Are you worried about the time limit on your formal letter?
It is common practice for formal letters to contain a clause at the end to state that its terms should be accepted in writing within 5 working days, failing which the Offer/Written Acceptance shall be withdrawn.
What’s the reason for the time limit?
The reason for this clause is simply to prevent open ended transactions.
Imagine you made an Offer (with no time limit clause) for a property at a closing date but you were unsuccessful.
Say the transaction with the highest bidder fell through a few weeks down the line and you were the runner up.
How would you feel if you were to find out that your unsuccessful Offer had suddenly become successful but you had had an Offer accepted on another property meantime?!
Knowing that you were tied into purchasing 2 properties would make sleeping at night pretty difficult.
Time limits in Offers prevent this ‘double purchase’ situation happening.
Why? – because it is unlikely that a transaction will be concluded within 5 working days.
Offers are often made conditional on various events, such as the buyer being offered a mortgage and/or the sale of the buyer’s own property.
So, often, a Qualified Acceptance will not be issued until a suitable date of entry can be agreed upon between the parties. And the date will depend on when the mortgage offer is received from your lender and/or missives are concluded for the sale of the buyer’s property.
It can seem a bit like a Catch-22 situation but should you be worried?
Generally-speaking, these time limits are nothing to worry.
The intentions of the seller and buyer are still to sell and buy.
Time limit clauses can therefore be seen as unnecessary or pointless, but they do serve a purpose.
Why are they always ‘5 working days’ if this period is ‘unachievable’…?
Who knows? Tradition, perhaps?
The important thing to remember is that, if there were to be any reason to panic about the time limit clause or any other matter, your solicitor would immediately speak to you to discuss and put your mind at ease.
There is a reason why solicitors are very laid back about these time limit clauses: because they generally have no negative impact on a transaction whatsoever.
How we can help
If you have any queries about the steps involved in a conveyancing transaction for purchase or sale of a house or would like any assistance with any of the other services we offer, please contact us now on 01343 544077 or send us a Free Online Enquiry.
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