AIBU to ask the vendor to commit to a date, and move out even if the chain hasn't completed?

[user1467117350]

We're FTB in the process of buying a house (in Greater London). The offer was accepted in March.

We were due to exchange in a couple of weeks, and complete at the end of July.

Unfortunately a house has fallen through further up the chain.

We only have until October for our current mortgage offer (which I think can be extended by a week for exceptional circumstances). That gives 12 weeks for the person up the chain to find a property and get all the legalities in place ready to complete. In my experience so far - this is pushing it time wise.

I am also pregnant and we are sleeping in the front room at my parents with a toddler, so are keen to move asap.

AIBU to ask our seller to commit to completing by beginning of October, even if the rest of the chain isn't ready? To see if they could move their things into storage/ stay with relatives until their purchase is complete?

Other option is to just wait and see, but there is no guarantee that we will be accepted for another mortgage (for the same value) at that point, due to pregnancy and planned maternity leave.

Part of me thinks in this current climate and in the uncertainty of Brexit, the seller should be biting my hand off to seal the deal.

If this doesn't go through, I don't think we could go through the pain of finding somewhere else to buy, and should maybe just rent while I'm on maternity leave and see what happens with the house prices?

Grateful for any advice....

There's no harm in asking if they'll complete their sale before their purchase is ready. Explain your reasons about the mortgage offer.

But they may well just decide to put the house back on the market and find another buyer. That's the risk you take.

I'd probably let the estate agent know that Oct (or whenever) is your deadline and you'll have to move into rented at that point and then see what the buyer comes back with. You don't need to go straight into the hardball approach.

There is nothing to loose by asking.

I agree with you - the vendor should be keen to sell at the pre-Brexit price if they ar ecommitted to moving on. However it isn't always THAT easy to rent somewhere, especially if they have pets and lots of kids.

You are asking them to break the chain by going into rental, to keep you as buyers.

Definitely worth a go. If you go for an early exchange and a long gap to completion, perfectly possible.

You can ask but don't be surprised if they say no. I don't think solicitors generally recommend it.

Having just bought in GL myself I have found that the house prices were going up and up throughout the purchase and properties were being sold within days (possibly hours of the EA allowed it).

So, if we had said to them 'move by X date or we will retract our offer' they would have said 'fine with us we can sell it within a week for £60k more'

From their point of view, if they are moving to a similar area and the prices are going up, if they sell to you for £X, then their chain fell through and they had to find somewhere else not only will they have to pay more for their new property (and only having the money from this property) but they will also have to pay for storage. It depends on their financial circumstances.

Our chain fell through, and once the chain had completed everyone worked together to push the sale through in 4 weeks. So there is still time depending on how co-operative the chain is.

Good luck x

Agree, would let the estate agent know that by October you either move into this house, or go into rented and therefore can't commit to buy for another 6 months. I would also be tempted to look at other properties in the area.

well unless you offer them a sum of money to do this I would expect them to tell you kindly where to go or laugh at your request

this is part of the buying process even when there is no chain until you have completed you have to accept things can fall through at any minute it is very stressful

The problem is the hosie has probably gone up in value from March, let alone between March and September (this is good for you because you're benefitting from the increase without paying any mortgage repayment)

Nothing is off the table with house buying, you can ask anything. All that matters is what the vendor thinks and answers. Give it a
Go.

Personally I wouldn't agree to it and it's pretty standard to say no but no harm trying. Hope They say yes for you!

How long is the chain? I'd be nervous of further collapses. A friend of mine works in property and has had many people pull out of sales already through fear of negative equity, thinking they'll wait for the prices to drop before buying.

Hi all

Thanks for all your responses.

Oysterbabe – currently there are three parties in the chain, although this will change depending on the circumstances of the new property once/if the vendor up the chain finds anything.

The estate agent has given me our vendors number to call her tonight for a chat. We haven’t spoken yet, as everything has gone through the EA. They are aware of our circumstances and are apologetic, although it’s not their fault.

