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Hi all, my brain is in a bit of a pickle right now with a huge decision to make. Would really appreciate some thoughts as so many clever people on here (yes really!). Will try keep this susinct as possible:
1) we have sold our house at top of market price. Buyer wants to exchange next week and complete by end of month or will pull out (single guy cash buyer totally with him on the pressure as I would be doing the same)
2) my current purchase has a chain. 3 houses. Top of chain is probate sale (8 weeks in on grant of probate and fairly simple estate apparently). Completion of purchase will lag behind completion of my sale.
3) my mortgage offer (at a good rate before rates went crazy) expires end of October. Post October we will be looking at an extra £250 per month based on current rates
4) not looking to make money from sale - it's purely a need to move to bigger house / growing kids / closer to secondary school etc. As we have massivly outgrown this one
I need to decide Monday to proceed with the sale of my house and move into temporary accommodation otherwise my buyer will pull out and all back to square one.
We were always expecting to have to move temporarily (we are very very lucky that's an option as will be to my parents second home very near to me although it's a 2 bed house for 4 people with two almost teenagers so it's not going to be easy by any means)! that's not so much the issue... Its the uncertainty on the probate on the top of the chain that is worrying and the possibility that my mortgage offer (ending October) will lapse and will have to apply for a new one at much higher rate.
I have suggested to the vendor's agent that I would be looking at a reduction in price post expiry of mortgage offer if we don't complete in time. Sadly there is no time to get this formally agreed or negotiate on this position. The selling agents are confident if it came to it, the reduction in price will be agreed closer to the time as I will be in a really good position as a cash buyer.
So questions are:
1) anyone have experience of probate sale and how long did it take? From what I can see the online can take anywhere from 6 weeks to a year!
2) given the above we have 2 options:
A) we pull out and stay put for a year or two whilst the market calms down
B) we move into temporary accommodation and carry the risk of probate sale taking longer but most likely be able to negotiate hard on either the sale / reduction in price post October or buy at bottom of market on another purchase as a cash buyer
Either options are crap but need to work out less crap one 🙂
Sorry for the rambling but keen to see what others would be thinking in my situation, anything I may have missed and if anyone has experience of either buying / selling timescales for a probate house.
Cheers all!
Probate? How long is a piece of string? Almost 2 years for me to get MrsTJs flat transferred to me.
However if you have somewhere to live personally i would go ahead.
House prices are on the way down, mortgages on the way up. Sell while you're on top price-wise, consider variable rate with easy exit mortgage short-term, may work best long-term
I m buying a probate house, family member so moved in already. Death at Christmas, expect probate anytime from now to Oct. That's with a solicitor doing it and fairly simple estate. Solicitor can't chase probate until 16 weeks after probate applied for.
Had to get 3 valuations at time of death, since then similar ones are on sale at much more and much less, biggest concern is if district valuer revalues it as market is all over the place.
Sorry no advice to offer re your situation, but best of luck must be a nightmare.
Sadly, probate takes as long as it takes. MrsMC has just had probate through for her mum after 5-6 months. Bungalow next to my mum has been stuck even longer as several relatives are objecting to the will!
If you have somewhere to go to keep your preferred outcome alive, I'd be using it.
Tj and timba - cheers guys for taking the time to reply - Appreciated.
I don't really understand the whole probate thing on a house sale.. I think a grant of probate needs to be issued before a house can be sold which is a bit different from the entire probate (where all funds are distrubuted and closed down) . Grant of probates from what I can gather are 12-16 weeks on a sale. I think (and I don't really know) the 6-12 months is for total completion of estate (I.e funds have to be held for 6 months) including hold of inheritance tax and all that fun jazz.
Timba - cheers is possibly where I am at. Probably £25/£30 k up right now... But it's all relative. My purchase is also high, unless the sellers reduce post October (when my current mortgage offer expires)
Poolman - cheers for the reply. Is indeed a tough decision! Been told its a simple estate and 8 weeks in but as you say who knows!
Cheers mate
More cash than dash - cheers I am swinging towards moving now and getting cash. My thinking is it gets me in the best situation but on the flip side means we might have to live in a tiny temporary house for longer. In the grand scheme of things my issues are insignificant compared to others.
MrsSB mum died in February and they (MrsSB and her sister) have accepted an offer on her house.
The purchasers of the MIL house are keen to move as they have a buyer also. If probate hasn't come through before they want to complete "we're" going to let them move in and rent until probate is granted subject to exchange of contracts.
That way the chain isn't broken and the sale is safe. Everybody should be happy.
If you're really set on moving, I'd get yours sold which puts you in a strong position with your chain or, if that breaks, any other property that comes up. We sold in 2021 and moved in to temporary accommodation; it was very useful to be cash in the bank position for a very competitive market
Hey shark bait... We did suggest this but we had following reply:
Would there be any chance of the Cornwall property offering an assured merging short term tenancy to the couple buying it (from Hillary Drive)? They could then potentially move in earlier and have the tenancy ended when they complete the purchase? That would then leave their property vacant and the rest of the chain could proceed. They could then complete the purchase once probate has been granted. Is this this something that could be discussed with solicitors?
