So frustrating! Angry and anxious - exchange

[RosaMoline]

Timeline of events;
We (my brother and I) accepted an offer on my late parents property on 15 September.
Told our buyers were cash, ready to move asap and that they’re in rented (chain free)
everything is done. They want a completion day of Monday 15 December. Only a few days away.
I asked my brother yesterday (he’s the executor) if there was an update about exchanging as it’s so close.
He replied to me that the buyers were wanting to exchange Tuesday this week - but ‘something is behind them their end’ he said a chain but I thought he must be mistaken or misunderstood.
This is the wording he got from the solicitor yesterday in the email;
It says
‘Unfortunately exchange of contracts never happened today. The buyers sale was not ready to exchange today.
Hopefully this will happen tomorrow’
(It didn’t. That was today)
BUT confusingly the buyers were wanting to exchange on Tuesday this week (2 days ago) how can they want to when they’re not in a position to?
I feel really angry that we’re only hearing about this chain now (if that’s what it is)
My brother says that everyone is still committed to moving on Monday though.
That only leaves tomorrow and Friday to exchange.
Arghhhh!

You can do both on the same day.

Even if there’s a ‘chain’ ?

Chat gpt says:

• Most often, “buyer’s sale not ready” does indicate a chain, but it could also be funding or solicitor paperwork issues.

Which surely must be the case? How can we have been told they’ve sold and moved out all this time? Surely if there was a ‘chain’ it should’ve been disclosed? You wouldn’t expect to find out about this so last minute?

It is odd.
Don't you have to declare your source of funds right at the start of the process in the memorandum of sale?
That would say mortgage/proceeds of sale /savings I think.

I definitely remember seeing who our buyers mortgage was with.

We’ve been told all along that they’re cash buyers and living in rented (already sold and moved out of their property…ready to move asap)
I guess my question is, could the wording in the solicitors email mean anything other than a chain?

Yes. possibly just a lazy solicitor using most frequently used words and phrases without thinking.

yes

Have you contacted your estate agent? They are probably much keener to get their commission from this sale then the solicitor is about getting their fees so they should be chasing to find out what the actual position is.

Thank you to everyone who’s replied so far.
Frustratingly, as my brother is the executor, I’m reliant on updates from him as solicitor won’t disclose to me.
I’m trying to visualise that no news is good news - even for a next Monday completion.
My anxiety is off the charts right now. I can’t bear the thought of having to start the process all over again…

It sounds normal but annoying. We exchanged on a friday and completed on the following tueaday.

Except our buyers want to complete on Monday. They’ve stated that weeks ago 😬

There is a really strong chance it is just delayed, it's extremely common, unlikely you will have to start again.

I hope you are right. Thank you x

Your solicitor should have asked for proof of funds when sale was agreed.

We ended up doing this is October. We were supposed to exchange on the Monday, so a week before completion, but it kept being put off, until we eventually exchanged on the Friday. Nail biting stuff 🙄

What caused the delay, may I ask? X

We had problems when we sold in 2020. Our arrogant buyer, who didn't need a mortgage and had sold subject to contract, was very demanding about what we left as F and F, the date we had to exchange and complete by etc. etc. In the end he was the one who held everything up whilst they quarrelled with their buyers and we completed two weeks late.
On completion day he turned up at 9am with his removal vans and was irate that we wouldn't let them in until we had confirmation of funds received from our solicitor.

We had first time buyers at the beginning of the chain and they had useless online conveyancers. All we were told was that their mortgage provider was waiting for something to be emailed to them that should have already been sent. I have no idea what it was though.

The latest email update from our solicitor received yesterday was that their related sale (our buyers) are awaiting ‘signed documents’ (no idea what these are)
Today is the last day for exchange (unless it has to exchange and complete same day)
Hoping that this is a minor admin thing…
Thanks everyone x

The ‘signed documents’ are for their related sale which as I said, has confused us as they were presented as chain free/cash buyers.
Could it be a missing document from the house we thought they’d sold ages ago, hence currently in rented?

If so, they should have disclosed this to their solicitor (and yours I think) when they were disclosing their proof of funds. So either they lied (illegal) or the solicitors have made a pretty huge oversight.

I’m hoping this document relates to funds, rather than a chain!

The word ‘chain’ has not been mentioned. Just ‘related sale’

@RosaMoline I hope the exchange happens today and you can relax over the weekend. It is such a stressful process!💐

I used to work in this industry. You'd be amazed how often people don't tell the full story when they put in an offer, claiming to be cash or chain free - I actually heard a conversation once where a buyer was arguing with a cross Estate Agent who was being hounded by a seller that they were a cash buyer, it's just that their cash was coming from a mortgage 🙄

Also, sometimes circumstances change. They may have had a property to sell that they weren't planning to tie in with this transaction but have now decided they will.

It's annoying and frustrating but it can honestly can switch up so fast, simultaneous exchange & completions happen less often but I wouldn't write it off happening on Monday until after lunchtime that day.