How long to give sellers to find their own house? Do we proceed with surveys etc?

[HEforHelium]

We are motivated buyers and while we understand a June 30 completion date isn't going to happen, we do want to complete well before September 30 in order to save £2,500!

We understand that in the current market, our sellers could not put an offer in on a house until they had a buyer for their own house.

Well, they do have buyers now... My first question is, how long is it reasonable to give them to find a house?

We have held off on moving ahead with searches/surveys etc in case this all falls through, is this wise? We obviously don't want to shell out a load of cash if this might fall through...

Work backwards from Sept - allow at least 4 months to get from starting the Conveyancing process to finishing it. I wouldn’t start anything until they have an offer accepted - the 2 purchases can happen in parallel so there’s no advantage to being further ahead in yours. I would also speak to your solicitor about the prospect of making it clear that your sale is contingent on it completing by end of Sept - or you will reduce the price by £2500. I don’t know if they will go for that; I guess it depends on the market near you. Good luck!

I have different view. I would want to get Building survey or Home buyers report to be done as soon as possible. It will give you information about possible issues and you will have time to arrange relevant surveys/checks. We were in the situation before when building survey flagged up the issue which absolutely changed our view of the house and its value, we’ve lost 4 months. Yes, we’ve lost money on building survey and environmental searches but it’s better to know what’s you’re buying ASAP.

Otherwise I would give them 2 weeks, then check how things are and go from there. Surely they won’t start looking on the day of your offer. They should have some ideas already.

That’s a good point about the survey - although if it were to throw up anything, and you wanted to renegotiate the price, perhaps you’d have more leverage if the sellers have already found a house they want. If they are still looking, they may decide to take a chance on relisting.