FTB : Can we ask the seller to contribute towards rent in order to exchange early?

lolahippo

Morning everyone,
This is my first time posting on MSE so be gentle please!

We are in a bit of a pickle with regards to buying a house (we are FTBs). The sellers want to rush through everything as we are the 2nd buyers to come along - the previous buyer was an investor that 'got cold feet'.

We do not want to exchange until end of October to align with our rent payments as I don't think it seems logical to pay out in one month for a mortgage payment AND a rent payment. We made this clear to the sellers from the onset as we did not want to lead them on thinking completion would be happening straight away.

They have spoken to our solicitors and said that they want to complete by end of September, and have been really pushy.

So my question is: could we ask them to contribute towards our extra rent payment if we were to proceed with a September completion or is this a really cheeky big no-no?
I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinions or views.

Wyndham

You could, they could say yes or they could say no. But, before all that, I'd like to ask where you are in the process? Have you had a survey yet? If not, that may throw up various things which will delay the process (and the previous buyer getting cold feet may imply they found something on the survey?) Is your mortgage in place? As we're now on 13th September, completion by the end of September may be slighty ambitious for a process which is generally fraught with difficulties and delays (sorry to say it, you may as well hear it though).

Mr_Moo_2

It's not logical to pay out rent and mortgage, but in reality with so many variables involved in agreeing exchange and completion dates it's amost inevitable that there is some overlap between the two, so you need to budget for this. If the planets align and it all falls into place perfectly then you've saved some money. As W says, you can ask but you might not get. Good luck.

cattie

Personally if it were me as a vendor I'd say no as I would expect a buyer to have some contingency savings & it would alarm me that they were cutting things so fine financially.

But not everybody is the same & all they can say if you ask is either yes or no. Besides, holdups could occur which dash any plans for a September completion anyway.

DRP

cattie wrote: »

Personally if it were me as a vendor I'd say no as I would expect a buyer to have some contingency savings & it would alarm me that they were cutting things so fine financially.

But not everybody is the same & all they can say if you ask is either yes or no. Besides, holdups could occur which dash any plans for a September completion anyway.

^^ agree with this.

However your vendor may be more motivated to help you, so it is worth asking (although it may worry the vendor about how committed you are).

jackomdj

Could you not exchange earlier but with a long time between exchange and completion.

Once you exchange you are tied into the purchase (I know there are instances where it does not then complete) so that should put the sellers mind at rest, but if you put the completion date as you need then that fits with you too.

dotdash79

Could you push to exchange then leave a longer window between exchange and completion. also it's handy to leave a few days between moving and giving the keys back on a rented place so you can clean up and get the bond back.

HappyMJ

It's quite normal to pay both rent and a mortgage at the same time. Don't worry about it...it's a house for a long time so I'd just take the hit. You can ask but don't I would not expect the answer to be yes.

onlyroz

Having a bit of overlap can be a good thing - gives you chance to do any decorating and DIY jobs, e.g. putting up shelves, installing carpets etc, without having to trip over your furniture all the time.

martinsurrey

cattie wrote: »

Personally if it were me as a vendor I'd say no as I would expect a buyer to have some contingency savings & it would alarm me that they were cutting things so fine financially.

But not everybody is the same & all they can say if you ask is either yes or no. Besides, holdups could occur which dash any plans for a September completion anyway.

this may not be about being able to pay the extra, its about being willing too.

the vendor is pushing for thier choice of dates, and that will have financial implications for the buyers, so why shouldnt they contribute to it?

of course they could say no, but then the OP could refuse to complete befrore THEY are ready, and it becomes a game of nerves...

lolahippo

Thank you for all of your responses, I appreciate it.

We can financially afford it - but as martinsurrey rightly so highlights, we would complete at a loss just to cater to the sellers' needs if that makes sense.
We wanted to complete at end of October because our mortgage payment would be deferred (with interest) by a month, so we would have a month's overlap anyway of both properties to be able to sort through everything (tenancy agreement does not end until 3rd December).

I am a bit too scared to ask now in case they are mortally offended - it just seems silly for both parties to be worked up over completion dates, without coming to a compromise! We wouldn't take the pi$$ and ask them to contribute a whole month's rent payment, but a contribution of some sort would mean we'd be more willing to make a gesture of goodwill by completing earlier.