Vendor's vendor now wants additional month before completing

GMAD

Morning all

All parties had agreed to exchange this week with a a view to completing end of March. Then yesterday, the day before exchange, our vendor's vendor announced they want another month added to completion date. Out of order say us, seeing as we've (with young family) already served 30 days notice on our rental property.

I know anything can happen prior to exchange but I'd like to think that at least amicable compromise can be reached.

Vendors' vendor are moving into a rental property temporarily but it turns out they've not even started looking for somewhere. So one assumes they have no understanding of that fact that once they find somewhere, those people need to serve 30 days notice themselves.

Our vendor and ourselves are on the same page - basically livid. We have no movement due to landlord already having a tenant lined up for here.

Any suggestions from the MSE hive?

Much appreciated.

PS: yes, you can argue we shouldn't have served 30 days blah blah, but given what appeared to be a trusting relationship between those in the chain above us, we all agreed end of Mar for completion.

jbainbridge

Our vendor requested 2 weeks to arrange her rental.

Still, you shouldn't have ... blah blah!

Annisele

I don't think there are any options that you won't have thought of.

Somebody is going to have to go into rented/a hotel/to stay with family, regardless of whether you complete on your originally anticipated date. You're hoping it's the top of the chain; they're probably hoping it's you.

I think who budges is likely to depend on who most wants the sale to go ahead on time. If your vendor had their property on the market for ages before you came along, they might be willing to sell to you and go into rented themselves. If your vendor is confident they can easily and quickly sell to someone else, then they'll want to keep you as a buyer but they probably won't put themselves out to do so.

You don't absolutely have to move out of your rented home when you said you would - but not doing so would potentially leave you liable to pay compensation to your LL, and would certainly leave him and his new T livid with you. (That's why you shouldn't have...but you know that).

Does vendor's vendor's estate agent know about this? If an estate agent can see a chain disappearing (and their commission with it) they can sometimes put pressure on the relevant parties.

GMAD

Our vendor had their home on for a few months as two sales fell through. I know they don't want to go through that again, but at the same time they're understandably nervous about the situation. I don't think we can expect them to take the hit on moving into temporary accom as they've a young family (bigger than ours).

Their vendor sold within a month or so having had a couple of offers.

The latter are apparently looking to move into rented for only a short term (I imagine 6 months). There's a chance they could find somewhere already vacant and therefore stick to the original date. If not, then they should find somewhere else, put their stuff in storage and take the hit. If not that, then pay us the month's rent we're having to fork out for if we can somehow get an extra month here or find temp accom ourselves. All our parents are elsewhere in the country so we can't move in with them (both jobs are local here).

I wouldn't dream of staying here without permission. That is not an option.

Richard_Webster

All parties had agreed to exchange this week

How often have I been told this sort of thing!

Did Op talk to the vendor's vendor and get them to say that they weren't going to change their minds and the completion date was definite or did they rely on what someone else told them they had been told a few weeks ago?

Out of order say us, seeing as we've (with young family) already served 30 days notice on our rental property.

Why ever did you do that before exchange had actually happened?

Prothet_of_Doom

Through bitter experience, It's called a chain for a reason. It proves, time and time again, that you can not force others to do what you want them to do.

Put your stuff in storage, and stay in a b&B or with friends, or negotiate with your landlord over a later moving date.

QTPie

OP

To be honest, i do not understand: your vendor's vendor has two weeks before completion - that is enough for them to find a rental. Admittedly, when we were too of our chain, we stated "at least 4 weeks between exchange and completion" (when we accepted the offer) to allow us to secure a rental. Everyone was fine with that because the goalposts were clear at the start...

Is there something else going on? Maybe they have found somewhere and are in the process of buying themselves and are just trying to get extra time? This happened to our purchase (which was deprecate from our sale): vendor was supposed to go into rented, but kept delaying exchanged to get extra time to find and sort out a purchase.

Have you spoken to your LL/LA to see if they have re let your current rental home? If they haven't, then they may be very happy to extend by a month. Not ideal, but...

GMAD

Our vendor's vendor are definitely moving into a rental property and not buying. Yes, 2 weeks or so is enough should the right place turn up, so long as it's either vacant or somehow there is no 30 day notice etc. Or so I would assume.

Nothing else going on. Apparently they've not started looking, which in itself is a bit of a worry. Look at it this way: had we exchanged yesterday with a (written/contracted) view to complete on Mar 31st then surely they would have to compensate those in the chain should they not find somewhere in time?

Dan-Dan

GMAD wrote: »

Look at it this way: had we exchanged yesterday with a (written/contracted) view to complete on Mar 31st then surely they would have to compensate those in the chain should they not find somewhere in time?

They would have found somewhere , that`s why they didnt exchange yesterday...

pinkteapot

That's exactly why they want the extra month.

After exchange, the date is legally binding. They must vacate on completion day (or before) or the penalties are absolutely enormous.

They want to give themselves more than enough time to find somewhere. If they can't find a rental property in the period between exchange and completion then they'll have to vacate into temporary accommodation.

You're fairly limited on options. Someone has to back down. The trouble is, you don't really have anything you can threaten. You can say "original date or we pull out" but I'm guessing this isn't worth losing the house you're buying over.

Is it worth at least asking LL if you can stay an extra month - can he find out if his new tenant can wait a month? If they're someone who's moving out of home then they might be prepared to.

If you hadn't given notice on your rental property then this wouldn't seem like a big deal at all, just an annoyance. I'd be exploring whether there's any possibility of staying put for the extra month. Even if LL wants some compensation from you, it's going to be a lot cheaper and less hassle than finding temporary accommodation or taking out a new tenancy somewhere...

QTPie

Your vendor's vendor can locate and sign a rental property in a matter of days. To be honest, we did not start looking at rental properties until exchange (there is no point - until exchange, the sale is not certain), BUT I kept an eye on rightmove (ready to start ringing agents) AND we had already agreed "a minimum of 28 days between exchange and completion" (giving us reasonable time). When we exchanged on selling ( Thursday), we had signed a rental by the following Wednesday - all done!

A rental is not like buying a house: you don't hang around until the perfect one comes up - you take the best fit within your budget (which is available). You don't wait for people to serve 30 days: you take something thAt has come up and is available.

Your vendors vendor is messing about and either being very ignorant or very cheeky. However, someone has to compromise and it probably comes down to who is most worried about loosing the sale/purchase...