Dilemma

Sorry what shall we do now? I suppose to hand over to solicitors to sort but I don’t know if this will now look too heavy handed.

Put your property back on the market....thats what I would do

Do you think they are stringing us along?

This is one of the stresses of buying and selling properties and something I hope never to have to do again.
I'm sorry but you don't have much choice in the English system but to wait it out, or decided to take the house of the market for a while and then hope for a new buyer.
This is the market I'm afraid.
I feel that pressing the buyers too much may risk them withdrawing, which they could do anyway.
The only other things you could do is campaign to get the laws changed...
Even though you seem to be in a hurry October isn't so far away.
When I bought this house I had to wait to move and pay extra rent on the flat I was in at the time because the owners had a holiday booked and wanted to move after this. I thought it must be a much anticipated foreign holiday they had wanted for years, but no- turns out it was a weekend in Blackpool!
It was very frustrating but I've been here eight years now...

You say you ‘are’ moving near your daughter - so have you already purchased the house or are you relying on the sale of this house to fund your next one ? If so, put the house back on the market. The vendors of the house you are hoping to buy, will not wait forever. Good luck !

The crux of the problem is that even if you agree to the October date (and can make this work with your purchase) you cannot be sure that come October you might not find them kicking the can down the road once more.

I can understand your concern that they have not responded to the agent. Could you ask the agent to contact them again and explain that if you do not get a clear reply there will be no choice but to put the house back on the market? Has your solicitor commented on all this?

From April to August is only 4 months. Our house sale took over 6 months (with plenty of stress involved), and house sales/purchases do seem to be taking longer and longer these days.

However, the buyers in your case do appear to be stalling, so I'd see if you can find out more information via the solicitors, and then decide whether or not to put the house back on the market. Good luck.

I suspect that they had already signed up for another 6 months on their rental as maybe their landlord would not accept any less.
From my experience if the potential buyers have gone quiet it usually means they are either having second thoughts or they are trying to delay the completion date to suit their situation.

We had a scenario where our buyers did not exchange on the agreed date but we had exchanged on our new property and were left in a very worrying situation. The buyers eventually exchanged and completed on the same day, which they had been told to do by their mortgage adviser, presumably because they had a problem with cash flow!

I would ask your solicitor to tell your potential buyers that you are putting the house back on the market as their dates don’t suit you. See what their response is.

Actually your estate agent is probably the best person to contact your buyers. . It’s in their interests to see this sale go through and they will hopefully be experienced at handling this scenario

Thanks for your responses.

Definitely stressful! We are concerned they do not seem to have the need to sort this out with compromise on both sides. We deliberately put the house on the market in April looking for July/August move, this was on advice from agents. The Solicitor said October is definitely not on. I believe if they pull out due to some questions and decisions having to be made then they are not fully invested. If they had reasons which are out of their control for not wanting to move until October then we would understand. The fact they don’t want to exchange a few weeks before is a concern as someone pointed out they called pull out at any time us having waited. Not responding to the agents is very 🤔. We have moved several times and we know how frustrating and stressful it can be. I want to make this less stressful for us and them. Ignoring my message when we were in a dialogue does not bode well. The agents are going to contact them again confirming our proposal.

Like extratime my first thought was that they have had to sign an extra six months lease in their rented accommodation.

But my second thought is that the market has stalled and house prices are dropping, and they have realised that they might get be able to get more for their money.

Whichever, October is not reasonable. If it’s the lease problem would you be prepared to help cover the rent for a couple of months?

This is where a good estate agent investigates, gets to the root of the problem and helps negotiate solutions. Put pressure on them. They can’t afford to lose sales at the moment.

We were stuck in a chain going nowhere till our estate agent found out that the first time buyers were short of £1000. The people at the top (it was a long chain) gave them a thousand and we all exchanged the next day.

They informed me they have to give two months notice.

Sorry, the other posts came in while I was typing. Didn’t mean to go over old ground.🙂

You are right they are stuck with their tenancy until October so I have just been informed by the agent. I do feel for them but I don't think our purchase will wait. Rental properties are like gold dust in this area so hopefully their agent will give them some leeway.

