How to Handle a Broken Property Chain in North Manchester

Selling your home can be stressful at the best of times but if you are affected by a broken property chain, this can be a major setback to add to your worries. However, being prepared and understanding how to handle the situation will help you to find solutions.

If you are selling a property in North Manchester areas including Littleborough and Milnrow, read on to find out how a chain works and for tips on navigating a broken property chain and moving forwards.

What Is A Property Chain Break?

Property chains are very common with house sales. A chain forms between buyers and sellers; usually starting with a first-time buyer. This first property needs to be sold before the seller can buy their next property. Then once the second purchase is completed, the seller of that property uses the money to purchase their new property, and so on.

Each property transaction is reliant on the property transactions further up the chain and sometimes a sale might fall through, impacting the rest of the chain in a domino effect. If you are buying and selling at the same time, there is a chance your chain could break at either side of the transactions. The chain starts with someone who wants to buy a property but has nothing to sell (e.g. a first time buyer), and the chain ends with someone who is selling a property but not buying one (e.g. someone selling an inherited house).

The longer the chain and the further down the onward chain you are, the more chance there is of a break in the property chain occurring. If someone backs out of buying a property, the transactions in the chain of properties below them usually cannot continue until that property gets sold to another buyer. Being in a long chain is one of the reasons why your home may not be selling, or attracting much attention from buyers. There are also some other solutions that are explained later in this article.

How Often Do Property Chains Break?

Unfortunately, around 1 in 3 property chains break, so it is a common issue that buyers and sellers face. However, the circumstances of the chain differ and if you are involved in the first few transactions of the chain, there is less chance of a property chain break affecting you. Buying a chain-free property helps you to avoid the problem altogether.

Why Do Property Chains Collapse?

Property chains can break for various reasons, including:

• Financial issues – A buyer might pull out because they are unable to obtain the mortgage offer for the amount required to make the purchase.
• Gazundering – Sometimes a buyer will lower their offer just before the exchange of contracts. If the seller is not prepared to accept an offer at a reduced price, they will usually put the property back on the market.
• Survey issues – If a problem is uncovered during the property surveys, this could result in a buyer pulling out and breaking the chain.
• Change of mind – In some cases, a buyer changes their mind and no longer wants to purchase the property. They may have found another property that they would rather purchase or decide it isn’t the right time to buy a property. Equally, a seller might decide that they no longer want to sell their property.

Handling A Property Chain Collapse In Manchester

While experiencing a break in a property chain can be frustrating, there may be some options that will help get everything back on track. Your solicitor will be in contact with the other solicitors in the chain and will be able to update you on the situation.

Here’s how to handle a property chain collapse:

1.Assess the situation

The first step is to get an understanding of who has withdrawn and what the reason is for doing so.

2.Communicate with all parties

Depending on the situation, you might be informed about the chain break by your estate agent. If this is the case, you should inform your solicitor straight away and they will usually communicate with the solicitors of the other chain members.

3.Identify options quickly

Your solicitor will probably be experienced in dealing with this type of situation and will be able to advise you on some of the potential options which are listed below.

4.Re-market your property

If your buyer pulls out, you can contact the estate agent to put your property back on the market immediately. You might find that someone who was already interested in your property puts in a quick offer. This will obviously still delay the sale but the seller you wanted to buy from may be prepared to wait.

5.Consider a bridging loan

Another option to prevent a chain collapsing is to take out a bridging loan. This essentially provides you with the funds to go ahead with your purchase and then when your sale goes through, the loan is repaid.

6.Negotiate a temporary agreement

You might be able to make a temporary arrangement such as delaying the completion. Talk to the involved parties to find out whether they can be flexible.

7.Seek a chain-free buyer

If your buyer has pulled out, you can help to avoid a repeat of the issue by finding a chain-free buyer. Chain-free buyers include first-time buyers and cash buyers who are in the position to buy your property without selling a property first.

8.Stay flexible with timelines

Sometimes the best option is to be patient and wait it out. By being flexible with your timelines, you will still get to your end goal, just a bit later than planned. If you can be adaptable to moving dates and completion times, the issue could be resolved by someone further up the chain finding a new buyer.

9.Explore a back-up plan

You may be able to find another solution such as moving into temporary accommodation if the property you are buying falls through. This means you will still be able to sell your property and live in a short-term rental until you find another property.

10.Reassess and adjust your plans

Just because a part of the property chain has broken, it doesn’t mean that you can’t go ahead with your plans to sell or buy a new property. Try to have a flexible mindset, it could even work out for the better. Maybe another property will come onto the market that you prefer to the one that fell through.

11.Rebuild the chain

Rebuilding the chain might be frustrating but it could be easier than you think. Once you have identified the cause for the link in the chain to break, you might be able to find a quick solution. Someone in the chain could take out a bridging loan for example or a new buyer might enable the chain to be rebuilt.

12.Proceed to exchange and completion

Once the chain has been rebuilt, you will finally be in the position to exchange and complete on your property transactions. It may have taken a little longer to get there but soon you could be moving into your new home in Manchester and looking forward to building a life in your new neighbourhood.

Know how to handle a broken property chain?

If your property chain has broken, we can help if you are looking to find a new buyer or are searching for a new property. We can show you our range of different properties in Royton, Tameside and other areas of North Manchester. We can also help with finding a buyer from our list of people actively looking for to buy in the area. Contact us today to discuss your needs in more detail.

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