Buying a house – How long can you mess about?

We’re buying a house.

Everyone said it would take ages to get all the paper work sorted which suits us because for various reasons we don’t want to complete until end of June.

Typically though, it’s been the fastest house purchase ever. Everything has sailed through wonderfully and I’ve just been told everyone will be ready to sign next week. Our finance guy assures us we can take our time but the vendors are clearly extremely keen to get it on. They have made a concerted effort to make sure we are happy including getting really small things sorted immediately like replacing a slightly rotten wooden slat on one of the many sheds and getting a garden wall (that I’d barely noticed) re-cemented. They’ve already moved out.

So, how long can I keep them hanging on for? Legally and I guess, morally. Can they pull out at some point? Do they have to warn us before they do this? I’m wondering whether I should just own up and tell them we’re not going to sign until June…

cant you be open with them? I’d prefer that myself so at least you know whats going on

be sound with them and tell them. Ultimately its someone else’s life that is being as disrupted as yours so I’m sure they’ll be pleased to know exactly where they stand and are then able to plan accordingly.

How long have you been negotiating? If it’s been more than a couple of weeks already, I’d have been considering putting it back on the market by now and would do so within a week or two anyway

If you told me now that you weren’t signing till June, I’d have the house back on the market within minutes unless you had a bloody good reason for it.

the vendors are clearly extremely keen to get it on. They have made a concerted effort to make sure we are happy

Is this because it’s taken a while to sell or because they’re in a rush to get out.

If the former they’re probably just happy it’s sold so be upfront.

The later, end of May is not unrealistic (removals can take a while to arrange) end of June is pushing it a bit.

How long have you been negotiating? If it’s been more than a couple of weeks already, I’d have been considering putting it back on the market by now

It’s not in negotiation, the offer’s been accepted (and moved on considerably).

When you say sign do you mean exchange contracts or complete? It’s fairly common I think to have a month between exchange and completion – you can’t book removals (realistically) until you’ve exchanged for example.

If that’s the case then ‘signing’ in a couple of weeks and then setting a completion date of end of May/early June is fine IMO.

Either way, just talk to them.

Yeah, we’ve not exchanged yet.
Negotiation took about twenty minutes. And most of that was me phoning my wife back to confirm she was ok with me upping our offer by £2k

The house was on the market in January, they reduced the price at the start of March which is when we went to look at it. Offer made the following day, final offer accepted a short while afterwards.

There’s been one small hitch in that the home buyers report highlighted some unsupported brickwork in the attic but they sorted that before we even saw the report (we’re still getting our own guys in to check everything). Their reason for completing quickly was that they’re now paying council tax on two houses but if that’s the only thing they’re worried about I’ll drop ’em a couple of hundred quid.

I want to be open and honest with them which is why I’m asking advice here. Our finance guys seems to be implying we shouldn’t do this.

Be honest with them. I’d be livid if everything was ready to go through, contracts ready for exchange and the other party just sat on them without giving a reason.

If you explain and they agree then no problem, if you explain and they disagree then at least they have the option of putitng it back on the market and you’ve done the right thing, if you don’t explain, and just mess them about for over 2 months, you’re scum.

So, how long can I keep them hanging on for? Legally and I guess, morally.

you can keep them hanging on as long as they’re prepared to be left waiting. You’re offer might expire in which case you could get a fresh one from your lender and you might have to take a different product.

Can they pull out at some point?

yes at any time before exhange of contracts.

Do they have to warn us before they do this?

No not legally, but you would get to know of course.

I’d say don’t be a ****, let them know your plans. You should have been upfront from the start and the fact that you haven’t might mean they might wave 2 fingers to you and put the house back on the market.

Best bet is to speak to them directly and as you say if the matter is just the council tax then offer to sort that out for them, it’s not worth losing a house you like over a couple of hundred quid.

We had all sort of hassle when we bought our current house 90% of which was entirely made up by the estate agent. When I eventually got fed up talking to him and went round to talk to the previous owner directly I found out that everything was fine and she didn’t have a care in the world. We stopped talking via the estate agent from that point onwards.

