Vendors refusing to move out! Help!

[Fabsco]

Dear all,

I hope you're all doing well. I came here to share our house buying story and see if you could perhaps give us some advice. We got sale agreed on a house back in May and trusted that our vendors were actively looking for a place to buy since then. We lived in rented accommodation and agreed with our landlord a moving date at the end of August, which would give us (in our view) plenty of time to move into our new house.

The warning bells came when we got the contract and there was no completion date on it; as it transpired our vendors were only doing a valuation on a house that they intended to buy in August. We tried to extend our rental contract with our landlord but, at that point, he had already secured new tenants moving in September. We agreed to rent an AirBnB and put our furniture in a storage as the estate agent promised that the deal would be done as quickly as possible. We spent a couple of thousands in this process but were happy to do it if it meant that we were going to keep the deal.

Much to our surprise, the estate agent now phoned us to say that the sale two houses down the chain fell through and nobody is willing to go into rented accommodation to keep the chain going. Our vendors said that they would understand if we walked away, which is mad when we think that we did everything we could from our end and they are not willing to compromise one bit. We asked the estate agent if they could perhaps go into rented accommodation to share a bit of the burden with us, and she said that they couldn't because they have a dog. It blows my mind that they are risking losing the sale of their house because they couldn't be bothered looking for rental accommodation that accepts pets? They might be bluffing, but it blew my mind their complete disregard for us in saying that they are happy for us to walk away.

I phoned the estate agent to advise that we are looking for other houses to see if the deal can be done quicker and she simply said: 'okay, just let me know, and I will advise the vendors to put the house back on the market' and hung up. What is wrong with people?! Would you walk away in that case? Thank you so much for your help and advice with this!

We told the estate agent that we were giving notice on our apartment and he simply said that he was going to note the information down. We are now dealing with a different estate agent, who tells us that we were unaware that we were moving out of our rental accommodation

None of this is the business or responsibility of the vendors EA.

Your family friend solicitor has been pretty lax in explaining the process. Did they know you were giving notice on your rental?

Why did you give notice? You've been naive. You're using a friend as a solicitor (probably on the cheap) so they arent doing the proper work for you.
You're acting as though the estate agent should be working for/helping you. That's not their job. The work for the vendor.

You should have waited for exchange, and then set a completion date that work with your notice period. Even if you couldn't, you could have just had an overlap.

The money you're spending now is through your own folly.

I don’t see what the vendors have done wrong at all. Sorry, but the mistakes were all on your part by the sounds of it. It might be a good idea to read up on the house buying and selling process and learn how it works.

The vendors aren't refusing to move out, it's their home until it's sold.

It is unfortunate that you didn't research properly, but it's not the vendor's responsibility.

Unless I am misunderstanding something, if you are in a rental , surely there is nothing below you in a chain on break down? Surely you are the bottom end of the chain, aren't you?

Your vendor is now having problems above him- maybe even him that hasnt got anywhere to go. Its just the way it is.

As you can see unfortunately you have been extremely naive here and many lessons have been learnt.

If the chain has collapsed (which often happens) this could really take some time to resolve or it actually doesn't and you have to start again.

You really now need to look at potential rental options for yourselves as this could take months now and you may even be looking at buying another property all together. Your best bet is to get another rental at this point and stop paying the high airbnb rates.

I feel for you but you have been so poorly advised on all of this by your solicitor I'm sorry to say. The long and short of property purchases are that absolutely nothing is guaranteed until exchange of contracts. People even pull out on the day of exchange as they change their mind or try and gazump etc. Contracts being drawn up and you signing them in advance actually means nothing. It is all in readiness for the future day of exchange of contracts that is undertaken by solicitors in the chain.

I'm sorry that you are where you are and obviously you are first time buyers who have been caught up in this but it is clear that nobody really has explained to you how the process works and also how long it takes etc.

Asking people in the chain to break the chain by going into rental is also a relatively new thing as years ago it simply did not happen unless somebody was moving a fair distance away and wanting to rent prior to purchase in their new area. It's a lot of hassle (and expense) for a family and the rental market has also gone through the roof recently as well. If I was in amongst that chain at the moment there is no way I would go into rental either.

Thank you for all the replies. Indeed we were overly optimistic by giving notice to our landlord but both the estate agent and our solicitor knew that we were doing it. We were told by the EA that the vendors already had a place to go and wanted the deal to be done quickly, back in May. Obviously that sale fell through but the EA didn't let us know. I understand that the EA is working for the vendor but they did tell us when another sale fell through two houses up. There was definitely miscommunication from their part, regardless of the conflict of interest.

We still want the house, but are looking for options for rent and sale. Not sure I agree that everybody in the chain is looking only for themselves, as our walking away will impact everybody else. Something similar happened to a close friend, and the EA contacted everybody in the chain to see if someone was willing to compromise to secure the deal. As it happened, someone who was buying an old house to renovate was willing to go into rented accommodation, because they would not be able to move in straight away anyway.

I’ve been through the process a couple of times, there’s NO WAY I’d move into rented to make things easier on someone else. With pets and work and other issues it absolutely wouldn’t work. It’s not a “compromise” at all.

