you change to a new property.

The mortgage can’t be extended so we need to reapply now anyway.

 

[Epico]

Fingers crossed for this house Thora.
It's such a frustrating process. I cannot see myself wanting to go through it again any time soon & compared to yourself our purchase was more or less straightforward.

 

[Thora]

Well I put in an offer today in on a 3rd house
Genuinely seems to be chain free at least…

Still haven't had confirmation that they're accepting the offer or not...

 

[Riklet]

Still haven't had confirmation that they're accepting the offer or not...

How many days has it been? Theyll just be busy using your offer to russle up higher ones. This is why you cant leave offers on the table. It's certainly fair to ask for a response today by a certain time or you're withdrawing it.

Whats happening with the first house now? I disagree with AnnO'Neemus that you have no negotiating potential - they may well be using your offer to secure their new build. Sure they could remarket but a lot of people dont like risk and hassle. I still think it's worth pursuing this first house and getting your rent for 4 months reflected in the price, by pushing for this right before exchange. You are unlikely to be completing before early May anyway with any other houses.

 

[Thora]

How many days has it been? Theyll just be busy using your offer to russle up higher ones. This is why you cant leave offers on the table. It's certainly fair to ask for a response today by a certain time or you're withdrawing it.

Whats happening with the first house now? I disagree with AnnO'Neemus that you have no negotiating potential - they may well be using your offer to secure their new build. Sure they could remarket but a lot of people dont like risk and hassle. I still think it's worth pursuing this first house and getting your rent for 4 months reflected in the price, by pushing for this right before exchange. You are unlikely to be completing before early May anyway with any other houses.

Lovely in theory but no chance of getting any money off We have even offered them more money to complete by x date and go into rented if necessary but they won't budge.

 

[Epona]

Well done on not losing your marbles during all this, it's a trying process at the best of times and I reckon that in your position I'd be oscillating between apoplectic rage and uncontrollable sobbing.

I haven't bought property in this sort of housing market, but I think the point about getting on the housing ladder is a good one. I can look back over my life and every time I've delayed buying or put off trying to move has turned out to be a mistake in all honesty, resulting every time in getting priced out of places that would have been an improvement on where I am now. I can't predict the future state of the housing market, but that has been my experience for the last 20 years.

 

[Thora]

I am extremely stressed and we're also currently going through a couple of other top 5 most stressful life events so if anything else goes wrong I may lose it completely

This other chain free place has come back to me with some weird situation where she might need to temporarily rent out the property to her builder (?) so can she let me know by Wednesday. I'm so done with trying to buy a house now.
There are currently 10 properties available in our price range and area, I have seen and ruled out 6 of them, 2 are auctions and one I am booked to see this week

 

[Riklet]

Just stick with house 1 and focus on exchanging. Financially especially.. will give you good security even if completion takes til June. Its your best bet. This other house is a total no hoper, dont waste your time and energy with these weirdos. It really sounds like youre burning yourself out with all these other options.

IMO offering more money for them to move it on is NOT the same as asking for money off whilst agreeing to be flexible as to timescale. They dont want to be stuck in rental accommodation with their house sale having fallen through, understandably. What does your lawyer say?

 

[Thora]

Will I need to have buildings insurance on the house between exchange and completion?

 

[prunus]

Will I need to have buildings insurance on the house between exchange and completion?

Yes.

Sorry - edit to be more useful: you don’t ‘need’ it, but if you’re getting a mortgage the mortgage provider will insist, and in any case once you’ve exchanged you are legally obliged to follow through with the purchase, even if it’s burnt down. So it’s best to get it.

 

[hash tag]

Yes. The property becomes the buyer's responsibility on exchange.

 

[A380]

Thora where are you with this now? Just accepted an offer on our house and remembered your dilemma. Hope things going the right way.

 

[Thora]

Thora where are you with this now? Just accepted an offer on our house and remembered your dilemma. Hope things going the right way.

Pulled out of that house in the end as the vendor wouldn't commit to a completion date.

Then had an offer accepted on an empty, chain free house towards the end of February, all going great and ready to exchange and it turned out that the vendor's son hadn't registered the power of attorney to allow him to sell his mother's house So currently waiting for that to happen and hoping to complete around the end of May

 

[A380]

Pulled out of that house in the end as the vendor wouldn't commit to a completion date.

Then had an offer accepted on an empty, chain free house towards the end of February, all going great and ready to exchange and it turned out that the vendor's son hadn't registered the power of attorney to allow him to sell his mother's house So currently waiting for that to happen and hoping to complete around the end of May

Thanks for the update and fingers and toes crossed for you.