Agents respose : no very unlikely as all Solicitors would advise against this. If the Sellers in Cornwall were to agree to this, they would become Landlords. As such, they would need specialist Landlord insurance, gas & electrical safety tests carried out not to mention the cost of having an AST drawn up
Nuke - thanks mate! This is what I am thinking too. Worst case I have cash in the bank and in a really strong position to either negotiate on price reduction to keep chain alive or buy another property for less
I think I know the answer, it's really helpful to have a bit of discussion with randoms on the Internet who also happen to like bikes 🙂
<p style="text-align: right;">Appreciate you all taking the time to reply :)</p>
Cash in the hand is best. Half the move done and dusted. Worst case is you might need to be in temp accomodation a few months longer. I can't see you being any worse of if your prospective buy falls through and possibly better off as the market slows with high rates.
Move, get the cash. If the house you're buying falls through you will be ina good position to move fast on any sale. Not quite cash buyer good but close. As the market falls this will be advantageous
I ve bought a few houses that when empty, have been able to move in or start renovating. I think we just got a letter from solicitor saying no knocking down walls just painting.
Re letting pre sale, I got an EPC done on my pur hase as it was free, and I m nosey. 60s bungalow, amazed it got a d so I could let if I wanted.
Thinking about it, I d sell, bank the cash, move into temp home and do some hard negotiating.
Move, take the cash. We did similar sans kids in 2007-08, into a friend's flat then rented for 2 years.
Worked well. You can take advantage of the market at both ends, but I do appreciate with kids it would have been an order of magnitude more difficult.
<p style="text-align: left;">Awesome irc, the poolman, rich and the brick for replies
>Nice to see most (all) people think the same as me... It really helps so much! (really does as its a big decision)</p>
Gah no idea why this stupid forum (as much as I love it) is so bloomin hard to use with text!
I have no experience of probate but have sold out to buy a bit later as I knew I had been offered a silly price. I would probably sell and take the (hopefully) temporary inconvenience. A few observations - (i) you might see the probate property to be the sticking point but you have no guarantee the parties in between will stand firm, especially when one part of the chain (you) wobbles, (ii) you only have the word of an estate agent that a price can be negotiated down - I'll leave you to think about that, (iii) a wise solicitor friend is also adamant that you should be less concerned on completion dates than exchange dates as the completion date is written into the contract on exchange (and can only come forward) - that might give you leverage and/or it may help clarify your decision process.
Even a cash buyer will take three months go though all the legals.
Blackhat really useful thanks.
You picked on a big point about the price reduction - the vendor of property we are buying will not commit to reduction at this stage (give we still have 11 ish weeks to go) but I think so long as they know a reduction will be coming post October (when the chain is further down the line) it would be illogical for the chain to work out between them a reduction in price to cover increased mortgage rates otherwise I am off and will look for another property.
Point 2 - yes little bit annoyed that I can't get something in writing on this reduction, but I guess I will be in a stronger position to negotiate hard as you say with cash in bank (agents just want the commission from the sale I think and not working in my best interests)
@ rock hoper indeed - back to square one we go but might be buying at bottom of market having sold ours at top. We are trying to decide if worst case we might have to live in temporary accommodation for 4-6 months of it all falls through. Small chance - but it's a chance!
Balls
I don’t really understand the whole probate thing on a house sale.
Correct a house can't be sold until grant of probate is received, currently upto 16wks from application, but house can be put on the market & all the ducks can be lined up ready for proceeding once probate is granted.
Currently got a probate house on the market, lots of viewings but no real offers, once probate is granted I'll be speaking to solicitors & estate agents about how much to drop the price to get it shifted 😕 if I were you I'd def do the sell & wait it out, if nothing else it'll save half the moving stress when it comes to it.
Dickey boy - again thanks so much for taking time to reply. Half moving stress as you say is quite comforting as well as having cash in the bank to negotiate hard.
<p style="text-align: left;">Must stress - thanks all for replies. Really helps.</p>
Hey shark bait… We did suggest this but we had following reply:
Good point.... Unless they didn't have an assured tenancy maybe 🤔
Correct a house can’t be sold until grant of probate is received,
But you can exchange contracts .... Just not complete.
Sharkbait - thanks @ will ask on assured tenancy
Last time we moved - more than 3 decades ago we sold first. Temp accommodation was with my parents during which out first child was born. Not ideal. But then it let us pick and choose our next house ithout juggling a sale at the same time which obviously worked for us.
In what must be either a stable or falling market it has to be the correct choice given a good offer for your current house.
My current house was bought off probate.
Previous owner passed away in December; we were in mid-April IIRC. Pretty simple proposition.
Some folks over the road bought off probate (it's a very old average age where I am!) and it took a year....complications with access and boundaries etc....
Cash in the bank is nice but with inflation raging maybe not so good. If house prices do fall that helps but it’s a gamble perhaps. Not an easy decision.
I once bought a flat and exchanged with no completion date, it was due to a planning permission not being requested and work being done by vendor. I think solicitor put in 6 month deadline to complete, we moved in on exchange as it was empty and had nowhere else to live.
It's house price inflation, not general inflation you need to keep an eye on with a house budget. Real implication of interest rate increases hasn't hit yet.