Contracts not Signed

MynameisMichaelCane

I have a friend who is selling his house. He is getting very stressed because the buyers want to move in on the 28th February, only 3 weeks away, but they have not signed a contract yet. Is this normal? He has not booked removals yet or contacted utility companies etc because he thinks they could still pull of the sale. Is he right? He is in Scotland, if that makes a difference. I don't know much about the process of selling a house but it seems a strange system to me.

user1977

Why is your friend asking you rather than his solicitor? Even in Scotland it is pretty commonplace for there to be no contract 3 weeks out from the expected date of entry. But yes, until missives have concluded (which is what you mean by "signing contracts") then either side is entitled to pull out.

MynameisMichaelCane

He is not asking me. It was a conversation about the move which made me curious about the process as it seems strange. How do people make arrangements if they don't know for sure that the sale will go ahead? I am also curious because I may sell my house and am interested to know what the process is. He has, of course, asked his solicitor who seems to keep saying that they will 'chase it up'. Would he be entitled, as nothing is signed, to put back the moving date to allow more time to make arrangements to move?

FlorayG

Moving companies are very used to this. They make you a provisional date and then expect you to keep in contact with them about any delays. Once contracts are signed the buyer and seller agree a mutual date for the move; it's quite normal for one to suggest a date and for the other to say "I can't do that date my removals company isn't available". Eventually they agree on a mutually convenient date.
So your friend should make a provisional booking for removals now. Utility companies are less of a hassle, you can just tell them on the actual moving day

user1977

MynameisMichaelCane said:

He is not asking me. It was a conversation about the move which made me curious about the process as it seems strange. How do people make arrangements if they don't know for sure that the sale will go ahead? I am also curious because I may sell my house and am interested to know what the process is. He has, of course, asked his solicitor who seems to keep saying that they will 'chase it up'. Would he be entitled, as nothing is signed, to put back the moving date to allow more time to make arrangements to move?

Generally speaking people will keep to the expected date of entry even if it isn't set in stone. There isn't that much which is essential and requires advance notice (e.g. most utilities you don't need to do anything about until you actually have the keys).

Yes, you can demand missives are concluded at least x weeks in advance if you want, but that might not fit with what the other party/ies plans are.

MynameisMichaelCane

Thank you all for your very helpful replies. It still doesn't seem like a very satisfactory system to me. Are people generally happy with the process? Apart from the plan for moving, such as booking removal companies, people must have all sorts of life events to plan for. Weddings, business trips abroad, holidays, for example. Do people just not plan for anything to happen in their lives in the months around the time of selling a house, in case something goes wrong in the weeks before the moving date?  Am I being too pessimistic and seeing problems where there are none?  I can imagine it might make me very picky about who I sell my house to!

Elliott.T123

MynameisMichaelCane said:

Thank you all for your very helpful replies. It still doesn't seem like a very satisfactory system to me. Are people generally happy with the process? Apart from the plan for moving, such as booking removal companies, people must have all sorts of life events to plan for. Weddings, business trips abroad, holidays, for example. Do people just not plan for anything to happen in their lives in the months around the time of selling a house, in case something goes wrong in the weeks before the moving date?  Am I being too pessimistic and seeing problems where there are none?  I can imagine it might make me very picky about who I sell my house to!

Of course you don't put your life on hold, you just agree a date that does work for all concerned. In a small chain that is easy in a big chain someone may need to break the chain to make it happen.

This part of the process is probably one of the lesser evils, I think most people would agree that gazumping and people pulling out at late stage / changing asking price or offers is the worst part. The Scottish system is definitely better from that aspect.

Albermarle

MynameisMichaelCane said:

Thank you all for your very helpful replies. It still doesn't seem like a very satisfactory system to me. Are people generally happy with the process? Apart from the plan for moving, such as booking removal companies, people must have all sorts of life events to plan for. Weddings, business trips abroad, holidays, for example. Do people just not plan for anything to happen in their lives in the months around the time of selling a house, in case something goes wrong in the weeks before the moving date?  Am I being too pessimistic and seeing problems where there are none?  I can imagine it might make me very picky about who I sell my house to!

There are hundreds of threads on this forum, complaining about unreliable sellers/buyers/estate agents/solicitors etcetc.. Issues with valuations, mortgages, disputes over boundaries, leasehold issues etc etc 
It is just the way the system 'works' it can be a bit of a nightmare.
This is the most recent thread but there are a lot more if you read through the forum.
Never moving house again! — MoneySavingExpert Forum

MynameisMichaelCane

Thank you Albermarle. I have only read a little of other threads so far, but it seems I am not alone in thinking the system leaves a lot to be desired. I realise now that I should have done a more thorough search of previous threads before I posted initially, so apologies to all for that. 

I am confused by this comment from Elliott.
"I think most people would agree that gazumping and people pulling out at late stage / changing asking price or offers is the worst part. The Scottish system is definitely better from that aspect." 
Surely if the contract has not been signed and the buyer can still pull out, with three weeks to go, then that is as bad as the English system?  I'm not sure about gazumping. 

MeteredOut

MynameisMichaelCane said:

Thank you Albermarle. I have only read a little of other threads so far, but it seems I am not alone in thinking the system leaves a lot to be desired. I realise now that I should have done a more thorough search of previous threads before I posted initially, so apologies to all for that. 

I am confused by this comment from Elliott.
"I think most people would agree that gazumping and people pulling out at late stage / changing asking price or offers is the worst part. The Scottish system is definitely better from that aspect." 
Surely if the contract has not been signed and the buyer can still pull out, with three weeks to go, then that is as bad as the English system?  I'm not sure about gazumping. 

In Scotland, once missives have been signed, the contract is legally binding. This typically happens well in advance of moving dates, relative to sales in England.

Either party could still pull out after the signing of missives, but leave themselves open for claims for costs for breach of contract.

user1977

MynameisMichaelCane said:

Surely if the contract has not been signed and the buyer can still pull out, with three weeks to go, then that is as bad as the English system?  I'm not sure about gazumping. 

Yes, but gazumping/gazundering are both much more difficult in Scotland (as solicitors are not allowed to cooperate, so a party wishing to do that has to find new representation). And in practice the transaction happens typically much faster than in England so there is less scope for people to get cold feet or other intervening problems to crop up.

When you've moved house, how far in advance did you have everything signed up?