Vendor taking forever - any similar experiences ? What would / did you do?

thethirdbar

Hiya,

We (FTBs) had a (full asking price) offer accepted on a property on 2nd Jan.

Our Vendor still hasn't found their onward purchase.

I finally received an email from the Vendor yesterday in response to my last request for an update (which was a fortnight ago - i've chased him 3 times all in as didn't want to be too much of a pest - but we were starting to worry he'd forgotten about us... !). He said that they've looked at lots of properties and are still looking and do still want to sell but haven't had any offers accepted yet and would understand if we decide to pursue other options. He did ask if we'd like to schedule another viewing too as as it's now so long since we saw the place ! From the context of the email it sounds a bit like their budget doesn't match their wants - which doesn't especially help me feel their purchase is imminent.

We have started looking elsewhere but to date haven't found anything we like as much as the one we're buying. It's a pretty straightforward terraced house but it has an extended kitchen/diner which most of them don't and would certainly cost us too much to put in an extension ourselves. It's also completely move-in-ready, the only work needed would be decorating to our taste (well... subject to survey anyway. But there was nothing to flag any alarm bells when we viewed), rather than anything *needing* to be done. So I feel like every house I view I'm measuring against this one and they're falling short.

I am getting fed up of waiting though and am conscious that even if by some miracle they have an offer accepted tomorrow, we're still at the bottom of the chain and potentially have to then wait for the next vendor (and the next and the next... eek!).

We lined up a solicitor when the offer was accepted (instructed not to commence yet), have an AIP in place from Nationwide but haven't yet progressed to full mortgage application (as the lovely helpful MSE forums advise not to spend money till the chain is complete! thanks guys) - we haven't actually spent any money on this house yet so could pull out with little financial pain.

I know it's a pretty personal decision that we have to make ourselves but I'm just curious as to other peoples' similar experiences (from either perspective - selling or buying) and what you did, whether you waited it out, how long did it take in the end, did you make the right decision, etc etc.!

S x

Cakeguts

I think that the fact that they have told you that they will understand if you look for something else tells you that they are not going to find something quickly. I think it will depend on how long you want to wait.

nicmyles

You don't need to pull out. Just keep looking at other properties. Some might say you shouldn't do this, but if they've kept you hanging on for three months with no movement, I think it's totally fine.

If you find one you like as much or better, put an offer in and if it's accepted pull out of your current purchase if there's still been no movement by then. But be aware it might still have been quicker to complete on your current purchase - no-one can know how long any property transaction is going to take, sadly!

AnotherJoe

There's no point in you retracting your offer if you haven't found anywhere else especially since your vendors havent made any rash promises such as moving into rental.

At some point they will go overnight from nothing to having had an offer accepted, and as you haven't found anywhere else yet, you'd gain nothing by pulling out now.

So keep looking perhaps more in earnest than you have been.

moneyistooshorttomention

How long have they made you wait so far? Days, weeks, months?

If they've made you wait more than a couple of weeks - I'd agree that you keep your offer in on this one - but it would be their choice/fault that you'd kept looking for another one.

I think many people looking for an "up the ladder" type house are trying to keep all the advantages they already have and gain some further advantages as well. My suspicion is that second/third/etc buyers are probably the "fussiest" of the lot.

ReadingTim

The only thing which would properly motivate them is the knowledge (or fear) that you'll drop out as a buyer, and any other buyer they find won't offer as much as you have.

So, if the local market is slow, and/or you're willing to walk away, you probably have the upper hand. But if the local market is buoyant, and/or you haven't seen anything better, you probably don't.

But regardless of who (in theory) has the upper hand, the other side could bluff. And if that's the case, what happens if that bluff is called? If you want to be in charge of the negotiations, then take charge, hold your nerve, and call their bluff. You'll get a decision, but it might not be the one you want. If you don't, then you probably have to just suck it up.

ThePants999

ReadingTim wrote: »

The only thing which would properly motivate them is the knowledge (or fear) that you'll drop out as a buyer, and any other buyer they find won't offer as much as you have.

And since they've already basically said "walk if you want", that isn't much of a fear for them.

I'd be tempted to ask what incentive they'd need to move into rented.

JayZed

I was until recently on the other side of the fence - we accepted an offer from our buyers in early January, but then we took two months to find a property to buy (because we needed to live in a specific area and there weren't many suitable properties on the market). After just two months our buyers were starting to get a bit impatient - not surprised that you are feeling this way after more than three!

We were very keen not to lose our buyers as we'd already had a sale fall through late last year. Despite that, I don't think there's much that our buyers could have done to change the situation - we weren't willing to be pushed into buying a place that wasn't right for us, and we certainly weren't going to consider moving into rented accommodation - far to much disruption, complication and cost. So if it had come to the crunch, we probably would have had to let our buyers walk away.

Incidentally, once we did find a place (fortunately with no onward chain)and had an offer accepted, we had our mortgage offer in place and our survey completed within about ten days, so that we could move things forward as quickly as possible. (Of course, the conveyancing is now dragging on interminably, and we are all waiting impatiently to exchange...)

dunroving

JayZed wrote: »

I was until recently on the other side of the fence - we accepted an offer from our buyers in early January, but then we took two months to find a property to buy (because we needed to live in a specific area and there weren't many suitable properties on the market). After just two months our buyers were starting to get a bit impatient - not surprised that you are feeling this way after more than three!

We were very keen not to lose our buyers as we'd already had a sale fall through late last year. Despite that, I don't think there's much that our buyers could have done to change the situation - we weren't willing to be pushed into buying a place that wasn't right for us, and we certainly weren't going to consider moving into rented accommodation - far to much disruption, complication and cost. So if it had come to the crunch, we probably would have had to let our buyers walk away.

Incidentally, once we did find a place (fortunately with no onward chain)and had an offer accepted, we had our mortgage offer in place and our survey completed within about ten days, so that we could move things forward as quickly as possible. (Of course, the conveyancing is now dragging on interminably, and we are all waiting impatiently to exchange...)

OK, I have to ask anyone with the knowledge, WHAT takes so long? My solicitor says she is waiting on responses to some "queries" from the vendor's solicitors. What might typical queries be that hold things up for days or weeks, and why???

JayZed

dunroving wrote: »

OK, I have to ask anyone with the knowledge, WHAT takes so long? My solicitor says she is waiting on responses to some "queries" from the vendor's solicitors. What might typical queries be that hold things up for days or weeks, and why???

In our case, our vendors' solicitor didn't send a draft contract and the associated forms to our solicitor until nearly three weeks after our offer was accepted (i.e. two weeks ago). This meant that the process of applying for searches, sending queries etc didn't begin until two weeks ago.

The queries relate to all sorts of things, e.g. confirmation of planning permission/building regs compliance for extensions, clarification of boundary/right of way issues, missing documents etc. Some of these things are absolutely necessary, but my impression is that (presumably because of an increased risk of professional negligence litigation) conveyancers are far more risk averse than they used to be, and tend to query/seek indemnity cover for all sorts of relatively peripheral things.

Hoploz

Last time we moved we were in the same position, with a buyer waiting for us to find. Like Jayzed there was no way we would go into rented and would have reluctantly said goodbye if our buyers had walked and remarketed. We would have got more if that had happened as the market increased in those few months - likewise the buyer wouldn't have found anything as good so it worked in their favour to stick with us.

Once our house did come up though, it was all suddenly tied up and we moved after a few short weeks with no dragging of heels.

Your seller's house could come on the market tomorrow. Any other house you try to buy could easily have a long chain or a slow one so there's no sense pulling out for no good reason.