Get your solicitor to write to their solicitor with a deadline for the house to go back on the market. Also, text them yourself to say that's what you've done but you would welcome a conversation if they want to continue with the purchase.

Ok, practically. You want to exchange in July. Their tenancy is till October. That’s three months rent. £3000? Are you prepared to fund half of that to close the sale?
Exchange in the next four weeks a condition or it goes back in the market.Completion later.

Galling but pragmatic. Starting from scratch again could mean an even longer delay and no guarantees.

Rainbow24

Do you think they are stringing us along?

Definitely……..and to be honest I would be concerned that they might pull out altogether at the last minute because I suspect they’re considering an alternative property.

Lathyrus
Exactly! We nearly lost a sale based on a misunderstanding of how old our property was. Our estate agent sorted it out with our buyers and were very professional.

When our daughter was buying her house it was already occupied by renters and she agreed to pay the balance of their rent owed if they moved out by a certain date, which they did.

Rainbow24

Thanks for your responses.

Definitely stressful! We are concerned they do not seem to have the need to sort this out with compromise on both sides. We deliberately put the house on the market in April looking for July/August move, this was on advice from agents. The Solicitor said October is definitely not on. I believe if they pull out due to some questions and decisions having to be made then they are not fully invested. If they had reasons which are out of their control for not wanting to move until October then we would understand. The fact they don’t want to exchange a few weeks before is a concern as someone pointed out they called pull out at any time us having waited. Not responding to the agents is very 🤔. We have moved several times and we know how frustrating and stressful it can be. I want to make this less stressful for us and them. Ignoring my message when we were in a dialogue does not bode well. The agents are going to contact them again confirming our proposal.

The estate agents knew you would sell the house in 2/3 months?

Mmm... they seemed over optimistic didn't they?

If you put it back on the market I would go with a different agent...

I do hope some kind of solution can be found. The difficulty lies in the fact that we trust others to behave with the same degree of integrity as we would demonstrate only to be disappointed.

14 years ago, my first husband and I sold our family home to a local family, keen to live in the catchment area of the local primary school as their son was due to start school in the village in September. We succumbed to the pressure to move out ahead of a later date that would have suited us, only to learn subsequently from neighbours that they then spent four months ripping out the kitchen, Georgian windows and a bedroom wall before finally moving in the following January!

I'd be inclined to put your house back on the market until contracts are exchanged.

Rainbow24

Do you think they are stringing us along?

I’m afraid I do.
They may not actually have their mortgage in place, or work/jobs may be uncertain. Or they may be taking advantage of lower prices now, expecting them to go up in the autumn.
Back on the market then, unless they are willing to exchange contracts NOW with a date in 4 months time for completion. If they default then they forfeit their deposit .
I had to harden my heart years ago in a similar situation and said the house would go to the first buyers who came up with a contract and were ready to exchange.
If they are genuine but dozy it will wake them up , if not you are no worse off.

Lathyrus3

Ok, practically. You want to exchange in July. Their tenancy is till October. That’s three months rent. £3000? Are you prepared to fund half of that to close the sale?
Exchange in the next four weeks a condition or it goes back in the market.Completion later.

Galling but pragmatic. Starting from scratch again could mean an even longer delay and no guarantees.

Do NOT be tempted to part with money to close the sale. Better to walk away.
Another buyer will tun up.

The October date suits your buyers but it doesn’t suit you, so a compromise is needed, and if they have no room for manoeuvre or are unwilling or unable to compromise, I would put the house back on the market. As others have said, even if you are willing to wait until October for completion, there is no guarantee your purchasers will stick with the agreed date, or indeed, find another property they decide to buy instead. If everything is more or less in place for completion it seems unreasonable to drag things out until October.

When my daughter and her partner sold his flat to first time buyers, it took 6 months to complete. They told the buyers that they intend to put the flat back on the market and the sale was completed not long afterwards.

When I sold our overseas apartment to first time buyers, it only took 3.5 months to complete. Their system is different As soon as the buyers make an offer, they must transfer a few thousand dollars into my bank account. If they change their mind, they would lose this deposit.