Waiting 6months for house, shall we walk away?

[halfwaytomadeit]

We are now 6months into the home buying process. The seller is buying an already completed new build and we have no property to sell as we have moved in with family. The property has been completed since August.
The date has been pushed back twice so far and now they are reluctant to give any date at all, as the seller's solicitor is still waiting for legal enquiries from the new build company. They have been waiting for these enquiries for the last 5 weeks with no updates. Last week we asked if the seller would be willing to come to an agreement to move from the property in order to prevent the sale falling through (our mortgage expires in January and we have had a change of circumstances since initial application), but the seller is unwilling to do this and has threatened to find another buyer as she feels 'stressed' and 'under pressure' due to us suggesting this.
Our valuation also runs out in January so even if the mortgage company were happy with our change of financial circumstances, we would have to wait for another valuation on the property. We might also need another survey as there is extensive structural work needed to the house which has now been left unattended to for 4months since initial survey (damp, rotten structural support, minor subsidence)

There is no date in sight and the seller is, in our opinion, unwilling to come to any agreement or show any degree of flexibility - they just want us to work around them and what is easiest for them. We are also paying over the valuation cost for the property which the seller knows.
We have got until 12th December for cut off for legal completion, and we cannot continue to live with family beyond Christmas, as at that point it will have been 8+ months. We have also had furniture in storage for a significant period of time.

Would it be unreasonable to walk away if we don't have a date set in the next two weeks?

Are we being unreasonable wanting a date/seller to find alternative accommodation if the sale isn't completed by the 12th December date?

To clarify the offer was accepted 6 months ago.

I would pull out.

You’ve been nice and given them an option. It’s now going to cost you more to postpone things further.

Well it depends on how much you want that particular house.

However if you can’t stay with family past Christmas then you’re not leaving yourself much time to find and complete on another property. I’d be saying to the seller that you want vacant possession by the 12th and if she can’t/won’t guarantee that then pull out asap.

It looks like we are now going to have to pay for rental accommodation while we wait for this to come through/find another property. It's all so infuriating.
It is perfect for us location, size and area. We loved the house at first, but as odd as it sounds the delay is putting me off and giving me a negative feeling about the whole thing. 6months feels a ridiculous point to not have a date.

I would pull out too

Unfortunately if they are buying a new build they are totally at the mercy of the housing company - ours was completed 2 months early (which is so unusual!) but we know others who had it pushed back due to various factors. (covid delays / unable to get materials / bad weather delays / not signed off). Only you know if it's a deal breaker for you!

"The property has been completed since August." Do you mean the new build? If so there must be something very very wrong if they're not already in, most new build companies try to get people in ASAP once it's built. The seller can't give you a date if they don't have a date unfortunately, I'd imagine they are probably super stressed with the situation too.

Will your change in circumstances mean you can't get the mortgage?

Pull out if you can without massive financial loss

I think I would pull out too. In theory it could keep getting delayed as there’s no end in sight and you’ve already been waiting so long. Annoying but you could find a better place in the mean time. Understand it’s stressful for the seller but they need to see it from your perspective too. Plus the damp/subsidence stuff is quite worrying on top.

If the new build was completed in August are you sure it is not the builder who is delaying things by keeping their completion date towards their next quarterly figures the company I worked for before retirement used to do this to keep their sales figures on line.
I would pull out if I where you play them at their own game.

@MrzClaus Yes, it's the seller's property that has been completed since August, so it was very much supposed to be a quick sale. The sellers solicitors are waiting for replies to legal enquiries from the company managing the properties is what we have been told, but they haven't had any replies in the last 5 weeks. It's all very odd and made worse by the sellers unwillingness to come to an agreement on securing our sale to ensure the sale doesn't fall through completely leaving everyone back at the beginning. I get the impression it's not a well known new build company, but a small business/independent building company.

Oh OP it's so stressful. We were in a similar position, albeit ours was due to a very long chain. In our case, we stuck it out, as we knew we wouldn't get another chance to get this particular house in our area, but it was such hard work at the time. Think it depends on how much you want the house.

It is definitely complete. Apparently the keys have been with the agent since August, the problem is with the company not replying to legal enquiries. It just seems unheard of. That is interesting @abigailsnan, I wonder if that could be a part of it!

I'd pull out

I think we will give it two more weeks and begin to look elsewhere in the meantime. Hopefully things will move by then or the seller will come to their senses and agree to make alternative arrangements.

I would start looking and see if there's anything else.
And if you see anything else then give them a deadline.
6 months is a ridiculous amount of time with no resolution in sight.

Drop it and run away

If you really love it, I would speak to the estate agent you're buying through and dangle the threat of pulling out. Make them do some work for their commission and at least get to the bottom of what's holding things up. And don't be scared to follow through on the threat if the answers are unsatisfactory.

I would request the 12th Dec as a completion date and if they say no, see if they will negotiate a drop in the offer to account for your rent and new valuations etc before dropping out since you like the house. If they won't be flexible, then you have to drop out.

@User27569

I would request the 12th Dec as a completion date and if they say no, see if they will negotiate a drop in the offer to account for your rent and new valuations etc before dropping out since you like the house. If they won't be flexible, then you have to drop out.

Why the 12th Dec? It's a Sunday, for one thing.

In my experience of new builds, the builder will move heaven and earth if they think there is a chance the chain will break. Your sellers solicitor should be escalating that this is a real risk and things should move.

I would just tell the agent that you are going to start looking at other properties again if exchange and completion dates are not set by the end of next week.

Explain that you would very much still like to buy the house but you can’t wait around forever. You will remain committed to the sale until you find an alternative property. It’s then down to the sellers team to get their finger out. There’s a risk they might put the house back on the market too but nobody would be able to complete as quickly as you at this stage.

TBH I would cut and run.

Spoke to solicitor again yesterday and stressed, once again, that we don't want to have to pull out but we can't physically afford to allow this to go on indefinitely so we need to negotiate something with seller. I assume this was passed on to sellers solicitor as I received an angry call from estate agent today basically saying we have spooked the seller and she has called asking agents if they need to think about finding another buyer. I am so exhausted with it all now, I honestly don't know where to turn. According to agents seller will absolutely not complete before her purchase is ready as it is 'too much of a gamble' and 'too complicated' for seller.

Am I asking too much by putting pressure on for a date? I feel like I'm being made to feel like a villain by agents.

No you aren't, it's horrible when everything's up in the air like this (been there). They'd rather keep you on board as they don't want to lose out on their commission and go back to square 1 but getting angry with you doesn't seem like a sensible way to go about it.

I would just tell the agent that you are going to start looking at other properties again - and with other agents...