Worrying that the seller will pull out

[rumbelina]

He really wants to sell the house, he is being a bit of a dick as he let his tenants leave their contract 2 months early so they were out only a month after our offer was accepted. He is now complaining that the house has been empty and he's losing money!? Errr nothing to do with us - they would still be there if he hadn't let them go!

There was a bit of a hiatus at christmas as we needed to get a damp survey done but all the companies were shut for 2 weeks.

We are trying to agree final price and completion date. We had been upfront at the start that we couldn't afford a large overlap in rent and mortgage and so completion would need to be based on when we could hand our notice in etc. To cut a long story short we have offered to have a 2-week crossover and he won't have it. We're sticking to our guns as we have compromised quite a lot, were upfront about this from the start and have not dragged our heels with anything. We have responded to all EA communication regarding this within 2 hours - we are not getting responses for 24-48 hours, it's been dragging on and on.

So we are now in danger of missing the exchange date that we need to hand our notice in - if we miss this date the notice goes back another month and therefore our possible completion date, even with 2 week crossover, goes back another month at least. Doesn't bother us but it must be a massive problem for him, so why is it taking so long for the EA to get back to us??

I am getting very anxious and am now certain he is going to just turn round and say 'no, I'm pulling out' and it will turn out he has found a cash buyer/new tenant

But he won't will he?? Not for the sake of a couple of hundred quid?

(and I know it's only a couple of hundred quid but we have compromised massively already, he needs to compromise too) He thought we could complete in 2 months - he needs to accept that selling a house isn't always straightforward - I'm slightly unsympathetic as mine took 8 months from offer being accepted and I had to just suck it up)

So ideally, you need to exchange to give you the comfort to give your LL notice, with the completion date set for either the last date you will be in your rental property or a couple of days before then?

The EA works for the seller, not you the buyer. Get your solicitor - the person you are paying to provide you with service - to contact his solicitor to get this sorted out asap. Don't try to do this via the EA if they are not proving to be very reliable in turning things around.

I think your options depend on the state of the market near you and how much this house means to you.

In a slow or falling market with lots of similar properties locally, you have the upper hand as a chain free buyer. In a rising market with properties being snapped up and not much else that's suitable, it would be better to suck it up and concede to his demands rather than risk losing a house for the sake of a few hundred quid.

You have also presumably spent money on surveys and legal fees, again you need to consider if you are willing to write this off.

I know it is galling to have to be the one to compromise, but if local market conditions mean your vendor has the upper hand, then unfortunately he has no incentive to compromise.

I know very little about how these things work, someone else recommended getting the solicitor involved but anyway it's sorted!! Price and completion date agreed :)

I may look back and think why was I fannying over a couple of hundred quid but it had been a couple of hundred, plus a couple more then a couple more. It felt like we were the only ones compromising and he was sitting there going 'boohoo my property is empty' (when it was his choice to release the tenants).

Sounds good - remember you are not home and dry yet, but should be fine once contracts have been exchanged.

That's good news OP, hopefully it will be plain sailing now until exchange.

Your vendor does sound unpleasant and irritating, but yes, I think you'll probably look back and wonder what the hassle was about. I've been the one to compromise both as vendor and buyer, and yes it makes you feel like a mug, but its a bit "lose the battle to win the war". The main thing is your move is back on track and you will hopefully be in your new home soon (and you will never have to deal with the vendor again ).