Delaying Completion Date

ikeby

Hi, newby here but long time lurker. The advice on here has been invaluable, thanks. So can anyone suggest how to handle this.

I sold my house 8 weeks ago. Buyer (first viewer) offered under the asking price and when I said no, offered full asking price on the condition that I moved out at the start of May. They had sold and I was told their buyer was keen to move quickly. For me this means going into a friends flat for 8 weeks before I relocate and also paying my mortgage redemption of £1500 which expires at the end of May. They are well aware of these facts and I was willing to do this to secure full asking price offer.

We were supposed to exchange contracts today, now I am told that there is a delay in the chain. I need time between exchange and completion to organise time off work and removals etc so not in the position to exchange and complete on the same day.

Is it reasonable to say that I now don't want to complete until the end of May? I have been more than accommodating, signing all paperwork straight away and taking property off the market when offer was agreed.

I suppose I am now just a little frustrated and it is easier to stay in the house then put my stuff in storage and move in to friends flat. Many thanks.

adamzetec

ikeby wrote: »

Is it reasonable to say that I now don't want to complete until the end of May?

Let me direct you to your comment you made originally:

ikeby wrote: »

Buyer (first viewer) offered under the asking price and when I said no, offered full asking price on the condition that I moved out at the start of May.

Yes, it is hugely unreasonable if they made a condition as part of their offer to complete at the beginning of May and you are pushing back to the end. They may be in a situation where their tennancy agreement is up or they may have commitments along the same lines as your mortgage.

Dan-Dan

ikeby wrote: »

Hi, newby here but long time lurker. The advice on here has been invaluable, thanks. So can anyone suggest how to handle this.

I sold my house 8 weeks ago. Buyer (first viewer) offered under the asking price and when I said no, offered full asking price on the condition that I moved out at the start of May. They had sold and I was told their buyer was keen to move quickly. For me this means going into a friends flat for 8 weeks before I relocate and also paying my mortgage redemption of £1500 which expires at the end of May. They are well aware of these facts and I was willing to do this to secure full asking price offer.

We were supposed to exchange contracts today, now I am told that there is a delay in the chain. I need time between exchange and completion to organise time off work and removals etc so not in the position to exchange and complete on the same day.

Is it reasonable to say that I now don't want to complete until the end of May? I have been more than accommodating, signing all paperwork straight away and taking property off the market when offer was agreed.

I suppose I am now just a little frustrated and it is easier to stay in the house then put my stuff in storage and move in to friends flat. Many thanks.

Where in the chain is this delay ?

You need to sort yourself out and get moved if it isnt down to your buyer

societys_child

offered full asking price on the condition that I moved out at the start of May

and you agreed.

Totally unreasonable to want to move the goalposts now.

k3lvc

societys_child wrote: »

and you agreed.

Totally unreasonable to want to move the goalposts now.

Need confirmation from the OP but I read it that the buyer (or buyers buyer) is delaying and as the proposed completion date has now passed the OP wants to ensure they have sufficient notice of the revised exchange/completion dates to get time off work

societys_child

yeah, we don't know what the hold up is but I read it as the op wants to use the delay as an excuse to move completion date to the end of May as it suits them better.

florence4

Did you have a completion date agreed? If you were only due to exchange today, and you didn't agree to exchange and complete on the same day, then presumably it was something like 1-2 weeks from now? I think it's reasonable to keep the same interval - so if you agreed to complete a week after exchange, to stick to that.

Richard_Webster

The trouble is the buyers probably agreed all this without realising how much they had to do in terms of chain chasing. Information flow in chains is notoriously bad, mainly being lay buyers and sellers believing estate agents when they give out out if date and inaccurate/unchecked second hand information.

Up to you whether you tell buyers they will now have to wait - your argument is that they should have made sure that they could complete when they said they would. They will say they didn't realise about the chain problem. Your reply is that they should have asked and taken advice about it. They should, but sadly most people don't move that often so don't see the possible problems ahead, How hard should be with them about that?

ikeby

Thanks for the replies. We should have exchanged/completed last week but that was delayed. Now I'm told today that there is a delay with the buyer's buyer (but don't haveany details). It was the same that wanted to move quickly into mybuyers house and so my buyer asked for start of May completion. Iagree that the communication has been somewhat poor.

Being a single parent I need to ensure adequate time between exchange and completion to sort removals to storage before making a move some 200 miles away in July.

How do other people manage things like mail redirection with short timescales between exchange and completion?

At least the kids don't mind temporarily moving to a flat although I think I could do without the hassle now, live and learn! All this not to lose my buyer.

I admit I really begrudge paying the early redemption fee, especially as it is just nearly at the end of an atrocious five year fix. I'll be renting at first when we finally move so won't be able to take advantage of any refund if I take out another mortgage.