I have a cunning plan! Can anyone pick holes in it?

[RandomMoth]

I'm house 2 in a property chain which has been in legals since the spring. 2 properties above me, and one below.

The problem is my buyer. I won't go into the detail, but he has messed around and not communicated. The latest is everyone is supposed to be ready to exchange but he isnt responding on the proposed completion date.

I will be giving him an ultimatum, as I've had quite enough of this. However, he has been so flaky and difficult that I'm very nervous about exchanging contracts with him if he does comply. If he completes late the entire chain will go through horrendous stress if there are delays, and if he doesn't complete at all and forfeits his deposit I'll lose tens of thousands of pounds as I'll have to pass his deposit up the chain, lose the balance of mine and pay my seller compensation. I'm in the odd position of being desperate for him to exchange, but shit scared of doing so!

I've been up since 4 with this on my mind and have come up with the plan to exchange and complete with my buyer first, and only then exchange with my seller with a short completion date (i.e. long enough to arrange removals). We would then wang all of our stuff into storage for the interim and stay with relatives/in Airbnb until the purchase goes through.

Obviously our buyer has to accept this, but I'm hopeful they'll understand that I'm trying to reduce the risk and uncertainty for everyone else in the chain.

Will this work? Am I missing an obvious problem or an obvious solution? I need to look into short term storage and accommodation costs but in my head I'd be willing to allow up to £2k or so for this, which feels like enough.

I have realised that if I do this I risk my seller pulling out and leaving us homeless. In that case we'd go into rented accommodation for six months and be able to go back to the market to find a new property chain free, so it would be a hassle, but not a disaster.

Thoughts/criticisms? I'm expecting to be told that chains go through every day without problems and I'm being too nervous about doing it simultaneously, but I've worked in conveyancing myself and have seen them go wrong very occasionally.

Ps if anyone reading this thinks they are in my chain feel free to DM me!

Surely your buyer doesn't need to no your not completing in your next house at the same about?

I also don't understand why you feel your seller needs to know when you'll complete with your buyer? Just tell your solicitor to set the completion dates 24 hours apart. No biggie.

Hi fruity sorry I dont quite understand your question? I need the money from the house sale to fund the house purchase so I have to sell first, or sell simultaneously.

My buyer isn't going to care which I do so the above isnt really relevant to him.

Hi Bluntess my seller and their seller want me to exchange now and commit to a completion date which I also need my buyer to agree to, and he's not answering.

Also if I set the completion dates 24 hours apart then that doesnt solve the problem of what happens if he completes late / doesnt complete.

I see what you're saying, but it's very rare for someone not to complete after exchange, there is a high penalty involved. Unless the guys made of money then exchanging I'd take in good faith.

I know it's rare and I'd resigned myself to the risk, until the most recent spate of messing around.

However, because we are in a chain I would lose a lot of money as well, so although I agree its unlikely the consequences for me would be pretty awful.

Also, what's much more common is someone completing late rather than not at all, which would mean we've all got our possessions loaded up on delivery vans / in storage, not knowing what's going on, perhaps for days.

I guess what I'm proposing is spending some additional money and time when we sell to remove all the risk and stress when we buy.

It's up to your solicitor and estate agent to contact them. Leave it to them!

blah blah that's not hugely helpful as I've no doubt he will respond at some point next week.

The question isn't about him responding, its about managing the risk of exchanging with him given that he's evidently not reliable.

You manage the risk via your solicitor - we did that when in a chain. You really have to push your solicitor and estate agent to get things moving.

As it happens the person buying our flat cocked up and we didn’t complete as planned and had 24 hours of not owning a house. But because they’d exchanged we knew it was just a short delay.

You sound incredibly worried and over thinking - which I get as I’ve been there but you don’t know your buyers full position and there may be legitimate reasons for his actions.

Either way get your solicitor and estate agent to work for their money.

I'm definitely more risk averse as I've worked in this sector. I've seen someone die between exchange and completion so the sale didnt go through, I've heard purchasers say they'll just write off their deposit if they cant sort out the funding.

These risks cant be managed by the solicitor. The contracts will say that if I dont complete on my purchase i lose my deposit and have to pay damages, whether or not it's my fault. The reason I'm worried is I actually understand what could go wrong whereas most people in chains are blissfully unaware

Hi RandomMoth, It sounds like a good plan to me, in your situation I'd be feeling the same way. Obviously you've thought of this plan in the wee small hours but the good thing is, it's the weekend, so you have a couple of days to work out the finer details, price up storage etc, and then speak to your solicitor on Monday.

If I was your seller I'd be pleased something was finally going to happen because you were taking control of the situation.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

I don’t think your idea is terrible.
If you are using removals you can make sure you choose one with storage and the actual lorry just sits in storage for a day. At a cost obviously.

You're absolutely right I need to ponder it and discuss with DP (although he'll just say it's up to me).

My agent is going to try to get hold of him today and they'll call me at some point - will update!

Firstly, around 50-70,000 properties sell every month in the UK. So 1 person dying between exchange and completion is pretty rare. Everything else goes through pretty smoothly.

Secondly don't underestimate the costs involved in what you are doing.

You are paying double removal costs, as one team moves you out, then they store your belongings which costs for the storage and insurance and then another team moves you back in. I know because we have done it.

They packed our stuff into wooden storage containers that they just lift out of the truck on a forklift. It restricts what they can pack (no paint) and how much they can fit in a storage container rather than the truck so it limits the size.

We had them deliver our larder freezer to our friends so we didn't have to empty it out, as we could plug it in in her garage until we completed on the new property. They then picked it back up again for us.

When we moved into this house they came with 2 removal trucks! Like I said the containers restrict content.

Probably late in the day, but surely you should already have gained a strong comfort factor via your EA that your buyer is financially solid and can afford to buy.

Whilst your concerns about him being "flakey" (not being responsive) may be valid, that's a world of difference to someone not having sufficient financial stability and liquidity to make the transaction at exchange. I doubt very much once he has exchanged contracts that he'd pull out on a whim. Yes maybe 1 in a million chance but his solicitor will have warned him what it means to exchange and what financial penalty he faces by not completing his purchase.

Turns out that this was a load of angst over nothing, as my buyer is now not responding at all to the agents! We are assuming he's not going to exchange any time soon, if at all.

So you mean it wasn't angst over nothing....it was genuine concern. Do you think he was fannying around because of Brexit hoping to knock some money off the purchase price once we leave the EU? Whatever, you are where you are.......this shouldn't have happened for this long. You need to get straight back on the market - tell the EA you use.....maybe a different on....there is a chain ready for a quick sale....do they have any investors who might be interested. If you get to interest give them the details of the failed buyers solicitor as they maybe able to reuse searches etc to shorten timescales..... although be mindful that solicitor also failed to complete with the buyer.....see how quickly you can get it moving again.

How frustrating. Are you going to remarket the house? Have heard this happening from quite a few friends recently.

Unfortunately nothing is set in stone as you know with house buying. Hope you get another buyer soon.