Thoughts please (buying)?

[makingithappen]

I either need being told I'm being stupid or told I'm right. Dh thinks the former!

Offer accepted on a property early October. We are in rented, would have loved a quick purchase so we could do building work before leaving the rental end of February. Vendor said they would move in to rented if couldn't find anywhere but didn't want to move until after xmas. Fine. Paperwork came through from sols saying they wouldn't move until after Feb 1st. Still fine, just means we will have to live in while building work takes place.

Now here is the problem...

Today we find out they have found somewhere to buy and expect us to wait so they can tie it in with their purchase. Every month we have to wait from March costs us £1000 in rent (we will be mortgage free so this is dead money.)

I think that we should go back to EA and tell them we will be reducing our offer by £1000 each month that passes after the February deadline.

Is this wrong? Thoughts please.

You can ask, it could backfire or they might try and compromise and meet halfway to your costs, or refuse. Nothing to lose by asking.

I don't think you're going to get anywhere with that stance, and if you were buying off me I would remarket the property because saying something like that suggests that you're going to get awkward if there's any unavoidable holdups in the process. If you don't want to wait then pull out and find somewhere else.

What about completing and they rent off you with a tenancy at will type agreement until completion?

How is that going to help if the OP wants to do building work before moving in though?

Your plan sounds fine except that it's unenforceable. No vendor will agree to an offer that continually reduces because they need to be able to budget/ make their own sums add up when sorting their own lending out.

Proposing a price drop of this nature would also make me think that you were going to be difficult buyers throughout if you didn't get your own way. In their position (not in a hurry, etc) I could understand them looking for another buyer...

Do you want the house? You are at risk of cutting off your nose to spite your face. There is really no point in trying to bully people into doing things your way. Ultimately it's a horrible process from start to finish, and the more chilled you are, the easier it will be.

I personally think you are being entirely reasonable and it is the sellers who have moved the goal posts, highly unlikely they would start remarketing for the sake of a few thousand pounds

I think it depends on how much you want it, and how prepared you'd be to walk away. I don't think anything gets folk moving/gets them to find a way round things like a threat to pull out, but you'd need to mean it and have a fixed date to get an answer.
I've never heard of anyone suggesting what you're proposing before, but that doesn't mean someone else won't come along and say they have. What has your solicitor said?

Thanks, I appreciate hearing all points of view.

Tbh I'm not bothered if we lose the house. I like it and think we can make it work for us but I am certainly not in love with it. There is no game play though - we are ready to exchange and have been sat waiting for them.

I would absolutely ask! It's so annoying how goalposts change. You are now financially disadvantaged. If they really have found somewhere they won't want to lose you!

If you would walk away then yes, I would do this. We walked away from a similar situation years ago and I have no regrets - it was the moving goalposts and lack of flexibility that annoyed us, particularly as in our case we only made the offer we did on the basis of the vendors being chain free. You just have to be prepared that they may call your bluff.

Just bear in mind that all property transactions carry a risk that there is a problem with the legal side of it and you won't know what the problems are until you are part way through the process. This is why it is difficult to estimate at the outset how long a transaction will take. Solicitors will not discuss exchange and completion dates without having all the information to hand. Every seller and buyer in a property transaction has ideas about when they would like to be in and what dates suit them, but it will mean nothing if something crops which stalls the process.

While I understand your irritation with your vendors, this happens all the time. When a vendor is keen to sell, they will promise that they will be flexible, will move into a rental etc etc. The reality is that most people will not do this and will prefer to tie in an onward purchase so that they do not have to "move" twice. If you just continue with the transaction without getting stressed out over dates, you will find the whole process a lot easier to cope with.

Unfortunately, hard though it is, your rental costs are not the vendors concern. Even if you pull out now and find another property, the chances are that you won't complete any quicker than the current purchase anyway. Whatever you decide, do not give notice until you have exchanged.

I would go back to them with reduced offer, not for the whole amount of your rent though - something half way. But the problem is that they might ( and probably would) refuse and that’s it. It depends on the market in your area but they are not in a hurry to move especially now, their purchase might take a long time. They basically lied to you saying that they will move into rental but you can do nothing about it except walk away and start looking for another house.
We just bought a house. We were choosing between 2. One’s bigger, good layout, everything’s done. The other’s small, needed extension and some work. We choose the smaller one for various reasons but mainly because it was empty already and seller was keen to sell as soon as possible. The seller of a bigger house haven’t got somewhere to move, mentioned moving into rental as well. I didn’t believe her for a second , who would? Moving into rental with small children before Xmas ??? No way. And we couldn’t wait as our landlord was about to give us notice. Not much of advice but do understand how you feel.

Their purchase, if started now, could take until April easily, if not later, or might fall through. If you are okay walking away, I would say no to this - they have messed you around and you need to complete by 1 feb or you walk. They can move to rented. Are they quite naive (eg not moved house in ages?)

If you’re not particularly attached to the house, then I’d say you want your costs or they to stick to the agreed completion date or you will pull out and find somewhere else. Time wise there won’t be much difference between them completing a purchase and you completing a purchase.

I would also say no to this. Hold them to the Feb 1st date and make it clear you will withdraw if it moves. Otherwise I bet you're still waiting come April/May