Are they taking the p***? AIBU

[asitwas12]

Hi all, long time reader first time poster. I am so sorry this is long but I am so lost and worried.
Me and my DH have been searching for a home to buy for about two years, we have made an offer on this one house, it was no accepted but about a year later the house was on sale again as previous sale did not go through due to issues with the buyer and long story short our offer has now been accepted we have gone through all the stages of conveyancing, we have exchanged contracts, our deposit has been paid to our solicitors and all we have left to do is complete.
The buyer is a lovely woman she recognised me from previous viewing and is very happy about me and DH purchasing the house as she has been waiting to move out since the first time the house was for sale, she has had an offer on a house accepted and was just awaiting the sale of this house to complete.
We have agreed an initial completion date of 13/05/22, the seller then had to change the completion date as her mortgage offer has expired and had to obtain a new one, so we said fine we can wait.
I had constantly asked for updates and was told the above chain's mother was on palliative care so they could not complete before 10/06/22, which I had to agree too. A new completion date was agreed, 13/06/2022, so you can see I was so excited to complete and get work started on my new home. A day later I have agreed to the new completion date I get an email from my solicitor saying the above chain's mother has passed away so a new completion date has to be agreed.
I live in a rented tiny flat, I have managed to persuade my agency to give me a break clause and allow me to end the contract early by showing proof of completion but I can not do it, please bare in mind my deposit was paid in late April and it is now mid June and I still do not have a set completion date.
I am so worried the sale is going to fall through and we won't be able to move in and have to go through everything again. Is that a possibility?
I am a teacher and can only have work done to the house during my summer holidays so I need to complete before then but I am scared it won't happen.
AIBU thinking I am being made a fool in-between all of this when I have been ready to complete since April?

Thank you for reading

Chase through the Estate agent not the seller. They are able to contact all the solicitors and have a frank discussion with the seller on your behalf. Remember their fee is dependent on you buying the house so they have the tools to progress a purchase.

You still need to find out if you have exchanged or not.

If you have them your sellers are legally committed to sell and move out by the agreed completion date. No ifs or buts, they have no choice.

If you haven’t exchanged them no-one has committed to anything yet, and either side can pull out.

Which is it?

You still need to find out if you have exchanged or not

I think very likely, almost certainly, not.

I have no idea what pre-exchanged means, despite working in property for over 20 years never heard that expression before.

Sounds like the OP is ready to exchange, but their vendor is not, and as such exchange will not take place until further up chain are indeed ready.

Hi all,

Spoken to the seller, she is also fed up of waiting bare in mind she has been waiting to move since august last year, she said the death of the mother of the chain above added further delays so she is going to view other houses just in case. She said she want to hand me the keys and she would if she had somewhere to move to in between selling and buying a new house. I told her I will wait as I do not want to lose the house.

If your solicitor said the only thing left to do is complete then you might have already exchanged. "To Pre-exchange" isn't a step in the purchase process. It's bad that your solicitor hasn't made it clear to you what stage you are actually at and as PP have said, you should confirm whether contracts have been exchanged on this house purchase or not. If they have there are bigger consequences to either side pulling out (the person pulling out would have to compensate others in the chain that they broke).

Would the woman you are buying from move into rented to just get the sale done? I'd be careful about talking to the seller too much especially about how much you want the house as if you haven't exchanged and they decide to move to a different house that is more expensive she could come to you and ask for more money for the house. Better to go through solicitors and estate agents with direct contact with seller as absolute last resort

Hi all,

Just wanted a boost and write an update, my seller has found a new house where her offer has been accepted, the searches are taking place for the new property and she says things are moving on, so I hope this time we will complete sooner than later