Am I going to be "gazundered"?

[JaneJones101]

I sold my house 7 weeks ago to a couple. It is a 40yr old house, with nothing major needed doing to it.
Took the couple 6 weeks to arrange a valuation survey. Now they want a homebuyers report after they got the survey back. Talked to the surveyer he more or less assured me that there was nothing wrong with the place etc.

Got a queasy feeling I am going to get gazundered. The couple seem in no hurray to get to exchange, seems quite open ended.
But 6 weeks to get a valuation done is dawdling, and now the additional one.

Is there anything I can do at this stage to put pressure on the couple or avoid being gazundered at the last minute?

You could speak to your solicitor about drafting a contract which states there is to be no negotiation on the agreed price set out in the memorandum. Other than that, if they are going to do it then they will.

The delay could be down to them getting their mortgage application dealt with or even looking at other things before making a decision. It's wise to get a homebuyer's report not just a basic valuation.

You can set a deadline for exchange if you want. But perfectly reasonable to want a more fulsome survey than the valuation version which is pretty basic.

That's a good point. Thank you.

Approximately, how long after the homebuyer report is completed, should I look at exchange of contracts?

The survey/homebuyer report has no bearing on exchange dates. They are not related. The solicitor doesn't even see a survey report unless their client specifically raises queries on anything (legal) within it. Exchange dates are discussed when mortgage offer and searches are in, enquiries are answered satisfactorily, id is approved and fixtures & fittings agreed and added to the contract.

You should have pushed them earlier on, they probably think you aren't in a hurry yourself now. Not much you can do to avoid them dropping the price. Also, the surveyor doesn't work for you so is unlikely to really be able to tell you a lot anyway.

We completed six weeks to the day of offer, and part of that was a 2 week delay, so as you can imagine it can vary tremendously how soon after surveys to exchange. Have they had searches done etc.

I agree about the pushing part. I am going to call up my surveyor today to see where we are with regards to searches.

Is it being too pushy to ask for an exchange deadline, eg a month from now?

A feel without an exchange before xmas its another 3 weeks on top, also i cant look at other places (going to rent) as i cant commit exchange, as obviously it can all fall through.

Both myself and the buyer are chain free too. Argghhh!

I'd be wary of setting a deadline before they have their survey. If my seller said that when I announced I wanted a survey I might be inclined to think you didn't want me finding out about x and y and we're trying to rush me because of the survey.

I would try to spin it that they're taking far too long generally and you won't wait for them, distance it from the fact they've just booked a survey if that makes sense.