Offer accepted but vendors still havn't found a house 4 months later

fullah25

My wife and I are first time buyers and after over a year of viewing properties we finally had our offer accepted on a lovely house in a nice street and area. We were quick to get a survey, instruct our solicitors and apply for a mortgage which we was offered and is valid until February.

Unfortunately 4 months later and the vendors (an older couple looking to downsize into a bungalow) have still not found a property or even instructed their solicitors despite much chasing from ourselves and our solicitors and mortgage brokers. We are now beginning to worry that there are only 3 months left of our mortgage offer being valid after which we will need to re-apply which will be difficult as my wife is currently on maternity leave and between jobs (she's a GP) and so we will not be able to produce the same payslips as before. 

We have already started to look at other properties but none of them compare to this one.

Any ideas or advice on what we can do? 

Slithery

Next time don't spend any money or organise your mortgage or survey until the chain is complete.

anselld

Sounds like you are already doing it ... looking for other properties.

With hindsight what you should not have done is spent money on surveys, mortgage applications and solicitors until you were part of a complete end-to-end chain.

Thrugelmir

fullah25 said:

We have already started to look at other properties but none of them compare to this one.

Any ideas or advice on what we can do? 

Continue to look while retaining an interest in this property. The market progressively quietens in the autumn/winter. Once the New Year arrives the property market will reawaken. The better the weather the more active it'll be. 

Remember it took you 12 months. So far you've given the vendor four. 

comeandgo

Could they not move into rented property?  They may consider  this is you were to pay something towards the rent?  Otherwise, you are doing the correct thing, look for something else.

lookstraightahead

comeandgo said:

Could they not move into rented property?  They may consider  this is you were to pay something towards the rent?  Otherwise, you are doing the correct thing, look for something else.

Some people put their own comfort above others. Apparently it is outrageous to expect people to go into rented. There is nothing around and oh the stress of moving twice. I think some people are genuinely frightened of putting themselves out.

op, look at other properties. Don't jeopardise your mortgage agreement. If they are looking for a bungalow in exactly the right place, they're going to take years.

DairyQueen

They are probably mortgage-free and unaware of the deadline you face. Perhaps a polite mention of this via their EA? If they are aware that their sale is threatened they may get their skates on.

Then again...

This is probably their final move and they are unlikely to want to compromise with their new home. They may be resistant to pressure (sellers' market) and you could be waiting for several months. Chances of them moving into rented if they are older/retired is practically zero.

I would be looking for another home having told their EA that I didn't have the luxury to wait any longer. It may be worth compromising on a different property rather than having your mortgage offer threatened.

Flugelhorn

DairyQueen said:

They are probably mortgage-free and unaware of the deadline you face. Perhaps a polite mention of this via their EA? If they are aware that their sale is threatened they may get their skates on.

Then again...

This is probably their final move and they are unlikely to want to compromise with their new home. They may be resistant to pressure (sellers' market) and you could be waiting for several months. Chances of them moving into rented if they are older/retired is practically zero.

exactly this - they are probably mortgage free and looking for the final move, probably shocked at how house prizes are rising quickly and may not have the got the cash to over-offer on places they like - I have a friend like this having moved into a  rented place to facilitate the move, feels that the properties she wants to buy are now 20K more than she expected / have available.

Your vendors  probably won't compromise / move into rented - we were in similar situation (moving in retirement, not worrying about mortgage running out) but were able to cash buy our next property to break the chain, made huge difference getting what we wanted and being able to sell chain free too.

Chains can be very frustrating - we got to the point that we would only look at properties with "no upward chain"

lookstraightahead

Retirement doesn't mean you're not able to look at things in a business-like way.
it's no excuse for not being fair. In fact, these sellers seem extremely savvy and want everyone else to be flexible for them. They surely know what's going on with the housing market?  In fact, they are probably extremely wise people. But selfish.

youth_leader

I only learnt to wait for the chain to complete before spending from this forum,  and was worried I'd come unstuck.   I instructed my survey and solicitor immediately too and had a six month wait.  Luckily I was in a rental,  but the delay cost me another month's rent and bills.

My friend offered her retired vendor £5K towards moving into a rental and she refused, but it's worth a try? 

Thrugelmir

lookstraightahead said:

Retirement doesn't mean you're not able to look at things in a business-like way.
it's no excuse for not being fair. In fact, these sellers seem extremely savvy and want everyone else to be flexible for them. They surely know what's going on with the housing market?  In fact, they are probably extremely wise people. But selfish.

The party being selfish is the one making demands.