House sale - what would you do?

Just give yourself a break. Sell the house to the cash buyer if definitely genuine, and rent a holiday place, putting stuff into store.

Once the house is off your hands you can relax a bit, and also have time to sort new house before you move. Only downside is paying the stamp duty.

I would give the cash buyer the opportunity to proceed, having first got the estate agents to examine the finances. One thing I do know is that you are not always told the hold truth by anyone when buying and selling houses.

There’s no rush now. Sadly the property you wanted is no longer available so take a breath.

Let this buyer know that you cannot complete before April at the earliest. It’s up to him them to decide if he will delay his sale or go ahead and rent for a while. There is no reason for you to be the person in the chain that does that, unless it is to your advantage in some way.

Renting and storage is expensive and, as you know which property you want to buy, will not benefit you in being able to make a reduced offer for cash.

Then reinstate the other viewings if you can and see what other offers are made. It’s perfectly acceptable for you to choose your buyer and have other viewings as long as you are transparent about it. You have to do what seems best to you, not be backed into a corner by what a buyer wants, particularly as a number of people are interested.

I hope all goes well ?

Do that; sell it and rent.
You can put all your possessions into store so it will all be sorted, ready for when you move in, plus you can supervise the building of your house and be on hand for decisions about finishings and fittings. My 72 year old friend, not in good health, did that because her house would not sell, then a buyer wanted it but wanted it immediately, so she moved at great speed, and lived with for several months, and survived, the son and daughter in law. She was also the buyer from hell with the construction company; needed to be, but it is all lovely now.

I'd sell it and rent ,then you can spend time planning your new home .Dont let it drag you down ,its just a different route to the same conclusion .If you're like us you'll have far too much stuff for your new place so this way you have time to decide what you really need to take with you .

I would go for the cash buyer if possible. I sold mine last year, first time buyers who told my agent their mortgage was all in place. I was buying an old empty wreck of a bungalow to do up, so only two of us in sale. Waited and waited for their surveyor to contact me, heard nothing after 5 weeks, so challenged them only to be told their mortgage was rejected! I had house off market and I had had another lady who had been interested but needed to sell hers and she had taken hers off the market cos I was supposed to of sold mine. I was lucky enough though as a cash buyer came along 2 weeks later and bought it and the sale went through in 5 weeks. I've bought, refurbed and sold 10 houses now and I do love a cash buyer, find a lot less hassle.

All gone pear-shaped really now.

Agent has established that buyer will be able to proceed very quickly - but now the house I am going to buy has been sold to someone else today - he had held onto it for me for months, but could not wait any longer - so I doubt whether my buyer will wish to proceed because my alternative purchase will not be ready till April, which is after the stamp duty holiday. No buyer looking around now will accept that.

I have 3 other potential buyers booked for Saturday - I guess I will need to cancel them.

If I sell to my current buyer (who will want to complete before end March) I will have to put my furniture in store and rent a holiday cottage or something while waiting for purchase of the alternative house.

I have no idea how to proceed now.

You’re paying an estate agent to sort it out - let them sell with it -they want the sale as much as you do. You have my sympathy -
I’m on buyers no.3 since March and have lost two properties! Have now found another which is tenanted and I don’t think the tenant will move out in time for my buyers (omg - what a nightmare our system is). Good luck hope all works out .

A tricky decision to make, without the aid of a crystal ball! All you can do is follow your instincts and hope for the best. Good luck. Moving house can be so stressful.
Nothing in house buying and selling is moving fast right now. Because of everyone wanting to take advantage of the Government’s concession, which ends in March, there has been a big increase in house transactions. What with that, Covid, and the Christmas break house agents, surveyors and solicitors are up to their eyes in work. My daughter is in the midst of buying/selling, and everything is taking an age.

I would set a date for exchange of contracts, not completion, Once you are exchanged the buyer is committed. The usual time to allow is 6 weeks.

Sleepygran
Sadly at the moment solicitors are estate agents are inundated with work. It's 'he who shouts loudest' I'm afraid!
Ask them what is holding up your completion, if they say anything ask when it will be sorted. Call them back the day before it should be sorted asking if it is settled. Call them, call them again, and again! I know it's a hassle but what's the alternative? You'll be paying them anyway at this stage. Get the service you are paying for after all YOU are their client.
Start asking for exchange dates to be put in place if nothing is outstanding. Once this us done at least you know there is some commitment from the rest of the chain.
I moved before Christmas so I do know how it can be and i am speaking from experience. If I hadn't pushed, I'd still be wondering why.

Phone the man with the cash and tell him if he wants the house to buy it now, as you have other offers.

We are selling/have sold our house subject to contract.
We saw the house we want and having recently inherited some money didn’t need to sell ours to buy the one we want.
We put an offer in at the beginning of October,but are still sat here waiting to move.the solicitors just aren’t getting on with it. So much so that the people whose house we are buying are talking about putting their house back on the market.
We have and are doing everything we can but nothing is shifting the solicitors backsides. You have my sympathy.
This is turning me into a sleeplessgran.

