Is it time to back out of our house purchase?

[LilywhiteLil]

Hi all, hoping to get a bit of advice on our house purchase. Our offer was accepted on 15th August, we are FTB and the memorandum of sale suggested that the vendor wanted a quick sale which suited us fine; the contract on our rental flat was due up on 16th October.

To cut a very long story short, we moved out of our flat yesterday and we are still no closer to exchanging contracts. Reason being the vendor is having trouble securing a mortgage for the property he is purchasing due to a terrible structural survey. We are essentially now in limbo, not knowing where we will be staying from one week to the next (currently house sitting for friends) and with the possibility that the vendor could still back out.

When do we decide enough is enough and start to look for another property? No one can give us an indication of when exchange might take place, if it does (our 'solicitor' has been useless throughout). Am I right to be slightly panicked or am I being impatient? Any advice would be most welcome, thank you!

I'd have started looking about a month ago. No need to pull out until you find another to make an offer on.

Let your vendor know you are looking too

Start looking again asap, you're in a really strong position.
Let yoyr vendors know, let the estate agents know and if you're solicitors are useless tell them if you find somewhere else you'll not be using them. Hopefully this will give everyone the incentive to pull their fingers out with this sale.
Don't actually pull out unless you get to the point of exchanging contracts so you keep your options open.

Start looking yesterday - and to be honest, I think you should get another six month rental and a new solicitor.

Why do you think your solicitor is useless?

It took us 5 months from offer accepted to exchange and completion. It seems that the reason for your delay was unforeseen. Could you just speak to the seller directly to see if they'll be able to proceed with a different mortgage or if they need to start looking all over again? Bear in mind that pulling out you'll be back to square one. However, you could put pressure on the vendor to complete soon with them moving into a rented place or wherever they wish instead of holding you up.
I'd also go to some more viewings in case there is sth lovely and chain free out there.

Can't see why you'd say your solicitor had been useless?

Your vendor is having difficulties obtaining a mortgage due to a bad survey. There's not a lot either his or your solicitor can do about that. Your vendor needs to find another property pronto, find another lender or break the chain so that your purchase can proceed.

The fact that your contract on your rental expired is irrelevant in this legal transaction. Solicitors always advise not giving notice until you have actually exchanged - while they may consider your timeframe, if the transaction cannot proceed to exchange at the moment all you can do is find another short term rental, move in with family/friends, find another property or stay in a B&B. If you find another property, the transaction will still take 8-10 weeks freehold, 10-12 weeks leasehold so presume no quicker than the chain you're currently in.

OH is an estate agent for Savills and he says your solicitor should be putting the pressure on for you, also a good agent should help by also being involved in the communications (after all if it falls apart they will lose their fee. I'd tell them you are looking for something else (even if you aren't) to see if that helps boost something.

Good luck with it, its such a horribly stressful time.

Thank you to you all for your words of wisdom/advice, it's all very helpful!

Rightmove will be my first port of call this evening...

Look at other properties immediately! vendors will bite your hands off

It hasn't been THAT long since 15 August. I don't think it sounds like your solicitor has been useless, the vendor is having issues with their purchase. These things happen.

This is why you are told not to give notice on your rental flat until you have actually exchanged.

It will be most likely quicker to continue with this purchase than find another property you like, have an offer accepted and be part of a new chain.

Solicitors just always get the blame...I think sometimes people need to be more realistic about time scales. If you've been told your transaction is going to take about 12 weeks then why get aggro in the meantime, also worth noting the clock doesn't start until the solicitor actually has the deeds for the property, not on the date you agree. It can take up to 4 weeks to even get the deeds for a house. The problems here are structural, nothing to do with your solicitor, and them harassing the other side or "putting pressure on" is a waste of everyone's time. Everyone wants it all done fast, but if something is done wrong you and your lender are going to be suing your solicitor and will magically forget you phoned and emailed them every second minute of the day instead of letting them do their job. Good luck with your decisions, hope things work out for you.