Vendor wont commit to exchange/completion date

Madagascar

Hi All

Just after some advice from clear headed people as i am currently a little mad.
To cut a long story short we put in an offer and had it excepted in June. We were originally told that the house was being sold with no chain as the vendor had found somewhere else already. After our offer was excepted we were told that the vendor had now found somewhere else but that the offer had been excepted and was still no chain. So we get things moving. Fast forward to September and we are almost ready on our side and get told the vendor had had to look for something else but had already had their offer accepted and was having searches as cash buyer - still no chain.
We went to see our sols last week to sign the contract and we discussed a completion of this Friday to which vendor solicitor said no but could do Fri 4th Oct. Have had a call yesterday to now say that vendor sols saying they cant do 4th and they cant even do the week after and they wont even commit to exchanging contracts yet. I am so annoyed as we seem to be moving 1 step forward 2 steps back. To top it off we are being asked by our current LL to sign a 12 month fixed contract (which i have raised on this forum before)
I just feel lost and need some helpful advice as it seems nothing is going our way

LA_Bel

Hi,

It's a horrible situation, we were in a similar one recently. Our vendor kept suggesting completion dates then moving them back at short notice.

It's not an ideal solution but the only way we could get exchanged was to threaten to pull out of the sale. A few days later the vendor suggested a final completion date and signed.

You have to be ready to go through with the threat to pull out though, which is a tough decision. I found it helped to start looking at the property websites/estate agents windows, mentally preparing to be back on another househunt!

Have you looked into short term lets nearby just in case? They're generally a bit more pricey and it would mean moving twice but at least you wouldn't be tied for another year into your rental. Perhaps try the estate agent who is dealing with the sale, they know your situation and may have contacts in lettings?

Good luck! I really hope you get sorted.

penguingirl

You sound exactly like us 4 years ago- we'd seen a house beginning of June, potential move in date was August BH, ended up moving in end of October thanks to our vendor faffing around (divorce sale- not sure the wife was fully committed to moving out)

Us and solicitors kept chasing the EA/ vendors solicitors and nothing seemed to be happening, phone calls weren't returned etc. Me and OH ended talking seriously about pulling out, but decided it was only worth it if we'd found an alternative house (market was pretty sparse). We found another, had an offer accepted and popped a letter to EA explaining that we were withdrawing our offer due to the delays and another property. That got the EA in a spin and they said vendor was ready to sign. We ummed an ahhed before deciding we did slightly prefer House 1, so gave them 24 hours to exchange. They took 48(!) and we withdrew our offer on house 2. I do still feel bad that we messed house 2 around even thought it was only 'SSTC' for 3 days. We were also being pressured by LLs, but just refused to sign the new contract.

I hope you get it sorted!

Madagascar

Thanks both for your comments. At times likes this it is easy to forget that there are a lot of other people who have been and are in the same boat.

dancingfairy

Don't sign a new rental contract if you are thinking of moving. You will automatically move onto a rolling tenancy.
Best of Luck
df