Is EA bluffing? Seller will remarket if we don't complete

[AC1977]

We're currently in the process of buying a house, have mortgage in place, searches back from solicitor, about to book building survey. House was on the market for 6 months prior to our offer, price reduced, another party accepted then dropped out (personal circs apparently.) EA tried to get a higher offer from us but the other party we were apparently bidding against suddenly disappeared.

For various reasons we've put forward mid Sept as completion date. We've offered to exchange asap but don't want to complete until then. We're currently in rented and house needs a lot of work so completing prior would take away our budget. EA has come back and said this is unacceptable to vendor and that he will remarket if we don't complete asap. Apparently he took our offer over two others now as we are renters.

We like the house but don't love it and as I said, it needs a lot of work. Basically just trying to work out if EA and seller are bluffing? DH reckons offer early Sept and see what happens...

September seems fairly reasonable to me!

It depends on the circumstances of the vendor as to whether they are bluffing or not. A completion date is usually negotiated to suit all parties, have you offered to compromise at all?

And what if the sellers can't complete until after then, assuming they are buying somewhere too?

What do you mean about taking away your budget?

We're going to offer 1st Sept rather than mid/late. Seller is currently renting and paying mortgage at the same time and can't really continue in this vein apparently (which is understandable as that's what we want to avoid!) House is chain free.

I'd imagine they are bluffing & if you don't love the house you're in the stronger position. Friends recently bought from rented & chain needed them to complete earlier which they didn't want to do as would be paying rent & mortgage. The chain had to cover their rent to complete early. You could explain financial costs you will incur & ask them to cover. EA always try & strong arm. Unless market strong where you are it's likely bollocks.

wowfudge the house needs a lot of work done to it. We have the budget for it (after deposit / mortgage etc) but if we were to pay an additional two months rent/mortgage it would eat into our renovation budget. If it was ready to move into I would just pay but it definitely isn't.

Remarketing now is unlikely to see the vendor completing before early September anyway. They’d have to start the entire process again which could easily be another 12 weeks from them getting another offer (if they got one).

When was your offer put forward? If you're 9 weeks down the line then Sept probably seems a bit far off to the sellers, but if you only had your offer accepted 2/3 weeks ago Sept would be perfectly reasonable.

Sorry just seen you've offered early Sept instead. You can only see what they say but the reality is that a new buyer is unlikely to be able to complete before then now anyway.

I can understand them being frustrated though if you didn't mention you wanted delayed completion when you offered.

Some solitons will advise against long exchange to completion dates as well, have you discussed it with yours? (For mortgage reasons usually)

Solicitors

Am I being really dim? Surely completing later means you'll be paying more rent whereas if you complete sooner, yes you'll start paying the mortgage sooner, but you won't be paying rent.

@wowfudge
Presumably the OP has a rental contract that runs until September that cannot be ended sooner, so is trying to avoid a situation where they have to pay both rent and mortgage.

Offer was accepted early May but they pratted around taking it off the market, it's only been off for 3 weeks.

Housing market in the area we want to buy is very strong actually, houses go in 1-2 weeks which probably gives you a good idea as to the condition of this house!

Solicitor did point that out thanks swimmer but our mortgage offer goes a good couple of months beyond the date we're suggesting so shouldn't be an issue.

Exactly mildura but actually we'll be paying the double rent / mortgage anyway while we do up the house. We just don't want to do it longer than necessary.

@Mildura - I hadn't thought of that because in those circumstances I would have expected a buyer to be upfront about the term of their tenancy. It's one thing for a renter to only give their month's notice once you've exchanged, but quite different if they are committed beyond that.

Actually if that isn't the case and it's because you want to do work before you move then I'm less sympathetic. Unless it's unliveable - if you can get a mortgage then it won't be.

@wowfudge we possibly could have been more explicit when we made our offer, but saying that we never stated that we only had one month's notice either.

There's no loo in the bathroom and I have two young kids. I'd like to move them from our current nice house into a nice house. We have the budget for it. As it stands, we also have the budget to pay extra rent and mortgage. I'm just not sure the house is worth it. Given its condition, which to be fair is liveable for some people, and the market here, I already feel that we are paying over the odds and don't want to put more money into it unless it's doing the house up.

I'm just trying to gauge whether or not the vendor will pull out which is why I posted here.

Your best chance of them not pulling out is to offer to exchange as soon as you can and point out that they're highly unlikely to find another buyer who will be able to complete any earlier.

They might do. It’s not a rational thing to do, but some people make emotional decisions and if they feel (even unjustifiably) that you’ve messed them around then they could decide to pull out just to spite you. There’s no way of knowing.

If the vendor doesn't think you are serious about buying then yes they might remarket but otherwise its huffing and puffing. I imagine they went with you as thought would be a quicker deal. I would agree an earlier date, even 31 August sounds better (also don't think you can complete on a Sat anyway though could be wrong) - if they have kids school places maybe an issue. Once agreed get a surveyor round and exchange asap.

The estate agent is acting on behalf of the sellers, so they want it to go through asap in case there are any hitches and you back out at the last minute and they lose the sale.

They are also acting on behalf of themselves, because the sooner the sale is done and dusted, the quicker they get paid!

I'd maybe contact the seller direct?

To be fair if you are only just getting the survey done after searches I would think you are taking the mick. When does yout mortgage offer expire? They usually last 3 months.

They chose you as you were chain free. They know there were other offers so it is saleable. I don't think they are bluffing and suspect I'd be doing the same.

If you want to buy it and get work done, I'd be trying to do it sooner rather than later - in your shoes.

You'll need to get trades lined up (unless you are doing the work yourselves?) and they may be non-committal if you've not exchanged.

I don't think they'll get a sale through that quickly so if I were the vendor, I'd stick with you. But equally if they think you won't go through with it, they may get cold feet. Why risk it?

Also if you go mid-Sept with kids, will they have started school and will you have to move in term time, which I would want to avoid. If the vendor thinks some of these things, they might be worried you're going to pull out?

I think if you had a particular completion date in mind, particularly if would involve a lightly longer wait than normal, it would have been wise to mention this early in the process.

It sounds like you're not totally in love with this house?

ReservoirDogs Although some mortgage offers expire after 3 months, typically they have a life of 6 months.