Who holds the house deposit

R

roker

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I have sold my house (deposit paid to my estate agent) and in the process of buying another house.

The estate agent acting for the house that I am buying has asked for 5 % deposit. Who holds the deposit for my house? can I use this for the deposit for the new house?
Or am I forced to take out a bank loan until I receive the full payment for my house.
Note there is no building society involved in either transaction
 
Re: Who holds the ohuse deposit

The estate agent holds it as a stakeholder until the sale is completed and can also use it (on your authorisation) as payment for their fees.
If you do require the release of the deposit for the house you have sold, you would need to confirm that contracts have been signed and a date set for closing. You can then request that the estate agent releases the deposit amount to you, and you can pay them their fees at this stage.
Do get some legal advice though.
HTH
 
Re: Who holds the ohuse deposit

the general rule of thumb when buying and selling is that everybody EXCEPT you - estate agent,your solicitor,the vendors solicitor gets to hold some or other portion of your money.
 
Re: Who holds the ohuse deposit

Thanks

It does not seem a good arangement when I have to borrow money because other have it

Roker
 
Re: Who holds the ohuse deposit

Oh yes, I agree.

But you do need to remember that withdrawals between deposit stage and signing of contracts are all too common in the industry. It's not unusual for some householders to have received as many as 3 separate offers and deposits on a property.

The reason that the estate agent retains the deposit is in case the proposed purchaser decides to withdraw from the sale. It is easier to refund the deposit from their offices rather than to go through a rigmarole of solicitors letters etc.

But overall a pain, without a doubt. If you have signed contracts though, the bank should have little difficulty in sorting you out with something - just talk to your manager.
 
Re: Who holds the ohuse deposit

eamonn66 said:
the general rule of thumb when buying and selling is that everybody EXCEPT you - estate agent,your solicitor,the vendors solicitor gets to hold some or other portion of your money.
Click to expand...

Yes - and there is a very good reason why the solicitor holds the deposit.
Just because the contracts are signed and the deposit has been paid, it does not mean that (a) the purchaser will be able to complete ( e.g. not able to get mortgage) in which case their deposit is forfeit and (b) that vendor is not able to (or will not) complete in which case the purchaser is entitled to have their deposit back. Far easier to get the deposit back from the solicitor than a vendor who may have already paid it out again.

mf
 
If the contract is signed with buyer of my house and they pull out, does the deposit not belong to me anyway.
 
It depends why they pull out - if its because of a fatal problem e.g. with title, they're entitled to the deposit back.

If its because of a problem that they have, you are very likely entitled to keep the deposit but a purchaser can't assume from day one ( payment of deposit) that the deposit is theirs. Too many things can go wrong until the sale completes.

mf
 
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