People buying our house want us to pay their rent - is this reasonable?

[ragle]

Hi,
We are leaving the country on October 30th and agreed to sell our house to a couple on condition that completion occurred on 24th October. Today they said they wanted to delay completion until 10th November unless we paid their rent (£700). On all the property documents the completion date has been set for 24th October. They have also delayed exchange, which was supposed to have happened by now and we have bent over backwards to accommodate their every whim in order to keep the sale on track. I feel completely over the barrel and I am so angry with these people! But is this normal to pay the buyers rent so they are not left paying rent and a mortgage to get the completion date originally agreed on?
Any advice very welcome!

We asked for an additional month's rent to be paid by our vendors when the sale was dragging on for almost 6 months. Oddly the chain sped up rapidly from that point and our deadline was met.

But I've never heard of it happening when the buyer wanted to delay!

They are doing what it sounds like they have done all along. Taking the piss.

What happens if you don't sell before you move abroad? You can finalise everything from abroad or give a family member the legal right to finish on your behalf?

Can you cover the mortgage until you got new buyers? If so I would tell them to complete on 24th or you pull out now.

What reason have they given for the delay? It's not normal, but people try all sorts of things when they know they have the upper hand (they presumably know you have to sell). It's worth getting the estate agent to find out exactly what's going on.
Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if you end up paying all or some of the £700 to get your sale through. If you do agree, make them exchange sharpish i.e. set a deadline of hours if possible or 2 days at most.

Whats the market like where you are? Think you could shift it quickly to someone else? If so, tell them to jog on. They sound like time wasters anyway. I'd be worried what they'd do next.

Trouble is, what if they take even greater piss once you give in to this?

I don't think the buyers want to delay. They just realised probably on going to hand in their notice that they have to pay their rent as well as mortgage. They obviously haven't budgeted or realised when they will have to pay rent until.

So they want OP to cover the cost of what they missed in order to complete thinking that OP has no choice as she is off abroad.

I would worry what else they would try on before the 24th if you agree to this.

No way, it is very cheeky of them to do that. I would say that the buyers normally have more invested in the process, they have a mortgage agreed, paid for a valuation, paid the solicitors. Are they really willing to pull out because of £700?

Tell your EA you're furipus but you can offer £350 to facilitate the exchange.

If pushed I'd have no choice but to agree to 700 but I'd wait a week. Agree too quick and they'll ask for £3k!!

Cheeky fuckers, don't clean your house after you pack up!!

It is really cheeky.
Do you think they paid a fair price for the property & were there negotiations after the survey?
If you think they underpaid because you were assured a quick sale then tell them to swing it.
If you think you're getting a good deal I'd probably pay it, but only after you've exchanged so the date can't change again without them paying a penalty.

• agree to 700 in a week if they exchange the next day.

I'd be tempted to say 'fine, as long as you pay our mortgage for the additional days you want to delay by'

So they haven't yet given notice on their rental They must have known all along they'd be liable until 10th of a month. If you don't exchange by 9th they may hold out for another month's worth.

Can you say you'll pay it if the estate agent will knock it off their fee? Usually helps the agent to persuade the buyer that what they're asking is unreasonable!
Personally I think your buyers are taking the piss. Could understand it maybe if you were delaying completion and they were having to pay rent because of it but if they are the ones delaying completion then not really sure what their reasoning is!

I completed when overseas. It was very simple. I might call their bluff.

Tell them no. Otherwise they may drop the price they're willing to pay at the last minute.

Well, I have heard a fair few taking the piss requests in property transactions, but never this one. It would be a big fat NO from me. Sometimes if you give in to something like that then there is no knowing where the line will eventually be drawn, if it will be drawn at all.

I once had a buyer's solicitor ask me to agree to pay 50% of any future repair work to the building the flat we were selling was in (on an open ended timescale) because the wear and tear on it would already have been going on under our ownership. The property we were selling was a former council flat, with the council still responsible for the overall upkeep of the building. My response was not polite.

As you say, you've given lots of ground so they're expecting you to give in yet again. Their request is unreasonable, but house transactions are prone to this.

I would say no, I doubt they will walk away. Any other properties on the market they could take.

Should you wish to gain revenge, another option would be to agree the payment, wait for them to hand in notice and then delay completion until December ;)

they can't really give notice until exchange, but £700 is their problem. My concern is that as they have form for this the next thing will be a request to drop the price.

so either tell them to take a running jump, or say you'll pay the £700 if they exchange tomorrow.

Very cheeky. . They are definitely BVU.

Thanks for all the feedback! We need to sell but I am completely torn between just sucking the £700 up and getting on with it, or getting on my high horse and threatening to pull out if they didn't honour what was agreed when they wanted to buy the house - which was completion by 24th October at the latest, (their date not ours I hasten to add..) I have a tendency to cut my nose off to spite my face, so I am wary of losing the sale over £700, but it's the principle dammit!!

The buyers are not FTB, they are a solicitor (she is acting as her own conveyancer) and the husband is a risk assessor/insurance under writer and they have been total pains in the bum the whole time. To top it off I wonder if our agent is in cahoots with them as he found out on Friday evening that they were changing completion dates, but didn't tell us until today (Monday) when we were under the impression we were exchanging today. So we didn't have the weekend to reflect and consider what to do, instead we have been under pressure all day to make a call, whilst being acutely aware that it is another day wasted when exchange could have happened. God I feel like naming and shaming the lot of them! And the agent wants to keep the cheque to give to the buyers when they exchange, which seems a bit sus, and they want it IMMEDIATELY before we have even exchanged!

Thanks everyone for all that has been said, I was wondering if I was overreacting being so livid about it all.

We got messed about over a house we were buying years ago. Person wouldn't exchange contracts or give a date although they previously said no problem. DH said he was pulling out and he did. And we got a much better house. So were quite lucky in that respect. Don't take any nonsense from people.

These people will continue to fuck you over and might well try to change the price, too, or continue to move goalposts.

OP - why don't you just agree to their completion date of 10 Nov?

I think this is astonishingly cheeky and, if you agree to it, it may not be their last demand. I'd be inclined to hint at other interest in your property, and leave them to sweat for a few days. But I can see that that requires some nerve, so may not be an appealing option.

Easy for me to say but I would tell them no.