Gutted... think we are going to lose our dream house :(

[Gemma77]

Now I know why they say moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do. We sold our house very quickly and found our dream house just as quickly. The current owners are retired and are looking to find their retirement bungalow as they need to sell their house to live off the income before their pensions come through.

The house is perfect in every way but after 7 weeks they still have not found anywhere to live, despite looking at what must be over 10 properties. Two they have put offers in on but they are going in low with their offers and losing out to higher bidders. They need to either up their budget or look at 2 bedrooms rather than 3 but it doesnt sound like they are willing to compromise.

We are in a rush due to secondary school applications. We need to be in by September but at the moment there is no end in sight to our property chain.

They havent event sent the paperwork to their solicitors for the selling of their property. In the meantime, we have paid out for surveys, solicitor searches and mortgage arrangement fees.

All of this is made worse by Estate Agents who say they will call you back and never do. Eventually got through to our agent today (after several promises of they will call since last week!) and I asked for an update. His words where 'not as far as I know - I left a message for them but they havent called back so 'hopefully' they are out looking'. Doesnt sound like he is on top of things does it! He then said that they are now fighting with each other because of the pressure of moving and so he thinks he will do more harm than good if he chases them more.

I told them today that we cant carry on much longer. If they dont sort something soon we are going to have to start looking again. He said he understood and would have an honest conversation with them at the end of the week.

He is going to mention renting but I think that is unlikely to happen as they are retired and don't have the money to pay rent (they have paid their mortgage off).

Bloody heartbroken as I loved that house - but I love my kids more and they need a better school than the catchment area we are currently in!

Just needed to let of steam... thanks for reading this far!

Oh no! How frustrating. I'm so sorry. House buying is the worst.

I would definitely start looking again, it might give them a kick up the arse and if it doesn't, you will be ahead of the game. Could you offer to exchange ASAP and give them a longer time until completion?

Sometimes what you think is your dreamhouse turns out not to be, or there can be more than one dreamhouse.

You poor thing, house buying is so emotional.
If they think they might lose you it's possible they'll consider renting. If not andI's idea of exchange with an august completion might be possible. Good luck.

Remember, there's always more than one dream house

Seven weeks doesn't seem that long but around here the market is strange. We were in a similar situation last year. Offered in January, our sellers found something in may and we squeaked in on the day our mortgage offer expired. Are your sellers happy to wait or do you need to move into rented in your school catchment to keep things going ?

Chains are a nightmare and can be so stressful because everyone is working towards different time lines and goals. In this case, they don't seem in a hurry to move. They have no time pressure except the one from you, or when they eventually find their bungalow, from their vendors.

I would start looking again if I were you but keep your offer on their house. If they find something before you find something else then perfect and you can all move foreword. If you find something else suitable then you withdraw from the purchase and proceed on the new one.

The same happened to us. After 6 months of waiting, we had to start looking again, and an even better house came on, who have accepted our offer. It is hard, but it might be for the best.

The same happened to us. After 6 months of waiting, we had to start looking again, and an even better house came on, who have accepted our offer. It is hard, but it might be for the best.

Can you not move to rented, in the catchment area?

Thanks everyone . We are due to speak to the EA again on Friday and have said we need to decide then if we start looking at other properties again. So hard as emotionally I am really attached to the house already....it just feels right if that makes sence? Will lose out of the money we have spent already on surveys and solicitor and mortgage fees too but I can't go on with this uncertainty much longer.

Renting for us is tricky as we have a dog plus for the school catchment we would need to have a year long tenancy in order to meet their admissions criteria and that means we would lose the house anyway.

For the moment I think it's a case of keeping the pressure up and crossing fingers

Fingers crossed it all goes ahead.

One of my favourite sayings is " what's for you won't go by you"