Offering at the start of March when you didn’t want to move in till the end of June was too early in my eyes.

That’s 4mths nearly, 16 or 17 weeks. A house purchase is normally done in half that time.

Exchange now and complete end of May would be ok. To make them wait until end of June is out of order as far as I’m concerned.

Agree to sign the contract but with an extended period before completion. Nothing worse than someone in the chain dragging their feet as it leaves everyone on tenterhooks and things get tetchy (or shouty as it turned out with my buyer and my seller, leaving me and the estate agent stuck in the middle walking on eggshells!)

If you don’t want an early completion due to rental notice period or other finance issue, you may find people in the chain will offer up some cash towards your losses. Worked for my cousin, he had two months to go on his rental and he tried his luck, the rest of the chain reimbursed him for the lost rent 🙂 You’re not holding them to ransom,just giving them the choice. Also, others in the chain may find their mortgage offers will expire if it takes too long.

You should have been upfront from the start and the fact that you haven’t might mean they might wave 2 fingers to you and put the house back on the market.

I’ve never not been up front with them. As I said in my original post, our anticipation was that the process would take a long time and there would be no artificial delays. This query has come about because the process has moved way quicker than anyone expected.

You should have been upfront from the start and the fact that you haven’t might mean they might wave 2 fingers to you and put the house back on the market.

I think this is unlikely. They’ll have solicitors costs to cover. Plus by the sounds of it already a new house. It’ll easily take them past the end of June to find and exchange with a new buyer.

To make them wait until end of June is out of order as far as I’m concerned.

Yep. Certainly if they are not made aware of it as early as possible. Has the house been on the market long?

Offering at the start of March when you didn’t want to move in till the end of June was too early in my eyes.

I guess we had a choice there, don’t offer and risk losing the house, or offer and then hope the process was slow. We’ve been house hunting for almost a year and already missed two houses because we weren’t quick enough with our offers.

That’s 4mths nearly, 16 or 17 weeks. A house purchase is normally done in half that time.

I haven’t bought a house for 19 years so I took advice from our finance people, the estate agents and some online forums. Everyone was whole heartedly in agreement that 4 months was about right.

This query has come about because the process has moved way quicker than anyone expected.

How so? You’ve already been going nearly 7 weeks from what I can work out. If you really want and are not in a chain you can buy a house in less than 6.

Edit – seen your post above. I’ve never bought a house before the one I bought Q1 this year….but I knew it wouldn’t take 4mths with no chain. Sounds like you’ve had some bad advice if you already had your mortgage offer in March.

This is the best solution – you know they won’t put the house on the market, they know you won’t decide to go elsewhere. You can specify completion in July next year if you want, but the exchange of contracts makes it binding

If you really want and are not in a chain you can buy a house in less than 6.

5 weeks is only going to happen if the buyer and vendor’s solicitors are at the same firm and there’s absolutely no delays or issues.

6 weeks is possible but in most cases highly unlikely. 8 weeks is the normal. And really it’s not till over 10-12 that things are starting to take a long time.

but I knew it wouldn’t take 4mths with no chain

I’ve bought two houses in the last few years both with no chain. One took 6 weeks the other 5 months. There really is no way of telling before hand.

If you’ve been house hunting for a year why aren’t you ready to move!?

I’ve always worked on the basis that the whole process should take around 3 months, our last sale ran over this due to a picky buyer.

To be fair the coue were inexperienced and thought the issues they were raising were reasonable but it was spinning out what should have been a straightforward sale.

Out of frustration I ended up issuing an ultimatum through the estate agent which got things back on track.

My point being that keeping the seller in the dark will only p*ss them off and run the risk of them pulling out unless they are desperate to avoid re-marketing the house.

I’ve never bought a house before the one I bought Q1 this year….but I knew it wouldn’t take 4mths with no chain. Sounds like you’ve had some bad advice if you already had your mortgage offer in March.

Our house was no chain and took 6 months.

The only downside with an extended period between exchange and completion is the increase likelihood of financial doom or your personal circumstances changing, resulting in the bank withdrawing their mortgage offer whilst you are already bound to purchase the house (or lose your deposit). Normally only an issue when buying off plan I beleive where you may have a year or so between exchange and completion.

