Buyer threatening to pull out of sale

Ermintrude89 · 13 January 2019 at 10:07PM

Hi there

I’m just after a bit of advice of how to approach this. My partner and I both have houses to sell and are buying one together combining the chain. My house sold within a week at the start of November to first time buyers. My partners took a little longer with Xmas and everything and he agreed a sale last week to a first time buyer. We then the next day had an offer agreed on a no chain property to keep the chain as simple as possible. On ringing my estate agents to inform them they tell me that my buyers are now threatening to pull out unless we can complete in the next 4/5 weeks. They want me to move out of my house into my partners and break the chain. However I have never promised to do this and the situation was discussed with the buyers on viewing the house. We have been advised financially that it is best to sell both at the same time and my partners house is not suitable for my pets so this is not something I want to do. I am to ring my estate agents in the morning and speak to my sale advisor. I am going to say that the buyers are unlikely to complete quicker on another sale now and possibly offer to pay for the repeat searches if they are needed.
Does anyone have any advice of how to deal with this and negotiate further? Apparently my buyers are a bit of a nuisance and are ringing the estate agents every day.

Thanks in advance!

AdrianC · 13 January 2019 at 10:12PM

How far away from exchange are your partner's property and the place you're buying?

You've basically got two choices.
1. Agree, exchange, and move in to your partner's.
2. Disagree and hope the buyer's bluffing.

There's no particular financial benefit that I can think of from completing on one sale before the other - there would be on completing the sales before the purchase, obviously.

Thrugelmir · 13 January 2019 at 10:22PM

Trying to time the sale of 2 properties together may prove problematic. Far easier to sell them separately. Put your pets into kennels or a cattery, and your excess personal possessions into storage.

However don't be bullied by your buyers. Let the process take it's normal course.

I had a similar situation 12 years ago and did likewise.

Ermintrude89 · 13 January 2019 at 10:36PM

Thanks for your replies. Being a veterinary nurse I am conscious of the stress moving twice would put on my pets and I’m not prepared to put them in a cattery for an indefinite period of time. It’s tricky when my buyers have known the situation all along and now when it’s all in motion they threaten us with this deadline. I’m hoping they come around when they realise it’s all in motion and everyone wants to complete ASAP.

martin1959 · 13 January 2019 at 10:42PM

Would your purchasers be happier with a longer period between exchange and completion?

They would at least know their purchase was definitely going to go through, and would give them a couple of months without paying a mortgage.

We have done this before and hope to do it this time as we are having works done on the property we are moving into and will take time to complete the works, but would like the reassurance we have exchanged.

Ermintrude89 · 13 January 2019 at 10:55PM

Maybe! I need to try and figure out what is causing the deadline really. I get the impression they are being impatient which I understand but I think with them being first time buyers they don’t understand how long it can take generally.

lookstraightahead · 13 January 2019 at 11:03PM

Who knows what their circumstances are really. As Adrian says there are two choices - try and find out their reasoning first. Maybe they have personal reasons (like with you and the pets) for quickening it up.

lookstraightahead · 13 January 2019 at 11:05PM

I do see their thinking though. On the face of it you are holding up the chain to make it better for you and I can see why they think it would be ok for you to move in to one of your houses.

AnotherJoe · 14 January 2019 at 12:23AM

We have been advised financially that it is best to sell both at the same time

Do you know why? On the face of it you are indeed holding the sale up for your cats so i can understand the buyers being peeved about it, you are favouring your cats over a quick sale.
You'll have to take a judgement whether they will walk, is your sale more than 4/5 weeks away?

They will have expended money OTOH it seems to be a buyers market at the moment and they might well find something cheaper/better if they start looking again which may mean its worth them pulling out.

csgohan4 · 14 January 2019 at 9:13AM

MY vendor put their cats in a cattery. You have decide now, a quick sale or lose your sale for your cats

Flugelhorn · 14 January 2019 at 10:20AM

decades ago we sold two houses and bought one - OH had already moved on to the new job so I was juggling the whole thing. We put them up for sale and had offers quickly, one completed more quickly and I moved all the stuff to the other one. Several houseplants but no pets. Think completing on both at the same time would have been chaos