Buyer getting restless - advice

smcqis

Hi,

we sale agreed our house in March to a lady and advised at the time that we were still looking for a new property but if worst came to worse we would move out if nothing in pipeline, or even move to temp accommodation pending new house. We asked at time would she allow us time to find another, she said she wouldn’t wait indefinitely but at most a month

we found a new property and sale agreed in May, there is a delay in building society getting deeds to our solicitor to our purchase.

Our buyer is threatening to pull out now if we don’t agree a date prior to end of the month. It’s been 12 weeks since sale agreed with her. 

Our estate agent is ringing us saying she wants in and we need to get a date sorted for next week, which annoys me cos we are paying the EA not our buyer, surely her interest should lay with us, but seems they are just interested in getting the sale done to get their money.

our purchasing property solicitor considers a mid July an approx timescale for completion. How would you approach this? Part of me thinks she is bluffing but other part doesn’t want to break the chain of 3.

also who sets the date for completion and what are the implications of not meeting it?

anselld

Is it a stamp duty issue?  If SDLT is not an issue then surely the difference between end June and mid July is immaterial.  Give her the mid July estimate and see what the response is.

Completion date is set by mutual agreement.  There are no implications of not meeting it until you have exchanged contracts when it becomes fixed.

lookstraightahead

I think she has been waiting a long time and I doubt she is calling your bluff.

Maybe say something to give her a commitment because from where she's standing it looks like it's all about your needs.

smcqis

The EA is obviously the go between and I might ask the EA to ask her if she wants me to call her. We have told her mid July abs my thoughts are this aren’t much difference. My buyer will have no stamp duty but I would save 7k if go in by end of May so it’s in my interest.

She is caught up in a chain and maybe she wasn’t expecting or hoping that when we mentioned temp accommodation at the start but for the sake of few weeks to month I don’t want to disrupt kids, pay 2 removal moves and hassle of switching all correspondence. Maybe an offer to pay half her July rent (within price reason) for July upon completion as a keep her sweet? Thoughts? Be a lot cheaper and less hassle than moving temporarily out.

also fear incase our purchase fails through somehow 

anselld

If SDLT is not an issue and she is still threatening to pull out for the sake of two weeks it sounds like a bluff.

AnotherJoe

smcqis said:

Hi,

we sale agreed our house in March to a lady and advised at the time that we were still looking for a new property but if worst came to worse we would move out if nothing in pipeline, or even move to temp accommodation pending new house. We asked at time would she allow us time to find another, she said she wouldn’t wait indefinitely but at most a month

we found a new property and sale agreed in May, there is a delay in building society getting deeds to our solicitor to our purchase.

Our buyer is threatening to pull out now if we don’t agree a date prior to end of the month. It’s been 12 weeks since sale agreed with her. 

She's probably fed up with the extended wait. Of course, it depends what you/she means by "agree a date" and "prior to the end of the month" Does she mean exchange by end June? Complete by end June? Or agree, by end June , a date to exchange/complete, that might be in say July?.  

Our estate agent is ringing us saying she wants in and we need to get a date sorted for next week, which annoys me cos we are paying the EA not our buyer, surely her interest should lay with us, but seems they are just interested in getting the sale done to get their money.

The EA is just telling you what she is saying ! Dont shoot the messenger.

our purchasing property solicitor considers a mid July an approx timescale for completion. How would you approach this? Part of me thinks she is bluffing but other part doesn’t want to break the chain of 3.

also who sets the date for completion and what are the implications of not meeting it?

I would reply that "our conveyancer considers a mid July timescale is possible, are there any dates you have in mind?"

also who sets the date for completion and what are the implications of not meeting it?

The completion date is agreed between all parties and set in stone at exchange.

The implications of not meeting it are dire but its very unusual for that not to happen since you dont exchange until you know you can complete on that date.

Sooler

Agree a date by end of June for end of July as you said is likely (or see what the latest date you can get to agree to, end of August?). If it ends up you can't meet it move to temp accommodation - as you said you would.

theGinge

Thoughts from a recent buyers perspective:

smcqis said:

Hi,

we sale agreed our house in March to a lady and advised at the time that we were still looking for a new property but if worst came to worse we would move out if nothing in pipeline, or even move to temp accommodation pending new house. We asked at time would she allow us time to find another, she said she wouldn’t wait indefinitely but at most a month

When we offered on our house as FTBs, it was specifically because the sellers had told us they were moving into rental and therefore there would be no chain hold-ups on either side. When it came time to setting dates it came out that this wasn't what was happening and the seller wanted us to wait for their new build purchase to be completed. We were fuming (we had a pregnancy shaped deadline to hit). Whilst it may have been a tentative offer to move into temporary accommodation in your head, this has likely been seen by the buyer as a firm offer, and as if you are going back on your word if stalling on that now. As you've said, wait time were discussed and she gave flexibility. Depending on when in March and May the 2 houses were offered on, this could be 1-2 months she waited for you here - at the max of or above her timeline. Now she wants to firm up - this seems fair.