But obviously everyone in the chain will be at the same risk with their mortgage offer.

If you’ve been house hunting for a year why aren’t you ready to move!?

When we started looking we were happy to move then. Now we’re approaching June my son has his final A level exams and I’ve no desire to start moving house while he is revising for them and taking them. That’s the main reason.

He’ll cope! You could be moved in two weeks if you sign on the dotted line, the only things to check is you can get time off work (which could be an issue once the schools have broken up after A levels) and that the removal guys are available. Get on with it!

😉

I’m now up to 3 months since we viewed the property we’re purchasing – we submitted our offer on the next day. The mortgage application took over 6 weeks. Just about to exchange now.

If you’re in a position to exchange now and complete in June you’re doing pretty well.

We’re getting a lot of static from the vendors estate agents to exchange even though the vendors know, and are quite happy with the fact we don’t want to complete until the end of next month.

exchange now for completion in june or whenever suits. (I feel sure it has been said above, but I struggle with long sentences)

end of June.

Sorry as soon as I’ve heard that I’d put it on the market.

You are being honest with ‘us’ however you/someone else heard that I’d assume you were cooling/something was going on.

I’d put it back on the market. Two months is a longtime for no reason other than don’t want to disrupt exams. You would have known this date was there alongtime ago. Its a cold-hearted world houses, if its right move on it. A seller wont believe its sold until the day its exchanged. Hence everyones cynicism on houses.

“5 weeks is only going to happen if the buyer and vendor’s solicitors are at the same firm and there’s absolutely no delays or issues.”

4 weeks here – with delays in the mortgage….

we were trying to get in before stamp duty – and did.

we just explained to everyone involved what we were trying to do and it happened…. was stressful though.

being clear with everyone is definantly a better policy than pissing folk off..

5 weeks is only going to happen if the buyer and vendor’s solicitors are at the same firm and there’s absolutely no delays or issues.

My first house was done far quicker.

Offer accepted 30th November, moved in 23rd December.

(Buyer and Vendors solicitors were different firms, although they are very close to each other in town so no postage delays)

Legally you have as long as you want but they can sack you off at any time too, morally you’re stuffed now. You should have explained it as part of the offer you made to my mind. Explain the situation to the sellers, offer to exchange ASAP to show you’re not mucking about but don’t expect them to accept it necessarily depending on how long the chain is.

Do you have any disposable cash? If so and you are completely committed to that house just offer them £2-3k as a security deposit when you explain the timelines. They will be assured that you are not backing out and you will be sure that they don’t re-list the house.

Am I being thick- for the risk of losing the house why not complete sooner?

I can understand not wanting to move in the middle of exams, but if everything’s ready to sign now you could be moved and sorted before exams even start.

sorry not read all the posts

IF the only problem is

“Their reason for completing quickly was that they’re now paying council tax on two houses “

Do they know/you know that they don’t have to do this.

Speak to the council

Ro5ey I also imagine they need the equity in the house asap for potentially many reasons like anyone.

If the OP is THAT keen on the house having it for an extra 1-2 months shouldn’t be a problem for him.

I didn’t move into my current house for 3months after I bought it.

Speak to them and ask if its going to be an issue.

If they say yes it is then you’ll have to bite the bullet and move, if they say that’s fine as others have said – exchnage at the earliest opportunity with a long completion date.

That way they can’t back out later…

Cheers

Danny B

Ro5ey – if you’re thinking of second home/empty house discounts a lot of council’s have abolished these from the start of April

I didn’t know they had been abolished by a lot of councils… no

But then I didnt even know that all council allowed it in the first place hence the speak to the council.

Sounds like a silly reason anyway… whats a couple of months CT worth when talking in context of a house sale ?? OP offer to pay it for them ??

Ro5ey, if you own two properties and don’t rent them out you usually pay council tax on both, but some Councils give a 10% to 25% reduction for the one that is left empty (noting that some Councils now don’t give reductions). I suspect the seller’s in the OP case mean the total cost of running two houses (tax, water, standing charges, as well as interest on mortgage).