Am I being too pushy?

lozzaj83

Hi All,

I am a first time buyer and we are in the process of purchasing our first property.

We found a house and made an offer on the 28th October - all of the paperwork was completed by myself and the vendor at the end of November and we were both told that we would look to exchange the week before Christmas.
However, the property that we are moving into (let's call them mr and mrs x) - their onward purchaser (Mrs W) has pulled out of her purchase due to structural problems.
I know that this can sometimes happen and it delays a situation, however her survery was completed at the beginning of November.

Mrs and Mrs x are of course just as frustrated as us and want to move however Mrs W is dragging her feet. She is only looking at 1 property every other week and the estate agents are not very quick to up date us.

The dilemma we have is that we took out our mortgage offer on a help to buy scheme which from this provider won't be able to extend after 31st March.
We were promised some more information by the end of Jan which we still haven't received.
How long should we wait are we being too impatient? They have approached the subject of Mrs W going into rented but we haven't heard anything back!

Any advice would be appreciated!

SmlSave

I don't think you are being impatient at all.

I would tell the estate agents that you are going to pull out if exchange doesn't take place by a certain date, you don't have to stick to it if you really love the property but it may get Mrs W moving.

Otherwise there's not much you can do

DRP

I wouldn't particularly blame the EA for not updating you - it doesn't sound like there is anything to be updated about at the moment!

Presumably you have exhausted questioning via the ea/solicitor. Give them a deadline to answer your questions about them moving into rented.

If nothing comes of that, I would start by telling them you are going to begin looking at alternative properties. No point in actually pulling out (or threatening it) until you find something else...

Prothet_of_Doom

I would use the phrase, "forced to pull out", rather than anything else. I'd also be investigating other lending options post March 31st

Personnally unless I HAD to move and I was Mrs W or Mr and MRS X, there's no way I'd move into temporary accomodation, even if it meant loosing my only buyer (You).

Why ? Because what happens if I can't find the house I want, and house prices rise? What happens if I get made redundant, and can't get the mortgage for my next house?

Doesn't help the OP, but it might help if you see it from the other side of the coin.

DRP

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I would use the phrase, "forced to pull out", rather than anything else. I'd also be investigating other lending options post March 31st

Personnally unless I HAD to move and I was Mrs W or Mr and MRS X, there's no way I'd move into temporary accomodation, even if it meant loosing my only buyer (You).

Why ? Because what happens if I can't find the house I want, and house prices rise? What happens if I get made redundant, and can't get the mortgage for my next house?

Doesn't help the OP, but it might help if you see it from the other side of the coin.

Agree, it entirely depends on their circumstances as to whether they can/will move into rented.

kingstreet

It sounds like you have two motivated purchasers and one unmotivated seller.

I suspect the Ws will simply withdraw their property from the market if a lot of sabre-rattling starts.

Sadly, some people only put their property on the market because one particular property becomes available and when they find they can't have, or no longer want that, the search for the holy grail begins.

lozzaj83

She has had her property on the Market since April 2013. So she is keen to move.

Surely looked at the rented option would put you in the perfect position for an onward move?

I know it's a pain - but I disagree that she would let 2 purchases fall through for the sake of pulling out altogether when she has been trying to sell for so long?

DRP

lozzaj83 wrote: »

She has had her property on the Market since April 2013. So she is keen to move.

Surely looked at the rented option would put you in the perfect position for an onward move?

I know it's a pain - but I disagree that she would let 2 purchases fall through for the sake of pulling out altogether when she has been trying to sell for so long?

the point is, no one can predict their reaction (unless you have additional information), so no logical arguments from people here will be of much use...

Renting is problematic because it costs to set up (time to find a place, fees, moving etc) and usually you are committed for 6 months - which, if you find a place to move to before 6 months, you will have to pay rent+mortgage.

I personally wouldn't move out to rent unless i was very very desperate.

sonastin

There is nothing you can do to force Mrs W to move - that is entirely out of your control. You have 2 options here... sit back and relax and wait for things to play themselves out. Or take control of the things thare are in your control, namely where you buy. If Mr and Mrs X are content to wait on Mrs W and you want to move quicker, start looking for other places to move to. It's the only thing you can actively do as everything else is dependent on others.

As others have said, ultimatums and empty threats are pointless as Mrs W and/or Mr & Mrs X might prefer the sale to fall through than jump to your timetable. And April 2013 isn't a long time to be waiting to move - there's a house near me that has been up for sale since 2009!

Prothet_of_Doom

lozzaj83 wrote: »

She has had her property on the Market since April 2013. So she is keen to move.

Surely looked at the rented option would put you in the perfect position for an onward move?

I know it's a pain - but I disagree that she would let 2 purchases fall through for the sake of pulling out altogether when she has been trying to sell for so long?

My experience is that faced with too much pressure, most vendors will take the house of the market, and decide it's too much hassle.

This happened to me and my wife twice, on 2 houses in the same road. Apparently, both eventually ,moved about 2 years later.