Seller delaying contracts

Gael23 · 27-08-2021 10:02pm #1

The person that is selling the house we are trying to buy is doing everything in her power to delay the process for as long as possible , all but one of the issues we have had in the past 4 months was caused by them. Now we are at the stage of signing contracts and they are not making any moves to do their bit because they don’t want to move until October which will,be just short of. 6 months form sale agreed stage.

Wht power do I have here apart from threatning to walk away?

bigmac3 · 27-08-2021 10:07pm

No power. They are in full control.

Pawwed Rig · 27-08-2021 10:08pm

I doubt you have any. Until everything is signed either party can walk away. I assume you do not want to do that so you just have to wait.

Gael23 · 27-08-2021 10:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813301#Comment_117813301

Not really but don’t want to be held to ransom by them either

Wildly Boaring · 27-08-2021 10:31pm

Only power you have is the threat to walk away

Pawwed Rig · 28-08-2021 3:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117813323#Comment_117813323

Well you are not really. You are aware that they do not want to move until October so that would seem to me to be a term of the sale.

It may be the case that they have nowhere else to go before then

cnocbui · 28-08-2021 5:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058206187/seller-delaying-contracts

Only six months? I am a seller, and it's been 8 months of the buyers trying to get finance and asssuring me they have verbal approval. Drawdown was approved two weeks ago and they haven't signed the contracts yet.

Ransom would be more like the seller asking you for more money as another offer has been made.

Darc19 · 28-08-2021 5:46am

And this is one of the things wrong with the property market.

Both buyer and seller can delay for months without fear of repercussion.

I'd keep looking around as something more suitable may come up. It might still take til Oct or even Nov, but might be best in the long run.

One of the biggest errors we make as buyers is taking "emotional ownership" of a property before we actually take ownership. And that emotional bond stops us making rational decisions.

Let the sellers know that you will continue to look at other properties.

Gael23 · 28-08-2021 10:14am

There’s another house on the same street which just came on the market yesterday. But it is significantly smaller so quite a compromise.

I do see it as ammunition though so the sellers know we have begun looking elsewhere if they don’t play ball

Smiley11 · 28-08-2021 12:42pm

To be perfectly honest with you, I doubt they'll care. Its a sellers market & they have the control unfortunately. If you pull out, they'll just put it back on the market & probably get more than you've agreed. I'm a buyer myself & I've accepted that its a crap market for us. You just have to decide whether you want it enough to wait or walk away. They could be stalling in the hope you do just that too.

Darc19 · 28-08-2021 12:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117814857#Comment_117814857

The big excess of buyers is gone now. Allow a few more weeks and you'll see bidding wars dissipate except in the traditionally very high demand areas.

Developers of new houses have been pre-selling as quickly as they can and even spring builds are now being sold. They are also developing as fast as they can as they know that the market will cool down soon enough.

Between the hysterical media and estate agents, you'd swear house prices were soaring.

I've been watching the property market for 32 years and there one thing that has remained constant - estate agents and the hysterical media have NEVER got it right. I'll call it now and say that prices will stabilise from October and there will be little price change in 2022. The central banks rules will be the biggest reason for the marketing cooling.

Gael23 · 28-08-2021 8:40pm

This house has been on the market for over a year. They are saying they have nowhere to go until October

28-08-2021 8:50pm

They may not want to delay you,

I have been delaying my buyer, supposedly, the thing is the house I wanted to buy, I was getting delays off that seller, turns out they were in some legal wrangle and never told us, I just got caught up in it as was not told. I was forced to back out, but my buyers think I am doing something to them that was done to me.

I have been nothing but forthcoming with my selling agent and have insisted they keep the people buying in the loop, but I had to start from the beginning all over and look for a replacement house, bid all over again, where prices are being repeatedly jacked up due to high demand and low availability of properties in my range and type.

Therefore by continuing to agree to want to sell my house to the person who's bid was accepted 5 months ago, I'm doing them a favour by holding out as best I can for them, despite a few threats of them to pull the plug, Im just not having luck to buy as it is the worst time to buy.

In my case, I did experience a very stupid seller who knew they had legal problems and tried to sell and never told me, head in sand stuff imo, my situation was I was waiting on them, thereby holding up my buyer.

The market is dysfunctional

Gael23 · 28-08-2021 8:55pm

Originally they told us they were relocating to another county, which they are, and we’re going to rent for a bit to get a feel for areas. But now they have found a house to buy and don’t want to move until that’s ready.

if they would sign the contracts and set a date however far way I would accept that but they won’t

Smiley11 · 30-08-2021 6:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117814895#Comment_117814895

I certainly hope you're right! I'm not cut out for hysteria & hate the way markets & bidding have been trending. I do think sellers have the upper hand & its very frustrating being on the receiving end of the cockiness but thats just the way it is for now.

I think if the OP loves the house & is happy & comfortably able to pay their mortgage, then is an October deadline such a grim prospect? I don't know...maybe I have an air of desperation about me nearly 2 years into the search! Best of luck OP!

Wildly Boaring · 30-08-2021 7:12am

TBH even if they signed the contract today it'd be October before you'd get in.

Worth making that point, again, OP?

PropBuyer101 · 30-08-2021 7:55pm

can you close first and then just agree to get keys a few weeks later...

