Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Sellers want to be moved by Christmas - not going to happen is it?

26 replies

redpickle · 01/11/2021 16:45

After three months under offer, we finally found somewhere and had an offer accepted a week ago. We're in a chain of three (our buyer, us and our vendor) and all starting the conveyancing process now. The sellers solicitor has indicated that they want to complete by Christmas. We'd really rather not rush to move in as the house needs work, we have young kids and we'd rather have Christmas here and move in the new year.
I'm thinking that as it's so unlikely anyway, it's probably easiest just to say "yeah, yeah ok" rather than refusing and causing unnecessary issues. We need a full survey, our buyer will be having a home-buyers and from what I understand, there is a bit of a delay on this anyway.
Please tell me I'm right and it's not worth worrying about as they're being unrealistic? They're moving into a new build, so it probably seems quite straightforward to them. I've seen the buyers/sellers rollcall thread so maybe I'm a bit more cynical

OP posts:

ShowOfHands · 01/11/2021 16:47

Our last move was done and dusted in 5.5 weeks. I think it's unlikely but not impossible so if you say yes, be prepared for it to happen.

GaladrielHiggins · 01/11/2021 16:53

DH sold his old house in 5 weeks. It’s do-able if everyone involved wants to do it. It helped that he wasn’t in a chain (moving in with me) and they were first time buyers. I think the buyers family were in conveyancing which helped speed things up. Whenever we got a letter from the solicitors he replied the same day and dropped the letter off at their offices instead of posting it, which cut a few days of each step. Christmas is in 54 days, no reason why it couldn’t happen, IF you want it to.

Original poster

redpickle · 01/11/2021 16:56

Ok - eek! Thank you. I'd heard that surveys are taking weeks so assumed that will be our issue!

OP posts:

Topbird29 · 01/11/2021 16:56

Your vendor may be getting pressure from the new build company. We had pressure from our vendor as they were going into a new build. We exchanged about a month after their original hoped for date - turned out the new build people hadn't even signed off the warranties on the new build until after their original hoped for date anyway. It may be unlikely (but not impossible) to get the sale done in the short timeframe - depends how many queries you may have, and when these are submitted....

Scissor · 01/11/2021 16:56

How is your buyers position? 3 months under offer is a long time.

Original poster

redpickle · 01/11/2021 17:10

Buyer currently in rented, I don't know how they would feel about moving before the end of the year either.

OP posts:

NorthSouthcatlady · 01/11/2021 17:11

Feels rather unlikely to me

M0rT · 01/11/2021 17:14

New builds are notoriously late, when I was buying mine everyone told me to add a few months to the date we were given and they were right!

Kite22 · 01/11/2021 17:16

Seems unlikely to me too.
I mean, if everybody in the chain were in a desperate rush and able to devote all their time to chasing and responding within minutes of getting e-mails etc., but it doesn't seem you all are.
I don't think you can promise that to the sellers, but you can say you are happy to, if it ends up working out that way.

JackieChiles · 01/11/2021 19:58

@redpickle

Buyer currently in rented, I don't know how they would feel about moving before the end of the year either.

Without knowing any more information I would think most people who have been waiting in rented accommodation would be very happy to get into their new home as soon as they can.

It’s not right to pretend you’re ok with moving by Christmas but secretly plan to stay. You need to negotiate in good faith. If your position is strong you can politely say you won’t be moving and they will have to deal with it. If your position is less strong you may have to just do it.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 01/11/2021 20:16

@redpickle Our survey took days, booked on the Monday, took place on Wednesday and we got the report the following Tuesday, I think.

Our sellers was quick too. I don’t know where the delays are supposed to be, or if they were just a SDLT holiday problem, but it doesn’t seem to be a big issue anymore…

If the person above you wants pre-Christmas and the person below you is in rented, they could be keen enough to push everyone along… if you don’t want that, I’d speak up so everyone knows and nobody is frustrated trying to get it done.

Frecklespy · 02/11/2021 00:47

I don't think you will be in by Christmas - there isn't that many more weeks to go and solicitors won't want completions on the last working day or two before the holidays.

Do you know if the new build is actually ready now? I imagine the developer wants to get their money in before the end of the year and is therefore putting pressure on the buyer.

I would be inclined to just go along with the timeline and leave it to the solicitors to manage the vendor's expectations.

Livedandlearned · 02/11/2021 01:34

It's the searches that are taking weeks

Roselilly36 · 02/11/2021 06:36

Our buyers said this, all cash from sale purchasers, so no mortgage hassle, sold early Oct, we moved in the middle of Feb! Take it with a pinch of salt OP.

Attictroll · 02/11/2021 06:45

We pushed it all through very quickly by being persistent- we were the ones saying Christmas though as we needed to be in place for primary school admissions in early January- is there anything like that which could be linked to their deadlines

Fleurty · 02/11/2021 06:51

I would suggest that you tell your vendor that you're happy to work towards a pre-christmas completion (i.e no promises!) and then just go with the flow.

