Vendor changing completion date!!

JacksterGo

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

We are buying and selling a property at the same time, my buyer is a cash buyer and no chain. The house we are buying we were told at the time of offer that they were going into rented accommodation while they purchased land. So as far as we were concerned no chain and no hassle WRONG!!

One week before completion and exchange we have been informed that our vendor has no mortgage offer in place and no searches done!! We were stumped as we thought they were going into rented, on our fixture and fittings form they said they wanted to complete first week in May as they were going into rented and also stated they had no mortgage needed etc, so we are at a loss what is going on.

My estate agent says if they are tying both together it is a long process as getting a mortgage for land is more complicated than getting a mortgage for a house. As we have their wishes in writing and have moved quickly to achieve this date is their anything we can do?? I am so worried my cash buyers will change their mind and I will either lose the sale or need to move into rented accommodation or put my furniture in storage with 2 children!!

I feel so let down at the minute and dont know what was happening, I even had removals provisionally booked!!

HouseBuyer77

Did they state in writing that their sale wasn't linked to an onward purchase?

As you haven't exchanged I don't think there's much you can do from a legal perspective. Only thing you can really do is threaten to pull out unless the exchange and complete shortly.

Given it sounds like they're still moving into rented I don't see why getting a mortgage on some land (presumably to build their new house?) should be linked to this sale. Perhaps they want to make sure their new build plan is going ahead before they pull the trigger (perhaps what they want isn't actually going to work out financially so they're waiting for the mortgage confirmation before exchanging).

Davesnave

JacksterGo wrote: »

I will either lose the sale or need to move into rented accommodation or put my furniture in storage with 2 children!!

It happens. We regularly hear of vendors who say this and then change their mind.

If you really want this property, you may need to rent, instead of the vendor, in order to keep it all on the rails.

Whatever you decide, don't put the kids in storage; it's not their fault.

dc197

Yes, minds do get changed.

We were initially pushed by our vendors to complete by end of March (we were only told about this 10 days prior!). We hurried and were ready to exchange 2 weeks later. Then the vendors changed their minds and wanted a further 6 weeks until completion. Bar stewards - now we have a house with everything in boxes already.

Get clarity from THEIR estate agent, not yours, about what they are doing. Speak to your buyers to get a feel for their position (would they wait? You have assumed not, but better to ask).
Then take things from there.

marksoton

You've got no legal recourse but i'd certainly be making my displeasure very well known.

JacksterGo

Thanks for all your replies. Yes the proviso of the sale was they were moving into rented accommodation so no mortgage etc was needed and then one week before, boom this comes out the woodwork. Estate agent seems to have gone underground and getting no answers quick, if we are talking perhaps a week or 2 Im sure my buyers will be ok but seemingly its a long drawn out process getting a mortgage to buy land. Im so angry that they have done this when we are all ready to go!!

eddddy

You mention that you might move into rented to keep your buyer.

If you do this before you've exchanged on your purchase, remember that the sellers can still change their minds about selling to you.

So you might be stuck in the rented place for some time, until you find another property to buy.

Arthritic_Toe

I had exactly this happen to me. I went for a sort of stick and carrot approach.
I said I would really have to pull out of the purchase if we couldn't exchange, with a completion date in the next month of so (I'd viewed another property with vacant possession in the mean time, so this was genuine).
I offered an early completion bonus of 2K, as a 'contribution towards storage costs' if they could complete on the originally targetted date, or a bonus of 1K if they could complete at the original target + 6 weeks.

They went for the 2nd option. I was keen to keep the purchase price unaffected as a change would mean going back to the mortgage company and possible re-valuation etc, so it was listed on the completion contract as an early completion bonus - or something like that (which is exactly what it was). You could argue that by doing that that, I avoided some stamp duty - but only by a trivially small amount - literally a few quid.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

JacksterGo wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies. Yes the proviso of the sale was they were moving into rented accommodation so no mortgage etc was needed and then one week before, boom this comes out the woodwork. Estate agent seems to have gone underground and getting no answers quick, if we are talking perhaps a week or 2 Im sure my buyers will be ok but seemingly its a long drawn out process getting a mortgage to buy land. Im so angry that they have done this when we are all ready to go!!

Unless they are planning to camp on the land I don't see why this is relevant.

frugalsmurf

I'm confused. If they're buying land, I assume they still need to go into rented housing? So does it need to Coincide with your sale?

Has the solicitor etc confirmed you are waiting for that?

cloo

I just want to say never move into rental unless there really is some pressing reason you need to sell your house right now. I'm afraid that given how the conveyancing process is in England you need to think of yourselves first and not put yourselves out because you feel bad for other people or you're worried about losing a buyer.