Help! From no forward chain to possible long chain...

shisslemopp

Hi there,

Wondered if anyone had any advice...

We're in the process of buying a house, we put the offer in because we were told from the beginning that there was no forward chain. The vendor was moving in with her daughter and at a later date she would be buying another house down in the west country. We accepted an offer on our house from a couple who are in rented accommodation, so no chain below us either. This couple offered because of the very short chain.

We have just been informed that the lady we're buy from is putting an offer on a house this week, and will be linking it in with her sale (our purchase). We're a little confused now and are really afraid of losing our buyers. We are all in the process of searches and surveyors already and now we've have this bombshell dropped on us.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? and if so, what was the outcome?

We really want this house, but I'm fearing the worst already (I'm such a worry wart).

Any advice or words of comfort would be great.

Thanks

spook

I think you need to put some serious pressure on your vendor here. You were promised no upward chain and you made your offer (and so did your buyers) on this basis. It sounds like moving in with her daughter would still be an option for her, so I would tell them her that you expect her to stick to her original agreement to do this or you'll go elsewhere.

shisslemopp

Yes this is what I've been told. I'm just a little reluctant to do this because she's an old lady, but then who am I kidding, she's moved the goal posts and it could cause us and our buyers a real problem potentially.

We're waiting to hear back from her EA at the moment, he was going to call her today to have a chat about it, as he only found out about it on Saturday. I'm guessing we're not going to hear from him today now!

Thanks for your advice

GAH

Exactly the same thing happened to me on my last purchase, we had buyers, and finally enough we were buying from an old lady with no chain. She seemed nice and we got on with her.

Half way through the transaction, we got a call from the agent to say 'our vendor has found somewhere now', and her made it sound normal just like we should accept it or something.

The vendor was supposed to be moving in with her son while she was finding something else. Again there was no reason for this to change.

I told the agent either the old lady moves out or we pull out. She moved out.

Richard_Webster

Has anyone ever had this happen to them? and if so, what was the outcome?

This kind of thing happens very regularly.

All you can do is point out to her that she has changed her minds and you could lose your buyers. Try to get her to agree to complete and move out by a certain date. Won't be legally binding, but she may feel more morally committed if she does agree this

At the moment you don't need to tell your buyers the whole story because it could all come good before they need to know.

shisslemopp

GAH wrote: »

Exactly the same thing happened to me on my last purchase, we had buyers, and finally enough we were buying from an old lady with no chain. She seemed nice and we got on with her.

Half way through the transaction, we got a call from the agent to say 'our vendor has found somewhere now', and her made it sound normal just like we should accept it or something.

The vendor was supposed to be moving in with her son while she was finding something else. Again there was no reason for this to change.

I told the agent either the old lady moves out or we pull out. She moved out.

It's really hard to have to be firm with them, but it's good to know you've been through this and it all worked out for you.

Thanks

shisslemopp

Richard_Webster wrote: »

This kind of thing happens very regularly.

All you can do is point out to her that she has changed her minds and you could lose your buyers. Try to get her to agree to complete and move out by a certain date. Won't be legally binding, but she may feel more morally committed if she does agree this

At the moment you don't need to tell your buyers the whole story because it could all come good before they need to know.

She's a very nice lady and I'm sure that when she realises that we'll probably loose our buyers if she starts serious delays like this, then she'll move out. We haven't got to exchange yet, but we'll speak to her agent and get him to put the pressure on her.

Thanks for your advice

hazyjo

People I was buying from tried this once and I went ballistic and said that was not part of the deal and that they'd agreed to move out, so that's what they should still do.

Grrrr. Very common, unfortunately. People sell with 'no onward chain', then start househunting once they have a buyer, find somewhere, and expect everyone else to hang on.

No way! Put your foot down.

Jx