If you are in a property chain, it can throw a number of problems at you along the way. Here, we explain how to prevent this from happening and what to do if you have a dispute with your buyer or seller.
If you want to move it is likely that your seller is also going on to buy another property themselves. Unless you are a first-time buyer, you’re probably selling your current home as well. This is known as a property chain and the success of you selling your home will be dependent on the other parties selling their homes too. If one of those houses falls through the whole chain will be broken, potentially costing you solicitors fees in the meantime.
It can be a very stressful process. We can guide you so that you may be able to stop these events happening and softening the blow all round.
There are several reasons, and sometimes it can be as high in one in three properties that fall through.
Some buyers just simply cannot raise the finance, although they are offered a Mortgage in Principal, by the time they have been through the mortgage process they cannot always borrow the money that they thought they could. One of the major factors is the mortgage assessor devaluing the property and therefore the mortgage company in turn not willing to lend as much money as a mortgage offer.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
Buying and selling at the same time?
Here are 10 things that could go wrong, and often do go wrong, and what, if anything, you can do to avoid them.
Sometimes the seller simply cannot find anywhere else to live and will want to stay in the house they are in. There is redundancy to take into consideration or relocation of work.
One of the biggest factors in property falling through is a bad survey. On most properties if it is not a new build there will be minor and sometimes major concerns that arise and need addressing. Some buyers are prepared to do minor works but others aren’t and simply pull out of that sale.
Some people just change their mind.
It can be extremely stressful and frustrating and financially crippling, if a property chain breaks down.
You will be losing monies paid to the solicitor and fees for the survey. You may even have paid half towards things like a Mundic test or Mining Search.
You will also have paid a non-refundable mortgage arrangement fee or booking fee.
If you get as far as exchange and you decide to pull out of a sale you will lose your 10% deposit, as it will be your fault.
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Learn about should you sell your house before buying and avoiding key survey problems.
No, but you can definitely limit the likelihood of it happening in the first place. If you are organised and prepared the process should be quicker and you are far more likely to get your house sale through.
Be honest about your finances from the outset so there is no problem when it comes to securing a mortgage from your lender. When house hunting look within your budget, so that you can purchase a house you will get a mortgage for.
If you are selling a property be honest and fair about the price and condition. Your buyers survey will only pick up hidden problems later on.
The best way, if you can, is to avoid a chain altogether, though if you have set your heart on a particular home this may not be so easy.
Do the most you can to get the correct information ready for your own sale. Make sure you have all the relevant paperwork necessary such as any building regs documents for conversions or any relevant planning permission paperwork.
If you have had any negative remarks on a survey, see if you can get these problems rectified as soon as possible.
Look into any Land Registry issues such as rights of way and get these sorted out as early as possible. Also make sure any boundary issues are sorted out.
If the worst happens and your seller decides not to sell, be practical and start looking at similar properties in the area. In fact make sure you look at a vast range to start with.
Contact your local estate agent, they will be able to tell you about up and coming houses they are about to take on that haven’t reached the market yet.
Make sure your estate agent checks out your buyers to avoid any complications later – if they are cash buyers – see their bank statements. If they are getting a mortgage – see their Mortgage In Principal. If they are part of both – see both.
If you are lucky enough to have two offers – check them both out and go with the one who is likely to go all the way to exchange, not necessarily the highest offer.
If you find a house you love but it is higher than your mortgage, go in with a lower offer, they can only say ‘no’.
If your chain is broken make sure you keep your solicitor informed so they can put a halt on any work. Most solicitors will suspend your account for three months and restart the process when you find something new to buy. At least you will have some work done already that you won’t have to duplicate and pay for.
If the chain breaks down due to survey issues talk to your estate agents and see if between them they can agree for everyone in the chain to renegotiate their offers to keep the chain strong and together.
In a buoyant market, less houses will fall through as most buyers will overlook minor grievances on survey reports to get the house they want, as there will be less to choose from on the market. However, there will be more fall-throughs in a slow-moving market as buyers may choose to buy something else if they have a bad survey report.
Want to feel prepared before you sell? Read about selling a house before Christmas and the process of selling a house.
It makes life far easier if you can break the chain.
If you can afford to sell your home and go into rented accommodation then we would advise it. It will not only give you six months to find the property that you really want but will take the pressure off the chain. Or stay with relatives or friends, anything you can do to assist your buyers.
If you can see in advance the problems that may arise from a property chain and how you may solve the problems, you are on your way to a smoother sale.
If you have a property in East London and are considering selling, call us for a friendly chat if you have any questions.
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