Is it possible to "drag out" the sale process?

WindyMiller_3

Hi All,

A accepted an offer on my propety one month ago. The buyer has had a survey done and ive instructed solicitors etc etc. Ive completed the SPIF and fixtures and fittings etc and returned to solicitor.

Ive sold to a FTB and im not looking to buy somewhere else, infact im temporarily moving back in with parents :eek:

I dont know yet when the buyer wants to move in (all being well with survey etc) but I dont want to move out just yet ... I would not like to move until at least another 6 weeks. This makes it a 10 week duration from offer accepted to buyer being able to move in.

Is this too unreasonable? I dont want to lose the buyer or appear too unreasonable but personal circumstances mean I wouldnt be able to move before then.

I was thinking of just saying what date I could do when dates are discussed. Im probably worrying over nothing as no dates have been discussed as yet but wanted to gauge what people thought about a 10 week duration ?

Any opinions anyone?

Thanks

Windy

:beer:

WindyMiller_3

I should say "I am looking to buy somewhere else - but after the sale has gone through - changing location".

clutton_2

10 weeks is not too long - you can delay returning stuff to sols, send it 2nd class, go on hols for a week. etc

foreversummer

clutton wrote:

10 weeks is not too long - you can delay returning stuff to sols, send it 2nd class, go on hols for a week. etc

Is that really fair Clutton?! I agree 10 weeks is not long but why not just be honest with your purchaser and if they really want your house they will wait -10 weeks is not a long time in the house buyer/selling game - honest! And at least you will both know where you stand.


Foreversummer

pawpurrs

Agree foreversummer. Best to be honest and above board. It is not all unreasonable and I should think it will take that long anyway.

Doozergirl

I think most of the stress involved in the process of buying and selling is simply not knowing or, especially, not being told what is going on.

10 weeks is not a particularly long time. I would be putting in the call now to let them know. On the plus side, you are giving them a pretty solid date to move in to their new home; they have to aim to get their conveyancing done by that time.

Whilst you can stall, most of the work is driven by the buyer and their solicitor will very quickly grasp if yours is stalling. Think how you would feel if you were buying and the vendor's solicitor was blatantly stalling - wouldn't you rather just know the fact that they weren't ready to move until x date than worrying constantly that they weren't committed to the sale?

Honesty is the best policy. Every time.

Oddgy

We have a similiar case, we accepted offer on our property last week of August. The buyers new we hadnt found a property and said they were happy to wait as they had found the house they wanted. They said they were prepared to wait a couple of months for us to find one.

As luck happens we then found a property 2 weeks later.

However we have since found out that if we complete before End of November, we will have to pay a large £2500 redepemtion figure...

so wat do we do?? Do we be honest with our buyers NOW or be honest in a few weeks time, so then by that time the End Of November doesnt seem that far away?

We cant complete earlier as thats too much money to loose, and in anycase, we cant afford it as we are at our max on the one we are buying. And therefore also arranged all our sums to enable us to afford it without this £2500 fee!!

From the day we accepted to the end of November that was 14 weeks, but now its only 9 weeks from todays date.

But i do try and think that they did say that they would be happy to wait a couple of months for us to find one, so with that timescale, it normally takes 8 weeks from finding one, so therefore if it had taken us the full 2 months to find one, then add the 8 weeks after that it, then the date would be further!!

However they are FTB, so maybe they thought the 2 months was to include the moving in date??
Baffles and worries us!!!!

furndire

Your might decide that they will pull - then you'll have a lot more time!

Doozergirl

Communicating with people works! Which house would I walk away from?

a) One whose vendor is open and honest from the start who can give me a firm completion date some time in the future, but the security of exchanging contracts early.
b) Someone who allows me to plan my life around a date that I've set in my head, only to continually delay exchange of contracts and then eventually gives me the true reason after weeks and weeks of being strung along.

Surely this should be a no-brainer for anyone going through the house buying process. How many of us have been stuck for weeks not knowing what's going on, when a simple explanation would suffice?

foreversummer

Doozergirl wrote:

Communicating with people works! Which house would I walk away from?

a) One whose vendor is open and honest from the start who can give me a firm completion date some time in the future, but the security of exchanging contracts early.
b) Someone who allows me to plan my life around a date that I've set in my head, only to continually delay exchange of contracts and then eventually gives me the true reason after weeks and weeks of being strung along.

Surely this should be a no-brainer for anyone going through the house buying process. How many of us have been stuck for weeks not knowing what's going on, when a simple explanation would suffice?

Never a truer word spoken, Doozergirl

I feel so strongly about this going through the buyer and selling process myself at present. There is so much anxiety, worry and uncertainty in the system we have. Solicitors and estate agents often create this, maybe unwittingly, but nevertheless there seems to be so much lack of communication between them.

If you can talk with your buyer/seller on a regular basis, be honest with them, make a friend of them even, they are much less likely to let you down, and the chain is much more likely to complete. And you will have a less stressful time yourself.

As Doozergirl says "Communicating with people works!"

AndrewSmith

Here's a scary suggestion.

Why not just be honest and tell the buyer the truth? At least then everyone knows where they stand.