Sale fallen through, what do I do next?

pjs493

propertyrental said:

First off, no you are not a 'cash buyer'. You do not have the cash, you are dependent on a sale.

Evicting the tenant is obviously the next step, in order to market and find a new buyer, but

a) you must get the process right (see 83 Qs in link below) and

b) it's highly unlikely the T will move out after 2 months so expect a long wait.

No you can't contact the 'buyers' solicitor - and anyway what's the point?

Yes you should be upfront with your sellers.

https://nearlylegal.co.uk/section-21-flowchart/

There are two types of cash buyer. The first is someone with 100% of the cash sitting in a savings account and the second being someone who will be a cash buyer after the same of non-cash assets. I’m the latter. Both estate agents and solicitors have referred to me as a cash buyer because I’ll be buying the house with cash and without a mortgage. I’m not necessarily reliant on the sale as a bridging loan could solve the problem and avoid delay. I could also sell other valuable assets to make up the shortfall, but they are things I’d rather not part with. Whereas the rental property is better off sold. 

pjs493

As an update, I contacted my solicitor today to explain the situation and to clarify if they’d had zero contact from the buyer’s solicitor or whether they’d just not heard anything regarding enquiries. I explained my concerns about the buyer/tenant wasting my time and worry that the sale was falling through. 

My solicitor called the buyer’s solicitor. It turns out they have been instructed, searches were ordered, and came back while the solicitor was on annual leave. Their solicitor plans to begin enquiries next week. Their solicitor apparently reiterated that the buyer is super keen for things to happen fast and that not responding to me is because they’re currently away with work and incommunicado. 

My solicitor reiterated my need to complete on both sale and purchase by mid August to allow me to move before the new academic year. So it seems my solicitor has been able to get the answers needed. 

As an aside, both sale and purchase have been delayed due to several solicitor’s taking long holidays. Fingers crossed that this still works out. It’s hard to tell whether the tenant/ buyer has just been bad at all the admin, or deliberately delaying.  A couple of days ago it seemed like the latter, but now it seems the needle is swaying back the other way. 

CKhalvashi

FlorayG said:

That's a horrible situation to be in and it's going to take you six months to get your tenants out because clearly they're not going to be helpful and leave when their 2 months notice is up; then after that you will need to redecorate, market and sell the property, probably another six months. If you can find any way to move yourself without the proceeds of that house sale, I would do it and pay off whatever you borrow with the proceeds when you eventually get them

I am sympathetic to OP's situation, but OP can't end the tenancy, only the tenant or a court can. For the tenant, this is their home. They are not required to assist someone to take this from them. Equally on a moral level I don't believe they've acted in good faith and don't feel this is fair for the OP given their current circumstances.

Back to OP's situation, depending on income a repayment mortgage may be a suitable option for the moment (naturally probably on a variable rate), possibly a bridging loan if not. It may also be worth looking at mortgaging the rental property, purely as there may be a little less stringency on affordability checks, should OP be comfortable this can be paid. The higher interest rate may be offset by less tax for OP to pay as it's then a genuine expense.

I would at this point also be looking to formally market the property for sale, however you may not be able to complete or 6-9 months. It may be worth keeping a line of communication open on the property you're looking to buy

NameUnavailable

I would keep on top of this now. My cynical mind makes me wonder if your 'buyers' are stringing things along as long as they can and as cheaply as they can (some solicitors won't take up front charges and searches are cheap anyway) to extend their time renting the property as long as possible. String you along for another month or two and they'll probably be safe until next year at the earliest.

annetheman

pjs493 said:

As an update, I contacted my solicitor today to explain the situation and to clarify if they’d had zero contact from the buyer’s solicitor or whether they’d just not heard anything regarding enquiries. I explained my concerns about the buyer/tenant wasting my time and worry that the sale was falling through. 

My solicitor called the buyer’s solicitor. It turns out they have been instructed, searches were ordered, and came back while the solicitor was on annual leave. Their solicitor plans to begin enquiries next week. Their solicitor apparently reiterated that the buyer is super keen for things to happen fast and that not responding to me is because they’re currently away with work and incommunicado. 

My solicitor reiterated my need to complete on both sale and purchase by mid August to allow me to move before the new academic year. So it seems my solicitor has been able to get the answers needed. 

As an aside, both sale and purchase have been delayed due to several solicitor’s taking long holidays. Fingers crossed that this still works out. It’s hard to tell whether the tenant/ buyer has just been bad at all the admin, or deliberately delaying.  A couple of days ago it seemed like the latter, but now it seems the needle is swaying back the other way. 

So they were progressing, and the updates they gave about searches and mortgage and instruction etc were all true. 

Objectively, what made you think "it's all been a lie"? Is it really just the buyer being "bad at all the admin" or could your own inexperience be partly to blame? If you see your own part in the miscommunication, you might find it helpful to know what *not* to do to get to the finish line in the timeline you need.

Have you told the buyer that you are re-neging on your intent to evict them? As they are away, if they come back to your message that you intend to evict them, that could indeed cause the sale (which is at this point progressing as far as they are concerned) to collapse. I know I would immediately pull out if the person I'm buying from said they have "no choice but to evict me" despite me (from my perspective) doing everything I need to and sending evidence it had been done.

Just suggesting you try to see where you might have some part to play in this mishap so you can hopefully salvage the faith the buyer will inevitably lose in you now, also. It's a difficult process, I think, because it does rely on good and sometimes almost blind faith between all parties!

