Advice on being stuck in a chain

Shelga · 23-08-2021 6:35pm #1

I went sale agreed on an apartment just over 3 months ago- 14 weeks today, to be precise! I agreed to wait until the vendor found a new place. However, it's becoming increasingly clear to me that I should have clarified that I still wanted a contract signed- I assumed that was obvious!

I'm getting very nervous now that there is still no sign of a contract, and my mortgage broker rang me last week to ask what's going on, and to remind me that the offer doesn't last indefinitely (although I could push it out another few weeks I'm sure). The EA told me today that the vendor has been outbid on a few places, and is currently bidding on two more.

I started looking again recently, as I'm so eager to get going (34, living at home), and suspect I'm about to have an offer on another apartment accepted. However, my heart is still with the first place.

What to do? I don't want to pull out if she ends up finding somewhere very soon, but if she's not willing to sign a contract until then, I'm not sure what else I can do. I've said we can have a very long closing date, she can pay rent just to cover my mortgage, etc, until she finds somewhere- but the EA just seemed to ignore all of that in his email today. 🙄

Has anyone been in a similar position, and what happened? Thanks in advance- this is not good for my stress levels!

fritzelly · 23-08-2021 6:43pm

Give a date to close and sign contracts and get out else move on

And don't go down the road of letting them rent afterwards - they could end up staying forever and you will then have other issues getting them out

Stanford · 23-08-2021 6:48pm

Have you paid a deposit?

Shelga · 23-08-2021 6:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117794333#Comment_117794333

Yes I’ve paid a €5k deposit.

Emma2019 · 23-08-2021 10:01pm

This is just how buying in a chain works I'm afraid.

Even if you had sight of contracts, and had signed and returned them to seller, they won't sign until their sale is sorted. Or they will sign but it will have an open closing date (which you shouldn't accept as it locks you in).

The only thing you can do is ask them to sell and move out without them having a new house to go to. Very unlikely that someone is going to be willing to do that.

The only thing you can really do to move it along is to request contracts so you can at least get the legal queries out of the way while they're looking.

As difficult as you found it to find a house, they're going to find it harder as people are less likely to sell to someone in a chain vs a FTB.

The average time for a sale to close atm is 5 months. Bear that in mind if you switch places you'll be restarting the clock too.

Gael23 · 23-08-2021 11:01pm

In a similar situation.

Sale agreed chain feee since May 7th, we proposed September 8th as closing date and the sellers have come back with October 31st.

We have signed and paid full deposit so need to talk to solicitor and find out if we can pull out as they haven’t signed

SlinkyL · 23-08-2021 11:04pm

Coming from the other sides POV here. We are selling our house and we found we couldn’t even get into view some properties until we were sale agreed on our home. We were advised that we wouldn’t be taken seriously as buyers without AIP and sale agreed on our house. So we put house up in June, sale agreed late July but we made it clear to anyone who was looking for a fast turnaround that ours wasn’t the house for them. Very little has been coming to market over late July and August. We’ve only seen one property we would be interested in but it needs a lot of work so it’s a big decision and upheaval for our family. It’s hard for FTB and trader uppers in this market...think carefully before you let it go, the coming weeks will see (hopefully) more homes come to market for your vendor.

Gael23 · 23-08-2021 11:10pm

They verbally agreed to the end of JULY some time ago and said they would live with relatives for a while if needs be but now have gone back on that no decoded they want to stay until their purchase is completed.

There was a problem that added a few weeks but that’s sorted now

blacklilly · 23-08-2021 11:13pm

Our buyers are in the same position as you more or less.

We went sale agreed with them in May with a suggested closing of mid July.

This date was pushed out as the property we were buying had planning issues and ultimately fell through 3 weeks ago. We continued to look at other properties while sale agreed as we had a feeling it wouldn't work out. Two days after it fell through we went sale agreed on another house.

We have kept our buyers updated on the situation and to be fair they have been reasonable about it but obviously they want to close ASAP.

Its not an easy market for anyone at the minute. If your sellers are keeping you updated and you aren't going weeks without an update I would suggest you hold on, particularly as you have a place to live currently

Gael23 · 23-08-2021 11:58pm

It’s a two way thing surely. Not all at their convenience?

Shelga · 24-08-2021 9:27am

That’s the thing, I am not getting any updates until I push- and I feel I have been very reasonable up til now. I understand that it’s not an easy market at all, but they are not answering my questions about the contract at all. She’s clearly not willing to contemplate it until she finds a place- which could be god knows how much longer.

Emma2019 · 24-08-2021 11:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117795383#Comment_117795383

You can always pull out and get your deposit back until both parties have signed AND the contracts have been returned to your solicitor.

Emma2019 · 24-08-2021 11:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117795559#Comment_117795559

Not really unfortunately.

If you were selling a house to get a new one you would want to move from one to the other.

The only way to facilitate a purchasers want for a deadline would be to move everything out of your house and sell and pay negative interest on the cash until you've sorted a new house, and gotten through all the things that can go wrong with that.

Some people have holiday homes or are happy to stay with family and can facilitate moving out before they have a new house but the vast majority can't.

I think a big part of the problem is the 2-8 months it can take for a purchase to go through. Houses shouldn't be listed until contracts have been drawn up in my opinion and purchasers should be required to get survey and valuation and mortgage protection applied for within 3 weeks of sale agreed. Then you wouldnt have half the delays you currently do.

JimmyVik · 24-08-2021 2:45pm

Thats the nauture of a chain. You just have to wait for all the ducks to get in a row.

Dont worry though.

it will happen. Just have to give time for everyone to find somewhere to live when they move out.

SlinkyL · 24-08-2021 3:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117796109#Comment_117796109

This is frustrating of course but here's thing thing - she probably sold her place with relative ease last time.. she probably knows she can again if you do decide to pull out. It's a sellers market at the moment... I am in the same position, looking for somewhere to buy. I did make it clear that I hadn't found a place to move to and it wouldn't be a quick sale however if our purchaser started to put pressure on me to move out when I have nowhere to go with my family - kids in school etc etc.. I would simply walk away from the sale..I know I'd sell it again within a few weeks..

Gael23 · 24-08-2021 11:56pm

They told us they would rent for a while as they are leaving the area entirely but now have found a property to buy and want to wait until that is ready.

So far they have not done one thing they said they would over the past 4 months and we feel really taken dvantage of for being flexible with them early on

Emma2019 · 25-08-2021 8:55am

That is a pity and frustrating. Have they given you an estimate on closing the other house e.g are those sellers also in a chain or does it end with the new house.

I would also be asking that contracts are sent over quickly so your solicitor can get started on any legal issues that may arise while you are waiting.

It's no harm to keep your eyes open for other properties too, but unless you get one that is straightforward and with no chain, it's likely to be a long slog with any new one too.

JimmyVik · 25-08-2021 9:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117797893#Comment_117797893

Dont sell before you close on your next house.

I know someone who did that. Sold his house and decided to rent for the 2 months until the sale would close on the house he was buying.

He got made redundant a couple of weeks later.

He ended up renting for over a year and is only now mortgage approved again.

Its a big risk to sell before you buy.

Advice on being stuck in a chain

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