Seller taking time to find new home

FlyMeSomewhere79

Plus it's going to get so far down the line that it won't be any quicker for the buyer to pull out and start house searching all over again, my house is a bit unique in our area too with larger than average bedrooms for a semi which three adults moving in together need. 

babyblade41

To find out more about your buyers then that's for your agent to find out and get him earning his commission

Realistically with your pre requisites and others in the chain and your buyers are in more of a rush, the likely hood of them moving to another property gets higher 

Moving is all about compromise on everyone in the chain 

EssexHebridean

We had a the offer accepted on the place we were wanting to buy before our sellers had found somewhere to buy, and we were well aware that it might take them some time to do that, and were prepared to wait as we loved the house. Similarly, our buyer put their offer in knowing that WE hadn't at that stage found anywhere to buy either - these days a lot of agents shy away from even letting someone who has a property to sell view until they have a solid offer on their sale.

Propertyrental is correct in that three weeks is nothing I'm afraid - no matter how unpalatable that seems. 

Flip the situation - let's say that you had accepted your buyers offer, but by the time a month had passed you hadn't found the right house for you and your family to move to. Your buyers then contact you and say "Hey, we feel this is all taking quite a while, you need to get a shift on and just buy somewhere, or alternatively, move into rented so we can get things moving..." - would you consider that was a reasonable approach, or would you feel that you were being pressured to settle for an "OK" house? 

You presumably (or at least, hopefully!) offered on your purchase because you loved the house, and wanted to live there. wouldn't it be great to think that the people you are buying it from will be able to feel similarly about their new home, too? Also - you've given a reason why you aren't able to temporarily move into rented - they may well have their reasons too, not least that they are on a limited budget and with the best will in the world, moving to rented will cost them money. 

Buying and selling is quite a patience game I'm afraid - and the option is to stick with the situation you have currently, or to withdraw from buying their property and start again looking for somewhere that is a probate sale with probate already granted perhaps - somewhere chain free anyway. 

FlyMeSomewhere79

EssexHebridean said:

We had a the offer accepted on the place we were wanting to buy before our sellers had found somewhere to buy, and we were well aware that it might take them some time to do that, and were prepared to wait as we loved the house. Similarly, our buyer put their offer in knowing that WE hadn't at that stage found anywhere to buy either - these days a lot of agents shy away from even letting someone who has a property to sell view until they have a solid offer on their sale.

Propertyrental is correct in that three weeks is nothing I'm afraid - no matter how unpalatable that seems. 

Flip the situation - let's say that you had accepted your buyers offer, but by the time a month had passed you hadn't found the right house for you and your family to move to. Your buyers then contact you and say "Hey, we feel this is all taking quite a while, you need to get a shift on and just buy somewhere, or alternatively, move into rented so we can get things moving..." - would you consider that was a reasonable approach, or would you feel that you were being pressured to settle for an "OK" house? 

You presumably (or at least, hopefully!) offered on your purchase because you loved the house, and wanted to live there. wouldn't it be great to think that the people you are buying it from will be able to feel similarly about their new home, too? Also - you've given a reason why you aren't able to temporarily move into rented - they may well have their reasons too, not least that they are on a limited budget and with the best will in the world, moving to rented will cost them money. 

Buying and selling is quite a patience game I'm afraid - and the option is to stick with the situation you have currently, or to withdraw from buying their property and start again looking for somewhere that is a probate sale with probate already granted perhaps - somewhere chain free anyway. 

Look I don't disagree with anything you've said that but can we drop the three week thing, how detailed do my explanations have to be before people stop accusing me of setting a three week deadline! 

You think the sellers are the only relevant party in this and they must be prevented from paying rent - you failed to read my comments properly before having a condescending pop at me and missed something very crucial! My sellers are good financially and looking at £350k house, my buyers on the other hand are a young guy and his mum buying a £169k house together to live in with nana because they are a lot less well off and stuck in rented property paying rent now! 

Maybe I'm a rare specimen on here that I care about everyone in the chain! It doesn't make me a bad person does it!

babyblade41

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

EssexHebridean said:

We had a the offer accepted on the place we were wanting to buy before our sellers had found somewhere to buy, and we were well aware that it might take them some time to do that, and were prepared to wait as we loved the house. Similarly, our buyer put their offer in knowing that WE hadn't at that stage found anywhere to buy either - these days a lot of agents shy away from even letting someone who has a property to sell view until they have a solid offer on their sale.

