Sale agreed - now what?

Little Miss Cutie

Hi all,

Firstly I am sorry this has probably been asked before - I searched and didn't find it.

We went sale agreed 2 days ago, have been to the bank. Loan offer has been issued and we are gathering the last bit of documentation.

Booking deposit has been paid to estate agent and our solicitor has been notified.

My question is what else should we be doing now? Do we wait for our solicitor to get the pack from the bank and the instruction letter from the estate agent ( not sure I have the terms correct)?

We were sale agreed before (didn't get beyond booking deposit) and it all fell apart so we are worried about unnecessary outlay. How long should we wait to arrange valuer and surveyor?

Thanks for any advice you can offer

The_Conductor

Talk to your solicitor about setting time tables for the various stages.
Presumably you've done your own due dilligence at this stage (survey done etc)- so there shouldn't really be any delay at your side.

Is there a tenant in the property?
Have they received appropriate notice?
Are they amenable to moving, or are they likely to cause trouble?

Do you have a draw down date for your own mortgage?

Etc etc etc

First step- talk to your solicitor to find out what the next step is.

Zamboni

The ball is currently in your court.

Gather "the last bit of documentation"
Then, if OK, bank will request valuation.
Arrange valuation and get sent to bank.
Then, if OK, bank will issue loan documents to your solicitor.

Little Miss Cutie

Thanks for the advice.

Last bits are with the bank, they have confirmed that depending the valuation report ( which is being done on Monday), the loan will be ready for drawdown

Had a chat with the solicitor today so feeling a bit better. We have our surveyor coming early next week too.

Think we are pretty much on track

Thanks again for the advice, turns out patience is going to my new state of mind

dizzymiss

Be prepared for the bank to hold you up. Our bank said all the same things and we are waiting over a month now. They're so so slow. Patience is not a virtue of mine at all

TheDriver

surveyor is highly important, don't ignore stuff unless its petty crap

Little Miss Cutie

TheDriver wrote: »

surveyor is highly important, don't ignore stuff unless its petty crap

Hopefully there is nothing significant, house was built early 70's with no significant structural changes since and no obvious signs of trouble.

We will wait and see what it says

Little Miss Cutie

The_Conductor wrote: »

Is there a tenant in the property?
Have they received appropriate notice?
Are they amenable to moving, or are they likely to cause trouble?

Thankfully the tenants moved out this week so that is one less worry

Villan11

One small piece of advice would be to hand deliver any remaining documents requested and keep copies of same. Oh and make sure that the bank are lodging mortgage directly to your solicitor to save you the time transferring the funds. And like the earlier post stated listen carefully to your engineer! Best of luck.

Little Miss Cutie

Villan11 wrote: »

One small piece of advice would be to hand deliver any remaining documents requested and keep copies of same. Oh and make sure that the bank are lodging mortgage directly to your solicitor to save you the time transferring the funds. And like the earlier post stated listen carefully to your engineer! Best of luck.

I have hand delivered everything to the bank and retained copies

Thanks for the advice, will keep delivering myself also remortgage draw down

Little Miss Cutie

Hi all,
Quick follow up question - the surveyors report has thrown up a couple of issues.

Based on this we have been advised to have a plumber and electrician look at the house. Unfortunately these cannot be arranged for the same time so the agent will need to let both of them in.

Is it normal to have this kind of follow up? I am worried the agent will get frustrated?

The surveyor insisted that I stay so he could talk me through things which I am not sure the agent was too pleased about either.

dizzymiss

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Hi all,
Quick follow up question - the surveyors report has thrown up a couple of issues.

Based on this we have been advised to have a plumber and electrician look at the house. Unfortunately these cannot be arranged for the same time so the agent will need to let both of them in.

Is it normal to have this kind of follow up? I am worried the agent will get frustrated?

The surveyor insisted that I stay so he could talk me through things which I am not sure the agent was too pleased about either.

If the agent wants to make the sale they wont be in a position to be anything but obliging. Be it with you or another buyer. If there are issues, they need to be addressed. These are the types of things that crop up. Im sure the agent is well used to it.

TheDriver

And if it isn't accommodated and there are issues you may have to walk away. Remember you're the one who could be stuck with problems so get it looked at thoroughly now.

cpoh1

You are absolutely within your rights to get more people to look at the house following the engineers report. We have a damp/wood review and a drains inspection completed before we purchased.

A small caveat, there is no such thing as an engineers report without some kind of warning to cover their arses. With litigation the way it is in this country there willl always be T&C's to every report. Make sure you can see the difference between a genuine issue and an observation made by an engineer to cover themselves. One typical phrase is "further open up works will be required..."

Remember no house will be perfect, just have an idea how much it will cost you and how quickly it needs to be remedied!

Little Miss Cutie

dizzymiss wrote: »

If the agent wants to make the sale they wont be in a position to be anything but obliging. Be it with you or another buyer. If there are issues, they need to be addressed. These are the types of things that crop up. Im sure the agent is well used to it.

