How long to wait for sellers to find somewhere

[Suityourself]

We sold ours and are renting. We had an offer accepted end of November 2020 and the sellers are still looking for a property to buy, so it's been 7 or so weeks. How long would you wait for? We are pretty desperate to move.

To be fair to them, Nov and Dec weren't good months for new properties to come up on the market (although I appreciate this may vary depending on the area). Generally before Christmas isn't that attractive, however things would pick up after Christmas and this month. Maybe give them till end of Feb?

and make sure you let them know. If they are serious they can go into rental. I doubt they are, though, or they would have tried harder.

you are in a great position so start looking elsewhere.

And yes, I agree, tell them you're not waiting longer than date X. I'd be looking in the meantime too, you're so early in the process, you can find somewhere else you prefer without wasting much time at all.

We did this and then got let down by our sellers. We ended up buying a new build as the conveyancing was so easy with no chain. It could be months before they buy another house and they're a bit cheeky imho to accept your offer when they are so far from buying a house.

Personally I'd start looking for another property now.

Stamp duty relief ends 31st March and you need to have completed by then. There's a big rush to get sales done before then so you can't leave it with only a few weeks to go.

Depending on the price of the property you could face a very big bill (needlessly) because they can't find a new home.

So start looking for house "b" yourself and in the meantime I'd give them until the first week in Feb. They need to be in a position to buy or rent by then so you can complete before 31st March.

Play hardball and you will quickly find out how serious they are.

Don’t say yet that they must move by X (because that restricts you too). Ask them to provide you with an update on their house hunt and to provide confirmation that they actively looking to move.

As a pp said a new build (if that's your thing) would massively simplify matters for you.

Don’t say yet that they must move by X (because that restricts you too). Ask them to provide you with an update on their house hunt and to provide confirmation that they actively looking to move.

If they want to take advantage of the stamp duty tax relief they absolutely need to do this sooner rather than later.

Even when they find a house it could easily take 12 weeks to do all the paperwork.

The are realistically already cutting it very, very fine as it is.

They are out of time for "updates" they need action.

That's a good point re stamp duty, I assumed it might be too late to benefit from it anyway, but if you're looking to do it then definitely find another property now.

Nov to mid jan isn’t really that long op, esp given as barely any houses go on the market over tunbr Christmas period. I get you’re desperate to move but I’m not see how they can ‘try harder’ as a pp suggested. We’re they clear that they might take a while to find somewhere when they accepted your offer?

Honestly I think the stamp duty holiday is a moot point now; it’s extremely unlikely that you’d meet the deadline even if you (or your sellers) and offered on a new property tomorrow, unless you buy a new build.

I'd wait for now but keep looking ie no need to withdraw as there's nothing to withdraw from really. Keep a look out - the only difficulty will be if it's on with the same agent. It could take the sellers ages to find somewhere or they could be having an offer accepted right now - who knows - so keep your options open.

Thank you so much for such helpful replies. There are sadly no new builds around or chain free houses. We looked within a couple of miles outside of our preferred area and that has nothing either. The area is London and the agent has may be 70% or 80% of the local market. Nearby area is also mostly the same agency, but a different branch. Would they if they blacklist list us if we walk away?

No.

It's not like you've walked away on a whim.

What I would do though is call them and say you're thinking of withdrawing from the sale due to the delay (and give the reason why you're keen to move) and give them a chance to put pressure on the sellers first.

That way you've been upfront and given them an opportunity to rescue the sale.

They won't black list you because you're still in the market for a property and even if you don't buy this one you might buy another on their books.

Just add, if you're upfront with them and they know what your looking for you could also ask them if could let you know as soon as anything suitable comes on the market.

Deduct 3 weeks for the holiday period when hardly anything was coming on - so thy aer looking for 4 wks - that's nothing if the area is competitive.

But do keep asking them whether they are going to viewings, and without giving dealines yet, just say that yo ucouldn't wait much longer but will give then a few weeks still, otherwise they'll haev to think about renting.

