Can buyers 'make' us exchange and complete if we've nowhere to move to?

[hackneybird]

We have sold our flat privately to a woman who is currently renting on our road. We have had an offer accepted on another house but we're in a chain so just doing all the solicitor stuff at the moment.

Our buyers have been in touch saying that we have to complete by Jan so that she can move in ahead of having a hip operation. But what do we do if the house we want to buy is not ready due to the chain?

We have a three year old, and really don't want to have to move into rented whilst we wait for our chain to complete. Would we be in a position to say that of course we want to complete by January too, but are at the mercy of needing the house we want to move into being available?

We're not concerned about the sale falling through as we live in a very popular area in London.

You just say that you can't commit to it, and accept that she may pull out. They can't force anything

If the chain isn't ready, it isn't ready. Unless you've signed all paperwork, it'll just fall through.

If you haven't exchanged, they can't force you to complete/move out/do anything. They can threaten to (or actually) pull out, but they would then lose money (as it's their choice and they've presumably had surveys done and things).

If a chain is not ready, that's it. Everyone has to wait.

As the others have said, she can't make you. It's unlikely that she would pull out as she would not be able to move anywhere else before January if it became obvious in, say, December, that you weren't going to complete in time. However, if the sale does seem to be dragging a little, it might be worth calling in some good local agents to find out if they have any chain-free buyers who are looking for a flat like yours, that way if she does back out, you have other options in reserve.

Do you know what the timescales are up the chain? ie has everyone got an idea of when they would all be moving or do you have someone further up the chain who hasn't found anywhere to go yet?

Could you say to your buyer, what is the cut off date to move before the operation and see how reasonable that is to push the sale through further up the chain?

Also what is the earliest date she would want to move after the op? Nothing worse than an entire chain agreeing a date only to find the buyer at the bottom end is in hospital.

Your buyer can't force the sale but at the end of the day it depends how much you want to sell.

If your sale fell through, how devastated would you be?

I am the worst person to ask because we wanted out of our last house so so badly and we couldn't get our completion dates to match so we moved out and into a hotel for 3 weeks

There was me, DH, and Ds1 who was 6 and Ds2 who was 3. In one room. Oh and did I mention that my Mum was terminally ill throughout the hell that was selling and she died 2 weeks before we moved, so we buried her and moved out 3 days later. It was stressful, but I am happy now.

Remember that everything grinds to a halt over Christmas and New Year so you need to factor in several weeks where nothing happens.

Thanks everyone. If our flat sale fell through, it would be a pain but not the end of the world, we could sell our flat again very quickly, we are constantly getting letters from estate agents looking for more properties in our area.

You won't be able to "exchange" unless you have set a date for "completion" because the date of completion must be specified in the exchange documentation which is legally binding.

If she rents down the road, can't you complete the sale and swap places and rent her place till you buy your next home? Or rent back from her and stay where you are while you complete on your next home.