Hi All

Well we’ve got to the point in our sale where our purchaser are due to sign and set a date for the move.
Price has been agreed a while ago, but today our solicitor has told us that it will be a reduced deposit. normally 10% non refundable is lodged with solicitors until completion.
They said the initial deposit from the fist purchaser in chain is basically passed on up the chain
Is this usual now due to house prices or is it unusual

No idea, but I wouldn’t be too chuffed.
How much lower is it?

You usually pay the 10% at exchange when the property becomes legally yours.

The 90% balance is paid on completion.

This is the deposit for the house, not for the mortgage

They said the initial deposit from the fist purchaser in chain is basically passed on up the chain

Doesn’t make sense… If you had a decent length chain the first house deposit of say 10% – £25k would be worth 5% of a £500k house

What are they offering %age wise? It should be enough to compensate the chain for their costs if they pull out

**mildly related anecdote content**

We had this, we were the first in the chain (ie first time buyers), and only had a 5% deposit. When it came to exchanging day we had a slightly panicked phonecall saying “err… You only have a 5% deposit?!” I said: “yes…?” They said “but your deposit is used all the way up the chain” as you say. I said “well you’re not getting another £13k anytime soon…”. It was absolutely fine. I don’t know the technicalities.

When we sold our last house we accepted an offer from a first time buyer with a 20% deposit. The guy was clueless. When it came to exchange he piped up that he didn’t realise he had to give his bank two weeks notice to get his money out so he couldn’t get his hands on all of the cash. He offered a reduced deposit – we were the middle of a chain of three, so ultimately it’s the top of the chain who makes the decision on whether to accept a reduced deposit. None of us were worried – we took the reduced deposit and there were no issues.

Thanks for your experiences, dont know what percentage deposit will be paid until tomorrow. We are the end of the chain, getting our money out before looking for a property.
worryingly we were held up initially by a gifted deposit, just hoping that mortgage checks are all above board.
already renting storage for our contents