If these agents were acting for you during five failed house sales, I would change them.
They can't get financial details of the buyer who has made an offer , they don't have information about the prospective viewers; your current agent is useless but you stay with her because the firm is working with the builder of the house you want to buy, then the day you think you are able to make a firm commitment, that house is sold to a cash buyer. You have to instruct them to do everything.
They are stringing you along.

Sorry if this has been said: I'd accept the offer but still allow others to view (letting all know that there's been an offer accepted but viewings are going ahead) in case the current one falls through.

I recently sold a house as POA for a friend. I had 3 offers on or near the asking price. The estate agent set a day for final offers and I chose the one we felt most confidence in. I chose first time buyers at full asking price. That was September 3rd. Their mortgage was approved in principle, the estate agent checked the paper work etc, but there have been delays in releasing it. It is all a gamble but the estate agent is there to help. Wishing Luckygirl luck but I would go for the cash buyer. Your new home builder will wait as if you are a cash buyer he will be clapping his hands as mortgage approvals and delays are everywhere.

If you don't have a place that's going through, find out the time constraints the would be purchaser has, if any. You can always accept an offer, and change your mind if you have no where to go I know that isn't an ideal situation but accepting an offer has to be the 1st step. Your first commitment is to yourself.

Get your estate agent to tell the person whose made the offer a 2nd viewing is taking place on Saturday and they need to honour it.
Get them to also tell the 2nd time viewer that if they want to put in an offer it needs to be done on Saturday, as you've had a favourable offer already. This is not unusual practice with estate agents. Then they all know the position. You go with offer 1 if none are received after the 2nd viewing. Remember you are paying for a service from the agents, make sure you get one!

When we were moving, the buyer dropped out at the last minute. We had reached the point of exchanging with seller of our future house and I was desperate to buy it.

I promise I'm not exaggerating when I say I instructed Estate Agent to relist to CASH Buyer only and to obtain proof that money was sitting in future buyers bank account.

The following day we had a viewing with cash buyer and everything was completed within 10 days. Job done!

Cash buyers are the best ?

I feel your pain Luckygirl. We are in a similar position. We have a buyer for our house, they have a buyer for theirs, and we are buying in Scotland. We live in Lincolnshire.
Our problem is our own Solicitors. We need them to issue a letter to help expedite removal of a Restriction (on the Land Registry) to our property - and they refuse to do so. All the Vendors and buyers are retired, with no Mortgage - but each sale depends on the one before it. Take the definite offer, with proof that the funds are available, and set a date with your Solicitors by which completion MUST be agreed. Get a non-returnable deposit, too - as was previously suggested. Good Luck. I hope it all works out. We are at the end of our tether with ours! I will be putting in a formal complaint to our Solicitor once things have either been completed, or the sale falls through, whichever happens first!

Luckygirl

It is driving me nuts!

The property I wanted has just received a cash offer and the builder cannot refuse it. So here I am with a buyer for here, who (if I accept the offer) wants to move quickly and I may have nowhere to move to. The builder has another property which he is prepared to earmark for me, but won't be finished till April.

What a muddle.

Can you not accept the offer and rent while you’re waiting for the new house to be finished. At least with the money in the bank you’d be in a position to act quickly.

An estate agent should have proof of ready cash before an offer can be accepted, but if a potential buyer were required to prove cash status before any viewing, it could mean a potential buyer having to reveal their financial status to many estate agents while looking at various properties. I certainly would not like to reveal personal financial details until I found a property on which I’d like to make an offer.

We have juts been through this process eventually succeeding on the third buyer. What I would be very aware of is the huge delays in the system at the moment caused by the Stamp Duty holiday. Some people are in very long mortgage queues even if they have an offer in principle when they come to get that firmed up and then to get the money released there are severe delays - some mortgage companies are worse than others. Our buyer was with the Co-Op which was absolutely dire and on STOP rather than SLOW. LA searches and surveys are also bogged down in long queues. I would ask a lot of questions of any buyer about how likely they are to complete and in what timescale and then I wouldnt believe a word they say.

Break it down into steps luckygirl.

It’s not long until Saturday. The EA is still trying to get confirmation of the potential buyers true financial situation. It would also be good to know more about others in the chain too. If you want the other viewings to go ahead then it’s reasonable to do so. I think in your position I would if the EA hasn’t been able to clarify finances while insisting they also give you accurate information about Saturday’s viewers. It is reasonable to ask.

When we moved here our last home was sold before this one could complete. We understood the reasons and weren’t concerned. Furniture went into storage, we stayed with our son until we could access our bungalow. It was his idea, we had searched for and found a serviced flat we could rent on a weekly basis. We took clothes and boxes of paperwork plus things like a kettle and cleaning things ready for the next stage of the move. The rest was packed and stored.

Odd though it was it worked well and we look back on that time of being homeless with a smile. Could you do something similar if you need to? It’s important your next home is right for you so perhaps worth the wait for the builder.

None of this might seem sensible to you, so please ignore if that’s the case. The last thing I want to do is confuse you more. Wishing you well whatever you decide.

Hi, just been through something similar, we accepted an offer on the provision we would keep viewing the property, this kept everyone on their toes, also a cash buyer is a god send but might offer a lower price offset by no chain. Your estate agent should be advising you as they should know how far along the chain everyone is,