Buyer threatening to pull out. Help.

[Suspiciousmind20]

Can any one advise please?

My mum has accepted an offer on her house. Buyers have had a survey etc but because she hasn’t had an offer accepted on a new house for her yet they are threatening to pull out.

Her solicitor has asked if she wants to proceed and she has said no because she hasnt found anywhere yet.

How far can she proceed before finding somewhere? I think she would be better instructing her solicitor to proceed because she will still have control over the exchange date?

Is she willing to move into rental?
If not, she can't proceed can she?

How long ago did your mum accept the offer? As a buyer I'd be worried your mum is not in a position to leave the property anytime soon.

Its not really up to your mum, it is up to the buyers. If they pull out, they pull out.

I am guessing that the buyers have sent some queries to be answered, i would stop any legal work until the buyers confirm if they are still willing to wait til your mum has found somewhere

She can’t afford to rent.

So to ‘proceed’ requires you to have secured somewhere? Or can you proceed with the paperwork so it’s ready to go?

How long has she been looking for? It will depend on her buyers, if they need to move quickly the. They would be better off pulling out.

How long do you expect these buyers to hang around.

I would do exactly as they are and look for something else.

Looking for a couple of months but couldn’t get viewings until she’d had an offer. Now can’t get somewhere because they are going so fast.

Id think a month - 6 weeks after offer would be reasonable to find somewhere, any more than that would be too long for me and I’d pull out.

She needs to speak to her/other estate agents to become a priority for any new properties that become available.

Is she being realistic in her search or is it due to lack of suitable properties?

What do you mean by proceed? Every stage towards completion costs the buyer money, it's really unfair if your mum decides at the last moment she hasn't found anywhere she fancies so she's not selling.. plus even if she offered on a property today it could be in a long chain and take months. The buyers should pull out IMO.

My question is whether the process can, in theory, continue without her having an offer accepted? I am not clear on the process and when it becomes legally binding and ties people in.

She could, when push came to shove, move in with us temporarily but we would only do that as a last resort. So if we continued with the paper work and legal processes, and she still hasn’t found somewhere we could do that.

Difficult situation. Some buyers will hang on for weeks or months, but ultimately she can’t sell her house without somewhere else to go to. If they want to pursue somewhere else because they want to move sooner not a lot that can be done. But she’s not unreasonable in wanting to wait for the right house for her

She is definitely selling. No question about that.

If it’s England nothing is legally binding until exchange. But obviously it costs money in solicitors to answer queries and stuff.

She needs to make it clear she has a back up plan for them to proceed.

Why would they spend money on a property that has a high chance of falling through? Who’s do that?

Leah ally anyone can pull out up to exchange.

Yes the process can continue, but as a buyer I would be taking it with a pinch of salt until the vendor has found somewhere.

And I wouldn't be spending any money on searches etc either.

Yes, the process can continue, but nothing is binding til exchange. So why would your mum's buyers spend thousands on solicitors' fees, a survey, etc to get to that point, only to find your mum has no intention of moving out any time soon? I'd also be pulling out if I was them - unless your mum agrees to sell up, break the chain and move in with you. Which would of course also put her in a far stronger position for buying.

I’m not asking about the rights or wrongs but if she can instruct her solicitor to go ahead without having an offer accepted but knowing there is a last resort safety net.

It's a tricky situation, we were in similar last year having sold our house quickly but then everything that came to market that we liked went very quickly and for above asking. We were lucky in that about a month later we managed to be the first to view a doer upper and the vendor was keen for a quick sale so accepted our offer before any other viewings took place.

Was your mum upfront when accepting the offer on her house about needing time to find a place to buy? My friend recently sold her house and accepted a lower offer on the condition that the buyers were happy to wait until they found somewhere else, which six months later they still are.

I think realistically if renting isn't an option at all then your mum needs to be very proactive in looking for somewhere else (and communicate that she's really trying to her buyers) or accept that they are likely to pull out. Buyers are unlikely to spend any additional money on surveys/ searches/ solicitor fees to proceed the purchase if they have no idea of how many months it may take for your mum to be able to complete. (and bear in mind the buyers might have sold their home and have people keen to progress the sale and move into their house).

She can proceed but there is more to do on buyer's side and they may be reluctant to commit unless she has somewhere to buy or short term accommodation. They cannot exchange until that is resolved or she risks becoming homeless. Usually you can view properties but will not have an offer taken seriously without having the chain below in motion.

fellrunner85

Thank you. So she could instruct her solicitor to proceed knowing there is the safety net?

Safety net in what sense? Exchange is legally binding and completion/moving date is set at that point.m

@Suspiciousmind20

fellrunner85

Thank you. So she could instruct her solicitor to proceed knowing there is the safety net?

She can absolutely instruct them to proceed, but I think what a lot of posters are trying to say is that the buyers may not want to proceed with your mum not having found a house as they will incur costs to move the sale along too.

Of course she can - unless there is some reason that, on the day the buyers move in, she cannot have her stuff moved into storage and move herself into a spare bedroom at yours? When she sells she will have some money from the sale so she should be able to rent storage.

mummabubs

Thanks. Yes. She was clear. She only put it on the market without having somewhere lined up because she couldn’t get viewings without that. They were the first to view and she accepted their offer straight away. They have buyers ready.

Her buyers have had surveys but I’m not sure where things are in terms of searches etc.

We are talking regularly with EA and saw a place today. We were first to view it and put an offer in at asking price but I think it will go fir way more so I’m not hopeful. It’s still pretty crazy where we are.