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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

WIBU to ask seller to break property chain

58 replies

charmingbat · 29/07/2021 14:43

We have had a really hard year and now face moving house with two babies in tow. When we offered we were told there was no chain beyond our seller as she was moving into an empty retirement flat. We offered asking price, didn't haggle and sold our property very quickly to ftb. We also said we wanted to be out by mid August. Only after all of this was sorted did we get told that the seller of the flat was actually purchasing another property and that there is now an extra layer of the chain. We are in limbo.
Would we be unreasonable to insist on our completion date and ask our seller to move out early if necessary, even if her flat isn't ready?
Our argument would be that somewhere along the line we have been misled, we are a family with 2 babies and we offered what we did on the basis of a promised quick move.

OP posts:

EL8888 · 29/07/2021 14:45

How long ago was your offer accepted?

lastqueenofscotland · 29/07/2021 14:45

You can ask but they can say no.
Minimum tenancies are 6 months so they may not be willing to commit to that, especially as it’s a sellers market the ball is in their court and they’d probably not struggle selling again.

Hopdathelf · 29/07/2021 14:45

You can ask but she can say no the it’s for you to decide if you want to pull out. Sorry to say but I think YAN a bit U to suggest having two babies is a reason for special treatment. Lots of people choose to move house with kids just as you’ve done.

Mildura · 29/07/2021 14:46

By all means ask, but be prepared that it's likely for the answer to be 'no.'

It's difficult to find short term rental accomodation, so your vendor may not have anywhere to go, even if they wanted to.

Can you not remain wherever you are currently living until the upper chain catches up?

EL8888 · 29/07/2021 14:48

@Hopdathelf l did cringe about the 2 babies thing. Everyone has personal circumstances to consider

Original poster

charmingbat · 29/07/2021 14:48

For reasons I can't really disclose publicly, we can't stay here and would probably have to look at short term accommodation ourselves if this gets delayed. Our offer was accepted coming on 8 weeks ago.

OP posts:

ISaidDontLickTheBin · 29/07/2021 14:50

ou can ask, but in many areas of the country it's a seller's market. We had buyers who asked us to break the chain (we'd been clear all along that we were buying onward) it didn't work for us and we went back on the market. Sold again in under a week for more money. So by all means ask but you may find you don't hold many cards in the negotiation unfortunately.

Hopdathelf · 29/07/2021 14:51

I thought you were going to say your offer had been accepted so long ago that a new baby had come into the mix. 8 weeks!? That’s not much at the moment given the demand on conveyancing. YABVU.

EL8888 · 29/07/2021 14:51

You shouldn’t have been lied to. But the august deadline is a unrealistic as moving it taking a fair while go most people at the moment

Notaroadrunner · 29/07/2021 14:52

Your argument is that you were misled and offered asking price on the basis that the seller was not in a chain. The fact you are a family with 2 babies is irrelevant.

pinkcircustop · 29/07/2021 14:52

YABU. You can ask, but you can’t insist and it’s a sellers market.

You may not be able to stay there but that really isn’t the sellers problem.

SchrodingersImmigrant · 29/07/2021 14:52

Tbh i thought you will say 4 months.
You can ask, but I agree with others that answer might be simple no. I do get where you are coming from, I would be quite pissed off at this change too.

Also, please don't go in with "we have 2 babies" as harsh as it sounds, no one cares because it's not their problem.

Original poster

charmingbat · 29/07/2021 14:53

My point is that throughout the process the seller made it clear that a quick move was completely achievable given she has declined searches, has no mortgage and just needed to sell her house. This was all done in a way to paint her as an attractive seller.Only after we were forthcoming did the truth come out.

OP posts:

Lou98 · 29/07/2021 14:58

As others have said you can ask but the seller can say no.

To be honest it's a bit irrelevant whether you are or aren't being unreasonable, there isn't anything you can do about it if the seller says no apart from pull out.
Given how quickly property is selling just now, you don't really have anything to bargain with.

amatsip · 29/07/2021 15:12

Our sale took 15 weeks and that is very quick in covid times as searches are delayed. I think you are being very optimistic aiming for 2 weeks time.

How near exchange are you? Are searches back?

Shellingbynight · 29/07/2021 15:20

You can ask but you can't 'insist'. The vendor may oblige, or may not. If she refuses you either have to suck it up, or pull out of the transaction.

Gillgardens · 29/07/2021 15:24

Do not use the "two babies" as an excuse/reason. It comes across as if you believe you deserve special treatment because of that. Very entitled that you think that and could annoy some people (me included). Would someone with three babies out trump you or someone with disabilities or an elderly relative or sick parent/grandparent? Everyone has their own personal circumstances and what yours are has absolutely no baring on any legal transaction.

warmandtoasty2day · 29/07/2021 15:26

very much a sellers market, we went on the market on friday and had five offers on the saturday, accepted one on monday. It's really fast.
sorry but your babies are your concern not your sellers,
Be careful you don't come across as entitled just because of having dc.

fellrunner85 · 29/07/2021 15:31

Your offer was accepted eight weeks ago - so end of May? And you wanted to be out mid August?!
That's ambitious at the best of times, let alone in the current market.
If you'd said eight months, perhaps. But eight weeks - no chance. You can ask, but your vendor will most likely say no.

fellrunner85 · 29/07/2021 15:33

Also, the two babies thing - please read that back and see how it looks from an outsider's perspective. Everyone has their own personal circumstances, not just you.

Datingandnoideahowto · 29/07/2021 15:36

Yeah the two babies is completely irrelevant. That was a very quick turn around even in normal times.

fellrunner85 · 29/07/2021 15:41

What do you mean, she's declined searches?
And it's not solely up to the vendor whether its a quick move or not - conveyancing takes time, and she'll have little sway over how fast the process moves. Her mortgage is neither here nor there, either.
You could threaten to pull out, but there's no guarantee another purchase would be any quicker.
Are you all ready to go - ie enquiries and searches and survey complete, mortgage agreed, etc?

blobby10 · 29/07/2021 16:00

I've had buyers threaten to pull out and ended up staying with family or renting for anything up to 11 months between house moves - it always seems to be me who does the accommodating and not anyone else! I've now decided never to move again so won't have to face it!

Really feel for you OP xx

ChainJane · 29/07/2021 16:03

You can ask but really your options are put up with it or walk away. As others have said it's a seller's market. Until the contracts are exchanged nothing is guaranteed, either side can pull out or delay things for whatever reason.

olympicsrock · 29/07/2021 16:07

I disagree , you have been misled. You could renegotiate your offer eg by £5k ....

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