NEVER give notice on your rental place until Exchange has happened! Estate agents will say whatever to get a sale agreed. You’ve been badly advised and really naive.

@TeaStory Sorry if my messages have triggered you in any way; you seem to be quite angry... Caps lock and all.

Of course nobody is willing to move into rented accommodation for someone's else benefit, but to secure the sale on their house.

Not remotely angry or “triggered”, I capitalised for emphasis as I don’t post here often and forgot that bolding was possible here.

I really think you should get some better advice on the buying and selling process though. The Money Saving Expert stuff is good.

Also, it’s a seller’s market right now, they don’t need to do much to secure a sale.

@TeaStory Sure; thank you for the advice.

Of course the contracts are signed without a date.

Otherwise the solicitors all agree a date, are then ready to exchange and then..................have to post out the contracts and David is away for a few days on a fishing trip, Pam has signed hers and sent it but it's not arrived in the post yet, and Steve will sign it when his neighbour is back from holiday because he will always witness his documents etc. Or if the solicitors are holding the signed contract with a blank date they can fill it in and exchange can happen instantly.

Sorry you're in this situation OP but no one has done anything wrong. Can you look for a long term rental, something for 6 months or a year while you look for another house?

I would never go into rented in these circumstances when the market is so unpredictable. Our neighbours have just pulled out of their sale because they can’t find anything to buy (there’s hardly anything at all right now round here). Their buyers offered £30k extra but they turned it down as that didn’t change the fact there’s nothing to buy.

Your thread title is very misleading I think. To echo others, you've been poorly advised, or naive or a combination of both.

How active are you in looking for an alternative purchase - have you said you are to the EA in the hope of provoking a response or are you serious?

Op I’m sorry it’s neither the estate agent or the solicitors job to tell you when to give notice on your rental. That’s not part of the process they deal with that’s your decision. The fact they knew is irrelevant.

Your mistake was handing in the notice on your rental before you had a completion date.

As someone who has bought and sold many properties, I'd never move in to rented to save a sale - if I don't have a house to move to I have time to resell, you aren't the only buyers in the world. I never give notice before I've exchanged as until that point anything can happen.

I budget the cost of rent + mortgage or 2 X mortgage in to my figures.

I won't buy a house for the sake of not losing a sale.

I don't think your vendor has done anything wrong, it's just part of buying and selling.

This is an issue entirely of your making unfortunately because you gave notice prematurely , if I were you I’d look to rent for 6 months somewhere now .

They aren't refusing to move out, the chain fell through! This is what happens with house buying unfortunately- it's a shitty process but did you really have no idea that this is how it works?

It is very rare to find a vendor that will move into rented accommodation to break the chain, and completely normal to sign the contract without a completion date. This gets agreed and filled in on the day of exchange once the whole chain is ready to complete.

Maybe do a bit of research on the house buying process and ready through the property buying forum on moneysavingexpert and here so you can set more realistic expectations about how it works?

Oh dear, I think all you can do is find yourself a six month rental and start over again with finding a property to buy having learnt not to give notice until you exchange contracts. It's very much down to you to research the process/seek professional advice as there are many things that can happen in the conveyancing process so nothing is ever guaranteed. Signing an undated contract is a standard admin thing for preparing for exchange at a future date when all parties are ready.

No one is going to move out of their property in your vendor's shoes, rentals with pets are hard to find and they won't make a purchase that doesn't suit to keep you as a buyer. Good luck.

Yes, we are indeed looking for rental options for the time being, with a view into going back on the market to see if another deal will complete quicker.

We told the estate agent that we were giving notice on our apartment and he simply said that he was going to note the information down. We are now dealing with a different estate agent, who tells us that we were unaware that we were moving out of our rental accommodation. Unfortunately it is all smoke and mirrors with EAs.

The EA works for the vendors. Their only interest in your situation is that you can pay up when requested.

Ah OP I feel for you. We were messed around by our vendors when we bought our first house, they told us they were willing to move in with family to break the chain then when the contract was ready said they’d changed their minds and wanted to find somewhere to buy instead. Then followed a long and arduous house search on their part, and a sale that seemed to throw up all sorts of issues!
Luckily we were renting and didn’t hand out notice in until we exchanged, as it all lasted a good 6 months longer than it should have done! So frustrating.
Sadly it’s a sellers market at the moment so the seller will probably find a new buyer fairly easily if you pull out, so he has no real incentive to do anything except stay put.
I hope you get it sorted.

I'd consider your solicitor situation too, OP. I appreciate he's a family friend, but it doesn't sound like he's got the capacity right now to treat you as "proper" clients, and it was his responsibility to represent you (and your mortgage lender, if you've got one).

Their estate agent is acting for them - they do tend to be nice people and they will keep you up-to-date on general chain activities, but they'll go very quiet if something is going wrong with the people that they are being directly paid to represent. Their first priority is to the vendor, and the interests of the vendor, and it seems that was to allow you to move into rented if you were happy to do so, so you were ready to move - but also to not update you on their chain when it's been slow, so as not to potentially frustrate their clients buyer.

@Fabsco

Yes, we are indeed looking for rental options for the time being, with a view into going back on the market to see if another deal will complete quicker.

I don't think starting again would be any quicker, tbh. What if you end up in a chain again?