How Long do I give my Seller?

dave_fallow

I've agreed a purchase on a house; had my offer accepted on 3rd October last year.

I am no closer to moving however as my seller is STILL to find an onward purchase. I have no property to sell and am chain free. It is now 19 weeks since we agreed the deal and the property had been on the market for a couple of months when we viewed, so I presume the vendor has been searching for probably about 7 months now. I was prepared to be patient as we love the property but it just feels like its getting a bit silly now. I've been chasing the estate agent every couple of weeks and I keep being told that the seller is interested in a couple of properties and considering putting in offers. But nothing ever comes of it. They have also ruled out vacating and moving out of our way.

Is this sort of wait common and has anybody else experienced this before? I love the property too much to just give up and walk away, knowing that she could find somewhere next week and sell to somebody else. There's also very little on the market that compares. But completion feels like a pipe dream at the moment. If anybody could suggest possible negotiating tactics that may kick start things, I'd be really grateful.

pcgtron

If I were you, depending on how much you 'love' the house, put a time frame on your offer. If nothing's happened by then, pull out and find somewhere else or this will drag on and on

Jenniefour

Not sure there are any tactics that might help move things forwards - other than letting the EA know that this is going on a bit too long now. What I would be considering is the date the mortgage offer expires, assuming you are needing a mortgage.

And if you're in an area where the market is 'hot' your vendor could well be experiencing difficulties trying to buy for themselves, although there is nothing in your post to indicate this might be the case.

Does the EA think the vendors really want/need to sell? If they're not so motivated to move then this could go on and on - and you could end up with them deciding they've decided to stay put. Happens occasionally.

Feel free to keep your eye on what's coming on the market that you might like equally well.

HelenRachel

We're also FTB so have nO experience. That said I'd keep me eye on the market in your position and maybe even have a few viewings. I'd also ask the vendor for a completion date and exchange date. I know they are still looking but they may also end up in a chain waiting for someone else to find somewhere etc so as previouse posters said your mortgage has an expiry date, this maybe a good exscuse to get them moving. Short term or a 6month rent may also be an option for them

Good luck!

eagerftb

Try and get them to agree to an exchange with a longer completion 3 months or so. It might work out. Once you exchange contracts atleast you dont have to worry about sellers selling to somebody else.

Wyndham

I'd give them a time limit, or say you'll walk - then walk if you have to. It doesn't sound as if they are in a hurry to move, and you may find even when they have found somewhere, there are then lots of further delays. I'm not sure I'd have waited this long.

DRP

tell the ea you are looking elsewhere ... and start looking ( i assume yo have been looking after all this time ?)

7 months is too long

cattie

I'd start looking elsewhere now as you have no idea how long you could be waiting & could be letting other possible houses go by.

One of my friends had her house on the market & accepted an offer & told buyers she had still to find somewhere. A few months down the line the buyers pulled out as my friend still hadn't found anywhere. She then accepted another offer from a young couple & history repeated itself with buyers eventually getting fed up & pulling out as she could give no indication of when the sale would actually progress.

My friend is still in her house 18 months later & had her house taken off the market shortly before Christmas, as she now isn't sure what she is looking for is out there in the right road at the right price.

If vendors are not willing to consider going into renting then I'd question their dedication to the sale.

maninthestreet

After 4 months, I would say the seller has no real desire to actually sell their property.

koneko

We are in a similar boat at the moment. We put out offer in in October too, although a bit later in the month. We are the 2nd buyer our seller has had as they lost their last one when one of the buyers got made redundant. When we put our offer in, the chain was complete as our sellers had a property lined up to buy with offer accepted (which was no chain) but that fell through a couple of days later.

Our sellers then went on holiday a week later and ours dreams of everything moving quickly fell apart from there really. The agents have been good about calling every couple of weeks but there has been no progress and we are keen to move quickly. The agents keep saying that our sellers are really motivated and really want to move, but we are not seeing this reflected in the updates.

jackomdj

We put an offer on a huse and after two months told the EA to tell the people we were going to buy from that we were going to look elsewhere unless it started to move, they were not prepared to Kev into rented and seemed in no rush. Although we weren't selling our property we were moving from we had a lady ready to rent it.

In the end we bough a nicer house two doors from the original one, almost three years later and they still gave not moved.