Propertyrental is correct in that three weeks is nothing I'm afraid - no matter how unpalatable that seems. 

Flip the situation - let's say that you had accepted your buyers offer, but by the time a month had passed you hadn't found the right house for you and your family to move to. Your buyers then contact you and say "Hey, we feel this is all taking quite a while, you need to get a shift on and just buy somewhere, or alternatively, move into rented so we can get things moving..." - would you consider that was a reasonable approach, or would you feel that you were being pressured to settle for an "OK" house? 

You presumably (or at least, hopefully!) offered on your purchase because you loved the house, and wanted to live there. wouldn't it be great to think that the people you are buying it from will be able to feel similarly about their new home, too? Also - you've given a reason why you aren't able to temporarily move into rented - they may well have their reasons too, not least that they are on a limited budget and with the best will in the world, moving to rented will cost them money. 

Buying and selling is quite a patience game I'm afraid - and the option is to stick with the situation you have currently, or to withdraw from buying their property and start again looking for somewhere that is a probate sale with probate already granted perhaps - somewhere chain free anyway. 

Look I don't disagree with anything you've said that but can we drop the three week thing, how detailed do my explanations have to be before people stop accusing me of setting a three week deadline! 

You think the sellers are the only relevant party in this and they must be prevented from paying rent - you failed to read my comments properly before having a condescending pop at me and missed something very crucial! My sellers are good financially and looking at £350k house, my buyers on the other hand are a young guy and his mum buying a £169k house together to live in with nana because they are a lot less well off and stuck in rented property paying rent now! 

Maybe I'm a rare specimen on here that I care about everyone in the chain! It doesn't make me a bad person does it!

Not a bad person at all....but this is a financial transaction and must be treated as such, emotions should really be left out of the equation.

Your buyers may have a few quid in the back that you may not know and your sellers maybe fully stretched . Assumptions are just that , not based on facts 

RelievedSheff

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Yes we did the Rightmove contender list thing in readiness for when we got an offer.

The problem is also that I don't have contact with my buyers so I am completely in the dark.as to what their thoughts and expectations - I am guessing the the exchanging of contracts is when the real discussions about a completion date will take place.

To be honest we are in a situation where we don't want to move too quick, first week of Jan is ok but we go away on 27th January on a long ago booked holiday and because we have cats to settle in we can't move in too soon before that holiday. Mid Feb would work well. I'm hoping it will all click into place and the buyers of my house understand how it is to be in a chain.

You really won't be moving that quickly if the chain is not complete yet.

I would suggest you will be aiming more for next summer time the earliest.

Take a step back and calm down. There is nothing you can do to rush them into buying anything.

Hoenir

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

EssexHebridean said:

We had a the offer accepted on the place we were wanting to buy before our sellers had found somewhere to buy, and we were well aware that it might take them some time to do that, and were prepared to wait as we loved the house. Similarly, our buyer put their offer in knowing that WE hadn't at that stage found anywhere to buy either - these days a lot of agents shy away from even letting someone who has a property to sell view until they have a solid offer on their sale.

Propertyrental is correct in that three weeks is nothing I'm afraid - no matter how unpalatable that seems. 

Flip the situation - let's say that you had accepted your buyers offer, but by the time a month had passed you hadn't found the right house for you and your family to move to. Your buyers then contact you and say "Hey, we feel this is all taking quite a while, you need to get a shift on and just buy somewhere, or alternatively, move into rented so we can get things moving..." - would you consider that was a reasonable approach, or would you feel that you were being pressured to settle for an "OK" house? 

You presumably (or at least, hopefully!) offered on your purchase because you loved the house, and wanted to live there. wouldn't it be great to think that the people you are buying it from will be able to feel similarly about their new home, too? Also - you've given a reason why you aren't able to temporarily move into rented - they may well have their reasons too, not least that they are on a limited budget and with the best will in the world, moving to rented will cost them money. 

Buying and selling is quite a patience game I'm afraid - and the option is to stick with the situation you have currently, or to withdraw from buying their property and start again looking for somewhere that is a probate sale with probate already granted perhaps - somewhere chain free anyway. 

My sellers are good financially and looking at £350k house, my buyers on the other hand are a young guy and his mum buying a £169k house together to live in with nana because they are a lot less well off and stuck in rented property paying rent now! 

 Your sellers may have built up sizable equity in their current home. By not over extending the mortgage term at the outset or taking advantage of the low interest rates over the past decade to pay down their mortgage balance. Alternatively are spendthrifts and manage their personal finances extremely well. You'll never know the reason. Trying to justify your personal opinion with assumptions about total strangers will achieve nothing. 

