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Original poster

Am I being unreasonable? How long did your sellers take to find a new property?

16 replies

Gemma77 · 03/04/2014 17:33

I'm trying to work out whether I am being unreasonable or not Confused

We have found a wonderful house and had our offer accepted. It has been 7 weeks now and they still haven't found a new house. We are in Berkshire and they are looking to move to a bungalow in Hampshire.

We can't go into rented and nor can they so we now have to decide whether we just wait as long as it takes or if we start looking elsewhere. We are in a rush because of school applications that have to be in by the end of October.

Is 7 weeks nothing really - am I being unfair?

Thanks!

Gemma

OP posts:
5ofus · 03/04/2014 22:25

I would be asking the EA outright whether they are being realistic about what they can buy. If not I would be considering pulling out.

Or at least have a look around to see if there's anything else you like as much maybe?

Bowlersarm · 03/04/2014 22:28

Keep looking, but keep your offer in place. If you find another property you can proceed on withdraw from the purchase. If your Vendors find a property before that happens then carry on proceeding on this one.

Foxsticks · 03/04/2014 22:43

We took about five weeks but were put under huge pressure by our buyers, it was a horrible time! I'm not convinced that we would have bought our current home if we hadn't been put under such pressure. We were looking to buy in a really competitive area though, when houses come on the market at the right price they sell within a week, there is a shortage in decent homes. If there aren't houses out there then what can your vendors do? As long as they are actively looking I would give them a bit longer before threatening to pull out.

Beamur · 03/04/2014 22:45

Maybe they've looked at everything that might be suitable and not liked them, seven weeks isn't that long.
Why can't they go into rented?

TakingTheStairs · 03/04/2014 23:33

I'm in the same situation. 6 weeks since our offer was accepted and our vendor has offered on one property.
It's very hard for us to know what's going on as the agent we're buying through are being very unprofessional and unhelpful.
I asked the agent to ask the vendor if she would consider moving into rented accommodation and she said the vendor was under enough pressure from her ex DH so she didn't want to ask and put her under more pressure. I said I didn't want to risk losing our buyers and she told me I could always find more buyers if that happened.
I have no idea whether the agent is actually passing our questions on or not.

We've started viewing other properties and if we find one we like, we'll take that route. If the vendor finds somewhere to buy in the meantime then we'll stick with the original house

I do feel bad though. I feel like the vendor is going to lose out because I bet the estate agent isn't telling her that we're getting fed up.

TakingTheStairs · 03/04/2014 23:34

I should have said, our vendor has offered on one property and had that offer rejected.

lessonsintightropes · 04/04/2014 00:47

I've posted a lot about our experiences, please don't commit money to legal fees and searches before you know they are serious. We lost a mere £500 on the first purchase which fell through because the vendor had no intention of moving on, and £2k with our sale to a couple going through a divorce when the wife didn't want to go. It's a lot of money.

Jaynebxl · 04/04/2014 07:28

It is so hard. We ended up waiting months but we really wanted the house. At first our sellers wouldn't sell to us as we hadn't sold our house and they thought we would take too long. In the end we sold within 3 days (houses go really fast here) and then waited more than 6 months to move. Pur sellers had an offer accepted then waited 8 weeks for their sellers to find something. Our buyers started putting pressure on us and so we had to put pressure on our sellers who pulled out of that sale. They tried for 2 other houses in the end and the whole process was glacially slow. But we were lucky that our first time buyers were impatient but very keen so even though they moaned a lot they stuck with us.

I guess you have to work out how much ypu really want that house and whether your buyers will wait.

CelticPromise · 04/04/2014 07:42

This happened to us and we bought a different house in the end. We were desperate to move and our sellers were looking for their dream house. For all I know they're still there...

Original poster
Gemma77 · 04/04/2014 11:03

Thanks ladies! We are going to start looking, there isnt much on the market at the moment but if another nice house comes up with a clearer picture in terms of onward chain then we will have to go for it. Does mean we will lose the survey and search fees but you live and learn - next time we are not paying a penny until we know what is happening! Will probably have to go through all the mortgage application again too as our offer was for 3 months and they will only extend for 1 month more Sad

The current owners can't go into rented because they have retired and have no mortgage. If they go into rented they will have to use the money they make on their house for rent, which means they will not be able to afford to buy their bungalow. They are a really lovely couple but as Celtic says, they may be looking forever for all I know!

OP posts:
Rockdoctor · 04/04/2014 18:34

Sorry, but we are looking to sell at the moment and wouldn't hesitate to go into rented to seal the sale - we would also be eating into the proceeds of our sale in order to pay rent.

If they're not willing to rent then they are not really interested in selling, they are certainly not in a hurry, and I would be continuing to look elsewhere.

iseenodust · 05/04/2014 15:40

We had cash buyers come round ours recently, they are going into rented, and were clear if they offer on ours they would expect us to be out in 3 months which seems reasonable. We would certainly be actively trying to buy!

Yuppers · 05/04/2014 20:52

Our offer was accepted end of Jan. Our sellers had nowhere to go and at the beginning of March agreed to go into rental. We also stated right away that we wouldn't even instruct solicitors or look at mortgages until they had somewhere to go.

They now move into rental in May and our survey is next week.

Definitely don't put money down next time, until you know they have somewhere to move.

Original poster
Gemma77 · 08/04/2014 21:01

Pleased to say our sellers called today to say they have had their offer accepted of their dream bungalow and that there is no onward chain! So pleased Grin

We had started to look at other houses (viewed one at the weekend) but nothing came close to the house we had offered on so very relieved that we are back on track!

Thank you everyone for the moral support Envy

OP posts:
lessonsintightropes · 08/04/2014 21:08

Oh thank goodness for that! Hope the rest of it goes smoothly Gemma.

TakingTheStairs · 08/04/2014 23:36

That's great Gemma , I hope it all goes smoothly for you.

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