House sale

[Loulou087]

I’m selling my house, no chain either side. For reasons I won’t go into and to my regret (!) my buyer has my phone number and we’ve had a few (civil) comms, where they have had questions around the property etc. we have a mutual contact, they seem decent people etc etc.

I’m moving in with a family member temporarily and will be buying next year elsewhere (long story)

My AIBU is - it looks like we’re about to be told we can complete this side of Christmas, AIBU to ask to delay until first week of Jan? My reasons are my family members property isn’t really ready for us to store stuff due to renovations until just after Xmas and also, I am away working right up until 20 Dec. I know Jan is weeks away, and buyers want to be in before Xmas, but with the Christmas solicitors closures I just don’t feel I can complete by the end of this year! I don’t think IBU but I am being hounded by the buyer which is literally keeping me awake at night!

What do you all think, will a few weeks really put them off the sale?

Everyone wants to be in my Christmas but it's not always possible
What does your solicitor say?

@TammyJones my solicitor hasn’t’ even told me yet - the only reason I know we’ve reached this point is the buyer messaged me last night saying she’s been told we now have everything we need and need to agree a date

I ignored it, I’m waiting for my solicitor to contact me and I think I’m going to have to message the buyer saying I’ll go via the solicitor from now on. I’ve tried to be so accommodating and answer all their queries but I now feel so under pressure and I just don’t see how I can move by 20th Dec which is obviously when solicitors close etc. I was planning not to chase my solicitor tbh as I am stalling. I understand their point of view but the reality for us is we can’t move just yet and really we are talking about a 2-3 week delay due to Christmas so I just hope they don’t change their mind because of this.

I wouldn't stall completely. Via your solicitor I'd see about the compromise position of exchanging ASAP with a date in the new year arranged. At least exchange means it's happening. If my vendor went totally silent on me when I wanted to discuss dates, I'd be quite concerned that they weren't going to sell after all, and it's best to avoid that situation!

@NoWordForFluffy sorry yes this is what I meant. I am absolutely more than happy to exchange ASAP. It’s just the physical moving that is looking almost impossible this side of Christmas! I think this is what I will do, I’m just feeling guilty that buyer is messaging me separately and feeling I constantly need to explain myself etc 😫

Tell your solicitor the date you want to move. Get them to arrange it with the other parties solicitor. Complete exchange asap to give yourself peace of mind and relax over Xmas. It’s none of their business why you need a certain date. They surely understand you need to live somewhere and people need time to prepare for a move. You can’t just get a date and go for it a week later. Or at least you shouldn’t. Getting removal firms can be tricky and they won’t be working surely and very festive 2 weeks. That only leaves you another 2-3 weeks. No time at all.

@Calamitousness thank you. This was basically my plan, I just feel compromised as the buyer is messaging me and feel that out of courtesy I should message them direct and explain the situation even though I know legally I have no requirement to do so.

I found talking to the buyer and Sellor ( and their sellor) very beneficial as solicitor have other clients and can be a bit 'slow'
Just keep reassuring the buyer.

@TammyJones yes that’s a fair point. Thank you. I’ll message them today and explain my situation. I’m not trying to be difficult at all it’s just when I saw the message yesterday about completing before Christmas I couldn’t believe it and looking at the calendar I just won’t be able to. Hopefully they won’t kick up too much of a fuss, I think both sides would be happy to exchange asap to alleviate any concerns

I would put my stuff in storage and move rather than risk the sale falling through

We had to do this on my MIL home. There was no way it was happening before Xmas.
i had lost a dear family member and was in no place to move MIL.
The buyer was not happy. But we had bent over backwards to accommodate everything else.
in the end we exchanged before Xmas and completed a week into the new year.
no regrets, the buyer won’t want to pull out this late in the day if they desperately want your place.
It’s about communication. Some go silent.
Dedi get your solicitor to offer the exchange route and set a date.
best of luck.

@Baroluleni sorry to hear that, I feel for you, it is so stressful. I agree I’m going to suggest exchange and delayed completion to asap in January. I’ll speak to the solicitors today and see what they say. I don’t think they’ll pull out either but of course there’s always that small risk.