What to do next

[Youmeanyouvelostyourkey]

Hi. I'm selling my aunt's house to pay for her care fees. We agreed a low price to get it sold quickly. That was back in October.

The survey has been done and no issues raised (yet). It's a cash purchase so no mortgage or chain

There is a sense of urgency as my aunt will run out of cash but buyers are taking so long and not responding when we try to chase it up. They want to get a deed of variation re holiday let which we have been told could take 10-12 weeks and the process hasn't started yet.

I'm going to have to enter a deferred payt scheme if it takes much longer and that may mean that she will have to change homes. The previous one was almost neglectful and her current one is seeing her thrive.

Can I ask the estate agents to relist it in the meantime to try and cover my options.

Absolutely relist it. Making you wait while sorting it out to be a holiday let is ridiculous. That should be something they do after purchase. Not being responsive is a red flag too.

Unfortunately you may get new buyers who are slow for other reasons e.g. if they need a mortgage. I was a cash buyer and bought in six weeks, so maybe you'll be lucky. This must be so annoying for you. I'd definitely look for another buyer though.

It’s a tricky one because if you go back to the beginning and relist it then even if you find a new buyer quickly, it could still take as much time as the deed of variation would take just to get to this point again.

I would get your EA to explain the situation to them and that you are in a hurry to exchange contracts. It is essential that they start the process immediately. Only if they remain uncommunicative after being told the urgency of the situation would I relist the property.

What you can’t do @Youmeanyouvelostyourkey is relist it but also keep these buyers on board. It’s one or the other so I would think hard before letting them go.