how long would you give this seller to find a house?

[CrapBag]

Someone we know approached my relative last year asking if they knew anyone who wanted to buy their house. I had stated before that I would love to buy this house so it was all agreed. This was July. We knew we wouldn't be doing anything until after NOvember because of our fixed rate ending then, seller was still looking at houses but said she was looking at Jan\Feb time maybe even a bit later. This was fine with us. Then she said about her current mortgage being paid off in march so we think she won't do anything until after then which is fine with us.

However, she has been viewing houses for 7 months. She has a very strict criteria which she seems unwilling to deviate from. We really want her house but our financial position has now changed as I have been left some money so can afford a better house, this one is a great size but needs total updating.

Her plan was to find a house, then tell us and we put ours on the market then. I have decided that this is not going to work and we have started the process of getting it up for sale as we always planned to do it at this time anyway.

Once we have a buyer, and we anticipate it selling fairly quickly as its in a sought after street and is a low priced shared ownership, how long would you give our buyer? We have decided that we are not prepared to wait forever because she is very picky and who knows how long she will take, plus we need to move and from the other thread, it is ?likely to take many months!

I was initially thinking that if we have a buyer by the 1st MArch, giving her until the 1st June, but if she hasn't found some where, we have to start fro. Scratch and our buyer may not want to wait.

Realistically how long would you say?

In my opinion, giving 3 months as you think sounds very reasonable.

but if you cab bow buy a similar house but in better condition, why stick with her house? or is there something special about it? I think it too much, giving her till June! it will be a year since she started looking - and hten all the process of buying! you have a patience of a saint!

can now (in first sentence)

Ha ha ha. The patience of a saint did make me laugh. I am known for my total lack of anything that resembles patience.

The reason we like this house is its close to family, good size house with huge garden (we would never get a garden this big with anything else) and she is willing to sell to us for a very low price, when I got quotes from solicitors they automatically assumed it was a flat because of the price and I had to point out it was a 3 bed house, they were amazed.

I am on benefits and if they get stopped, we will be much worse off and I just can't work, regardless of what a pen pusher ticking boxes may say. A cheaper house means we can pay off a large chunk, have a small mortgage and still manage on DH's wage. Its not the end of the world if we don't get it but we do want it if we can.

I was thinking that 3 months may not really work for us because if she still isn't sorted and we have to look elsewhere, our buyers may not be prepared to wait for an extra x amount of months it will take us to find somewhere.

Grrrr, I wish it would just resolve itself!

Do you think 2 months from the point of us selling is realistic and fair? I know we are suppose to be waiting for her but we aren't prepared to wait forever, particularly when she is very picky.

Have a good look around, is there much on the market that could be a serious possibility. If so, I'd put your house on the market, tell the lady you're doing it (even if you sell quickly, chances are it won't complete for a few weeks and her mortgage will be sorted anyway) and that gives her time to really get focussed. If things don't work out with this lady, then you now have more flexibility if you have a slightly larger budget.

Yes I have seen a few houses that I would look at in ordinary circumstances, more so when my other money comes through and we have a much wider net to cast.

Our house is in the process of going up for sale, will be a few weeks now. I am going to tell her when its for sale in the hope that it gets her moving, when it sells I'll inform her and say that realistically she needs to have found somewhere by x (still don't know how long to give her) otherwise we will have to look elsewhere so we don't lose our buyers.

In the meantime she could still find somewhere which is what I am hoping for.

Anyone else?