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!

Thank you everyone. This is all very reassuring.
Still keeping everything crossed! 🤞

sorry, quoted wrong post, will try again.

In many cases the estate agent should have sorted out their proof of funds before the offer was made.
My DD made an offer on a flat a couple of years ago and was genuinely a cash buyer as we were helping her cover the purchase until her own flat changed hands. I showed the agent proof that all the funds were waiting but they recommended another buyer whom they said were also cash buyers. Either they were blatantly lying or they hadn't checked his financial position out, because three months into the conveyancing the seller found that they were not cash buyers at all as they had not even had an offer on their own flat and the funds were reliant on that sale.

Many people represent themselves as cash buyers when what they mean is that they won't need a mortgage once their own flat is sold - their sale isn't even proceedable until their flat is under offer.
Fortunately we knew the seller a little as the flat was local and I had already approached them saying that if anything went wrong with their sale our offer was still on the table. They desperately needed to move before the cut off date for school applications and eventually approached us to accept our offer. The sale went through in double quick time.

If the buyer's solicitor is awaiting signed documents, that would indicate that the buyer hasn't returned the signed and witnessed Transfer document (I'll assume the signed Contract was returned ages ago, but Transfers are not always available until close to the end of the transaction). A correctly signed and witnessed Transfer document needs to be with the solicitor before exchange can happen.

A related transaction would indicate that the buyer is not just buying your property, but selling one too. Perhaps they said they were cash buyers because they don't need a mortgage, but omitted to say that they needed the cash from the sale to purchase yours (as opposed to money sitting in the bank).

To be honest, three months for your transaction is quite reasonable. I sold my late mum's property (completely no chain, with the buyer actually in rented with cash in bank). It still took 5 months.

On a positive note, it doesn't sound like you need to co-ordinate removals etc in order to move into your onward property. You are merely seeking closure on your late parents house, so the only thing to do is wait for the completion monies to be paid out to the executor account, so the estate can be finalised. So, while I'm sure you and your brother want it all to be sorted out asap, the fact is another week or so doesn't make much difference in the real world.

Completion date now next Wednesday 😩
My brother thinks we’ve been ‘lied to’
it turns out they always had a place to sell and that they would fund the house purchase with mortgage/proceeds.
They were very keen to exchange on Tuesday this week oddly.

It is stressful , OP, but it looks as if everyone is gearing up, so what difference does it make to you as long as it exchanges?

Yes, they seem not to have been honest, but again, if they are still intending to be completed by Wednesday it's academic at this stage.

Delays can happen for a myriad of reasons whether or not buyers are cash, FTB or there is a chain. Waiting for an indemnity policy, waiting for insurance (the buyers need insurance on place from exchange) waiting for some arcane bit of paper, solicitor suddenly absent, bank mess up the transfer of deposit funds, power cut and no internet and electricity in solicitors office, leaves on the line etc etc.

What are you going to do? Hardly pull out!

I hear what you’re saying, my mind is going to it’s about to go ‘tits up’
I suppose though, that as they’d booked a removal firm (which was supposed to Monday) - the firm would charge them a cancellation fee if they pulled out altogether?

So from that point of view, they’re committed!

It's stressful but you just need to sit it out. The details of their finance / chain situation may not have been fairly represented to you but that's on your agent and right now you are still getting your sale so stick with it

And all those saying your solicitor should have checked funds etc are entirely wrong (assuming in England), a solicitor only checks their own clients funds and that's for compliance with money laundering, they don't check funds of the other party, that's not their job - on a house sale it's the agents job and the buyers own solicitor

thank you x
I guess the best case scenario is (and I’m not sure…it’s not terribly clear)
that YES they did sell their house ages ago, they HAVE been in rented, so they do have the proceeds from that - and the hold up is relating to documents relating to the mortgage they’ve also taken out.

OMG! It literally exchanged at the very end of the working day!!!
Completion day is still Wednesday 17th next week - I guess they changed their removal people, but that’s fine.
THANK YOU everyone!
now for an extremely large G&T 🙌🏻

Great news! You can now relax!

I was described as a cash buyer recently. It just meant I wouldn't require a mortgage to buy new place as I was using the proceeds of previous home (mortgage free) to buy new house.

Watch the Panorama documentary about how dodgy estate agents can be, it's enlightening!

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fygs

OP, I had to double check, your first paragraph I could have written myself, I was in exactly the same position last December.
Our buyer was also supposed to be 'cash' but they ended up needing a mortgage. I suspect they did all along. I think Estate Agents will say anything to get you to accept an offer.
We exchanged on a Wednesday and completed on Friday! OMG, it was touch and go and my nerves were shred to pieces. Couldn't book removals. Everyone involved had to DIY. Was mental. BUT, it was worth it in the end and looking forward to spending a lot better Xmas than last year.
Have faith OP.

Yes, that's the exact meaning - no one is expected to turn up with thousands of pounds in bank notes.

Congratulations, you must be shattered. I remember that feeling welll...

Hope everything goes well, you have a lot to do before Wednesday! I’m

Hope it all went well?

This thread is absolutely wild because it's like you were talking about me & my recent purchase. We were told that the sellers already owned their new property, no mortgage/purchase required for their new place and therefore no chain. They kept pushing for an early completion date as they wanted to be out before Christmas. Then the exchange got delayed 5 times because they in fact didn't own where they were moving to, and needed the money from this sale to buy the next one and some documents weren't ready

The estate agents had lied to us the whole time and then pretended that they'd never said it, even when I pointed out to them that they'd advertised the property as having no chain