Nsmcqis said:

Our buyer is threatening to pull out now if we don’t agree a date prior to end of the month. It’s been 12 weeks since sale agreed with her. 

Maybe an offer to pay half her July rent (within price reason) for July upon completion as a keep her sweet? Thoughts? Be a lot cheaper and less hassle than moving temporarily out.

You mention that a) she is renting and b) she is pushing for a date. You do not say that she is pushing to move in instantly. Could it be that she is being sensible and following every bit of advice from solicitors and online not to give notice to her landlord until she has exchanged? If she has a 2 month notice agreement with her landlord, this could potentially be behind the date fixation - she wants to have this in concrete so she can give notice. If suddenly "exchange now and complete a week later" comes up, this will likely commit her to two month of paying mortgage and rent at the same time. This is exactly what happened with us due to seller faff (from our perspective), and it cost us around £2,000 in rent. We could afford it as the deadline was more important. Not everyone can. Do remember that her rental commitment does not end on your completion dates - mid July - but at the end of her notice period. This could be 1 month or 2 months etc. Whilst well-meaning, your offer to pay half a months rent could have the opposite effect and annoy her more than appease her if your delays end up costing her 2 months rent.  It would show a lack of understanding of her situation, linking back to the comment above about it all (appearing as if it is) being about your needs.

Of course, I could be 100% entirely wrong - this is entirely assumption based, but is based on our experience without knowing you/her/the conversations had etc

warby68

Buyer probably just wants some firm commitment/reassurance that something is imminent. A threat to pull out might be just to shake you/the pros up to get something concrete. The process is fraught and its easy to get the perception that things are going at someone else's pace when often its just the pace of the legals. 

If you really are nearly ready then it is time to start talking about dates and for starters you need to get past the 2nd/3rd hand reporting via agent and find out what exactly buyer wants compared to what can be achieved. Mid July isn't  far away so buyer would have to have some as yet undisclosed reason if 2 weeks really is a deal breaker.

Once its clear whats possible versus what everyone wants (or can live with) that's when you you might look to swweten the deal if necessary. 

Even just expressing how keen you are to get the deal done and that as far you know the legals are going as fast as they can could help. If you are flexible with dates, subject to legals, then you can say that too.

MaryNB

theGinge said:

You mention that a) she is renting and b) she is pushing for a date. You do not say that she is pushing to move in instantly. Could it be that she is being sensible and following every bit of advice from solicitors and online not to give notice to her landlord until she has exchanged? If she has a 2 month notice agreement with her landlord, this could potentially be behind the date fixation - she wants to have this in concrete so she can give notice. If suddenly "exchange now and complete a week later" comes up, this will likely commit her to two month of paying mortgage and rent at the same time. This is exactly what happened with us due to seller faff (from our perspective), and it cost us around £2,000 in rent. We could afford it as the deadline was more important. Not everyone can. Do remember that her rental commitment does not end on your completion dates - mid July - but at the end of her notice period. This could be 1 month or 2 months etc. Whilst well-meaning, your offer to pay half a months rent could have the opposite effect and annoy her more than appease her if your delays end up costing her 2 months rent.  It would show a lack of understanding of her situation, linking back to the comment above about it all (appearing as if it is) being about your needs.

Of course, I could be 100% entirely wrong - this is entirely assumption based, but is based on our experience without knowing you/her/the conversations had etc

Or maybe she was over ambitious and already handed in her notice so she didn't have to pay the overlap. 

One one hand 13 weeks is a bit ambitious given current delays, on the other hand I can understand her frustration. My sellers changed tact a few times which delayed the process it and it was quite frustrating.

RecoveringAndy

You've got yourself into this situation.

The number of times I've heard the "We'll move into temporary accommodation" line from sellers is crazy. Almost without exception, they never follow through with this.

She made it clear that she wouldn't wait indefinitely before you accepted her offer. Either make good on your commitment to move out and break the chain or give her a date and hope that she's not going to pull out in the meantime.