Buyer wants end-of-month completion and may pull out of chain if it’s not met

[Housemover26]

We Accepted an offer early Nov, told EA at the time we haven’t found anywhere and wouldn’t break the chain (two young children) so need somebody to be patience whilst we wait and Confirmed all ok as the buyer was breaking chain themselves and living with family.
Mid / Late Jan - our offer was accepted - Found out our buyer not a cash buyer but small mortgage and runs out end of May
Feb - Lots of chasing our solicitor
Mid March - Our buyer had survey done
Late March - finally received preliminary report and initiate local searches (mortgage already approved) delay due to solicitors and some historic title issues to resolve / understand
NOW - our buyer wants to complete by the end of the month and if we can’t agree then will pull out though still receiving enquiries. The rationale is they’ve booked to be out of country which is news to us.

Totally shocked and surprised and quite frankly annoyed. Yes we didn’t find anywhere for 10 weeks but had offered on 3 properties and lost in bidding war on 2, 1 we had to reconsider due to commute time and we were over a quiet period with little properties hitting the market. Only reason why we’ve had an offer accepted now is a promotion and significant pay rise allowing us to increase budget. I get it’s frustrating but we’ll complete by end of May all being well.

Theres nothing I can do, our solicitor has confirmed unlikely to get searches back and won’t allow time for enquiries so breaking the chain isn’t actually an option as we risk having no house at all should the searches find anything significant.

Buyer took two months from seller having offer accepted to arranging a survey @Catza . They were not in a hurry. Sounds like they are panicking either because they've realised they now won't get the same mortgage offer if time does run out or the threats are coming from EA.

The buyer waited for 4 months after their offer was accepted before they arranged a survey in "mid March". They are now, a mere fortnight after paying out hundreds of pounds for the survey, threatening to pull out.
It doesn't make sense.

Weigh up the risks versus rewards?

Iirc March to May are when the vast majority of properties go on the market. So, if you don't get your arse in gear and make alternative arrangements, there will soon be a lot of competition on the market.

It would only take maybe a slightly better kitchen or garden to break the deal.

Mortgage rates have gone up significantly since last year. They're probably pissed off that there is no end in sight AND they're going to have to pay more if the sale doesn't complete. I know I would.

From 1st May, fyi, there will be no such thing as a fixed tenancy. So, you could move on 30th April and on 1st May give 2 months notice to quit on 1st July.

I think this summer is going to be a bloodbath with lots coming to the market and not a lot selling, personally.

It's not just mortgage rates. It's in the news today that food inflation is predicted to increase from 3.5% to 9% later this year. The BoE were allegedly factoring in two cuts, but now the markets think there will be FOUR interest rate rises, which means they think inflation is going to go through the roof. Ofc we already know that energy is going to go UP in summer instead of down, and petrol is £1.50 a litre.

It makes for very uncertain times, which makes for nervous buyers.

If it were me, if I had a buyer who had waited all that time, I'd bend over backwards to accommodate them and keep the sale alive.

OP was not in a position to move for 10 weeks. I wouldn't be quick to arrange a survey without her securing accepted offer on a property either.

Its probably not the right phrase to say 'call their bluff' but have they seriously thought that they could pull out today and complete on another property by the end of this month or even by the end of May?

Thats not realistic is it, given the time its already taken for them to get surveys done, have their offer accepted etc.

So unless they mean they dont want to buy anything and rethink their purchase plans, its a bluff (so called)

"Its probably not the right phrase to say 'call their bluff' but have they seriously thought that they could pull out today and complete on another property by the end of this month or even by the end of May?"

I read this as: your property is not worth waiting on for longer than that, better things are coming to the market, and as we have a very small mortgage, we can easily afford to buy many of those other properties.

Ergo, 'we're shit out of patience and there are better options now out there.'

Around here buyers only arrange surveys once the chain is complete. Not wise to spend money before that.

Not finding a place for 10 weeks is a bit ridiculous, I’d be really cross if I was your buyer. Actually there’s no reason why your solicitor can’t get their fingers out and push it through, most searches are very simple now, ours took 48 hours to come back.

