Sellers threatening to pull out if not completed by set date

[MrsHf]

We offered on the house in mid-July we have 2 people behind us in the chain and sellers have no onward chain. Have met with the sellers and they seem nice reasonable people. However just out of the blue they’ve now said they will pull out of the sale if we don’t complete in 4 weeks time. Said they will take their house off the market all together as it’s a second home they don’t need to sell. Is this a usual tactic to speed things along?! We’ve spent so much money on solicitors and surveys ect. is this something that people do to get things moving? It’s only been 9 weeks since we offered. I’m so stressed because I love the house and really don’t want to lose it but know our buyers have still got things that need completing on their end (all our bits are done). Is there anything we can do to reason with them if it does take longer than 4 weeks? I can’t stop worrying about it all.

Well you need to hurry your buyers along then. Most transactions are slow because people aren't really motivated and conveyancers are able to mob=ve at a snails pace. Your sellers are just being proactive. We accepted an offer mid july and exchanged last week and that included both sets off solicitors going on summer holiday

They are just pushing you. Anyone that really wanted to sell would have said 'complete by xx date or we will look for another buyer.'
The seller made a mistake via possible greed as you may have offered more than a chain free/cash buyer.

We avoid chains at all costs

I don't agree. Selling is stressful. We told our buyers we'd pull out completely and take the house off the market if we didn't exchange within a week after exchange had been delayed 3 times in a 3 buyer chain.

Can the estate agent smooth things over? It is part of their job to liaise with all parties and keep the chain together by talking and explaining how things work and how long some things take.

The sellers are really just trying to push and to let you know that they won't wait forever. However, the work that the solicitor does dictates the pace at which any transaction can proceed. It seems to be your buyers causing the delay and since they are buying your house, do you have any idea what the delay is?