What should we do?

Ciderarmy1987

Hi

Bit of advice needed:

We were working towards a quick competition and had planned to exchange/compete on the same day (today) to speed things up. There is no chain in the same as we are FTB and vendor is leaving the country.

We are currently renting off a friend from work and have an "informal agreement" we have told him that we are moving out but know that he hasnt found anybody else to move in.

Over Easter weekend the vendors dad was taken ill and died last night.

We agreed on Wednesday to put back completion to the 26th but haven't exchanged contracts. We are unsure what to do now, as we dont want mess our landlord around, and don't want to end up homeless either. But on the other hand don't want to pressure and stress out the vendor in this very difficult time.

We really don't know what to do!

BitterAndTwisted

If your landlord hasn't found anyone else to move in yet, then you need to be absolutely honest and tell them what the latest plan is immediately.

japmis

The circumstances are out of your control, you should let your landlord know as soon as possible. Perhaps, as he is a friend, you could advertise the property for him and organise viewings to help him out?

Ciderarmy1987

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If your landlord hasn't found anyone else to move in yet, then you need to be absolutely honest and tell them what the latest plan is immediately.

We have told him that the date of competition has been pushed back until the 26th and he is ok with this, but we are worried about not having exchanged contracts yet and this maybe all falling through in say 2 weeks time.

ognum

Ciderarmy1987 wrote: »

We have told him that the date of competition has been pushed back until the 26th and he is ok with this, but we are worried about not having exchanged contracts yet and this maybe all falling through in say 2 weeks time.

I too would be worried, your vendor could have a complete change of circumstance following the death of his father. I don't see how exchange can cause him any stress since its a paper excercise by the solicitors.

I would suggest exchange as soon as possible!

Ciderarmy1987

ognum wrote: »

I too would be worried, your vendor could have a complete change of circumstance following the death of his father. I don't see how exchange can cause him any stress since its a paper excercise by the solicitors.

I would suggest exchange as soon as possible!

Yep, I know that there is one piece of paperwork that needs to be signed by them (an easement for rear access).

We are just worried that if we put pressure to get things pushed through it could cause the vendor to freak out and pull out of the deal. [we have already experienced them being relatively volatile over completion dates and survey results etc]

G_M

Sounds like your landlord is not the problem.

The vendor is an unknown quantity - impossible to advise. Without Exchange, you have no guarantees. All you can do is try to sound out the vendor as sensitively as possible either directly, via solicitors, or via EA - whichever seems most appropriate - to see if he still plans to sell, and in what timeframe.

Ciderarmy1987

G_M wrote: »

Sounds like your landlord is not the problem.

The vendor is an unknown quantity - impossible to advise. Without Exchange, you have no guarantees. All you can do is try to sound out the vendor as sensitively as possible either directly, via solicitors, or via EA - whichever seems most appropriate - to see if he still plans to sell, and in what timeframe.

We dont have a direct contact for the vendor, but i suppose that we could get that.

Which of the 3 do you think is best to go with: Direct, EA or solicitor?

We just really want to exchange then we can sit back and relax.

G_M

Only you can answer as you are the one who has formed (or not) the relationships with each.

ognum

Ciderarmy1987 wrote: »

We dont have a direct contact for the vendor, but i suppose that we could get that.

Which of the 3 do you think is best to go with: Direct, EA or solicitor?

We just really want to exchange then we can sit back and relax.

the problem is that for each deal I have done I may recommend a different route! you have to work out from the start the line of best communication, the one that everyone responds to quickly and that's different for every purchase or sale.

What is your relationship like with the EA? Can you drop an email to your solicitor and know he will come back to you the same day with an answer. have you established a line of contact with the seller, could you phone and say how sorry you are about his father and what is the best timescale given the circumstances?

Only you know which is the best route!

Ciderarmy1987

G_M wrote: »

Only you can answer as you are the one who has formed (or not) the relationships with each.

We have had little contact direct with the vendor, has mainly been through EA so I suppose that it is best to go through them then.

As ive said before dont want to come across as insensitive but also we need to look out for ourselves and get this sorted ASAP.

When do you think would be a good time to approach the EA? Is monday too soon? Should we give a time-scale that we want to exchange by?