House Seller threatening to pull out from the sale

parvatik

Hi,
We had our offer accepted on 23/Oct/12. We are FTB Buyers and its a vacant house.
I immediately got the HB Survey done within 10 days. A few issues (a structural issue as well) reported but valuation was almost the same as accepted price. I am happy to get the work done. I reckon it will take 1 month after completion to get it into a state where we can move.

Unfortunately we are due to go on a vacation (booked much before this process started) in mid Dec and coming back on Jan 7th
I have informed the estate agent of this and have suggested to the EA that I would like to exchange contracts before going away, however would like to complete after I am back on 10th Jan

Now he says that seller will pull out if not completed before Christmas. My argument was if i complete before Christmas I wont be in the country and also i wont be able to get ppl to do the work due to Christmas freeze.
All i asked was that completion be done in Jan 1st week.

Solicitor has started the searches last week. He has told he cannot confirm any dates until searches are completed.

Any suggestions from others who have been in similar situations.

becominganobsessivesaver

I'd stick to your dates. It's a buyers market and they would be highly unlikely to get another buyer able to complete in essentially 4 weeks (solicitors shut down over the Christmas break).

Ivana_Tinkle

They're being massively unreasonable. Either you can be honest and risk them pulling out or you string them along then just come up with some excuse at the last minute that delays exchange and completion by a week. Normally I'd advocate for honesty, but...

Shiny_button

Totally agree with previous posts.. how ridiculous if you have exchanged contracts how can it possibly effect them!
Stick to your guns!

Fire_Fox

Why are you negotiating exchange and completion dates via the estate agent and not your solicitor? That is where you are going wrong IMO, just wait until all the searches and contracts are done, then agree dates. It's completely normal to have up to a month between exchange and completion.

Hailstorm

Are you sure the ultimatum is coming from the vendor and not the estate agent?

It does sound a daft ultimatum as if you do not complete by the end of the year, the chance of finding another buyer who can is very small.

If you are discussing possible dates with the EA, then are you certain the EA is not putting you under pressure to complete this year to help them meet their 2012 sales targets giving them a nice bonus?

Your solicitor is correct that you cannot discuss dates when he doesn't have the search results. They might reveal problems, or things that require further investigation. You can only talk about dates when the searches are back and any issues or questions raised by them have been resolved or answered.

maninthestreet

Note that some solicitors take 2 weeks off over the Xmas/New year holiday period, not returning until the second week in January.

hazyjo

Are you even near exchange yet? Less than two months is optimistic at the best of times (the average takes around 3). Might be that you're not in a position to complete when they're demanding.

You do risk losing it, but, apart from cancelling your holiday (with the risk that you might not be in a position to exchange/complete anyway), there's naff all you can do if they won't agree to wait.

Jx

parvatik

@Hailstorm - i think you are right, the threats might be coming from the EA who wants to meet some bonus targets.
I know that vendor wants early completion as the property is vacant since the last 3 months and i reckon he might be paying mortgage. But i dont think he would go as far as pulling out.
So far I have been reasonable and told them if everything is in place i will complete before christmas, they say there is an option where my solicitor can complete even when i am not in the country , is this correct?

JimmyTheWig

Yes, I don't see that you have to be in the country in order to complete.

hazyjo

Yes, presuming you have signed the contracts before you go.

I've usually found there's a last minute something though and I've had to drop a document or money off to someone or other! I'd exchange a few days before going away if possible.

Make sure the EAs are well aware too re key collection as they'll need to hang on to them for a while (presuming keys are going to them obviously!).

Jx