Would you be looking for another house in this situation?

[trrk]

We are first time buyers and had an offer accepted on a house Oct 2022. Sellers took until Dec 2022 to find a property to buy. Just now they pulled out of the sale due to issues with the survey so we are back waiting for them to find another property. We still like the house but don’t have our hearts set on it. How normal is this sort of wait? Should we basically be giving up on this sale or hang in there? So worried they will just decide not to move. We are in rented accommodation which is too small now we have a baby and has had damp/mould problems in the past so really want to move ASAP.

The problem is there's no guarantee, they may find another property with a person who wants a fast sale or you could find another property instead and find you end up with an even longer wait. The question to ask yourself is if there is anything else you can find that is worth starting the process all over again for.

Quite common.
You have already said you don't have your hearts set on it so I would widen your options and keep looking. Maybe it is a sign?
Nothing is set until you have exchanged.

It think delays are sadly common.
you could alway keep an eye out incase something else comes up that is already empty and you like. However I don’t think what you describes is particularly unusual.

I think buying /selling is a nightmare for the majority and goes easily only for a few with very simple circumstances.

As the poster above says, buying/selling a house is indeed a nightmare - more often than not.

For that reason it's best to limit the number of times you have to go through it so - as you say your heart isn't set on this one - I would suggest you keep looking.

They haven’t found something they want to buy so you aren’t screwing them over and there is no onwards chain. Morally you owe them nothing.

Also the market has changed since October, price reductions are more common (at least around me), I don’t think you need to worry about prices soaring away. Is there much else on the market that you like the look of?

Having said that - mortgage rates have also gone up since Oct. So what is your mortgage position, do you have a mortgage offer at a good rate which expires? If so that might be a factor towards sticking with this one.

Have you already spent money on survey etc?

Hedge your bets.
Don't withdraw your offer with current house but look around and if you see one you prefer/seems more of a sure thing, then offer on that and withdraw from this one if accepted.

For them this back and forth and delay could lose them their buyer, they know that and it wouldn't be surprising.
But watch which agent the ones you're interested in are with as if their agent knows what you're doing it could complicate things.

Maybe this sale will go through before you find an alternative, or maybe you'll save yourself a long wait and back to square one.

I was in this scenario as the seller and lost so much money on a survey, legal fees etc so it was a really hard decision to pull out of a purchase.

My buyers then pulled out just as I was viewing another house.

I had dodged a bullet with house I’d pulled out of. When my buyers pulled out I couldn’t be bothered to go through it all again and took it off the market.

Ultimately you have to do what is best for you, if you pull out I’m sure your seller will understand.

Thanks all for the advice! There’s nothing on the market that’s as good right now (but might have been a few that have come on and gone in the meantime). Good places still go quite quickly here as it’s still a sellers market.

We have already sunk money into the survey and thought we were good to go for a March completion (top of the chain wanted a quick sale).

Unfortunately our mortgage offer expires in April so there will be no chance to move in time and we will have to reapply no matter what. Our rate is pretty poor but worried it could be even worse if rates go up this week.

As others have said keep your eyes peeled without withdrawing existing offer. This does happen all the time, both buyers being kept waiting and buyers deciding not to wait.

Can’t you apply for an extension to the rate??

We can try for an extension of the rate but our mortgage broker didn’t think it was likely the bank will agree. As first time buyers we don’t really know how it works.