We had friends went into rental while their seller ‘looked’ for a house. It was our friends dream home. After a year they pulled out of the purchase.

Youve already missed the stamp duty holiday so forget that.
There's been very little on the market since November and it partly depends on why they are moving too as to how many houses are available ie are they upsizing? And by how much because there's less and less as you go up? Are they relocating? And whats the market like there?
Many people are now waiting until April to put their houses on so realistically you're probably looking around then.
I would keep your options open ie don't pull out but if something similar comes up which will be faster then that's OK to.
And don't try threatening- it will just create bad feelings.

Going into rented simply isn't an option for many- its nothing to do with being serious or not.
As you are in rented already - when did you move in? Because if you are in a short assured tenancy you're there for 6 months anyway.
Ultimately you both have to do whats best for you and your families- try not to get too accusatory or emotional, its not personal and other houses and other buyers will come along.

They are upsizing and looking not far from their current place. There are houses available in a bigger size but probably not for what they are expecting to pay.
We'd be paying notice on the remainder of our rental and terminating rather than timing the purchase with the end of rental. People make money on equity and this is part of the cost of moving. I'm glad we sold and got half of the problem out of the way. House prices will only go up round here, in that time, despite the crash speculation. Years of history of that. Then there are other costs associated with buying later - higher mortgage rate as we'll lose our chance to port, early repayment charge, main thing we are having a new addition soon and really need to be settled and with everything sorted.

I should add - they sold over a year ago, something didn't work out, and they put the house back on the market. I wonder if there's been a history of struggling to find somewhere aka extreme fussiness and unrealistic expectations.

I had this scenario a couple of weeks ago. My offer in early Dec was on the basis of best endeavours to make a pre 31st march completion. 6 weeks later no action at all.
I spoke to the estate agent to see what the sellers position was - they made it clear the sale was on their terms, they were waiting for a perfect property and had no intention of moving out. I also suggested a slightly lower offer price to take into account a six month rent for me to keep my sale, and tie the purchase in with their timescales (and I accepted I'd miss the SD holiday).

Flat refusal - they instructed estate agent to put house back on market.
I'm about to reserve a lovely new build, so it's worked out for me. I think they'll regret it, as how can they continue to look without a buyer? Probably think they'll sell again quickly, but the market is different than even early Dec, and especially with it looking likely that there will be no SD deadline flexibility.

There's been very little come to market in the area we're looking since November. We're moving into rented ourselves so it doesn't screw things up for our buyers.
We've only managed that due to friends having a rental property we can use. Private lets are difficult on a short lease.

Have you decided what to do @Suityourself? Is it impractical for you to remain in rented until after the birth?

Personally I would start looking seriously elsewhere as they don't sound at all motivated to move within a short time frame which is what you want. I think you should be upfront with them and the EA and ask the EA to make you aware of any new properties that fit your criteria that come onto their books.

Thank you everyone for giving me such valuable insights. We're keeping an eye out on chain free and newly built houses but there are literally none.
Think we'll give them may be a couple more weeks like most suggested, ask them to rent, if still not proceedable, and then will give up and go for something else. They'd be foolish not to secure a sale by going into rental, as our offer was very generous, and they sold at peak, but I have a feeling they'll say no.
As for staying in rental till after the birth, it may come to it but I fear how that would affect the mortgage availability and we'll lose the chance to port or to get an early repayment penalty refunded. Plus all the Covid instability makes me so nervous.
Thank you all for your thoughts, it's been incredibly helpful.

Have you told them they have a few more weeks?

Make sure you do as I’d actually only give them 2 weeks as they’re bound to ask for “1 more week” on whatever you offer.

When I bought my house, the sellers offered to go into rented if they couldn’t find anything but asked for a few weeks to look first.
I agreed then they came back and asked again so I said no.

It’s ridiculous for sellers to just expect to wait months until they find the exact right house. If they’re fussy then they need to rent until they find the perfect place

@Monkeypeas

We've asked them, but didn't state the date, very good tip and I'll put it to them now, thank you