Advice please, seller delaying exchange!

Madagascar

Hi All

I have lurked on MSE for a while but this is my first post. I know that this topic has come up before but was wondering if anyone had any advice on what we can do.
We had our offer accepted early august, got the mortagage approved 4 weeks later, everything going ok. Last week we had a call from our sols saying she wanted us to come into the office to sign the contracts as we are ready to exchange. Me and DH went in on wednesday and signed and were told that they were waiting to hear back from the sellers sols to confirm the date for completion which should be Thurs 18th. Sol said she would call later that day to confirm and we would then need to transfer deposit etc. We waited and heard nothing, next day chased sols who said sellers sols still awaiting to hear from their client. Have called again today still no response from sellers. I am now getting a little annoyed as in the beginning we were told this would be a quick sale as the sellers were moving away due to work and there was no chain but now when it comes to the final hurdle it seems they are not playing ball.
I was just wondering if anyone had any helpful advice about what we can do. I have called the EA and he said that he would try and get in touch although he did let slip that they had, had an offer accepted on a house last week - I thought there was no chain!!!
Sorry rant over

Winkle1908

Was the house marketed as having no chain?

How do you feel about the fact that you are in a chain? What is your position etc, are you FTB can you be flexible on the exchange/completion date.

You need to decide whether you are happy or not being in part of a chain, you don't actually know that the chain stops with your sellers buying that house it could go on and be much more long winded than you anticipated.

I personally would speak to your solicitor/EA and get confirmation that they are trying to sell/buy at the same time and challenge this. I would set the buyers a timescale to work towards if you are happy with a chain or if not id give them 1 week to exchange and advise that you will be pulling out.

We sold our house as no chain and then found a property half way through the sale, we categorically decided against trying to convince the buyers to enter into a chain because we were worried we would lose them.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

hazyjo

I had sellers try that on with me once just before exchange. I told them where to get off... All you can do is be firm and stand your ground. They might well be delaying things with you where they can, trying to claw back a few more weeks in order to rush things through, or spend less time as being 'of no fixed abode'!

I bet they come back saying they want a month between exchange and completion...

Bear in mind, it could end up taking the average 3 months. As above, if you're not happy to wait, tell the EA and that you want them aware of the fact you know about the chain. If you threaten to pull out, you really have to mean it though!

They will probably panic at the thought of losing you, as it's obviously taken them a long time to find something they want to buy - I hope they won't want to risk losing that!

Jx

Ivana_Tinkle

We had a similar situation to this with our last move. It seems to be quite common. You need to get back onto the EA and find out what exactly the position is. You need to know:
- are your vendors willing to rent/move in with friends so your sale can go through, or are you stuck waiting for the whole chain?
- how many properties are in the onward chain?
- where is each sale up to? (EA needs to speak to all the other EAs up the chain and find out where they're up to)

When you have all the info, it's up to you whether you're willing to wait or whether you threaten to pull out unless they exchange now. It depends to some extent where you are and how much of a buyer's market it is in your area but obviously if you pull out then the whole chain collapses anyway, so you do have a lot of leverage - it's up to you.

For what it's worth, in our case, the ongoing chain delayed our move by two months. It was awful at the time but forgotten the moment we moved in and I'm glad we waited.

go_cat

Give them a date you want to exchange by or you will pull out

Madagascar

Hi All

Thanks for all the replies, yes the house was originally marketed as 'No Chain'. I have just had a call from the EA and Sols and they have just informed me that the seller has changed their mind and has decided they do not want to sell at all.
I am so annoyed as the EA mentioned that the sellers had come to see them last week as they were struggling to get finance for the property they had offered on so the EA had stepped in and negotiated a lower price with the builder, the EA also said that last week the sellers were having a 'wobble' (his words) about continuing with the sale but he was trying to persuade them to continue. He also stated that the sellers had stated that they were having difficulty finding a place to rent which is why they were now looking to buy. A lot of this does not make sense to me!
I feel very angry that we got all the way to the final hurdle before the sellers decided that they no longer wanted to sell. Why couldn't they have sorted out their finances before. :mad:
Now all we are left with is the sols bill and nothing except bits of paper to show for it.

Richard_Webster

it is a total pain when people do this and not much you can do.

For what it is worth, it is a good idea when looking at property to ask the owners why they are selling. If they give inconsistent replies or say things that don't make sense, then they are more likely to mess around later on because they don't know what they are doing or can't agree between themselves.

hazyjo

I feel your pain - been there myself a couple of times. Horrible, isn't it. Really hope you're back on these boards soon saying OMG it's the best thing that could've happened, we found an amazing house...

Good luck. Fingers crossed. Try not to stew too much. From experience, I know how destructive it can be.

Jx

andy.m_2

oh dear, I feel for you.

NeverEnough

Horrible, been there ourselves years ago - seller led us up right up the garden path, we had movers booked, electrician ready to install alarm system, money spent on organising fitiings, curtains etc, even had a moving date. Seller kept reassuring us they were very flexible and would move to rented if their own place was not ready on the moving day. Then the exchange hiccup happened and they vanished, just as yours did- when I realised, I cut the losses and pulled out, seller wailing that her 10 year old granddaughter was "upset" about the move so they thought they would wait a "little bit longer". Cost us all our solicitors fees and wasted searches etc. should be some sort of legislation to stop this behaviour by a seller, as it happens all too often.