Been told this week our buyer has to be out of rented by end of August and has nowhere to go!!

[CrapBag]

Our house sold to him at the very end of April, we had to pull out of our original purchase but we had an offer accepted on somewhere else 3 days later.

In July I got an email from my solicitors, completely out of the blue, asking if we could complete the following week and go into rented. Our mortgage offer hadn't even come through at this point.

I said we could not go into rented and if it was a problem, let us know and we would put the house back on the market. We were told it was fine and our buyer was willing to wait. I wouldn't pay for the searches until we had the mortgage offer and my solicitor kept commenting on us 'not letting him do any work' and that our buyer was becoming anxious because of it. He also said our buyer was going to be anxious in 4 weeks time, this was mid July. I asked a couple of times why he was going to become anxious and was just told it's because the EA was telling him we were preventing our solicitor from doing any work.

Now EA has phoned after they have just discovered our buyer is in rented (I assumed he still lived at home, he came with his dad) and HAS to be out by 29th August and has no where else to go. His solicitor has known all along, not sure about mine but no one else did.

I informed our solicitor who said we have to make arrangements to go into temporary accommodation. I again told him that this was not possible.

There is 1 question left between my solicitors and vendors. They don't agree on something but its to do with the extension so its important. Everything else is done and we have been ready to exchange on our sale for ages.

We are trying to get everyone to work towards the 29th. At the moment the solicitors are saying 'can't be done!!'but I actually don't see why if they get this last point sorted out.

I am now worried what will happen if we can't make this date. My EA said we should work towards the 22nd as if we leave it until the 29th it will get pushed to the following week. The 22nd is not going to be doable at this stage.

Would our buyer pull out with days to go? I don't know when is will become apparent if we can't meet his date. He is a bloke on his own, first time buyer, surely he can crash on someones floor for a few days if necessary? We can't go anywhere else.

Starting to panic a bit now!!!

He bought at end April and in August you're still faffing? Sorry but if I were him I would be looking. Elsewhere

Hi, we were in a similar situation and we pulled out. I could't cope with the stress as we could not make the date. Plus our buyer was single and I could not understand why he, being single, could not find temporary accommodation. My sympathies to you.

Have you exchanged with him? If so, he will be liable for your fees and lose any deposit he has paid you if he pulls out. If you haven't exchanged then he could quite possibly pull out. He'd be a bit stupid to because he won't find somewhere else with this short notice unless he continues renting!

We aren't faffing! [Hmm]

As I said, we had to pull out of our first purchase, was end of June and unavoidable. No one knew he was in rented let alone that he had to be out at a certain time.

He can't buy something else. Its shared ownership and they aren't exactly abundant around here. I'm concerned he may rent something else. He will have another long process if he tries to buy a different shared ownership and we are almost there. It won't solve his needing to be out by end of the month.

meadowit is stressful! Being shared ownership as well has made the selling process a lot longer and more complicated.

We haven't exchanged yet but have been ready to for ages. I have wondered why that is tbh. He would not be able to get anything else for months, this is in the area he already lives and the houses are very few and far between. It is exactly what he is looking for so he would be cutting his nose off to spite his face really. I am hoping they have said he has no where to go in order to hurry us up.

this is about talking and pestering. Your buyer will have to find somewhere else to live but needs to know how long it will take. So light a rocket under all concerned to sort out the problem so you can exchange. Getting removals for the bank holiday weekend will be challenging.

we had a tricky chain with the person second from the bottom messing everyone about. The guy at the bottom spent two weeks in a Travelodge. Not ideal but can be done.

You probably want to exchange by 22nd realistically so everyone needs to calm down as it is 2 full working weeks before then. I know it can be less than a week and some people exchange and complete on the same day but that's a bit hairy.

You cannot exchange without resolving the issue. The EA needs to be getting your vendors EA to hurry them up not you.

Surely it is his problem ? Can't he move back with parents short term, store stuff, rent a room in a Travelodge ...Yes you can still work towards the 29th as completion date. One question can easily be resolved in less than 2 weeks (it was one day in dm's case) even if it needs an indemnity policy. She exchanged one day and moved 2 days later, although I gather this is less common now.

Well I would be bending over backwards to sort these issues out if you don't want to loose him. Sadly it's not his fault your purchase fell through, but I agree if he had an offer accepted in April you are lucky he is still there in August

I would still expect "the end of the chain" and a single person to be more flexible than others in the chain. Good luck OP.

Keep at it! We had the chain in place for this house in mid February and didn't move until 16th July due to everyone pissing about (bar us, I should add), it took the people at the top of the chain threatening to pull out to light a fire under everyone else and get things done. We kept on at our EA and solicitor day after day - not always something they could do directly, but it made the EA especially think a bit more creatively at least. We actually exchanged a week after the deadline set (bad week, that) and we did think they'd be mad to pull out then, but we all just had to take it seriously, and it did the trick. Good luck!

