Offer accepted but vendor hasn't found anywhere yet

[Dandelionrarrrr]

Hiya, I'm looking for advice or experiences of waiting for a vendor to find a property. After a long search we have had an offer accepted on a property. I think the owner liked our circumstance and the fact that we can be flexible with our move as she hasn't found anywhere yet. But, I started to think how long do we wait? Has anyone been in this situation before.

Um, it's normal to sell (to the extent of accepting an offer) before you buy (put in an offer).

Many agents won't show viewers round unless they're already under offer, though this of course depends on local market etc.

Certainly from your vendors' POV, there's no point in making an offer until their own was under offer, because nobody would have accepted it as they weren't in a position to proceed! You're in a much stronger position if you're proceedable.

As for how long, it's up to you how long you're willing to wait. They may find somewhere next week that's chain-free, or the market where they're looking may have entered the pre-Christmas slowdown and they don't find anywhere till January - and then their vendors need to find somewhere.

If you have a deadline, then be upfront with them.

Are you first time buyers or do you have somewhere to sell? Either way, work out a deadline and keep your eye on the market - if she hasn't found anywhere to buy and won't move into rented to keep you as buyers then you need to keep your options open.

Thankyou, sorry I'm very new to this (as I'm sure you can tell FTB). The thing is we don't have a deadline except the fact we would like to move out as we have outgrown our current place (living with family). Do you think we should set a deadline? It's taken so long to find somewhere nice and reasonably priced, don't want to mess it up. However, we would love to get in there ASAP!

I would typically wait 4-6 weeks depending on how much I liked the place and what else was available. I would keep one eye on rm for a chain free place I liked as much if the market is in very short supply near you. However, that time period will bring you into the Christmas slow down, so you probably have to accept she won't find anything then. What's her situation? Does she seem motivated to move? Whayever you do, don't spend any money until the full chain is set up. So your bank will tell you they can't give the morthage offer until the valuation is done, but don't let them book it in yet. Also you can appoint a solicitor now, but instruct them not to start anything yet.

In your current circumstances, I wouldn't set a deadline and would give them some time to offer on a property themselves. When did you make your offer, was it very recently?

To give you a very rough idea, both purchases I've made have taken around 12 weeks from offer to completion. Both were chain free situations - first vendor moved in with relatives prior to completing their purchase; second vendor had been letting the house to tenants. Now it is possible to complete more quickly, but these were both pretty straightforward purchases with no issues along the way.

Hi we are on the other side of this just accepted an offer, and been outbid on the only house in our price bracket in the area, we spent yesterday driving around the area to increase our search ( still not much more available).

We have 2 to view next week but we will continue with the sale and if necessary go into rented in the short term don't really want to and may ask for after Christmas. I thought it was stressful getting the house ready for viewings etc but this is 10 times worse. ( keep checking right over to make sure there is nothing I've missed)

We was accepted yesterday, very recent ??. We was shown around the property by the owner because it was one of those online agents. She's looking for a property to renovate, and live in whilst she does. I got the impression she wouldn't want to rent in between and I don't think she has family locally so things seem very dependant on finding the ideal property. She seemed to be doing a search in a similar area to us, and there seemed to be a fair amount out there but it's very, very competitive.

OP buying a property and the timescale it isn't an exact science.

For example. You might put a deadline forward to them of say finding a property by end of November. They don't so you pull out and start buying another house where the vendors have found; at Christmas the new vendors vendor decide they don't want to sell and move anymore so you are back at the start again with your vendors needing to find somewhere else.

If it looks as though what your vendor wants is unachievable, then I'd start looking again.

If you're living with family, and it's a very competitive market and you really like the place you've offered on, then no, I wouldn't be setting a deadline yet. I'm sure you do want to get a move on, but realistically if you told your vendor she needed to find somewhere by end of November (which is usually right in the doldrums, timing-wise) there's a very strong chance she'd tell you to piss off, then relist her property in January and get another offer immediately - at the same time having more choice herself.

I asked about deadlines if, e.g. You were renting and your landlord had served you notice, so you would be either homeless or forced to take on a 6-month minimum rental. Generally it's around 3-4 months from offer to completion but can vary considerably depending on timing, length of chain etc.

Posted too soon! But yes, keep a close eye on her, and start applying the pressure if you suspect she's not motivated. Shame she's with an online EA.

Had friends who did this a few years ago. They exchanged contracts with a flexible completion date with a longstop date of six months in the future (you would probably need legal advice on this). They were similar position to you - FTB with deposit ready, sellers not quite ready to go.

Benefit for them was that it was a rising market and by exchanging they'd "set" the price. Both parties were committed to the sale at that price. Sellers then had upto 6 months to find somewhere.

It is possible to do as namechanged suggests, we did it ourselves. We exchanged in February with completion date of 'on or before 23rd Juiy'. But most people won't.

Hmmm. With an online agent, looking for a niche property in a small, competitive area. I'd keep looking in the background if I was you OP. Have had three accepted offers fall through in similar circumstances over the last year though which is very bad luck for anyone and likely making me unduly cynical.

Keep looking if this one goes through great but if it doesn't you are still looking