[1]By Legal Futures Associate SearchFlow [2]
In the latest index, The House Buyer Bureau revealed that there has been a sharp increase in both the number of property transactions falling through in Q3 2022 as well as associated costs.
Their data showed that in Q3 of last year, 90,188 transactions are estimated to have fallen through and if this continues to rise in 2023, protecting your client’s cost is as necessary as ever.
Our new residential property search warranty known as Search Pledge [3] protects your search costs against seven specific risks, so if the sale falls through – your client’s costs are protected.
Search Pledge can be used to protect the seller or the purchaser of a property, using specific scenarios to confirm when they can be reimbursed for their SearchFlow search fees.
When will the costs be reimbursed?
Seller search warranty:
We’ll reimburse your SearchFlow costs if the seller pulls out because:
- The seller is not entitled to sell the property to you
- The seller accepts a higher offer (at least £1000 more) from another buyer, and you are unwilling to increase your offer
Purchaser search warranty:
We’ll reimburse your SearchFlow costs if you pull out because:
- The property is damaged between making an offer and exchanging contracts and the cost of that repair would exceed 5% of the property’s value
- Your mortgage lender applies a retention of 5% or more of the accepted price
- Your mortgage lender’s survey or valuation identifies necessary rectification work that costs more than 5% of the amount you first offered, or it values the property at less than 90% of the accepted sale price
- The searches highlight something that seriously impacts the property’s agreed value
- If you’re told you need to relocate or you’re made redundant, or you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness – we’ll refund the cost of your searches. This extends to any partner with whom you’re making the purchase who intends to live with you in that property
Don’t wait until it’s too late
The average cost of a property transaction fall-through is £3,337 – an increase of 18.7% on the previous quarter. Buying a house will be one of the largest purchases your clients will ever make, you can help make that process less stressful and worrisome by protecting their costs.
To order Search Pledge or to learn more about the offering, contact us today [4].