Offer accepted 5 months ago!

Wunjo76

I had an offer accepted on a property in March and have been patiently waiting since then for the vendors to find their onward purchase.  Prior to accepting my offer they had been trying to sell for 3 years.  During this time they had accepted offers at least 4 times and each time the sale fell through because they could find a property in the timescales that suited their buyers.  I was aware of this before making my offer and knew that being chain free and having patience would help me purchase the house that my OH and I fell in love with when we viewed it.
The EA has been assuring me that they vendors are motivated to sell and have been viewing lots of properties.  They have apparently been outbid on a few properties.
I am prepared to wait longer for the vendors to find somewhere as long as we end up getting the house but i am beginning to doubt whether this will actually ever happen.  Looking to see if others have been in similar situations and if they ended up getting the house of their dreams.  How long were you prepared to wait?

sammyjammy

Give them a deadline otherwise they are just taking the P.  Have you discussed whether or not they could temporarily rent?

Wunjo76

sammyjammy said:

Give them a deadline otherwise they are just taking the P.  Have you discussed whether or not they could temporarily rent?

They have made it clear they are not prepared to go into rental.  If we can find somewhere else we like as much as this property i would give them a deadline but until this situation arises i am prepared to wait.  I am just looking for people who have had similar experiences to see how likely we are to get the home at the end of all the waiting and waiting.

JCarmello

Start looking at other houses

MaryNB

Wunjo76 said:

I had an offer accepted on a property in March and have been patiently waiting since then for the vendors to find their onward purchase.  Prior to accepting my offer they had been trying to sell for 3 years.  During this time they had accepted offers at least 4 times and each time the sale fell through because they could find a property in the timescales that suited their buyers.  I was aware of this before making my offer and knew that being chain free and having patience would help me purchase the house that my OH and I fell in love with when we viewed it.
The EA has been assuring me that they vendors are motivated to sell and have been viewing lots of properties.  They have apparently been outbid on a few properties.
I am prepared to wait longer for the vendors to find somewhere as long as we end up getting the house but i am beginning to doubt whether this will actually ever happen.  Looking to see if others have been in similar situations and if they ended up getting the house of their dreams.  How long were you prepared to wait?

I wasn't in a hurry when purchasing my house last year. However, while 5 months would have made me a bit wary, their previous attempts to sell the house would have put me off entirely. They've been looking to buy for about 3 and a half years. I'm surprised the EA has even bothered to take them on. If the EA is correct in saying they've been viewing loads of other properties well it seems they're far too fussy or maybe need to consider adjusting their budget. Perhaps they're finding rising house prices have meant that they can't afford what they could have 3 years ago. If I were you I'd be actively looking at other properties, and obviously letting them know that. 

andy444

If you wait too long the vendors may start to think they could get more for the house if they put it back on the market.

I'd suggest formulating a Plan B (ie. another house) just in case. 

Tokmon

Wunjo76 said:

I had an offer accepted on a property in March and have been patiently waiting since then for the vendors to find their onward purchase.  Prior to accepting my offer they had been trying to sell for 3 years.  During this time they had accepted offers at least 4 times and each time the sale fell through because they could find a property in the timescales that suited their buyers.  I was aware of this before making my offer and knew that being chain free and having patience would help me purchase the house that my OH and I fell in love with when we viewed it.
The EA has been assuring me that they vendors are motivated to sell and have been viewing lots of properties.  They have apparently been outbid on a few properties.
I am prepared to wait longer for the vendors to find somewhere as long as we end up getting the house but i am beginning to doubt whether this will actually ever happen.  Looking to see if others have been in similar situations and if they ended up getting the house of their dreams.  How long were you prepared to wait?

They have been looking for 3 years and couldn't find somewhere suitable and now it's even more difficult with the current trend of property sales. So it's not surprising that they still haven't 5 months after your offer was accepted, how long did you expect to wait when you made the offer knowing the history?

I would just keep the offer open but also keep an eye out for another property at the same time and not make any plans that this is the house you will end up in. 

TripleH

This happened to us despite there being 'no chain'. We walked away after 2 months. This might seem short, but the vendor lied to the agent and us and did the minimum amount they could relating to the sale which was they asked to be as quick as possible as they were moving abroad(sent an error strewn earlier contract and refused to respond to our solicitor queries about planning consents on a building they had built).

When the problem arose we went straight back with a workable solution with time frames etc but the response we got back after 2 weeks chasing was 'I need to ask my husband'.

Is the house worth what you offered to you? House prices may get still going up but for how long? What your seller might not appreciate is a no chain buyer can be attractive to others as well. Its no good them finding their dream house to find their buyer pulls out because the chain further down collapses (know this isn't your case).

I'd start looking at other properties.

Aliliva

We're in a very similar situation: offer accepted three months ago, but no sign of the vendors having found their onward purchase. Unfortunately we cannot seem to find another suitable property, so we're sticking with them till we find one

Have you considered letting the EA / vendors know that you are actively looking for another house?

Wunjo76

Aliliva said:

We're in a very similar situation: offer accepted three months ago, but no sign of the vendors having found their onward purchase. Unfortunately we cannot seem to find another suitable property, so we're sticking with them till we find one

Have you considered letting the EA / vendors know that you are actively looking for another house?

We have been looking at other properties and likewise can't find anything suitable.  I want to stick with them to get the house that we want but it's the not knowing what the eventual outcome will be that is making me wonder if we should be focusing elsewhere.  
The feeling i get from the estate agent is that as soon as they sense we are getting restless they will look to remarket the property asap.

Racky_Roo

Have you asked the EA if their budget, location and wishlist is realistic? As others have said, 3 years is a long time to be looking so sounds like they need to review whether they really do want to move and if so, can they get what they want for their budget? Most people want to move from their existing property and wouldn't be hanging on 3 years for their ideal house