House purchase/sale chain question

Slouching_wolf

Hi all,

Apologies if similar has been posted before, but I've scrolled through 50 ish pages and not seen anything similar.

We had an asking price offer on our house which we accepted on Wednesday 29th July. They person buying ours explained that they wanted to move quickly because her buyer was pregnant and wanted to be in by the end of September. We said this would be a very tall order and made no promises or guarantees (backed by the estate agent) but said we would go as fast as we could. She seemed to accept that and say perhaps mid October would be fine. ( I still think that it hugely optimisitic!)

Anyway, so we went out property searching straight away, found somewhere we liked and had on offer accepted 1 week later on Wednesday 5th August. I explained to the agent our buyers requested and she seemed fine with that.

Since then, we've had the memo of sale for both sale and purchase & we've filled in and returned the sellers pack. We've also submitted our mortgage application (should find out any day now the final outcome) and had the survey completed and report sent for our purchase.

However, our vendors are still no closer to finding anywhere. When I have spoken to the agent she has said that they have a very narrow search, just looking at a number of roads in a specific area and she will update when they find somewhere.

We are starting to get a bit anxious now and thinking about upping the pressure. I've worded the following email to the agent & would like to know your thoughts (see below). We are really keen on this property and are serious buyers. We have also offered asking price for the property and according to the agent, they are motivated to sell. I just want to know whether or not the email below is reasonable or not , or whether we are just being impatient.

"Assuming the vendors still have not found anywhere, and knowing this could still take a fair amount of time (which we fully understand, as who wants to rush the most important purchase of a lifetime!), we are asking if they would be able to break the chain to allow our purchase to go through, if they still haven't found anywhere by next week? Although I fully appreciate a completion date by the end of September is highly unlikely, our purchaser (and theirs) are moving forward quickly. Our vendors are holding up the chain and we are not willing to start searches etc until we know they have found somewhere or knowing they will be prepared to move somewhere temporary so we can move in. We do not want to lose our buyer. We have been offered full asking price for our property which we weren't expecting & because of this we have been able to increase the amount we could purchase. If we lose our buyer, we will most definitely will have to pull out of X Road, and everyone will be back to square one. If they are not willing to break the chain (perhaps stay with family/rent for a while as ideas??), then we will have no option really but to continue our property search. There are two other properties we are keeping an eye on which have no chain, which are possibilities for us. I appreciate we have already paid for a survey, however losing £200 is nothing in comparison to losing a few thousand on our house sale.

We just need to know their position and what they are / aren't willing to do, so we can make some final decisions ourselves."

Thoughts??

davidmcn

Slouching_wolf wrote: »

If they are not willing to break the chain (perhaps stay with family/rent for a while as ideas??), then we will have no option really but to continue our property search.

Why can't you rent for a while?

Sedge123

As a seller if I had this sort of pressure applied I would tell you where to go. We were in your sellers position and there was no way I would rush into a purchase because our buyer wanted a fast sale for whatever reason. I think it would be far better just asking if they would be willing to break the chain by going into rented (but be prepared for them to say no) or you go into rented as suggested.

Slouching_wolf

Renting is an option for us yes, and we did consider it before making an offer on the property in question. However, we are worried about interest rates going up and have secured a good 5 year fixed rate. Plus renting would be for a minimum 6 months, the cost of which is the same as a mortgage payment (for a 2 bed) or higher for a 3 bed. We would much prefer buying again, to cut all this out.

It seems the vendors have a very narrow search, consisting of just a few named roads. They could be searching for a very long time and in that time, we could obviously lose our buyer and be back to square one again.

I don't want to be unreasonable, but how long is about right before asking these sorts of questions? Weeks? Months? At what point is long enough?

I am new to this, we are selling for the first time and don't know what the rights and wrongs are really!

blueblazer

Seems a bit heavy handed to me - it isn't their fault you need to move quickly. If my buyer sent an email like that, I'd tell them to forget it especially if I want a specific house which might not be available right now. I guess it depends on how much you love the house.

Slouching_wolf

It's not their fault, no. But we did outline our position when we made an offer and they didn't come back with any issues or challenges....

What if a specific house they want never becomes available? What if it becomes available after Christmas? Are you saying as buyers you would be prepared to wait and wait and wait?

We just want to know the score, so we can make a final decision as to whether we continue to wait or whether as suggested we go into rented or continue our search elsewhere.

Our buyers put the same pressure on us, but we never told them to forget it. The reason why is because they made their position known upfront and we accepted the offer knowing that. No different to our vendors.

G_M

Might work.

Personally I would not be pushed into buying somewhere I was not 100% happy with just to speed things up, or move out to rented or family for an indefinate period, or indeed anything else.

I would instruct my agent to politely but firmly say 'no'.

blueblazer

If you don't ask, you don't get I suppose. It is a game of poker. Is your buyer going to pull out after all the effort they have done if it drags into December? Are you going to find a house that you like as much? If not, surely you will have to rent. I'd have thought even if they find a house next week, it will drag on as the next people will need to find somewhere etc.

Slouching_wolf

Our buyers buyer is pregnant , due in November & wants to be in our buyers house in plenty of time. They are the ones putting the pressure on. No idea whether our buyer will pull out of ours if our vendor doesn't move quickly. The whole thing is just so uncertain isn't it.

There is a house we like, chain free in another part of the town. The house isn't as nice , but the area and schools are a lot better (we have a near 3 year old, so good schools are a must). Part of me feels tempted to to pull out and go for this other property.

ARGH decisions!!

2Sheds

Our buyers set a deadline of end of August, now since it ain't going to happen they're happy to wait.

getmore4less

You got a buyer for yours without having a place lined up.
buyer wants a quick sale.

You then go find a house in the same situation just adding to the delays.

Should have found a house that was looking for a buyer because they had a place lined up.

As soon as you want to sell you should be working both sides of the chain from the start, you don't wait for a buyer before going looking.
you shortlist potentials till you are ready to make the next step and revisit.