Chain complete means nothing really. Anyone can pull out at any time. People frequently spend and lose money on property sales that never complete.
And in any case, the chain is not complete. Sellers are not ready to proceed as the searches are not yet back.
Paying for a survey is a risk at any point in the transaction.

Yes if I was in this situation I’d call their bluff.

They have got a lot of time and money invested in this purchase, and aren’t too far off completion.Do they really want to pull out and start all over again?

Do what’s best for you OP if you don’t want to go into rented.

Well possibly yes, the longer you wait for something sometimes, you sort of go off it, I know I do.

To clarify, haven’t been dragging our feet per se. The solicitors between us and our purchase have had a lot of back and forth over some historic title deed complications. These needed to be ironed out. We went on solicitors advise not to start the local searches until that clarity happened. We’ve have maybe a 2 week delay admittedly though. Our buyer is living with family.

at the time of accepting the offer we made it clear via the EA, we hadn’t found a place but actively looking and needed time to find the property. We were assured the buyer was happy with that and kept checking in via EA.

Bad advise from our solicitor but it’s where we are, I’ve already said nothing we can do. I’m not prepared to break the chain at that was at the outset. I’m more shocked it’s come out of the blue and not been openly discussed until now

I see a lot of this on these threads of accusations of 'dragging your feet', but utlimately a lot of the speed of these things are out of peoples hands.

I'm on the side of your buyer. You need to get a move on, I doubt they are bluffing and with the way sales are you may struggle to get another offer at the same price. Look how much borrowing rates are increasing - and that's likley to continue

Are you sure they are not trying it ? Presumably they will lose money if they pull out now and they will have to start all over again.
If you can't compete by then you can't and they knew when you accepted your offer that it would take a while for you to find something.

They can't get a move on though! It's not in her gift to do so.

If there is nothing suitable to buy there was nothing suitable. The buyers knew it would take them time to find somewhere.
It seems odd that they want to pull out now they have found somewhere.

I don’t really get why you are annoyed with them, when your side has been incredibly slow. There might be reasons behind it but I think you need a rethink over who is being unreasonable in this situation.

The nonsense people put up with to sell or buy a house in the uk never ceases to amaze me. Offer to exchange of keys shouldn’t be more than 30-60
days. If that means you have two homes or go into rented, that is the risk you take. Keeping the other party in limbo is ridiculous.

Absolutely, keeping the other party in limbo for so long is indeed ridiculous. They have clearly reached their limit of tolerance and I dont blame them.
OP - if you really won't be able to get it done by their deadline (and I still cant see why not) I would suggest offering an apology and a little compensation to be given to the buyer at completion. That might keep your move intact.

Mortgage rates have increased drastically so I’m not surprised they want to complete asap before they expire. We are in a chain and many buyers feel the same. Can you complete and rent, pushing for your purchase to be sorted asap. Our searches and queries were sorted quickly, really push your solicitor and be flexible. No guarantee of a new buyer.

Yes, probably. I've pulled out of purchases before, well invested financially, but the sellers were prevaricating and so on. If it's not happening offer solutions and ultimatums and mean them, if no change of behaviour or intent then move on.

Gosh mixed feedback. We’ve been pushing solicitors as much as we can. I’d be happy to pay extra to get searches fast tracked if that was an option - solicitor says it not though. What isn’t an option, is rented or air b&b or moving in with family. The area isn’t known for air b&b, rented are generally 12 months and family don’t have space plus two young children that need stair gates / cots add to what’s feasible.

I get where the buyer is coming from, I really do but we were told by EA it was end of mortgage offer they had until and that’s the timescale we’re working with towards that’s what I’m fustrated about and poor advice from solicitor not to start the searches sooner. The can’t complete if they’re not in the country and again that wasn’t communicated to us until now and that’s the problem on a lack of visibility of where the chain is.

Not at all, they gave time to find somewhere, the issue is the lack of intent since then.

But the rental bill is changing in May. What is 12 months now is going to be just two months after May the 1st.