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Original poster

Would you wait 6 months for a house as a FTB?

56 replies

MindatWork · 24/04/2021 19:29

We accepted an offer on our home this week from ftb who are currently renting in the village (£5k under asking price).

They were keen to move ASAP (seemed to think they’d be able to get in by SDDHmm) but the houses on the new build development we were looking at doesn’t complete until ‘autumn’ (we didn’t have an exact date at this point).

The estate agent explained and they said they were happy to wait, but hoped it would be by September as they wanted to take advantage of the smaller stamp duty reduction.

We went in the sales room to reserve our plot today and our house isn’t due to be completed until end of October 😬. We’re now really worried the buyers are going to get nervous and pull out, especially as the developer will be pushing us to complete quickly.

Would you be happy to wait 6 months for your perfect house? Housing stock in our village is limited - and with a new build at the top of the chain at least they know it won’t fall through.

We can’t afford to lose their offer as we’ve pushed ourselves on the new house. If we did lose them we’d have to find someone prepared to pay the same amount, and v quickly or else we might lose our plot.

I’m stressing that they’re going to decide 6 months is too long and look for something else. What would you do?

OP posts:
romdowa · 24/04/2021 19:32

I'd sell the house , move out and rent until the new build is complete. Builds run over all the time and you might be lucky to be in the house before xmas. If I was a buyer I wouldn't wait that long.

TweedFox · 24/04/2021 19:34

No, I wouldn't wait that long.

Sally872 · 24/04/2021 19:37

If it was my dream house I would wait. But usually first home is a stepping stone so there is a chance something else will catch their eye.

I would look at renting. Is there any family you could stay with? If so just put stuff in storage, if not I would investigate rental options.

Ilikewinter · 24/04/2021 19:37

Problem with new builds is the date slips, when we bought ours we were originally told February and it was the end of April before we completed. Unfortunatly if I was your buyer id be looking for something else

RaiseTheBeastie · 24/04/2021 19:37

I might wait that long...if nothing else came along. However, if something did then I'd pull out.

You can't rely on them waiting...I'd also sell and rent in your position, I'd maybe look for a furnished air bnb and storage for my stuff if costs allowed.

alwayswrighty · 24/04/2021 19:39

The other thing you have to consider is a mortgage offer is only valid for 3-6 months

Mycomfyplacetochill · 24/04/2021 19:41

As said, sell and rent till yours is ready

Original poster
MindatWork · 24/04/2021 19:42

Ah bigger that’s not the response I was hoping for 😬.

Apparently they’ve been saving their deposit and scouring rightmove for ages looking for something in the village but ours was the property that made them actually get an AIP sorted and call the estate agent. If they were willing to wait until September we were hoping they’d consider waiting to October if we chucked them half the stamp duty discount. If it did go over that date we could move in with family but not ideal (only family near with space are ILs and fil is currently having cancer treatment.

DH has always been massively against renting but looks like we might have to consider it 🥺.

OP posts:
chipsandpeas · 24/04/2021 19:45

when i was a ftb the seller wanted me to wait 6 months before competing as she was waiting on a new build to be finished and i declined, found somewhere else but kept an eye on her place, she ended up selling it a lot cheaper than i had offered - if she had moved into a rental would have been an perfect for both of us

MadMadMadamMim · 24/04/2021 19:46

No, I wouldn't.

They are in a good position as FTBs and want to move quickly. It's a long time to expect someone to wait to suit your convenience. I think if you want to sell your house you have to be prepared to move in with family, friends, or rent somewhere temporarily if needed.

ItsSnowJokes · 24/04/2021 19:47

I wouldn't wait that long as I know of no new builds that have actually completed on time. They are always pushed back. They will then possibly have to apply for a mortgage again etc..... so I wouldn't want the hassle.

How quickly did your house sell? If quickly then if they did pull out it should sell quickly again. It'd a gamble for you though. I personally would move in to rented if you really need this offer.

Roszie · 24/04/2021 19:51

No new builds often overrun. I wouldn't wait half a year.