The annoying thing is when our offer was accepted in March, we were told that they didn’t need to find an onward property to complete the sale and to just go ahead, although that changed two weeks later and then it took another 8 weeks for them to find somewhere. Had we have known that, we wouldn’t have arranged our mortgage straight away, and would still have had plenty of time left on the offer…

No pets or kids, so hopefully that would make it slightly easier for them to come to an alternative arrangement if needed.

I have emailed our conveyancers for advice too.

Can you extend your offer? We managed to extend ours by 3 months

You've lost nothing by asking. Although TBH if you're first time buyers I would be seriously thinking about pulling out anyway and waiting until October to see what house prices in the area do.

Absolutely ask.
I didn't want to lose my sale so moved into a flat temporarily until I found a house.
It also helped a lot for me as I was in a good position to move quickly and basically a cash buyer!

Slugs - Who was your mortgage with? Our is with Nationwide and was for 6 months - I think the most they would extend is 1-2 weeks.

WannaBe - With the baby due December, we're pretty keen to get this house, even with the house price uncertainty. I think if we don't, we would probably rent until I am back at work after maternity leave (Oct 2017). I think being pregnant/on leave will effect our affordability with the mortgage lenders, so we wouldn't be lent as much.

Hope your agent had their permission to give you their number! Worth asking but I suggest a plan B.

It's a huge ask! I doubt they will go for it.

We moved last year and spent a couple of months living with family as our buyers (and the chain below) wanted to move by a set date but the owners of the house we wanted hadn't found anywhere at that stage - in fairness, it had all been delayed as we had been gazumped and had to find a new house. I was pregnant at the time although given birth by the time we sold, but desperate not to lose our buyers and be back at the start of finding new ones.

Good luck.

I'd rather not say who it's with on here but it isn't a high street/well known lender.

You might find that although they only extend it by 2 weeks that may be all you need.

I think being in contact with the seller is a good idea, we were and it helped us 'push' it along so we all know who's solicitor was waiting for what and at what point so once he chain completed we were moved in 4 weeks later

Xx

Also be aware that until you've exchanged contracts, the vendor can put up the asking price and in effect challenge you to meet it.

Our buyers pushed for a speedier completion, they'd already sold and were living with their daughter) Towards the end they asked us to complete within a 2 weeks or pay for their storage costs or they'd pull out. We called their bluff and said no, as they'd nit picked over every little detail so it wasnt us holding the tiny chain up. They didn't pull out and sale was done within 8wks total, so fairly quick as it was. (Their solicitor had promised them a 6wk completion)

Depends on how things have gone so far and how desparate they are to secure your purchase - good luck.

The problem is the hosie has probably gone up in value from March, let alone between March and September (this is good for you because you're benefitting from the increase without paying any mortgage repayment)

Actually there have been minimal price rises - there was nervosness at the vote.

And now the vote has happened - and commentators are talking of REAL decreases (not just comparativly) of 0% 3% and 5% over the next three years.

The vendors may be wise to sell at the pre-brexit agreed price.

I cannot get my head around the chain system in the UK. We're I Ireland and here if you are selling a house you move out once contracts are ready to be signed, up to you to sort out where you move to! You can ask for more time and mostly you will get it eg we pushed our move back by a few weeks because our purchaser agreed but he didn't have to!

It's utter madness that you have to wait while they find/complete purchase. I wouldn't deal with the vendor directly, surely this is up to your solicitors to push for?

That you need to be in before the baby arrives (and you go on mat leave so probably can't get a mortgage) would say to me this isn't the house for you. Call some agents and look around some other properties. If you can find something else you can afford/like and they are able to complete before October, then go with that. It doesn't sound like this is the house for you.

If it is made clear to them you need to be in before october or are going elsewhere, they can decide if they want to risk having to find a new buyer, which if the market is going to look a bit questionable post Breixit, might not be a good call for them.

Whois that isn't the case in many areas and we don't particularly expect it to be (I work for a national house builder) there are always regional variations of course but OP says she's in greater London where things are fine IME. Don't know where people are getting the idea that people are pulling out due to brexit, we had reservations put down on an entire development Monday morning, 700 people wanting to buy 40 units. All smashing their predicted sales margins. Anyway, I digress. As long as banks keep lending.