Completion date up in the air

chrest

We are moving house, 3 of us in the chain (FTB, us and our seller moving to rented).

We had all agreed on a completion date for 2weeks time, but have still not exchanged. I have received a call from my solicitors this morning to say that our buyers can no longer do this completion date and have suggested a new completion date for 5(!!) weeks time.

We aren't very happy as we just want to move and have started sorting out our home. Anyway spoken to my solicitors again this afternoon and apparently our sellers are kicking off big time as they have paid a holding deposit of a rental and if they dont paid the full deposit by end of the month, they will lose their holding money and the property so they are saying we have to be completed by end of month.

Our buyers solicitor has said the reason for the completion date being put back 3weeks is because our buyer are in rented and havent handed in their notice yet (assume they have just or will imminently be doing this). They say they cannot afford to pay mortgage and rent for the overlapping time, so cannot complete on agreed date.

Our seller also cannot afford rent and mortgage running at same time too.

Argghh, not sure why buyers havent served their notice on rental in sufficient time (maybe due to their solicitor still raising enquiries so maybe didnt wanna commit to serving notice!??).

However I'm not sure where we will all go from here. Obviously one of them are gonna have to back down and pay rent and mortgage overlap , and tbh I think it should be buyers as their the ones that have created this situation. Although this issue cannot be resolved by us, but is there anything we can do to help a quick decision be made on who is going to back down??

anselld

Probably unfair, but it seems your sellers will be the ones to back down since they have the most to lose.
Frustrating though it is, nothing you can do except wait and see.

flora48

What a stressful time for you. Hang on in there and get an exchange. We had similar problems when my buyer's buyer decided to swan off to India for 6 weeks before completion we did, however, manage an exchange before he went so we were all legally bound. The delay has cost us thousands in extra VAT on the renovation, fuel costs etc.
Unfortunately I don't think anyone can be made to bear the costs as until exchange nothing is binding.
The English legal system is flawed on property transactions, we are all at the mercy of someone else's whim till exchange. My relative received an ultimatum on Friday, £40k off or no sale. Non negotiable!

G_M

No one should be buy/selling without some contingency money. There are always unexpected costs. I can't beliive a couple of weeks overlapping rent/mortgage is beyond anyone.

timmyt

chrest wrote: »

We are moving house, 3 of us in the chain (FTB, us and our seller moving to rented).

We had all agreed on a completion date for 2weeks time, but have still not exchanged. I have received a call from my solicitors this morning to say that our buyers can no longer do this completion date and have suggested a new completion date for 5(!!) weeks time.

We aren't very happy as we just want to move and have started sorting out our home. Anyway spoken to my solicitors again this afternoon and apparently our sellers are kicking off big time as they have paid a holding deposit of a rental and if they dont paid the full deposit by end of the month, they will lose their holding money and the property so they are saying we have to be completed by end of month.

Our buyers solicitor has said the reason for the completion date being put back 3weeks is because our buyer are in rented and havent handed in their notice yet (assume they have just or will imminently be doing this). They say they cannot afford to pay mortgage and rent for the overlapping time, so cannot complete on agreed date.

Our seller also cannot afford rent and mortgage running at same time too.

Argghh, not sure why buyers havent served their notice on rental in sufficient time they wont serve notice until exchnage as you could pull out and yet they'd have given notice to be homeless (didn't your agent tell you, or your lawyer (maybe due to their solicitor still raising enquiries they wouldn't have to if you had a conveyancer that actually vetted your papers for possible issues before they send them out. the chepaer conveyancers (most) never bother...which is so annoying as if they had your sale would have shot along so maybe didnt wanna commit to serving notice!??).

However I'm not sure where we will all go from here. Obviously one of them are gonna have to back down and pay rent and mortgage overlap classic first time buyers in rented, this crops up so foten, they'd rather lose the deal than pay both payments , and tbh I think it should be buyers as their the ones that have created this situation. sounds like the chain did not do their homework and think about the need for your buyer to give notice Although this issue cannot be resolved by us, but is there anything we can do to help a quick decision be made on who is going to back down??

good luck OP

Annisele

chrest wrote: »

Although this issue cannot be resolved by us, but is there anything we can do to help a quick decision be made on who is going to back down??

Actually the issue probably *can* be resolved by you. If you offer to pay the FTBs rent for a month or so that would likely smooth things along.

Whether or not you want to do that is another issue!

I have some sympathy for your FTBs - I'm renting, and (when I do finally find somewhere to buy) I don't intend to give notice on my current flat until I've actually exchanged on a new place. That's because I have no intention of making myself homeless, and if waiting means I have a bit of a mortgage/rent overlap so be it.

I agree with the analysis that your sellers probably have the most to lose, and your buyers the least. But if the person with the most to lose happens to be you, then you should at least consider a sweetener to the buyer (subject to your solicitor's agreement).

Richard_Webster

As TimmyT says we never advise FTBs who are renting to give notice until exchange. Many do and then we are stuck with panics because they do so before everything is ready.

It is all about communication in chains and this is still bad. Unless the FTB's solicitors (1) knew their clients needed to give notice on rented and (2) communicated this up the chain, nobody would have known, but equally the people further up were unwise to make assumptions about when completion was likely and to hang everything on obtaining a particular rental property.

We keep trying to get people not to make assumptions about timescales and dates but they just don't listen.

kingstreet

Compromise needed here methinks.

Find out how much your buyer's rent is for the month and all three of you agree to go thirds on it.

You all get to move when you would like and everyone chips in a bit, the universe in balance once again.

80schild

We had the same! Our seller dragged out the process for 5 months-taking forever to return any documents my solicitor asked for. Then when they were finally ready to exchange-our buyer said they needed longer (I think cos they had expected completion never to happen and had bought other property as they were BTL investors).
We have neded up finding a new buyer who can complete quickly but our seller is moaning that she wants the house sold asap which is a bit rich IMO considering it was her who held up the process for 5 months which is probably what caused problems with the origional buyer!

Put your house back on the market and see if you get a buyer who can complete quicker in the mean time!

kingstreet

80schild wrote: »

Put your house back on the market and see if you get a buyer who can complete quicker in the mean time!

Exactly!