Buying a house when the seller is picky!!

Jessy1990

Hey first time poster so apologies if this is somewhere else.

My boyfriend and I are first time buyers who have recently had to pull out of a buy 10 weeks in due to issues with the house (still very upset about this). We lost about £1000 in fees so we are gutted.

We are living with his parents currently and they really want us out now so we've managed to find another lovely house and had our offer accepted on Friday. However the seller has yet to find a property and said she is picky.

Naturally I'm worried about this and confused about what to do next.
Do we need to wait until she finds a property and becomes a part of the chain before we recommence sorting out the mortgage and paying for searches? Or can we risk paying for these to get the ball rolling?

How long can we wait before get twitchy about nothing happening? They have a nine month baby but the wife had mentioned possibly renting so we can go ahead but her husband wasn't so keen. How long before I could approach this again without being too cheeky?

It's difficult to know what to do. We need to be out the in laws house sooner rather than later but at the same time I don't want to rush the seller and annoy them!
Any advice would be brill

Doozergirl

Don't start any surveys or searches until they have found somewhere!

Don't even consider them renting. They won't do it. People say things without really meaning it - if the husband is already not keen, it isn't going to happen. Moving house once is bad. Twice with a young baby is a nightmare.

Keep your eyes open for other houses, just in case.

HappyMJ

A week. I'm not one for patience when I need to be moving out ASAP.

If you need to be out sooner rather than later then rent a property for a year or two.

Renting isn't that much more expensive than buying especially in the short term and you don't want to be rushed in to buying for more than the property is really worth.

After 6 months you can give one months notice to a landlord to end the tenancy which should be just a little longer than the time between exchange of contracts and completion which is normally a week or two. That'll give you plenty of time to sort out the new property out painting what needs painting and moving your stuff in.

I don't think they'll rent with a 9 month old baby and then move again when they find a house to buy so they'll string you along for as long as possible.

kinger101

Agree 100% with everything doozergirl said. Knowing they're picky, I'd still be looking at other places, particularly anywhere being advertised with no chain.

On the plus side, at least the seller has been honest with you about this.

Jessy1990

We have just moved from a rented flat to our in laws before our other house fell through so we probably won't move again. My in laws won't kick us out but they are just getting twitchy.

I noted that next doors house has come to the market so I might take a peak at that but I really do love this house!

The seller is looking for a property that probably doesn't exist, she's that picky. Her house was on the market for two months before we put our offer down and her EA have mentioned she's been a bit to casual about finding anywhere so it's annoyed me a little.
We made it very clear on our 2nd viewing that we are keen to move and they said it wouldn't be a problem so I'm not sure what's actually happening haha

OK well I won't put any monies down that's that cleared up

AnotherJoe

Keep looking and ignore the stuff about moving into rented, they may even mean it but its way more hassle than most realise so when they look in detail they forget that. Don't spend anything until they have made an offer thats been accepted. Don't fall in love with this house.

Hoploz

Wait before committing any cash, and keep looking elsewhere.

I would add though, that the seller may well have been casual about finding something else because until she had her property sold there was little point. Your offer will make her pick up the pace.

agrinnall

Doozergirl wrote: »

Don't even consider them renting. They won't do it. People say things without really meaning it...

Seems a bit judgmental, and provably wrong, because I did exactly this. Of course, the circumstances in this instance mean it probably is less likely to happen, but I'd rather take people what people (not Estate Agents obviously ) say at face value that assume they are lying to me.

kinger101

agrinnall wrote: »

Seems a bit judgmental, and provably wrong, because I did exactly this.

One does need to be judgmental in these situations though. If they mean what they say, they ought to have something lined up within a few weeks.

Having been on the wrong side of the vendor "willing to move into rental" before, for me properties are either chain free or not now.

DRP

kinger101 wrote: »

One doesn't need to be judgmental in these situations though. If they mean what they say, they ought to have something lined up within a few weeks.

Having been on the wrong side of the vendor "willing to move into rental" before, for me properties are either chain free or not now.

Yep, me too. Don't fall for it.

Ours even said they had relatives to move in with (so presumably relatively hassle-free), but still didn't actually go through with it.

AnnieO1234

Your seller might be lucky like we were; the only thing that could've improved our home was it being in Manhattan! It ticked every single box and whilst we weren't looking at buying out forever home we managed to. That said my best friend was gazumped, duped by probate and then finally on the third property they paid money out on had it drag along due to building consent issues finally completing almost a year later.

I wouldn't spend any money out with the info you've been given. Tell the seller you aren't going to pay for searches etc until you have a complete chain. Look around, don't be tied to the seller. The pieces will fall as they will xxx