Buying a house: point of no return?

DrPhilG

Had a bit of hassle in a purchase, documents being passed around 3 sufferer solicitors for signatures etc.

Finally resolved today so my question is, when when do we reach the point where we're certain to get the house, and it's not going to collapse at the last minute.

Contracts are signed and will be returned now that the missing document has arrived.

Loan offer is with solicitor and we will be signing in a few days for the solicitor to draw down.

Deposit will be increased to 10% tomorrow when I get to the bank.

We've waited long enough so another while won't kill us but the reason I'm curious is that B&Q have a big sale on flooring and we could save a fortune buying sooner than later!

robd

DrPhilG wrote: »

Finally resolved today so my question is, when when do we reach the point where we're certain to get the house, and it's not going to collapse at the last minute.

Contracts are signed and will be returned now that the missing document has arrived.

Now. Once contract is signed by all parties then house is as good as sold.

DrPhilG

robd wrote: »

Now. Once contract is signed by all parties then house is as good as sold.

Well presumably it's only when those contracts are returned?

We signed them 6 weeks ago but the solicitor wouldn't return them until this missing document was provided.

If it hadn't shown up then surely our solicitor could have just torn the contracts up?

Anyway, that's good news. The contracts are going back today or tomorrow and the loan offer will be signed inside a few days. It's valid until the end of February anyway so it's solid.

robd

DrPhilG wrote: »

Well presumably it's only when those contracts are returned?

OK. I see your point.

AFAIK once you signed you have right to force seller to sell. Once seller has copy of contract they have right to force you to buy. So at this stage neither party can pull out.

DrPhilG

Perfect. We need new floors throughout so I don't want to miss this B&Q sale!

mrs vimes

robd wrote: »

OK. I see your point.

AFAIK once you signed you have right to force seller to sell. Once seller has copy of contract they have right to force you to buy. So at this stage neither party can pull out.

No, if the seller hasn't signed then you can't force them to sell and it's (pretty well) always the buyer who signs first.

(I reckon a seller would need his head examined to pull out these days, but not guaranteed until both sides have signed.)

robd

mrs vimes wrote: »

No, if the seller hasn't signed then you can't force them to sell and it's (pretty well) always the buyer who signs first.

(I reckon a seller would need his head examined to pull out these days, but not guaranteed until both sides have signed.)

Indeed. My understanding was that seller had signed in this case. To revise, once the other party has a singed contract they can force sale/purchase. So if you signed first seller can force you to purchase.

mrs vimes

Hi robd,

yes, of course the seller could well have signed first, this would be somewhat unusual based on my past experience but anything could be going on these days in property

OP mentions 3 solicitors - would I assume he has one and the sellers have 2 because there is a family law issue in the background? If so, I'd be wary of buying anything for the house until it's all written in stone.

DrPhilG

mrs vimes wrote: »

OP mentions 3 solicitors - would I assume he has one and the sellers have 2 because there is a family law issue in the background? If so, I'd be wary of buying anything for the house until it's all written in stone.

The third solicitor wasn't an issue. There was a missing document that my solicitor required, straightforward document regarding access to a drain. The document had to be signed by one of the neighbours before we could proceed so it was sent to their solicitor so that's where the 3rd one came in. That part is now complete though, no issues apart from time consuming.

I have asked my solicitor whether the seller (a bank, it's a repo) had signed first or not but haven't had a reply yet.

asomeday

@ DrPhilG :Totally understand what you're saying about the sales-there are great deals to be had...& I'm itching to decorate

although I have to say that I am hugely worried the house you're buying is the one I'm looking at {although I have a feeling the "other offer" which the estate agent told me had been made was a bit of a fib!} ...

Quick question though: how long has it taken from when you made your initial offer until this point? People seem to think it will be a lifetime but we're very organised & securing the mortgage has been no problem as we're only getting a small loan.Also we're currently renting so not waiting for a house to sell...

DrPhilG

asomeday wrote: »

although I have to say that I am hugely worried the house you're buying is the one I'm looking at {although I have a feeling the "other offer" which the estate agent told me had been made was a bit of a fib!} ...

We initially bid in August I think, been sale agreed since mid September. Contracts have now been exchange thank goodness so all is well with the world!

Didn't get anything in the B&Q sale in the end, the wife is too fussy!

dazberry

DrPhilG wrote: »

We initially bid in August I think, been sale agreed since mid September. Contracts have now been exchange thank goodness so all is well with the world!

We also sale agreed mid September, and closed in early January. Not bad going considering there were two probates done in that time - with all the nay-sayers suggesting it would take years. The contract we signed had a back out clause if the probates could not be sorted by a certain date - which they were

D.

Kosseegan

DrPhilG wrote: »

Well presumably it's only when those contracts are returned?

We signed them 6 weeks ago but the solicitor wouldn't return them until this missing document was provided.

If it hadn't shown up then surely our solicitor could have just torn the contracts up?

Anyway, that's good news. The contracts are going back today or tomorrow and the loan offer will be signed inside a few days. It's valid until the end of February anyway so it's solid.

You cannot tear up the contracts. You have to serve a 28 day notice on the other side making time of the essence. If the document does not turn up within that time you can pull out. After contracts are signed the only way out is if one party is unable to complete.