I'm sorry for your loss, too. 

Albermarle

pjs493 said:

propertyrental said:

First off, no you are not a 'cash buyer'. You do not have the cash, you are dependent on a sale.

Evicting the tenant is obviously the next step, in order to market and find a new buyer, but

a) you must get the process right (see 83 Qs in link below) and

b) it's highly unlikely the T will move out after 2 months so expect a long wait.

No you can't contact the 'buyers' solicitor - and anyway what's the point?

Yes you should be upfront with your sellers.

https://nearlylegal.co.uk/section-21-flowchart/

There are two types of cash buyer. The first is someone with 100% of the cash sitting in a savings account and the second being someone who will be a cash buyer after the same of non-cash assets. I’m the latter. Both estate agents and solicitors have referred to me as a cash buyer because I’ll be buying the house with cash and without a mortgage. I’m not necessarily reliant on the sale as a bridging loan could solve the problem and avoid delay. I could also sell other valuable assets to make up the shortfall, but they are things I’d rather not part with. Whereas the rental property is better off sold. 

It is not really an important point in the great scheme of things but just for the benefit of any casual readers of the thread, especially if they are selling a property and the EA is saying they have cash buyers who are interested.

A cash buyer is simply one who has the cash available to buy a property, without depending on other things happening.
A buyer who is dependent on selling another property to help fund the purchase is not a true cash buyer, regardless of whether they need a mortgage or not.

In fact if I was selling my house, I would prefer a FTB ( or someone not in any kind of chain) with a mortgage, to someone who was waiting for another property to sell, even if then they do not need a mortgage.

ReadySteadyPop

pjs493 said:

propertyrental said:

First off, no you are not a 'cash buyer'. You do not have the cash, you are dependent on a sale.

Evicting the tenant is obviously the next step, in order to market and find a new buyer, but

a) you must get the process right (see 83 Qs in link below) and

b) it's highly unlikely the T will move out after 2 months so expect a long wait.

No you can't contact the 'buyers' solicitor - and anyway what's the point?

Yes you should be upfront with your sellers.

https://nearlylegal.co.uk/section-21-flowchart/

There are two types of cash buyer. The first is someone with 100% of the cash sitting in a savings account and the second being someone who will be a cash buyer after the same of non-cash assets. I’m the latter. Both estate agents and solicitors have referred to me as a cash buyer because I’ll be buying the house with cash and without a mortgage. I’m not necessarily reliant on the sale as a bridging loan could solve the problem and avoid delay. I could also sell other valuable assets to make up the shortfall, but they are things I’d rather not part with. Whereas the rental property is better off sold. 

 True, but cash in the bank doesn`t rely on finding a buyer to release the funds, that is the main difference. You hope to be a future cash buyer would be more realistic, the EA may like to present the idea of a "cash buyer" to people keen to sell a house, I`m not sure.

BonaDea

I think the term used for someone who will have the cash once they've sold their property is not 'cash buyer' but 'dependent seller'.

bobster2

pjs493 said:

Long story short, it transpires that the tenant has been giving me the run around and despite sending me evidence of searches being ordered, engaging his solicitor, proof of mortgage offer, etc, it’s all been a lie. Initially they claimed they’d had issues with their solicitor so instructed a new one, but yesterday my solicitor called me to say they’ve yet to hear anything from the buyer’s second solicitor (never heard from the first one either). 

I’ve told the tenant that I have no choice but to evict them and sell the property to release the equity. I’ve found the forms on the gov website that I need to use to give him notice to vacant. 

OP's latest update indicates it was a bit hasty to assume the buyers had been lying and jump right to threatening to seek an eviction.

During a house sale/purchase things go slow at various points for all sorts of reasons - solicitors take holidays, get busy, buyers don't respond to questions promptly etc. Lots of reasons for delays. It's not a good idea to make assumptions.

During a recent sale I had the experience of the buyer's solictor seemingly being uncontactable for a while, everything seemingly dragging on and stalling, then out of the blue when I thought they might be about to pull out, I got a message that the buyers wanted to exchange and complete within days. From complete silence and signs the sale was about to fall through to completion was about 12 days.

pjs493

In response to a few comments, my buyer is the current tenant so comms have been pretty good back and forth between us since before it was decided that the property needed to be sold. 

At multiple stages since their offer was accepted, the buyer seemed to be delaying for a variety of reasons. It has always been hard to tell if they were delaying due to lack of knowledge of house buying, being busy with work or other things, or because they were deliberately delaying. On several occasions they’ve made excuses for delays that have, in hindsight, been either implausible or at least suspicious. 

They have delayed at times, and, without me chasing them things, would have ground to a halt months ago. The first solicitor they supposedly instructed hadn’t been instructed at all. The buyer said they’d had problems with the firm, but instead of going elsewhere, they did nothing and it wasn’t until I informed them that my solicitor has received an email from them stating they hadn’t been instructed (almost three months in), that they then went and found a new solicitor. They have been deliberately delaying for reasons unknown, but whether they want to actually buy is still unclear. 

Despite reassurances from their solicitor via my solicitor, I’m still not sure if they plan to go through with the purchase. I’ve not had any contact from the buyer since my recent attempts to contact them for an update. Given the history with them as a tenant, it is unprecedented to go so long without them responding to a text message. 

Unlike most sales, which go through an estate agent and where the buyer and seller don’t know each other, I’m in a different situation in that I’ve known the buyer for years as a tenant and there is no estate agent involved because it’s a private sale.