what should we do about this low offer with a tight deadline?

[MamaChris]

We've had an offer on our flat that is at the bottom limit of what we can afford to accept. But it comes with a request that we put a clause in the contracts that we move in 3 months. We haven't yet found a place to buy, and 3 months seems tight in this market when chains may be delayed by mortgage offers etc. What can we do? We can accept the money, but how do we say we would love to move in 3 months (which is true) but don't want to tie ourselves to it in case something goes wrong and we end up homeless with a baby!

Is such a clause enforceable?

The guy is a cash buyer, but was so totally rude about the flat when here that I thought he'd either not offer or offer something like 50% off. Also said he couldn't accept a 105 year lease (wants 999 years) and I'm worried he's going to renegotiate the price down late in the day. I suppose there's nothing we can do to prevent that, but any advice?

Thanks and sorry for the long message Have posted in chat too because I need replies quick as we need to get back to him this afternoon.

If there are no chance of other offers then I might be inclined to accept and just move into rented until you find the house of your dreams.

Also I would make it a condition of sale that completion has to take place by x y or z date.

If you have a date like that inserted into the contract then you will have to move by that date.

Do you even have control over the length of the lease? Are you the freeholder?

Rent

Take offer and rent if you don't find something to buy (make a cheeky offer yourself).
Have no idea what you can do about the rent btw

lease not rent, obv

WEll, take it but be aware he might gazunder and offer a lower price later in the day. If he's a cash buyer and the offer is ok grab him and take it asap would be my advice. Then DON'T BUY, rent. I reckon market will fall another 30%

If you have a solid offer on the table and the buyers are pushing to move in then I would take it.

However, if he's wants some clauses in a contract could you try to put your own in, like no renegotiation of price for example.

Worst case you go into rented for a few months whilst you look, bank your cash. If you are a buyer with no chain you could be in a good position for a silly offer on a property you really like.

You'd generally have to pay to extend the lease.

I owned a flat a couple of years ago and wanted to extend the lease to sell it more easily. The freeholder wanted £9k.

am reluctant to rent, but I suppose it is a last resort.

would a no renegotiation of price clause work?

and is a 100+ year lease really not a good one? has anyone ever heard of a 999 year lease?

Mortgage companies can be difficult wiht a short lease since at the end of the lease the property reverts to the freeholder. So the shorter your lease the less valuable your property. Generally though its below 60 years remaining where they won't lend on the property (althoghh it will vary from lender to lender). How many years has yours got to run? The initial length of the lease is irrelevant really.

999 is desirable.

On balance I'd want to nab him & rent, but be clear with him that you are taking a reduced price and will NOT be open to negotiation further down the line. And remember that in 2 months if he suddenly tries to open bidding again.

I would deffo not accept the offer without checking how much the leaseholder will charge to increase the lease, if that's one of his conditions. The leaseholder can set their own price -varies HUGELY.

Iirc, anything under about 100 years is felt to be on the low side, but that's vague recollection from 5 years ago...

pets! we hadn't thought about pets! we have a dog. can you not rent with a dog?!?

I would definitely rent and make it clear the lease is as the lease is. 105 years remaining is perfectly adequate (and it is unlikely you would be able to negotiate an extension in 3 months anyway, it is a tortuous business).

Start looking for a rental now if you have a dog.

thanks for all the advice. we accepted the offer, but said we'll do our very best to move within 3 months, although we don't want to guarantee that because of problems that may arise further down any chain. they've accepted that for now. so time to find somewhere to move to! how exciting now we just gotta hope things go ok...

We finally exchanged yesterday because we agreed to move out in two weeks if the sale went ahead. Our buyer's house is being bought by first time buyers so we decided to break the chain at our end and going into rental.
I'm not happy about renting but we realised we needed time to find a dream house and as the house prices are falling here in London, if our sale went wrong while we chased the dream we would be stuck.
I know people who cannot afford to sell and have to rent their house and move into rental elsewhere while waiting for the market to recover.
Only move if you have to and if you have to, grab the buyer.