Thanks.

I have spoken to my solicitor today and he had no idea our buyer had to be out of his rented by 20th August. No one seems impressed that this has been disclosed 3 weeks before the day.

Our solicitor has been very efficient and got on things right away. He is waiting for the answers to a couple of questions and he has chased and they aren't responding. I am going to contact the EA tomorrow. We are stuck on one point at the moment. There has been a breech of covenants regarding the extension and he wants an indemnity policy. The vendors solicitors don't agree and say its the same footprint as the outbuilding that was there before. Its not, the roof is much bigger and the windows are different so our solicitor is not wrong in what he is saying but its getting the vendors solicitor to agree.

One thing we said is there will be 7-10 days between exchange and completion. This is stipulated in the solicitors terms and our vendor has asked for this as well, which we are happy to accommodate as it gives us time to get sorted as well.

Dear Mr Buyer

I can see you have a problem. What do you plan to do about this problem of yours?

Well, now that my solicitor knows this I am hoping that is going to be the response. I really don't see how his situation that has been sprung upon us with 3 weeks to go, is our problem.

It's really his fault for giving notice on his rental. We insisted on 4 weeks between exchange and completion so we could give notice on our rental. It's his fault not yours

I got the impression he has been given notice maybe? I don't know I could be wrong with that one. Maybe it is him who has given it. There is no way to know. The EAs who sold my house apparently deal with the rental of his flat and he said to the person dealing with my sale about didn't they see it. They said no as its completely different departments and people that deal with sales and rentals.

How much is the indemnity insurance?! If it's not astronomical, it might be worth just buying it to avoid the sale collapsing?

It is often standard practice to ask people in the chain if they would be prepared to vacate the property so someone can move in. Just say no, you have a family and it is not convenient. Not your problem. The chain won't collapse, it's come too far for that.

I can't see that he will really pull out if it comes to temporary place for a week or two. However I agree it's a good thing he's stuck around. I would be totally fed up about you waiting for mortgage offer to start the searches on your purchase. In fact if my buyers had done that earlier this year I would have put the house ball on the market.

You could exchange with him as a gesture of good faith and to commit him if the only outstanding query is with your purchase. The indemnity policy will not be expensive in the scheme of buying houses, it's probably not necessary but if you want one surely all that is being agreed is who's going to pay for it?

I think maybe he always thought he had plenty of time, as he started process in August, and perhaps he's been expecting to exchange any day for a couple of weeks. Agree it is sensible to get target dates agreed earlier though.

I think people are bein very casual about your buyer. Don't forget he is in the best position here. If you p*ss him off he has nothing up loose. The market has dropped a bit since April. He may be able to find something similar for cheaper now. Please don't take him for granted.

He won't find anything for cheaper due to it being shared ownership and the type of property it is. You don't exactly have the pick of great houses to choose from and certainly not for the price this is.

I would be happy to exchange on this now but nothing has been said. I am chasing up again today, as is my solicitor. It is the vendors solicitors we are all waiting on. My solicitor is very efficient. I wish others were the same!

We ended up staying with our in-laws for 2 weeks when we were in the same situation, we had had to find another house to buy after our purchase fell through. I couldn't risk losing my sale for 2 weeks inconvenience. I swore at the end of it I would never enter into a chain ever again though. Just imagine its a holiday...

Bloody great!

Now the EA has phoned. The vendor forgot she has a wedding that she has to go away for and can't move on the day our buyer said he needs to be out by. It definitely can't be before because my solicitor is still waiting on a couple of responses from the vendors solicitor!

God this is doing my head in!! And the following week DH can't have much time off as people are already off in his department.

I don't think we can stay with relatives. There are only 1 set where it ,ay be possible and even then I don't know where we would all go. I don't think they would jump at the chance either. Possible we may get a no if we did ask

get your EA and your solicitor to chase those responses and get things moving.

the buyer at the bottom will have to book a hotel. Travelodges are £29 a night if you book ahead, depending on where you are.

To give a "buyer at the bottom of a chain" perspective.....
We are renting and will not give notice until we have exchanged. Our vendors are pissing us about. We have been going since mid May when our offer was accepted.
Due to exchange/complete mid August but suddenly a 6 week (at least) delay has materialised from our vendors who are refusing to break the chain and rent.
We're at the point of pulling out. There are other houses out there with less hassle. We would lose our survey/search/solicitors fees but I guess that's life.
Your man could rent somewhere else in a week and walk away......