Pomodoro · 30-08-2021 11:26pm

The vendor is obviously not in a position to commit to a contract yet. If this is because they don't have there next home sorted/confirmed yet, then October is just and estimate and could easily be pushed out. The other possibility is they are still open to higher bids - but there is nothing really you can do about that.

Either way, at this stage it definitely makes sense for you to seriously look at alternatives. If you find somewhere else that you are happy with, and go sale agreed, you can make an assessment about which property it makes more sense for you to pursue. To be honest, even if you went sale agreed somewhere else tomorrow, you'd be lucky to be in by October.

Gael23 · 31-08-2021 9:26am

We’ve threatened to pull out yesterday if they don’t commit to a date. Whenever the date is we just want a commitment of when

Our offer is a bit less than what they wanted but it’s cash with no strings attached and the house was for sale for 9 months before we went sale agreed

PropBuyer101 · 31-08-2021 10:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826639#Comment_117826639

ur in a strong positions then.... this process is tediously slow. surely they could rent a place till end of october or something. you'd think vendor would want the sale of their own house to go through first rather than aiming to have everything happening at the same time which leads to delays etc

Gael23 · 31-08-2021 11:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826968#Comment_117826968

Everything is done in terms of the legal process. All is left is them to sign the contract and move out

Pawwed Rig · 31-08-2021 12:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826968#Comment_117826968

Renting a place for a month or 2 would be an absolute nightmare. Firstly you have to actually find a place (which would be extremely difficult), then you would have to move twice in a couple of months while living out of boxes for an extended period.

PropBuyer101 · 31-08-2021 12:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117827594#Comment_117827594

yeah fair enough...but it is an option

PropBuyer101 · 31-08-2021 12:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117827483#Comment_117827483

annoying!

spaceHopper · 31-08-2021 1:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117826639#Comment_117826639

They might not be able to give you a date, they aren't going to make themselves homeless for your benefit. Selling and renting for a while would be daft, its throwing away money and what if they ended up not being able to buy, this would epically be true of a family with young children.

Gael23 · 04-09-2021 9:37am

So on Thursday we were told they were visiting their solicitor to sign the contract Friday evening p and they didn’t do that.

We wanted to withdraw yesterday but our solicitor advised to wait until Monday until he can have a discussion with their solicitor to see if they are in fact serious about this deal. So Monday is pretty much make or break.

We don’t really care when it’s completed at this point, we just want to know when so we can plan things from our side, if it’s not for another month that’s ok once we know

Wildly Boaring · 04-09-2021 10:02am

Speaking from experience

Bite your tongue and be even more patient.

This is the final fence. As soon as they sign it's over.

You only do this once (or twice) in your life. Bear with it. If it takes them a week to sign so be it.

RichardAnd · 04-09-2021 10:15am

My dad got into this situation earlier this year. He went sale agreed on a house (for cash, I might add) in January, but didn't get the keys until late May! This is simply reprehensible behaviour, but there is sadly little that the buyer can do other than threatening to walk away.

Honestly, buying a house is unlike anything that I've ever experienced before. From estate agents utterly devoid of ethics to greedy sellers and time wasting "buyers", my respect for my fell humanity is diminishing quite a bit...

Gael23 · 04-09-2021 10:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117845608#Comment_117845608

This is cash too.

Sale agreed since May 7th, we were told 6/8 weeks because the vendors were moving into rental accommodation.

They asked to stay until the end of July which we verbally agreed to. Now they have found a property to buy and don’t want to sign until that deal is sorted. We also feel there is a risk that they might sign so prevent us from pulling out but nit actually vacate on that date. We just no longer trust them

RichardAnd · 04-09-2021 10:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117845623#Comment_117845623

"We no longer trust them" This summarises the problem with the property market succinctly. One of the pillars of doing business is trust. If I pay someone to do a job for me, I have to trust that they will do a good job whilst they have to trust that my money is good. Property seems to be immune to this unwritten rule, and I find it sickening.

All that I can say is that if I were selling a house to you and had accepted your offer, I would move heaven and earth before I went back on my word or prevaricated.

Gael23 · 04-09-2021 12:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117845694#Comment_117845694

And a cash offer not conditional on the sale of another property.

Gael23 · 10-09-2021 10:21pm

They finally signed!

Are there any potential consequences for them if they do not vacate the property on agreed completion date?

Busi_Girl08 · 13-09-2021 9:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117874941#Comment_117874941

Depends what's stipulated in the contracts. Your solicitor can talk about a clause which indicates a closing date and a potential penalty/etc if they do not complete by a certain date, but whether this is being done at the moment in the buyer's market is another question.

We got our keys last week after a 4 month process and this was with a 3-party chain all with houses ready to move into.

cnocbui · 14-09-2021 11:13am

It took nine and half months for my buyers to finally sign the contracts. The entire property market is your classic Irish legal mess. likely on purpose. The government could easily legislate to simplify and reduce the cost of the whole process. Try buying and selling a property in Australia: weeks, not months or years and lower cost and hassle; where a deposit is deposit and actually means something.

Gael23 · 14-09-2021 3:19pm

They are moving out tomorrow I believe.

I think they were issued an ultimatum by our solicitor, play ball here or risk losing a cash buyer and go back to square one. We were told 6 to 8 weeks but they took it upon themselves to draw it out for as long as possible.

Seller delaying contracts

Comments