How long is reasonable for a vendor to find a property to buy?

Lovelyleese

Hi there!
I'm new so please be gentle
Need some advice as I'm getting into a right state about it.... basically we sold our house 3 weeks ago after 6 hellish months on the market (I do know that's not bad in the circumstances but it wasn't fun!).
Anyway, the day after we accepted our offer (from a 2nd time buyer with a cash buyer for their property) we found our dream house and put in an offer which was accepted :beer:.
However, 3 weeks on, the vendors are still looking for a property to buy. They say they are keen to move as they need to be close to a poorly relative and we have no reason to doubt this but time is ticking and I am worried we will lose our buyer. I'm not being horribly impatient - if I was a cash buyer I would give them as long as they liked but there are 2 lower links of the chain to consider and we don't know how many upper links as yet.
So, my question is, how long is reasonable? I thought 2 weeks was reasonable and since we took no time at all they can have our 2 weeks as well as their own....but.....what do you think? Our lender's survey was carried out on their property today and our solicitor is on the case. I have nudged the EA to sound them out about renting (not an option for us as there are 5 of us and it's just not financially feasible).
Advice from those in the know would be HUGELY gratefully received.
Thanks, Lisa

chickmug

From an agents (me) perspective this scenario is a pain in the rrr's as is can end in tears. Often the party does not find a home suitable and withdraws their house from the market.

Other times they dither and dither and the reason is they are NOT serious about selling. So if they don't find anywhere or get the bargain they were hoping for that is the end of it for them.

When we took instructions to sell we really probed what the seller would do to get the sale and nearly all agreed they would move out into rented or stay with family.

So my advice is detach yourself emotionally from this one as there will be another and get looking for it now. Then if you find somethwere you could go back to the first seller and lay the law down asking them to agree to go into rented?

RTNI

Hi Lovelyleese,

We were in a very similar situation to yours. We are FTB's and we found a house that we both really liked and was within our budget. We put in an offer after three viewings and the vendor said that they could not make a decision whether to accept our offer until they had found somewhere to move too; even through they told us they were prepared to rent until they found somewhere (but changed their tune). They too needed to move close to a poorly relative and were looking for quite specific accommodation within that area.

We waited for about 7 to 8 weeks months in total, calling the estage agent every other day for updates. I could tell that he was frustrated as he was encouraging them to get out and see properties that they had on the market as often as they could but it didn't seem to go anywhere. The property was either unsuitable or their offer was rejected. We ended up giving them an ultimatum, with 10 days to either accept our offer or we would walk away. We ended up walking away from it and while it was very disappointing (as the property ticked a lot of boxes for us) we realised that it was probably for the best.

I would agree with chickmug; there will be other properties and in our case we are buying a house literally round the corner that is equally as nice and are due to complete tomorrow. I should say that the other property is still on the market and "for sale"....

Lovelyleese

Well, it's now 5 weeks (today) and believe it or not, my vendor is STILL LOOKING for a property to buy!!!

According to the estate agent (who is getting right up my nose) they have looked at 30 or 40 properties, have been gazumped on one property and had a go at gazumping themselves but failed and now here we are, no further forward.

I tried to say that we would need an answer by last Monday (4 weeks) but I didn't get anywhere. I can't really threaten much because there simply isn't anything else for us to buy at the moment.

I keep asking the estate agent if the vendor would be prepared to move in with relatives or rent but he skips over the question (as he does with all questions). He promises to ring me with updates but consistently fails to do so.

Last Thursday I arranged to view the property again with my mum and was hoping to gauge the vendors' commitment myself at the time....but the agent turned up with a key to let us in and the vendor was nowhere to be seen. Can't help thinking this was all planned to stop me speaking to them. Whilst we were in the property, the agent showed me details for another property being marketed by them!! How's that for looking after their client??

I have spoken to my own agent and he says there is not a lot of pressure to shift coming from the lower chain and not to worry too much just yet, but this could just go on and on. What should I do? I feel so stressed.. :mad:

stanleyunwin

Threaten to withdraw your offer and be prepared to....they'll either agree to move into rented or obviously aren't that bothered about moving.

Sweetcaz_2

I feel your pain.

I recently sold my house to a cash buyer and on the same day had an offer accepted on our ideal home. The seller's have a sick relative (is this a code for something as seems a popular excuse?!) they want to move to be near to and said they would go into rented if they could not find something to buy.

Anyway 8 weeks into the purchase I rang their agent for an update regarding the property and he slipped into the conversation that they had now had an offer accepted on a house! Predictably a week later my cash buyer wanted us out or was going to withdraw from the purchase but my seller refused to go into rented as promised as they wanted to tie the sale up with their purchase now. This left me and my husband and cat and dog with no choice but to move in with family so as not to loose our buyer.

We did not want to risk losing our buyer as it had taken over a year to sell.

It is amazing how people tell you want you want to hear when they accept your offer but when push comes to shove and you are stuck between a rock and a hard place it seems to be no ones problem but yours!! It's highly unfair and unless you are willing to have your bluff called by threatening to pull out is pretty pointless so the system is a total joke.

After 3 weeks at my parents we still have no exchange date and patience is wearing thin but what can you do if, like you say, there is little else on the market to choose from.

I wish you good luck and hope you get some progress on this soon.

From a fellow stressed buyer, now at the bottom an incredibly slow chain!!!

ognum

My neighbour is over 5 months into looking for a property while there purchasers sit in rented waiting! Would you?

chickmug

Lovelyleese wrote: »

What should I do? I feel so stressed.. :mad:

You've already asked and I have already said.

So get on with laying thelaw down.

Or get on with finding a house where the vendor does want to sell.

PasturesNew

Sell yours, not in a chain ... and look at moving into rented yourselves. Less stressful.

23rdspiral

Lovelyleese wrote: »

What should I do? I feel so stressed.. :mad:

it's ok to vent here. i'm sorry you are in such an awkward position.

Lovelyleese wrote: »

I have spoken to my own agent and he says there is not a lot of pressure to shift coming from the lower chain and not to worry too much just yet, but this could just go on and on.

surely this is 'good' news? There is no pressure from below just yet. When there is pressure, then perhaps that is the time to move that pressure on up the chain? When we moved 6 years ago, it was the botton EA that chased the top EA, so that took out some of the personal worry.

the general advice seems to be to keep an eye for other properties, and to go and have a cup of tea.

gratefulforhelp_2

Is your solicitor/conveyancer no help in this?