Seller wants to exchange three months before they can complete

[mullingitallover]

Our seller does not want to complete until March 2023 as they would need to pay a mortgage rebate.

They are however pushing for an exchange of contracts before Christmas.

Weirdly they said they would complete before March, but only if we agreed to pay half of their mortgage rebate

Thoughts or advice please?

Seller set the house on fire causing damage ,, pipes freeze, possiblity of losing 10 percent deposit. It's not in the buyers interest to have a long exchange to completion. It's completely in the sellers interest and the housing market is falling. My advice would have been different just last year when prices were quickly rising. It's area dependent of course but in my area the market is falling fast.

The vendors would be contractually bound to present the house on the completion date in the same condition it was at exchange.

On the point of prices falling, are you suggesting that as prices reduce the OP should gazunder the seller right before exchange?

In no circumstance whatsoever would I accept that any of the seller’s early redemption payment on THEIR mortgage is anything to do with me! I mean that is absolutely taking the piss. If you say no what exactly are they going to do? Remarket it? That won’t get them to exchange any quicker!

I wouldn’t even entertain the idea - whatever reason they give!

The seller is protecting themselves by proposing locking in and exchanging. What's wrong with a buyer rejecting that and proposing to exchange end of February to protect themselves? I never said anything about gazundering but people during the boom were pulling out and remarketing at a higher rate frequently. If someone wants to pull out because property has fallen they should be able too.

Surely if you exchange, if they subsequently pull out then you get to keep the 10% deposit that they’ve paid upon exchange?

I would have thought exchange with the 10% deposit would be good security to complete on a specific date in March - or am I totally wrong?

I wouldn't want to exchange and wait for 3 months in a unstable economy. How does that benefit the buyer ?

Thoughts…

• If they didn’t want to move house until March they should have put it on the market later.
• house prices are going down rapidly so they’d be mad to walk away from the sale.
• at end of day all that matters in this conversation is who has the most power. Do you love the house enough that you’ll pay 2 months extra rent and be bossed around, to get it? Or do they love their onward purchase so much that they’ll do anything to keep you as buyer? (If you walk away they lose their onward purchase.)
• If it was me then (unless they had an incredibly rare property at a fantastic price) I’d communicate via the estate agent that: 1. My offer of £x was made on the underanding that exchange and completion would occur in a normal way, ie with a maximum of 31 days between exchange and completion. 2. I am not prepared to pay months of extra rent in order to assist the seller in avoiding a payment clause in their mortgage contract which they have known about for years and which they did not mention when they accepted my offer. 3. I am definitely not going to pay the seller’s mortgage payment for them, in the same way I don’t expect them to pay my rent. 4. I suggest exchange within X days and completion one month after. 5. If it is not possible to agree a reasonable timetable, then in light of the fall in house prices we will have to discuss whether it makes sense to continue with this purchase at all.

As the only ‘chain free’ buyer in the chain you do have power and should not be bullied.

There isn't anything wrong with a buyer rejecting it. All I'm saying is as a buyer is that, for me, there are advantages to exchanging now with a delayed completion until March, and I don't completely understand why opinion is so against the idea.

I still don't get the idea that a seller is at all likely to set their own house on fire, just because they've exchanged contracts on the sale.

But, with all these things, there are many other bits of important information which would affect the decision which we are not aware of (quite understandably, the OP is under no obligation to go into forensic detail of their purchase)

You're paid rent up til March anyway, right?
I don't think this would massively bother me. Gives plenty of time for packing, organizing etc.
I'd have the solictor put a few clauses in the contract about the house being insured and cared for by sellers for the months between e and c, usually that would be buyers responsibility but that's a long period of time to be legally responsible for a property you're not occupying. I'd have your solicitor check this insurance is adequate very carefully. And I'd insist on a walk around before completion to check condition of property, and any issues to be sorted by seller before completing.
Other than that, if I was 100% sure I wanted the house and wasn't going to be sacked, I think this could work quite well.
Good Luck.

Absolutely not standard.

It is not a compromise. It's still them dictating terms that aren't in your interest and expose you to risk unnecessarily.

The answer is a flat 'no'.

Call their bluff on this. They have a buyer now. House prices have dropped in the last month, so if they drop you trying to find another buyer they could be shooting themselves in the foot.

I just wouldn't go there especially with your mortgage offer close to running out.

Pretty standard? What else are they lying about?

Just say no.

It is absolutely NOT standard.

Why are you even entertaining this nonsense? Your solicitor gave you the right advice.