How long who you wait for vendor to find a new house to buy

[1500mmania]

We put our flat on the market and got a full asking price offer within a fortnight of it being on the market. we live in London and were told by estate agents that there wasn't any point in really looking for somewhere to buy unless we had an offer because competition was so fierce for property.

So we have started looking now & have been looking for the past week at everything in our price range in our area (and expanded the area). Some nice stuff but nothing amazing as yet. I have been told by estate agents this is the worse time to be looking and lots of new stock won't come on the market until the new year.

Our buyer is pregnant and due in January and I know if I was them I would be wanting to move pronto ....but I have to find a place I like.... don't I?

The estate agents keep on ringing me, trying too chivvy me along but I can't buy something that isn't on the market. She says the vendor are happy that we have to find somewhere first but may have to reassess the situation in a few weeks.

How long did you wait for the vendor to find somewhere? Is the estate agent just being estate agenty or are we likely to lose these people if we don't find somewhere soon.

[wendybird77]

When we offered we had a firm date we had to move by and were clear with the vendor about this. They agreed, but didn't find anything and didn't find anything. This went on for over 3 months and we started looking again. We asked if they would move into rented and they said no. We finally pulled out and the EA even said we had been more than patient enough. The house went back on the market and has sold SSTC, but they still haven't moved. I think it really depends on the situation. If I had something to sell I would go into rented and then take my time buying my next property. Being chain free puts you in a great position to buy and halves the stress (theoretically).