Thanks Dizzymiss, I think it caught us by surprise a little and as this is my first time buying

TheDriver

And the obvious stuff you don't want to hear such as that subsidence should be fixed easily enough.......ah no thanks

cpoh1

TheDriver wrote: »

And the obvious stuff you don't want to hear such as that subsidence should be fixed easily enough.......ah no thanks

Its not always the massive job that people think it is either though. Ive heard of people walking away from a perfectly fine house with no signs of slippage because the house wasn't underpinned in the past. Mad stuff.

TheDriver

True but if there is risk of taking on issues, I can understand why people walk. No house is perfect but gaping cracks across walls inside and out can't be ignored

Little Miss Cutie

Hi all,
Thanks for the advice - we managed to arrange at short notice for a plumber and electrician to look at the house.

Both have given reasonable quotes to correct the issues - less than €5k total.

Think the surveyor just doesn't want to express an opinion on these things as they are not qualified.

Fingers crossed we will sign contract next week and then draw down the loan ( have written confirmation from the bank that this is ready and all conditions have been met). Not bad progress for 2 weeks sale agreed.

TheDriver

Can I ask what type of issues need redoing as if it needs 5k plumbing and elec

Little Miss Cutie

TheDriver wrote: »

Can I ask what type of issues need redoing as if it needs 5k plumbing and elec

To be honest it is more upgrading, it needs a boiler and the oldest part of the house could do with being rewired- electrics are fine in the newer part of the house.

The_Conductor

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

To be honest it is more upgrading, it needs a boiler and the oldest part of the house could do with being rewired- electrics are fine in the newer part of the house.

To be honest- from this brief description- I would hazard that your 5k budget is hopelessly optimistic.

TheDriver

new boiler alone and I guess some other issues that will arise such as new pipings, controls etc will cost a bit but you can get some money back from seai for it. Rewiring isn't that cheap either. If that amount of work needs doing, you can be guaranteed there is more that needs doing once you start poking around

Little Miss Cutie

The_Conductor wrote: »

To be honest- from this brief description- I would hazard that your 5k budget is hopelessly optimistic.

The budget has been based on a quote from family members who are willing to carry work as a gift - we will pay for parts only.
They are fully qualified and insured to carry out the work.
If this was not the case, I think the costs would be significantly higher.

TheDriver

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

The budget has been based on a quote from family members who are willing to carry work as a gift - we will pay for parts only.
They are fully qualified and insured to carry out the work.
If this was not the case, I think the costs would be significantly higher.

ah fair enough. One thing however is that I was getting a mate to do work for us and because they were so busy with proper paid work, I gave up on it eventually as it was never going to be done.

The_Conductor

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

If this was not the case, I think the costs would be significantly higher.

Significantly = 3 to 4 times that which you're indicating here.........

JimsAlterEgo

The_Conductor wrote: »

Significantly = 3 to 4 times that which you're indicating here.........

agree, cant see the materials even costing that

iguana

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

The budget has been based on a quote from family members who are willing to carry work as a gift - we will pay for parts only.
They are fully qualified and insured to carry out the work.
If this was not the case, I think the costs would be significantly higher.

I don't know if the vendor made you aware of these potential problems and your agreed price has already taken the work you will need to do into account. But if you haven't and you decide to renegotiate with the vendor, do so with a figure for the full potential costs in mind, not the cost you hope to pay based on the offer of your family members. If something happens and your family member can't do the job, you will be left having to pay the full amount and if everything works out as planned and your family members do, do the job, their kind gift to you is actually a gift to the vendors as they are the ones who will benefit financially from it if you only renegotiate based on your drastically reduced costs.

I've been house hunting recently and whenever I made an offer on a house needing work I calculated the market rate for the work that needed doing into my offer, even if I hope to do the work myself. Because even the best laid plans can go awry and I may well need to pay for the work I plan to do myself to be done professionally. And even if I don't, my time and effort has a value too.

JimsAlterEgo

iguana wrote: »

I don't know if the vendor made you aware of these potential problems and your agreed price has already taken the work you will need to do into account. But if you haven't and you decide to renegotiate with the vendor, do so with a figure for the full potential costs in mind, not the cost you hope to pay based on the offer of your family members. If something happens and your family member can't do the job, you will be left having to pay the full amount and if everything works out as planned and your family members do, do the job, their kind gift to you is actually a gift to the vendors as they are the ones who will benefit financially from it if you only renegotiate based on your drastically reduced costs.

I've been house hunting recently and whenever I made an offer on a house needing work I calculated the market rate for the work that needed doing into my offer, even if I hope to do the work myself. Because even the best laid plans can go awry and I may well need to pay for the work I plan to do myself to be done professionally. And even if I don't, my time and effort has a value too.

the other thing to bear in mind if materiaally altering it may need to be certified

Little Miss Cutie

Hi all
The work being done is not essential - we could probably live in the house for the next 10 years without having it done.
The work was pointed out by the surveyor however upon inspection by the qualified trades person it became clear it was a bit of an over-reaction by the surveyor.
We are very happy with the house - the price is ok in the current market and we are really hoping to move in soon

Thank you for all your advice

KAZ0077

Sorry to jump on the thread, am in the same situation.
Sale agreed, will be drawing down booking deposit and paying over tomorrow or Thursday.
Am waiting to see how long it will take to get a surveryor to call to teh house.
One question I do have, could I ask the estate agent to take down the advert for the property to avoid being gazumped once I have paid over the deposit?