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Original poster

Vendors refusing to move out! Help!

65 replies

Fabsco · 23/09/2021 08:41

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!

OP posts:

Original poster

Fabsco · 23/09/2021 15:23

@Willow19C There are a couple of new builds available in our area; we might look into those.

OP posts:

sunshinesupermum · 23/09/2021 18:01

mildura It is perfectly normal for the contract to be signed before a completion date is agreed, the solicitor adds the completion date in later. It is not exactly unusual for the contract to be signed weeks before the actual exchange takes place.

This may well be the case but I personally have refused to sign a contract without a completion date on it. My solicitor is close by so it was easy enough to go in and sign as soon as the date was confirmed. I have sold and bought a number of homes.

ISaidDontLickTheBin · 23/09/2021 20:03

We recently had first time buyers for our house who gave notice on their rental while searches etc were still ongoing all the way up the chain. Our onward purchase fell through because of issues revealed by the searches. Our buyers asked us to go into rented. We said no, the finances of doing so didn't work for us at all. Buyers walked away. We resold our house in 72hrs for 10 grand more than the first time.

OP, sadly you have no bargaining power in this.

Eastie77Returns · 23/09/2021 20:53

Well I don’t agree with the idea that vendors never move into rentals to facilitate a sale. I did:) However I live in an area with plenty of rentals available and it was relatively easy to find somewhere for our family (2 adults & 2 DC) with a 6 month break clause in the lease which is quite common here.

OP - you’ve received a few harsh responses here. Hindsight and experience are wonderful things. I sold my property back in June, had an offer accepted on a house 2 weeks later and the EA told me the vendor had already found somewhere to live. Well that purchase apparently fell through and 3 months later the vendor is still allegedly searching. Fortunately I have found another house (vacant, chain free - I’ve learned my lesson!) but it has been stressful as we are in a rental that I’m keen to leave as soon as possible. As others have mentioned, I won’t inform our landlady before Exchange but I am hoping for an overlap of a month so we can take our time moving.

BlueMongoose · 23/09/2021 21:04

It's sadly very common for vendors to refuse to rent if their purchase falls through. That's fair enough if they have never said they would. But a lot of vendors lie and say they will to get a sale, and then refuse to. That's seriously grubby.
We were in a chain where someone further up was mucking about re dates (they just wanted a gap so they could do some decorating, but were not upfront about it ). In the end, the people above us, who had not promised to move out, but wanted desperately to sell and we'd offered full asking when that wasn't usual, put their stuff in storage and stayed in a hotel for a week to get it all done. But the date for completing their purchase had been agreed, was in the contract, and they exchanged on it on the same day as their sale to us- that's very different to them having no agreed and legally binding date for their purchase.

BlaiseAnais · 23/09/2021 21:20

I echo others saying you have been very naive and poorly advised.

We too are buying as FTB (as are two other friends in similar positions). None of us thought you would give notice on a rental before exchange.

Your vendors aren't refusing to move out. You haven't exchanged. There is nothing legally binding to guarantee the sale. Why would they put themselves in the position of renting? Short term rents are expensive and long term will tie them in for a min of 6 months.

Original poster

Fabsco · 23/09/2021 21:22

@Eastie77Returns Thank you for your lovely response! Good luck with the move and I hope everything works out for you.

Regarding harsh responses, sadly anonymity in a public forum sometimes brings the worst out of people. Half of the time people just want to brag about how knowledgeable they are about this process. Quite an interesting anthropological experiment.

OP posts:

Original poster

Fabsco · 23/09/2021 21:32

@BlueMongoose At least someone was willing to do it to secure the sale. We will look for a short-term rental but also investigate other options, including a couple of new builds and houses with no onward chain.

OP posts:

mobear · 23/09/2021 21:45

You took a gamble in order to save money and it hasn’t paid off. It may be you misunderstood the system but you wouldn’t ordinarily give notice on a rental until exchange.

BlueCherryBlossom · 23/09/2021 22:23

The advice might seem harsh but the property market is cut-throat, as you've now learned.

It's great you've found this corner of Mumsnet though- take some time to read the threads and inform/arm yourself for the future.

friendlycat · 23/09/2021 22:53

OP. I don’t think people are bragging about their knowledge they are just responding to your thread where your title states “the vendor is refusing to move out”.

But people are explaining the vendor still owns the property as you have not exchanged contracts. The vendor isn’t responsible for the chain above them collapsing as it’s literally nothing to do with them. Why would they then want to make themselves effectively homeless and go into a rental to appease you and your poor decisions - albeit made through not understanding the process.

It’s really hard to understand how your solicitor did not advise you better and you say they are a family friend. If they know you presumably they know you are first time buyers who do not understand the process. As a friend of the family one would have thought they would at least have talked you through the process and what to expect.

But at the end of the day this isn’t your vendor’s fault it’s out of their hands as well.

purplemunkey · 23/09/2021 23:03

Yikes, you really shouldn’t have given notice on your rental until you had a completion date. This is not on the vendor I’m afraid.

Rummikubfan · 24/09/2021 07:41

I’m currently selling my house. There’s no way on this earth i would move into rented. I wouldn’t want the hassle or the cost or to erode my capital. If my sale falls through or my purchase falls through I’ll just wait until something else comes up. I’m afraid the personal circumstances of anyone else in the chain isn’t my problem

Bagelsandbrie · 24/09/2021 07:55

@Rummikubfan

Yep I’d feel exactly the same.

TangoWhiskyAlphaTango · 24/09/2021 08:04

@Rummikubfan

I sold last year - completed November. I had to stay in my town for DS to finish his GCSEs so rented but I also bought in the area I was relocating to (expensive few months paying rent and mortgage). However had I not have bought I would have been out priced whilst in the rental. My neighbour sold in May for 50k more than I bought for in December. Crazy that the prices shot up so fast in just 6 months but it happens.

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