Vendor hasn't found a property

firebird082

One of my colleagues waited 6 months for her sellers - it was pretty stressful, but she's really happy with the house, and it did all work out in the end...

glasgowdan

We're in the same position - had an offer accepted, the sellers haven't got anything yet and we've put a provisional date on the offer (or sooner). We're still on the house hunting market though as I know their position cannot be relied upon.

nickcc

We moved into a rental property for six months as the cottage we were buying was being used as a summer holiday rental, our buyers would have pulled out if we had kept them waiting the nine months it would have taken if we hadn't rented.

LittleMax

We waited on last house we bought back in 2001/02 - it was about 6 months from offer to completion. We initially thought things would move quite quickly as they said they had found a bungalow to move to and had already had a buyer who had been unable to secure mortgage. It was all put across to us as it was back on the market as they wanted a quick sale and as long as we matched their previous offer they wanted to proceed with us as we were first time buyers.

We set the ball rolling on solicitor, mortgage, searches straight away, this was early September and we were confident we would be in well before Christmas.

Then it became apparent they didn't have a bungalow to move to and were still looking. They eventually found somewhere and we were still optimistic of moving in for Christmas. But we were then told that they had had a serous illness in the family and we were told they would not be moving that side of Christmas.

Our dilemma was that if we pulled out the market was rising quickly and we would have to pay more for anything similar. We really wanted that house so thought it worth waiting. I don't think we considered that they would up the price or pull out altogether - they did seem genuine about needing to move to a bungalow, they were elderly and slow and came across as the sort that would not be dictated to by youngsters!

We finally completed at the end of February, same day as an identical property 4 doors away which had come on the market after we had had our offer accepted - they paid 10% more than us. So all in all we are happy that we waited patiently and let them move at their pace.

Would I do anything differently - no I don't think so, with that particular couple. But I think a lot depends on your gut feeling on what you are being told.

phoebe1989seb

We waited six months for our vendor when buying a house a few years back, not because they had to find their onward purchase - they lived in the US - but for the four tenants to leave

It was a private sale, one of only three houses of that design (a Victorian detached) in the area and the property had been divided into four flats in the 1950s. We really really really wanted that house and sold ours to buy it, having lost out on the one next door the previous year.

Ultimately we completed on our own sale and moved in with my parents for about six weeks - our stuff went into storage - as two of the tenants refused to leave and had to be evicted.

Funnily enough, early on in the process our vendor threatened to withdraw from the sale - he hadn't been planning on selling - as he thought we weren't serious (he couldn't have been more wrong) after he drove past our house and saw no 'for sale' board' - some idiot student from along the road had set fire to it!

Got there in the end though!

kinger101

For anyone at the bottom of a chain, my recommendation is;

(a) don't spend any money until a chain is complete;
(b) keep looking for chain-free properties, and if you find a better one, buy that instead.

When you looking for somewhere to live, it's always worth finding out vendor's motivation for having their property on the market. If they absolutely need to move before the new school year, they're likely to be pragmatic when finding an onward property. If it's a couple retiring and having a vague notion about moving somewhere miles away they know nothing about, then they'll be happy to string people until they finally figure out what they want (which might end up being staying put).

Chocolatefund

Yup. Waited two months for my vendor to find somewhere. Kept my eye on the market in the meantime.

Then the vendor had their offer accepted on an empty property which was done up by an investor. Said investor wants completion as soon as possible Things have progressed pretty quickly so far. Looking to complete by the end of June.

Sometimes these things happen for a reason.

PLQueen

Unfortunately we were the ones who kept our vendor waiting.

We saw the house in May last year but weren't quite ready to get ours on the market. A week before ours was put on the market that house sold, I was disappointed but just thought it was not to be. After a month ours sold and we hadn't found anywhere else. After another month we were still comparing houses to the one that got away and couldn't find one we liked. The house next door to the "one" came on the market and I got straight in there to see it but it didn't compare so was ruled out. Then a few days later the estate agent called to say that it looked as though it would be available again, did we want it? Um yes please!! (After taking another look of course)
Anyway 2 months later our buyer pulled out on us, this was 3 months after we'd accepted her offer so I was mad �� and devastated at the prospect of losing our house. The vendors said they would wait, but not if it went into the new year, or if it did they would have to think about the price they'd accepted from us (later I realised that this was probably the estate agent saying this and not actually them). We had real trouble finding a new buyer but eventually did in January. We finally moved in March and I am so happily sitting in that house right now.
However, I felt so bad the whole time for our vendors who were waiting for us, I was constantly worried thinking that we could lose the house at any moment but the one thing I did was keep in direct contact with the vendors to keep up the good feeling.
When we got the opportunity to buy the house and had gone around to look again I felt that they liked us and a couple of days after losing our buyer I put a card through the door explaining how devastated we were and also how grateful to them we were for waiting. I'd put my e-mail address in it and within an hour he'd messaged me and said they didn't want to sell to anyone else so hoped it all worked out. After that we stayed in touch and when we found our new buyer we went around again and they were so lovely. After that we were in regular contact and are still on very good terms with them.
In the end it worked out and I was overwhelmed on the day we moved in but wouldn't like to go through all that again.
My advice is to you is to just make sure that you are happy and comfortable that they are serious about moving and selling to you. If at any point you don't feel like this you may need to think again on it. Also, keep ur eye on what else comes on the market - just in case!

m88bett

One of my colleagues waited 6 months for her sellers - it was pretty stressful, but she's really happy with the house, and it did all work out in the end...