Buyers driving us nuts - how to calm their nerves?!

pinkteapot

True; what you really want when selling is people who have owned at least one property before but currently don't own and so are chain free.

Lavendyr

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I'd bet a fiver that they're first-time buyers with the jitters. If you can bear to lay eyes on them, why not invite them round to their prospective new home for a cup of tea and a chat? A chat about how vendors who are fully committed to a move to a new home on the very near horizon are not terribly likely to willfully hold things up. Except in certain circumstances where they might feel they are being threatened and bullied for no real purpose except to annoy and alienate those who might want exactly the same things as they do.

This - really good suggestion. They won't necessarily know the ins and outs of the process and would probably feel very reassured if you could arrange this.

m0bov

speak to your buyers and get to know them!

hcb42

I agree, be easy on them, my colleague has just had a purchase go sour where the vendor played dirty right before exchange, having the jitters is a normal part of the process.

unsure

We were in a similar position with our last purchase but it was the vendor who was hassling everyone the whole time. Eventually we told the estate agent that everything was preceding as quickly as possible but we would not be rushed unreasonably. If the vendor wished to pull out before exchange and start again that was his choice. If he wanted the sale to proceed he needed to shut up and let people get on with it. If he continued to hassle we would pull out of the sale as we would not wish to deal with him further and would mistrust his motives for trying to rush things through. It worked. The sale went through from start to finish within three months.
People do get very anxious/suspicious during house sales, it's a stressful time for all. However, sometimes they just need to be given a good reason to grow up and behave themselves!

agrinnall

Of course, if they are FTBs they may be stressed because they have given notice to leave a rental property and may find themselves homeless if their entry into your house is delayed. Not much you can do about it if that is the case other than make sure you respond quickly to any requests from your solicitor, but it could help you to understand why they are more anxious than anyone else in the chain.

Racky_Roo

I had the same problem last year. In the end I told the EA not to contact me unless it was about something constructive and to stop telling me about the petty issues which kept coming up. They are paid to deal with this sort of thing and shouldn't be bothering you when you can't do anything about it