Am I being too impatient?

jonnyenglish

Hello everyone.

I recently looked round a property advertised on a EA website. I questioned the EA as to why no 'For sale' sign had been placed outside the property. The response was that the vendors had not found a property yet, so were not desperate to move and were keeping the sale low-key. I questioned why the property was on the market in that case and the EA stated that the vendors would consider renting if the right offer came up.

My offer of a little less than the asking price was accepted on the condition that the deal would be finalised in 6-8 weeks since I am not in any chain and the vendors had the intention of moving out and renting. It is nearly two weeks now and I have not received any news. I did ring the EA a week after the offer was accepted querying why I had not received any paperwork from them so that I could instruct my solicitor and arrange a mortgage. The EA told me that the vendors had still not found another property and that's why I had not received any formal notifiaction of acceptance of offer.

I am now unsure what to do next. I really like this property but I can see that if I just leave things as they are, chrstmas is coming and the vendors will not want to move. I don't want to leave it till then. I guess one option would be to threaten to pull out but then they might call my bluff as they do not want to move and I lose the property anyway.

Am I not being realistic about the situation and should I be a little bit more patient? Any advice as to what to do next will be gratefully received and pleas e be frank if you think I am being too impatient as I am inexperienced in this field.

Thanks.

Jonnyenglish

lush_walrus

It sounds to me as if the vendors have not actually accepted your offer as of yet and regardless of what has been said are probably not willing to move into rented accomodation.

In reality not many vendors are, even though many promise such moves prior to getting an offer. If you look at it from their perspective, there is huge effort in moving all of their things into rented accomodation to then move it all back out again when they have found a property, why do that if they can delay you a bit longer? Also in their mind now they have had an offer, their property becomes something desirable, and probably they deep down now feel that if they loose your sale then they will be able to find another buyer.

Out of interest are you genuinely in a rush to move in? Is this house irreplacable? By offering them a sale completed in 6 to 8 weeks you are actually offering the opposite of what they want. Fast action only pays if the vendors have found somewhere already and are in a rush, if only you is rushing then the benefit is only for you, not them.

It may well be that the vendors do find somewhere in a reasonable amount of time, or it could be that it takes forever. Speak to the EA and find out from them what type of property the vendors are looking for, and then assess for yourself if you think it is something that can be found quickly or is something very specialised or specific that could take a considerable period.

Do not spend any money on this property ie searches etc until the vendors have found somewhere, the EA should already have advised you of this. Until any chain is complete there is no such thing as a sale, so the risk of paying out money is quite high.

In my opinion if you threaten to pull out, you will rile the vendors unnecessarily. Remember they are not in a rush, you are, they have something you want and havent found anywhere to go to.

It all depends on how flexible you actually are on timings etc, and how much you want the house as to what actions you should take. If you are convinced this is the house for you and there is no real rush then sit tight and wait for a couple of weeks. If you really are in a rush then start looking around for other property.

It all depends on you and your needs really, its quite normal for vendors to start looking after receiving an offer, as until they have they can not offer on anything as they are not in a position to buy. But spend nothing till the chain is complete.

Doozergirl

Spot on, lush!

jonnyenglish

Thanks for your advice Ms. Walrus.

I just feel a bit peeved that I am supposedly in a good position with not being in a chain and then the EA dangles the proverbial carrot about making an offer near the asking price and the vendors will rent. I probably will sit tight like you say.

Thanks again

lush_walrus

I can completely understand that, but the one thing you will find in property is that it really does bring out the worst in people! People say one thing and do another, can be unreliable and its a very frustrating process.

Just try to keep calm and always be prepared for things to go wrong, its sad to say but until the property has exchanged anything could happen.

Good luck, I hope it goes well.