To question AIBU to refuse to renegotiate house sale offer because buyers have been waiting a long time

[madbatarse]

So...we accepted an offer on our house several months ago & accepted a lower offer price on the basis buyers would sell & rent for an extended period while we try to find a property (we have long tick list). They love our house & seem adamant they intend to buy it. Quite a few months down the line we still haven't managed to find anywhere & buyers now want to renegotiate the price down by 10k to cover their (now unexpected) additional rental costs. If we agree they will carry on renting & give us more (unspecified) time to come up with the goods without hassling for a while. They are obviously more motivated to buy than we are to sell, ergo: we still can't find anything suitable & indicators are now showing house prices will probably be on the rise. We are therefore concerned that if we accept a reduced price & house prices then rise we will end up with a shortfall when looking to buy & will be priced out.

AIBU in saying 'go away' - you are being cheeky & we aren't paying your rent; either stay with the deal if you're that desperate or walk? Or do you think they've been exceptionally patient, we should bite their hands off & go live in a tent?!

[[If mods want to move this to property that's fine - just thought would get more visibility here lol].

YABU- This happened on a house that I was really interested in, the vendor had sold previously but couldn’t find anything and in the end the buyers, who had sold and were renting waiting the vendor to find something, gave up and found something else. I really liked the house but it put me off putting an offer in as the vendor obviously wasn’t committed to selling.

You're not BU. The buyers have made a poor judgement in getting into this position but you're not obliged to sell at any price you don't want to and they weren't obliged to wait.

Either sell them the house or take it off the market

You ought to be renting, not them! You are CF playing them like this.

Your buyers have kept their side of the bargain by moving into rented which makes you chain-free. Meanwhile you're not proceedsble, and have a stinking attitude on you towards these reliable people who have been honest towards you at every step.

A canny property owner recognises a good buyer when they see one and values them highly, because they are few and far between.

give your head a wobble! Either pull out, be honest and apologetic that you're going to take a month of Sundays before you become proceedable, or accept their reduced offer because the situation has changed since you first struck the deal.

This has to be a reverse

YANBU to say no, they would not be unreasonable to walk.

Morally, if you aren’t that bothered about moving, you should tell them upfront.

YABVU. Either you want to sell or you dont. If you want to sell, then move into rented yourself. If not then stop dangling them on a bit of string and take it off the market

i think you have misunderstood the OP.

I actually don’t think you’re being unreasonable… at least where we live, sellers won’t consider an offer unless your property is already under under. We found our dream house last year but couldn’t make an offer because ours wasn’t on the market! We’re now putting ours up for sale but won’t be rushing to move until we find the right thing, and it takes as long as it takes. If you found a buyer relatively easily first time then I would take your chances 🤷‍♀️

This. Then if your mythical house ever materialises, or you realise you have to compromise, you will be in a very strong position to offer.

@madbatarse

How many months are we talking as in your op you mention quite a few and several,, so it is no wonder they are asking for a drop in price as even if you do find the house that has everything you want it will still be more waiting around for the sale process to complete.

What would you do in their position?

What will you do if the seller of the house you eventually buy wants you to patiently wait while they half-heartedly look for a house, I am sure you will be asking for a price reduction.

Did you put a time limit on this, which was agreed by both parties, as your buyers have sold and are spending a lot of money on rented accommodation

If I were the buyer, I would not be happy to spend endless amounts on rent whilst the seller who agreed to accept my offer was not making any kind of movement, and I would probably by now have moved on and found a seller who was actually engaged in the process.

Op it’s impossible

you need to be under offer to get your offers taken seriously

but what if you can’t find what you want? Why move into rented if you can stay where you are?

OP, it is very simple - you need to give them what they are buying. You cannot expect people to rent indefinitely so you can tick off your long check list. That's your problem, not theirs.

WTF do people start threads they haven't got the time or inclination to engage in.

im suspecting this is a reverse due to the details.

I wonder how much the initisl
loeer offer, was lower by & what the time frame was?

I think if its getting to the point where the rent has cost them equal to the lower offer amount, the seller should either find a bloody house that meets enough of their ticklish (and accept the perfect house doesn't exist. OR be grateful the buyers are still prepared to wait & pay their rent (or part of, if they've chosen somewhere extravagant) or of course, just say no & go back on the markrt

Having been a buyer waiting, you are being massively unreasonable!

You're the fussy one so why cant you sell and rent whilst you take so much time to find the house you want?

It sounds like they have been very patient, but with no end in sight I, like them, would be re-thinking this arrangement because their costs are racking up. If there's not advantage for them (like a relatively small price reduction) I wouldn't be surprised if they drop out. You can't just rent casually - you have to commit to a contract, so you're making it very hard for them.

If I were your buyers I'd have walked by now, You are lucky they've not pulled out, and it's your own fussiness and procrastination that's meant they're stuck in rental, so yeah, you should pay their rent.

Or sell to them, move outl, and pay your own rent.

They're giving you a chance to keep them. Not unreasonable to suggest it rather than just walking away. You are free to say no.

You can do what you like. But why did you agree to sell your house if you don't actually want to move? They'll probably walk away if you don't give them a discount or seriously hurry up. If I were them I'd be looking at other houses...

OP what if you find your dream house and finally start the selling process (which is lengthy enough already for most tastes) then complete on your house sale. But the vendors of your perfect house are saying, "Oh but hang on, we accepted your offer but we haven't found something we really want to buy yet, and we are super fussy, so I'm sure you'll be happy to wait for us for find it..."

I doubt you'll think it's so acceptable when it's you waiting and waiting and facing longer and longer in rented/someone else's dining room. Conveyancing is horrible whether you're the vendor or the buyer, and some people just make it worse. Don't be that person!

I was in the situation your buyers are in when I bought my first place. My landlord was selling under me, and I ended up homeless living out of a hotel for months. It wasn't until I threatened to reduce my offer by the amount I'd had to spent on alternative accommodation that things started moving.

I'm not clear how long you have stalled for, but you need to be honest with them and get things moving if you are messing them around. I think a month is plenty of time to search if you're a motivated seller.

@madbatarse

I did it the other way round. My buyers LOVED my house and I just couldn't find anywhere, so they paid a HIGHER price and I agreed to move into a rental.

It's up to you if you accept their lower offer and for them to wait. How many other buyers were interested when you listed it for sale? If prices are going up then it might be worth just putting it back on the market if they're wanting to pay less for it.

Sell to them and you rent. It's your problem you can't find somewhere for your long list.

Ugh, this was us when we were trying to buy our house. It took a YEAR.
Yabu. Dont put your house on the market if youre not in a position to move out