Buying a house: vendor contract delayed due to separation and ownership change

[HummingbirdSong]

I had an offer accepted on 4th March. I've had the memorandum of sale. I've got all my legal documents completed and submitted. Me and my little boy have been packing and I've been deciding about surveys. However, to my shock, I find out that my solicitor is still waiting for the vendor's contract before they can begin doing any work like searches. In a state of panic, I called the vendor's estate agent to get an update on what's going on. He said something like "They've separated... he's been bought out and has moved out. But they are trying to work out if it's just her name going on the sale documents, or both of them, that's why the contract hasn't been sent out yet". I don't know who exactly "they" means. After doing some research, this sounds like 'transfer of equity' - perhaps he is still on the deeds? Can anyone tell me if they have encountered this during a purchase and how long it takes to resolve? So worried :(

A bit premature to start packing if you haven't got to contracts yet. This is a process that takes montths even when there's no divorce proceedings going on. For typical timescales if a sale is agreed in March I wouldn't expect a moving date before June and it's more likely July.

If the couple are being amicable this would add no extra delay but if they were beimg amicable they would be mad to be transferring ownership formally immediately before a sale like this, which only results in extra legal costs - so they must be behaving non-amicably and one member of the couple is trying to sabotage delay or prevent the sale in order to attack their ex, thus requiring a court-ordered transfer of ownership between them to prevent such sabotage. Sorry I do not know how long the delay will be but don't count on this sale being something that is actually going to happen - especially not on any predictable timetable. Also keep an open mind that when the surveys snd searches happen they might reveal something that makes it wise for you to walk away anyhow.

Thank you for your response and sorry for not replying sooner. Honestly? When I read your response, I didn't want to accept it. But I've come to realise, you're right. This is the third house which has fallen through and I'm sick of this constant bad luck. I've had to pack because my house has been sold and my buyers are expecting to exchange soon... they've waited months on end for me to find something, and given that I can't seem to get anything sorted through no fault of my own, they will in all liklihood not want to wait much longer. Renting seems to be the only option for me now.
The owners of this house purchase should have got all of this legal stuff sorted out before putting the house for sale. I told the estate agent I'm starting to look at other options, and he said he will relay this back to both owners. This was five days ago. ... and yet they are STILL discussing who gets what share of the sale. It is now sounding more like a dispute to me. The f*ck!ng idiots aren't going to get anything at this rate as I'm now wanting to pull out of the sale to emotionally detatch myself and to salvage my mental health from all this stupidity. Mind you, there are no other houses coming on the market that fit my criteria, so they've kind of got me by the tits. I think you're right, I shouldn't count on the sale happening and this makes me feel so sad. Would you hold out and look for something else while renting, or would you pull out and release yourself from the emotional attachment? Thanks for reading.

Someone close to me had to recently buy their partner out of a property. The process was as if they were buying a new property with a new mortgage and all that that entails, apart from a survey as they were using the same bank for the mortgage as the original one. It took about 4 months.

It all sounds really messy and painstaking 😞.

Thanks, it was.

Is it feasible for you to go into rented? If so I would do that.

It will mean that you don't lose your buyer so it will take the time pressure off somewhat. It also means that if another property comes on the market which you like, you are in a good position to make an offer with nothing to sell.

Stay with the current house until an alternative comes along and if they are still no further forward you can withdraw your offer.

Our buyer told us that they had no chain, had been bought out by ex, and was proceedable. On that basis, we took an offer under our bottom line on the premise that they would exchange and complete by a certain day.

After weeks of delays and chasing, but never being told "no that date isn't doable" we find out the ex needs to remortgage without our buyer and needs checks etc. done, essentially adding an extra link to the chain, when we were proceeding for speed and lack of chain.

After more delays and being asked for a specific timeframe by end of day, buyer came back with something (via EA) that did not answer the question. We were already past our date/or a few days before, and with no attempt to pass on a completion date to our seller just "the remortgage is processing" basically, we pulled out there and then.

It worked out better for us due to our specific situation, however I could imagine having to then start again would be heartbreaking, so not sure what you can do.

I wish people would be more clear upfront so you can make an informed decision, as opposed to hoping you'll end up with sunken cost fallacy, effectively, and hold on just a little longer.