Vendors of house I'm buying have still not found anywhere

[ScoobyDoesnt]

I'm not sure at what point I should start to worry....

I've sold STC, and we are nearly 6 weeks into legals on that sale.

I found my onwards purchase reasonably quickly and had an offer accepted almost a month ago, on the 25th March. Mortgage all approved.

The vendors of the property I'm buying still have not found anywhere. They are staying local, and according to the agent they have sold through / I've bought through, they are actively looking. I do appreciate you can't make a snap decision on such a big purchase, but I'm wondering at what point I start to get more anxious than I already am?! My buyers ideally want to be in by end of July, as do their buyers.

I really don't want to risk breaking the chain and moving out - whilst it's only me and DD, plus 2 DDogs, we are moving around an hour away, and I don't want to risk losing my current cheap fixed rate I'm porting (I can still keep it up to 3 months post sale), having to store belongings, find a rental or move in with family - or not sure what other options!

My agent says usually 4-5 weeks is ok, so they've said to give it another week - but didn't offer any guidance to the solution after that!

Also of course, I don't currently know what the position will be if my vendors find somewhere, if then their vendors then need to find somewhere.

I'm probably just suffering from moving stress (I am not doing this again!) - but any thoughts?!

Absolutely. Deadlines like this rarely work. I sold my house last year and it took me a while to find an onward purchase. If my buyers had set me deadlines, i would have quite happily pulled out of selling to them. I wouldnt be rushed into giving up my family home until I’d found exactly the house I wanted. I knew I could have quite easily found new buyers quite necessary.

The other issue they may have if it goes back on the market is mortgage valuation. It’s been undervalued by £50k (vs what I’m paying) by my building society. Doesn’t affect me as my LTV is low, and the price I’m paying is reasonable based on other house sale prices in the area.

Anyone with a higher LTV may well struggle to get the mortgage they need.

I’m going to mull over the weekend and see what happens with this other property.

Well done. You've done all you can now and hopefully the EA will be worried about losing you as a buyer and put some pressure on.

Be aware that "just going into rented" is very difficult too as more and more landlords sell up due to tax changes.

Our purchase has fallen through due to a bad survey and difficult sellers and we seem to spend every waking moment scouring Rightmove, booking viewings elsewhere, compromising on a lot just so we don't lose our buyer! But you have to look out for yourself, so keep your eye on what else is coming onto the market.

I would start looking elsewhere. I don't think issuing ultimatums about going into a rental are particularly likely to work unless they are in the fortunate position of having adult children who live nearby and can accommodate them.
As an aside, are you sure that you want to pay 50k over the valuation price? That doesn't seem very wise but your choice, of course.

I waited four months for my seller to find somewhere, by the time they did, my buyer pulled out and we’ve been back on the market ever since with no other offers!

The whole process is crap.

We had this we sold in the first week and just couldn't find anywhere, . Our buyers got understandably shirty and said we had to move into rented or reduce the price to cover their rent. Not a chance! we withdrew took a month out found somewhere quickly and resold in days for 20k more, we gave them first refusal but they insisted on a price drop. It's important not to overestimate how much power you have.

Yes - going into rented in effect means moving twice. It's also a risk if house prices zoom up but interest rates on the proceeds of your sale are low. And you'll probably be tied into the rental for at least 6 months. On the other hand, it does ease the pressure of trying to find somewhere to buy and makes you a good prospect for people to sell to as you're chain free. (I moved into rented after selling. It took me two years to find a house I wanted to buy.)

Round here, it’s normal to take months for a chain to be completed and up to a year to move so I’m surprised by everyone’s rush. The house two down from me was sold over a year ago but is still waiting for probate to be sorted for their purchase and their buyers are waiting. There is so little on the market, and you can’t start looking until you have an offer, so it’s bound to take a while.

We had this - we had an offer accepted but made it clear that we had a non-negotiable deadline as we were moving from abroad.

When they eventually found somewhere it was clear that the deadline was not going to be met so we asked them to consider going into rented/asking their vendors to do this or we would pull out. They came back with a no to this and we pulled out as we had been clear from the start. 20 mins later they came back to say OK, but we stood firm. Best thing we ever did - the house would have been a terrible mistake and we now have the house of our dreams.

@rainingsnoring

It’s definitely been undervalued - they paid pretty much the same for it 5 years ago and have maintained it well! Plus it has a home office in the garden now.

Similar house on not such a good plot sold for the same price 5 months ago.

I’m honestly not worried about what the building society valued it at.

@angelcake20 it’s fast moving around here - I sold initially within 3 weeks before they bailed, then again 4 weeks later. Same where I’m moving to, things don’t stay around long if properly priced. I just don’t want to risk going back to the market, it’s too much stress!

No update and another week has passed.

They’re still waiting on this damp report apparently, which the vendor of the other house chased again yesterday. Of course whatever the contents of this report, doesn’t guarantee the vendors of the house I want to buy will buy it.

I’m going to start quietly house hunting again, and only look at chain free or where the vendors have found somewhere. There’s 3 good options I can see online, so all is not lost yet.

Ultimately I really want this house, but if it’s not meant to be, then so be it.

It’s doesn’t sound like you are buyer at entry level housing therefore majority of buyers for the house you want to purchase will have a low loan to value mortgage or could even be cash buyers.

It's not been that long tbh. The house we were looking to buy the vendor has been looking since last March and still not found! They are now onto their 4th buyer. Meanwhile we found a much lovelier house and are in!

If I were the vendor I would not move into rented, just like you the may be looking to port their mortgage. Unfortunately this is the issue with the property market in this country. If they SSTC in 2 weeks I doubt the will be worried about finding a new buyer and bullied into moving into rented. Ultimately you may put an offer on another house and have the same problem, or chains breaking down.

@Seeyousoonboo I promise I am not bullying them! I have merely asked the agent if there was an option that they would consider moving out - I have no idea of their circumstances; I think they’re probably 50-60’s as they have an adult son who is a solicitor and will do their conveyancing.

I’ll see what happens this week. I think because I’m doing this on my own it just feels more stressful not having someone to bounce it all off. Which is why I’m here!