AgentProvocateur · 24/04/2021 19:53

No, I wouldn’t wait that long. If you want to keep them, you’ll need to move out and do a short term rental.

BackforGood · 24/04/2021 19:54

No.
As others have said, your new build is likely to go over, anyway.
You've got to be prepared to sell and either move in with family / friends or rent (could be an Air BnB if you think it might only be a month or two ?).

Every person's situation is different, but there's no incentive for a buyer to sit around, once they have their MiP in place. Why should they be prepared to pay months of extra rent when you aren't prepared to ?

Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 24/04/2021 19:54

No I would expect you to rent.

SBBTOL · 24/04/2021 19:56

We were exactly in the same position as your buyer. Our vendor couldn't exchange with a fixed completion date as the new build couldn't give them the date. We pushed hard and would pull out as we couldn't keep waiting forever (new build is very likely to be delayed and theirs ended up being delayed for 4 months). Our vendor fixed a date and moved into rental.

GlitterGiraffe13 · 24/04/2021 19:57

I know you say "if they'll wait until September they'll wait until October"... What's your plan if your new build gets delayed again and gets pushed back until Christmas/early 2022?

I think you'll need to rent..

NoWordForFluffy · 24/04/2021 19:58

Every person's situation is different, but there's no incentive for a buyer to sit around, once they have their MiP in place. Why should they be prepared to pay months of extra rent when you aren't prepared to?

This. You either need to rent / stay with family or find another buyer at a later date.

Dugi3 · 24/04/2021 19:59

We waited 6 months for our house (not strictly by choice but once you are a certain length down the road it's easier to stick with) however the only issue was that our mortgage offer was only good for 3 months so we had to go through the affordability process and valuation twice at cost to us so that may be something to consider for your buyers, I would ask how long their mortgage offer is valid for as if anything was to change with their jobs for example due to covid and they had to pass affordability again, this could become an issue?

CoconutChair · 24/04/2021 20:03

No, I wouldn’t wait that long. If you’ve secured the new build for a set price, agree a September completion and then rent to bridge the gap. You risk losing the buyers and losing your plot. None of the new build sales I’ve known complete on time.

EL8888 · 24/04/2021 20:06

No, l doubt it will be 6 months and instead will he longer

TheCraicDealer · 24/04/2021 20:07

We're in the same situation as you, just been told the date has gone from June until late July, having already been bumped from end of April- I'm anticipating a further delay as builders are now telling us that they're seeing lead times on stuff getting longer and longer.

We're likely moving in with my parents' for a few months with all our furniture and non-essentials going into storage. I don't want to piss off our buyer so I'm trying to make my peace with it.

We're only moving across the road so it's particularly frustrating!

Original poster
MindatWork · 24/04/2021 20:12

Looks pretty unanimous then! Grin Thanks for all your input, I guess we’ll see what they say this week and then look into rentals if they’re not happy to wait.

Now I think about it, we actually waited five months from offer to completion when we moved to the house we’re in now - same situation, vendors were buying a new build. We didn’t mind waiting as it was more time to save for furniture etc and they were v accommodating with letting us come to measure up etc. We’ve been here 5 years now so can’t remember too clearly so not sure why we weren’t in a hurry!

We don’t want to lose them so will do whatever it takes to get to completion (I can’t keep the house tidy with a toddler any more Confused)

OP posts:
senua · 24/04/2021 20:15

Would you be happy to wait 6 months for your perfect house? Housing stock in our village is limited
So why did you sell at £5k under asking?Confused I'd be tempted to continue marketing and see if anybody else bites. You're in no hurry, after all.

kickergoes · 24/04/2021 20:20

You can ask them, I've heard of people doing this, perhaps lower the price slightly to sweeten the deal? Bear in mind what you would save if you needed to rent. Bear in mind too they will need to exchange within 4-6 weeks most likely, I personally think this is a plus in that it means no one can pull out so it's a less stressful wait for them and you, although another thing to keep in mind is a lot of mortgage offers only last 6 months.

We chose to go into rented as we had the option of a cheap rental, but I would ask them with a sweetener of £1-2k off the price as it'll save you a lot more in hassle.