Our last move we were supposed to move before Christmas and so many people were aiming for that that the solicitors prioritised the people who were more likely to meet that. However we were so nervous about everything falling through that we didn't have a nice Christmas that year. I would have rather moved before and still been in boxes to be honest.

TheLette · 02/11/2021 08:39

Our (sadly failed) sale and purchase would have taken 5 weeks. My partner was made redundant about 2 weeks in but we thought we had time due to the usual conveyancing timescales. Nope! He got a job within 4 weeks in the end so we didn't delay it much, but the sale fell through anyway for other reasons. Love spending £4k for a whole lot of stress.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 02/11/2021 08:54

It's the searches that are taking weeks

Not everywhere. The searches website only shows a handful of places that searches are taking more than 7 days.

I don’t disagree the solicitors might not be willing to do it, though! Someone in our chain has paid extra to speed theirs through, some solicitors are still offering that.

I think you just have to be honest that you’d rather move in January; or be ready to go pre-Christmas if it gets there and not deliberately slow anything down. That seems to be the cause of tension in most chains.

SargentDecca · 02/11/2021 09:27

Our sale and purchase was completed in five weeks from first viewing, with a chain of 5.
However everyone in the chain was VERY motivated to complete in that time for various reasons- my husband was literally ringing the bank/estate agents/solicitors every day to push things through and make sure that everyone had everything they needed. So it can be done, if everyone is trying to push it through- if you're proceeding with the process at a 'normal' pace I'd say its much more unlikely.

Also, new builds are notoriously late- despite the pressure they put on buyers. My friend has just moved into one over a month later than anticipated because of last minute delays. Is the build actually finished do you know? With us going into the winter that could also have a bearing on the house being finished if the weather is bad.
I think @JackieChiles is right, you have to negotiate in good faith- we were messed around by sellers on another purchase who were saying one thing and clearly doing another and it was horrible- our lives were on hold and it creates such bad feeling. I think you could probably say something like yes, you will endeavour to complete by then in good faith subject to all searches being completed, etc without making any firm promises. You could also draw a line saying whilst you're happy to move before Christmas, you'll draw a line at the week before because you don't want spend Christmas Day surrounded by boxes/the difficultly get removal vans over the holidsays/end of term/busy time of work (whichever reason fits your purposes!!)

EdgeOfTheSky · 02/11/2021 09:51

What does your buyer think, given that they have hung on for 3 months already?

MrsBobDylan · 02/11/2021 10:25

We are in a chain of two, our's are first-time buyers and we will be cash buyers moving into a probate property.

We have been 'in the process' for a month already and when I mentioned to the possibility of being in before Xmas to out EA, his eyebrows shot up into his receding hairline and he said: 'it's a minimum 12 weeks process'.

I am packing us up just in case but expecting a January exchange date at the earliest.

Getyourarseofffthequattro · 02/11/2021 10:32

@MrsBobDylan

We are in a chain of two, our's are first-time buyers and we will be cash buyers moving into a probate property.

I am packing us up just in case but expecting a January exchange date at the earliest.

It's not a minimum twelve weeks at all! What a load of shite.

It can be much quicker if everyone is in board.

On our purchase which fell through due to our sellers, all our stuff was done in around 6 weeks. And even that was just the mortgage taking ages. There is no need for it to take that long. I think shit solicitors like to tell you that to stop them looking bad tbh!

It's none of the EAs business really!

MrsBobDylan · 02/11/2021 13:40

This is why I'm packing up now @Getyourarseofffthequattro.

On paper ours looks like the nearly perfect chain and I want to be ready incase it does go quicker.

We can't afford our house and the longer the sale takes, the more we struggle financially.

maofteens · 02/11/2021 14:55

I did it in five weeks this summer. But I was a cash buyer and the sellers had already moved, my sicitor was on top of it and as the house had previously been under offer all the paperwork was in order. I did get a survey, which took about ten days from me contacting the surveyor. The local search took the longest- arriving two days before exchange.
I don't know what's happened though, covid aside, you could view and be ready to exchange within a week when I started buying in the 80s.

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy · 02/11/2021 19:18

Please tell your buyers if you are not keen on moving by Christmas! Yes it seems unlikely, but if everyone is on the same page - signing paperwork and replying to enquiries as soon as they are sent ect - then it can be done. If they think you are on the same page they will be endlessly chasing.

Our sellers said they wanted to go ASAP like us, but they haven't been very proactive - they are also moving somewhere that needs work and don't seem in a rush in about it. This is fair enough, but however we sold and are in rented currently with the youngest DC sleeping on a sofabed, struggling with a commute, and not knowing when to give notice. Most of our things in storage and are living out of suitcases, as we thought this would be for weeks rather than months.

Also we went with mortgage provider we knew would be easiest/ quickest instead of shopping around.

Basically, if our sellers told us they wanted a bit more time, we would not have dropped out, but we would have made many different decisions.

Flip

1 2