The process has barely started yet. The real stress is yet to come. Taking up yoga is one solution. 

EssexHebridean

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

EssexHebridean said:

We had a the offer accepted on the place we were wanting to buy before our sellers had found somewhere to buy, and we were well aware that it might take them some time to do that, and were prepared to wait as we loved the house. Similarly, our buyer put their offer in knowing that WE hadn't at that stage found anywhere to buy either - these days a lot of agents shy away from even letting someone who has a property to sell view until they have a solid offer on their sale.

Propertyrental is correct in that three weeks is nothing I'm afraid - no matter how unpalatable that seems. 

Flip the situation - let's say that you had accepted your buyers offer, but by the time a month had passed you hadn't found the right house for you and your family to move to. Your buyers then contact you and say "Hey, we feel this is all taking quite a while, you need to get a shift on and just buy somewhere, or alternatively, move into rented so we can get things moving..." - would you consider that was a reasonable approach, or would you feel that you were being pressured to settle for an "OK" house? 

You presumably (or at least, hopefully!) offered on your purchase because you loved the house, and wanted to live there. wouldn't it be great to think that the people you are buying it from will be able to feel similarly about their new home, too? Also - you've given a reason why you aren't able to temporarily move into rented - they may well have their reasons too, not least that they are on a limited budget and with the best will in the world, moving to rented will cost them money. 

Buying and selling is quite a patience game I'm afraid - and the option is to stick with the situation you have currently, or to withdraw from buying their property and start again looking for somewhere that is a probate sale with probate already granted perhaps - somewhere chain free anyway. 

Look I don't disagree with anything you've said that but can we drop the three week thing, how detailed do my explanations have to be before people stop accusing me of setting a three week deadline! 

You think the sellers are the only relevant party in this and they must be prevented from paying rent - you failed to read my comments properly before having a condescending pop at me and missed something very crucial! My sellers are good financially and looking at £350k house, my buyers on the other hand are a young guy and his mum buying a £169k house together to live in with nana because they are a lot less well off and stuck in rented property paying rent now! 

Maybe I'm a rare specimen on here that I care about everyone in the chain! It doesn't make me a bad person does it!

- No - I'm literally pointing out to you that YOU are NOT the only party in this. nor are your buyers, or your sellers, or indeed the various other parts of the chain that might get added in when your sellers DO have an offer accepted on somewhere to buy! That's the issue with chains - they have to work at the pace of the slowest party. 
- I'm not at any stage suggesting that your sellers "must be prevented from paying rent" - I'm pointing out that just the same as renting may not work for you, it might not work for them, either! It's far from normal for people to move into rented in that way - not least as it increases the moving costs quite substantially. Generally, chains just proceed as they do and all complete at the same time. 
- I wasn't accusing you of anything - I was using the three week period that you yourself mentioned originally (2nd November > now) as an example. If it makes you feel better, change it to 4 weeks. or 2 weeks. it doesn't change anything. 
- I have read your comments properly - I just don't feel that they are reasonable!
- For condescending, read "honest - just not what you want to hear". 
- The only person "taking a pop" at anyone else here is you, currently. Others are trying to be helpful, as per your request.
- You only know what you've been told about your buyers OR your sellers. For all you know the sellers position might actually be worse financially than your buyers - you just see what is on the surface or what you are told by the agents and so making assumptions about someone's financial position based just on that is also not productive.

Telling us all how you are a lovely person who cares about everyone while simultaneously being, quite frankly, rude to anyone who dares to present a differing viewpoint isn't really very helpful or convincing I'm afraid. People are trying to help you manage your expectations - which are currently coming across as fairly unreasonable to the majority of those who have posted, and are getting shot down in flames.

Posting on a public forum for advice only works if you actually want advice. If you want validation, then there are probably better places to go. People on here - particularly those who regularly give up time and energy to try to help others  - will be honest with you. Sure, someone could have happened along and told you that "yes, they were being entirely unreasonable, they should just settle for a house that is "good enough" rather than holding out for somewhere they hope to love to live in, and you should give them a deadline - find somewhere to buy by the end of this month or you will pull out of buying their current property." If you then issued that deadline however, and the response from the selling agent was that his clients felt they no longer wanted to sell to you, so you have lost the property you currently want to buy, I'm sure you would have been quite unhappy with that advice!