Vendor taken seriously ill on exchange day..

chacha5520

Just when we think nothing else can surely go wrong the unthinkable happens.

We have had a few hurdles along the way but finally found our perfect house and then a few more hurdles later (buyers wanting reductions after surveys, incompetent mortgage advisor, removal companies cancelling bookings at final hour and the worst of all sadnesses last week we nursed mil dying so we are in now in grief). finally we were sure to exchange yesterday and our vendor can't be reached. The lady had been the easiest of parties to deal with all along, has moved out of house, and we find out today that sadly she is in hospital and we think she is quite poorly:( all we know now is that we won't be exchanging today and until she is fit enough to give her solicitor the go ahead. Or she may pass away. Her solicitor has asked to see her in hospital to speak to a Dr and see if she is compis mentus. We don't know what her condition is and we really hope she recovers. And so we are in limbo. Trying to arrange our own parents funeral and not knowing where we stand on our move.

The stress of this moving lark is unbearable without the having to deal with a second if life's major stresses at the same time.

I know all we can do is wait but any advice great fully received.

G_M

Errrr... either wait and see or start house-hunting again.

chacha5520

Yes, that is exactly what our choices are and they are just awful for everyone involved. We are in limbo:(

We are currently waiting for a drs prognosis this afternoon. Seller moved out of house several weeks ago sonits empty. No idea whether to keep packing, call off removals....

Not knowing where we stand is so awful but not having anything practical we can do about it is also a nightmare.

Newly_retired

I feel for you.
When we were selling my mother's house, she suddenly went into hospital just before exchange and was unable to sign. The buyers waited till probate was granted and it went ahead in the end after a few months.
Fast fwd a few years, and just before we moved last year my MIL died. DH had such a lot to cope with, but it did not prevent us moving, at least.
I hope things work out for you.

chacha5520

Thanks newly retired, glad to hear it worked out for u in the end.

We are not going to hear anything today so looks like another weekend of worry. The thought of starting over on this awful home selling/buying journey from hell fills me with total fear. As for the thought of losing the house we love that is perfect in every way... its just lying there empty:(

moneyistooshorttomention

Fingers crossed for you. Hope it works out well.

hazyjo

Nothing should've been arranged/confirmed until after exchange anyway...

Went through a similar thing when buying a house with my ex. His dad was dying of cancer. My dad was ill with cancer (died within a year or so). Everything just happened at once. A couple of sales had fallen through, this one took five (LONG!) months as there was problem after problem.

The house was totally doomed for us. EVERYTHING went wrong there. I've never really lived in what I took to be an unlucky house, but that one just felt linked to tragedy. We also split/got divorced. Bad things happened there.

Either take it as a warning/lucky escape, or hang on!

But definitely don't do anything until you have exchanged.

Remember you can exchange and complete same day/within a day or two (obv Fridays aren't great as removals, etc may be booked up).

Good luck Hope it all works out the way you want it to.

Jx

chacha5520

So sadly seller passed away over the weekend:(

We have a family who the EA says still want to sell to us ASAP and their solicitor will request letters of administration urgently . There is no Will, and the lady got married a matter of weeks ago. She has children, sounds complicated.

Our buyers will have to pull out if they cant move into our house mid July (they would be homeless). We cannot either find a rental before then or afford to sell to them at the offer price agreed 4 months ago in an upward moving market. So they will have to pull out and we will need to re-market.

So, I guess we keep our hands in with our dream house to see whether probate moves along at any speed and at the same time we re-market our house and look for another purchase option at the same time.

How to sell a house which is to the brim with packed boxes and hardly 'dressed for sale'...

What a nightmare - you could not make it up.

BeansOnToast_2

chacha5520 wrote: »

How to sell a house which is to the brim with packed boxes and hardly 'dressed for sale'...

If its any consolation, the house we are buying (survey tomorrow) was brimful of packed boxes when we viewed it. It didn't put us off. In our case the vendors had put it back on the market because the original buyers were taking too long. That's when we stepped in.

I_have_spoken

There is no Will, and the lady got married a matter of weeks ago. She has children, sounds complicated.

TBH, I'd start looking again, the chances of that being sorted out in less than 6 months is small.

Better_Days

Oh dear OP
I feel for you

As you say you couldn't make it up.

Could the boxes go in the loft or garage?

I think you do need to prepare yourself for considerable delays if you want to hang on for this house. No will, a new husband and children sounds like a recipie for disaster. Could turn out OK, but there could be a lot of delays while everything is sorted out. The danger is that you will be strung along by the EA and not apprised if the family squabble and the winding up of the estate is delayed.