Please help me buy some time / think of an excuse

[LemonBiscuits]

I’m selling a property abroad and after struggling to find a buyer at first, I’ve now suddenly got two interested parties at the same time, creating a bit of an awkward timing situation.

Person 1 viewed the house, loved it, and made an offer on the spot. We hammered out all the contract details within two days, their mortgage was sorted a few days later and we’ve got a notary appointment scheduled for next Thursday. Over here, that appointment is the key step where everything becomes legally binding. Until then, in theory, they could still back out, although at this stage it seems fairly unlikely.

Person 2 viewed the house at the end of November, also loved it, but wasn’t in a position to proceed at the time due to a complicated mortgage situation. She kept saying she was sorting things out soon, but to be honest, it’s mostly been a lot of flowery language and not much actual progress. I did tell her the property would stay on the market until she was properly ready to move forward.

To my great surprise, she’s messaged me tonight asking for a call to discuss contract terms and a notary appointment. I haven’t mentioned anything about Person 1 (this has all happened within the last ten days) and ideally, I’d like to keep her as a backup in case things fall through last-minute. She’s been stringing me along for months and hasn’t always been entirely upfront, so I don’t feel too bad about keeping my cards close to my chest for another six days.

I do however need a decent excuse to delay the call until the end of next week. I don’t want to discuss contracts with her when, hopefully, I’ll be finalising things with Person 1 on Thursday - I obviously don’t want her to waste money on legal advice if it’s all going to be pointless. Normally, I’d prefer to just be honest, but she’s quite emotionally intense and I worry she’ll take it badly and walk away immediately. I’d rather keep her on standby just in case. We’re selling without an agent, so I will need to come up with something myself.

Any suggestions for how to buy some time? Do I tell her I’m away on holiday somewhere exotic and will get back to her when I’m back? I don’t love the idea of lying, but at the same time, she hasn’t exactly been 100% straight with me either…

Covid or some other virus. Say you'd feel terrible if you passed it on but you should be over it in a week.

Surely it's just "I'm really busy this week, but I could talk on Friday".

Just realised it's a call not face to face but I'd still say virus and you don't feel up to it.

She's a complete flake so is not even close forth keeping as a back up.

Give her some flowery language back!

Hello Diane, unfortunately there has been a death in the family so I'm not going to be able to communicate with you until X date. I'm sure you understand. Best wishes, LemonBiscuits

I don't think you need to lie or make excuses. Just say, "Hi, thanks for getting back to me. I'm a bit tied up this week, so I'll be in touch at the end of next week. Thanks."

If you have already picked up that buyer 2 is flakey and emotionally intense, are you sure you even want her as a plan B? That's the kind of buyer to run a million miles from, especially when you are handling the sale yourself and can't shield yourself with a third party.

This is what my DH suggested but I’m a superstitious idiot and would rather not lie about a death in the family. Silly, I know.

Maybe I’ll go with the virus, laryngitis would work, I guess.

Too busy to close the deal on a rather expensive house you’ve been trying to sell for months doesn’t seem credible, I think.

She is actually very nice besides being a bit intense (and a massive over-sharer…I know far too much about her family at this point). But yeah, the flakiness isn’t great, although with the system here, once you’ve had the notary appointment, there’s not much that can go wrong and even a difficult buyer wouldn't be much of a concern at that point.

Less is more... poker face

Reply a bit more slowly - in 24 hours not immediately

Just offer an appointment time.

"Is Friday at 10am ok?"

"Or earliest I can do is 10 Friday."

She will either say yes and be privately annoyed but or if she is pushy she may ask for an early one.

"I can't I'm stacked out all week" or "I'm back to back all week"

Keep cards close to chest and don't lie about death or viruses.

I suppose that could work. Reply tomorrow night, keep it breezy and offer a call on Thursday.

Thanks everyone!