Buyer Bizarrely Threatening To Withdraw???.

suziebear1985

Hi Guys,

I'm just hoping for some opinions and advice. I accepted an offer on my property in the middle of April and everything started on their side. I then had an offer accepted on my purchase property a few weeks later in mid May.

Everything was ticking along, all be it slowly as obviously conveyancy is incredibly busy at the moment. I've rung my solicitor each week for an update and to keep things moving and I've already received my mortgage offer. I thought all going well, the searches have come back on my property and the searches are being conducted in my purchase property, I thought all going well maybe the end of July might be when we could think about completion. All of a sudden of the blue the buyer has said today that they want to be moved in 2 weeks. This has never been previously discussed and I pointed out they arent even in a position to complete as the solicitor searches enquiries have not been received. They said these were sent on 09/06/21 but my solicitor is denying all knowledge. They are now saying out of the blue that if we aren't complete by mid July they will pull out. Its all a bit bizarre, they seem to have no appreciation for the conveyancy process and the fact that I cannot physically make things go faster. They want to me to move out before my property is ready and stay with family but even if I agreed I cant guarantee exchange and completion will be done for the date they are demanding feeling stressed😬

GDB2222

So, tell them that you are calling it all off. Or, say you will do your best. Or tell them what you posted here.

I agree with you.

I agree with them. 

What more can anyone here say?

MaryNB

3 months is the average time for a purchase without the current delays due to covid and the SDLT holiday so your buyer is being a bit optimistic.

What is their situation? Are they renting? Did they presume it would be done in 3 months and hand in their notice so they wouldn't have an overlap between their tenancy and mortgage?

NameUnavailable

Ask them to ask their solicitors to confirm that they will definitely be ready to exchange/complete on your property by Mid July latest. I bet they won't!

NinjaTune

2 weeks from today = the last day of SDLT holiday.  Do you think that has anything to do with it or are they FTBs and it doesn't affect them anyway?

If they pull out they will have wasted money on searches and legal costs and will have to start over again with a new property.  Doesn't make a lot of sense unless there's a bit of buyer's remorse setting in as they've seen somewhere else they prefer.

AnotherJoe

I'm petty I'd put it back on the market.

Plus, who's to say they wont maliciously pull out for no good reason / demand a last minute price drop since what teyve said so far is  nonsensical.

See if you can find more rational buyers. Theres a weekend coming up soon you've got time to get viewers in.

Redwino222

Get your estate agent to earn his or her fee.  They should be managing expectations and keeping things moving.

pluto261

They're probably bluffing. If time is really of the essence then pulling out now would set them back months, plus they've already paid for the survey and searches.

The thing about the solicitor searches enquiries thing makes me suspect that one side's conveyancer (or both sides) has dropped the ball, though. If those have apparently been lost in the post, then maybe there were other communications from the buyer's side that never got to you. If, from their perspective, you've been not responding to stuff then that might be why they're getting antsy.

Techyteacher

This could actually be me…very similar story, as a buyer.

Our offer was accepted on the May bank holiday weekend. We were very clear about the need to move before September. Mutiple children, one going off to uni and it’s the busiest time of the year for us.

No problem we were told. I believe it was then communicated to our vendors we wanted to complete by June. We didn’t, we are FTB, we aren’t motivated by the holiday.

We we’re told we were go for a mid July exchange and end of July completion. This is because we need to sort schools, it’s not simple when your children have educational statements.

We have just been told that vendors solicitors has told ours, September is more realistic. My husband and I have said we will pull out if it’s a September completion. We have the option to extend our tenancy for 12 months and that is the better option, than moving in September. We are not bluffing. Searches are taking 12 weeks here, ours were expedited because of the need to sort out specialist education and my husband leaving service (losing our home if we don’t extend).

September was never on the cards for us, in fact, we said specifically we wouldn’t go past and into September. The EA seems reluctant to play down our fears when yesterday they were saying 100% tell your solicitor September is off the cards.

If your buyer is like me, that could be why. EA not being upfront about dates or what is being asked. We had in our recent communication, seller cannot complete by June. We never asked for that. We were good for July. We are feeling a bit misled on our side, not from the vendor I may add. So I agree, sounds like someone in conveyancing/EA has dropped the ball. We could write an identical story from the buyers side, however we haven’t been unreasonable.

If you’re our vendor, that’s our side!

lookstraightahead

I would also probably be starting to get a bit twitchy too, as it looks like they've been told something, by someone, and they are ready to move but no one else is. As the buyer I requested updates constantly as I was the one forking out rental while everyone else went at their own pace.

can you stay with family? I know they've asked - is it possible so that you have more chance of keeping the sale?

MysteryMe

This is when some FTB are an absolute nightmare, simply have no concept that a lot of conveyancing and time frames are completely in the hands of third parties. They think if they say I've got to move by X date because little Johnny is changing school that it all magically happens.