Would you ask them to rent?

[Ontheflipside]

TLDR: should we ask the vendors to move into rented accommodation so we can move in.

Went under offer on our house in May with a FTB. Found another house and loved it, had an offer accepted, 2 months later the vendors pulled out.

Recently found another house, had our offer accepted one week ago. The vendors need to find a property. We offered asking price (which is our maximum budget) and allegedly the minimum they can move for. The EA who we are selling through is the same as them and they told us the vendors put in an offer on a house which would have been the upward chain complete, but were rejected because they "low balled". Estate agents words.

My worry is if we lose our buyer and get less for our house (we ended up getting £30k over the asking price) we can't afford this house. Would it be unreasonable to ask the EA if the vendors would consider renting? We need to be in by January for school applications as we are moving areas so won't get into the school from where we are.

I don't want to put this idea out there if it's unreasonable.

Worth noting that their house never went on the market as it's through the same EA so we were the only ones who viewed and the only offer. Other houses in the village are generally on for 3-6 months as it's a much quieter village outside a commuter town

Can't you let your sale go through and move into rented yourselves in your new area while you wait for your vendors to find somewhere?

You can ask. They can say no, which they will if it isn't in their best interests.

It sounds like it would be in your best interests to move into rented in the interim - keeps your buyer and also gives your vendors time they need to find a property and get an offer accepted while you are then in the right area at the time you need to be too.

If someone asked me to rent so they didn’t lose their buyer, I’d be wondering why they weren’t renting.

Obviously you can ask, and you can always say you’ll pull out if they don’t (although if they call your bluff you’re screwed because you’ll need to go back to the start with a new house, and probably end up renting yourself anyway to keep your buyers). But is there a reason you can’t just rent now?

Thanks everyone, fair point. Purely because we have 2 very young children and a cat and a dog.

Probably best not to ask and hope it all keeps moving along

Do your vendors have children and pets? Renting is inconvenient, of course, but if you were to do that, you’d be in a good position to buy.

I'd consider offering to pay their rent for 3 months as a sweetener. It's small money in the context of things (obviously you set the limit)

If you sell and put the money into a high interest account while you rent then you should make quite a decent yield. I have just opened an account with Chase bank which gives 4.75% interest and instant access to put our house funds in between selling and buying.

It is a conversation I would approach with caution. You could piss the vendor off - and could loose the house - I know I would find it cheeky if someone asked me this- but if I was desperate to sell and couldn’t find somewhere I liked and had a sale lined up, I would already be looking at a short term rental.

Sound out the estate agent first, see what they say - rentals are expensive also - this could eat significantly into their finances. Are you in a position to rent short term to combat the issue? This is what I would be doing…. But each to their own. I suppose you could be firm and say that if the vendor has not found an onward property to purchase by the middle of September then you will have to pull out - that will put the wheels into motion!!

Thanks for your input everyone. Decided not to ask, and had a look for us, but the only thing available is a 2 bed apartment. Which definitely wouldn't work. It's a very small village

not to ask is a sensible decision
why should your vendor incur financial loss from "unwanted" renting just because you are unwilling to take a hit from your buyer.

It sounds to me that you are getting into a tricky situation where you might be highly motivated to move quickly, but your vendors aren't, especially if they are low balling on other places.

It's also worth noting from your info that your vendors have not been through the process of testing the market, and as such might not have a good idea of what value to place on a committed buyer. The fact that they got a buyer really easily may imply to them that buyers are 10 a penny and they could easily find another.

Agree. Sadly it’s you that should be looking at a rental as you got 30k over asking price.

I would make it clear to the EA and to them that you need to keep looking for a house until they are under offer and the chain can proceed.

It makes no difference that they have accepted your offer, they're under no obligation to honour that or to not come back to you and ask more.

If you are dependent on having moved by January and it's almost September you should be working towards finding a rental if schooling is your priority. Even if the chain was complete it would be super tight now.

Thanks everyone. Agree with all points, why should they rent and also that they make think buyers are easily available because of how quickly they got the offer from us. When I say £30k over asking it was actually only £5k over the top end of guide price if that makes any difference.

Question: how complicated is it to do in-year transfers say we moved in Feb/March for the following school year. I know it's dependent on if places are available but curious if anyone has done this? Or if you've applied put of your catchment area on the provision you're moving before September?

We rented so we didn’t lose our buyer. Found a tiny house for us four and the pet went to kennels for 6 weeks (which we hated, but it was 10 years ago now and he has definitely forgiven us). We also paid for storage for everything else. Bonus was that we were attractive to vendors as we were cash buyers and we could get basic work done quickly before moving in with two tiny kids.

I didn’t get my first choice of school place because of catchment (for September entry into reception class) but we did get a place before term started as we were in catchment by that point.

good luck

In an interesting turn of events the vendors have decided to move into rented and want everything completed by November!! We never even mentioned it to the EA!! Full steam ahead now

Brilliant news. Thanks for updating us.