mrsilencio

I seem to have worked through this in a very short space of time - wish I'd done it earlier... The estate agent got back to me this afternoon and it seems my threat paid off - the exchange date has been set from Friday and completion the following Monday.

Good point. Im thinking maybe i bottled it a bit! I have been keeping an eye out to see what is on the market, but the only place similar is priced at 235k - 5k more than the place we're waiting for's asking price and 17k more than the offer we had accepted.

OK, I called the estate agent and told him I am reducing my offer by £750 each week beyond next Friday. He said the guy had told him he needed 3-4 weeks to move out! Fingers crossed this helps speed things along a bit.

Thanks SarahBell The only concern is that he seems desperate for us to give up and I don't want to give him hope that we will do. I may call the EA this afternoon and put this ultimatum to him, although £1000 seems quite a lot. I didn't mention: we are first time buyers and are currently staying with family, with furniture etc in storage, having moved out of rented accomodation at the end of June - when we had expected the sale to have gone through.

Hi We had an offer for a house accepted around 4 months ago and have since been patiently waiting for everything to go through. Our mortgage, searches, vaulation etc all passed without issue, however for the last 2+ months, we have been waiting for the seller to sign contracts an move out. The issue is, the man who is resident in the house is part of a divorced couple who was forced to sell by his ex-wife. In the past few weeks, he has made every possible excuse not to sign contracts or move out (the contract got lost in the post 3 times, he was suddenly illiterate...), however he was last week forced to do so after being told by their solicitor (they employed a separate solicitor part way through the process as they had too many issues with their separate divorce solicotors) that if he didn't the courts would do so on his behalf - only after an unexpected 3 week trip to Gibraltar. Allegedly. We have been back and forth between the estate agent and solicitors about this and are really beginning to despair. At present, we are trying to get him to agree a date to complete, however he now says he needs at least 2 weeks for this as his ex wife has furniture in the house, and as she has a restraining order against him cannot be there when she moves the things out, while at the same time saying she things she will steal things if he isn't! We have spoken to the ex-wife has has been doing what she can to push through the sale, but it is purely down to him stalling at every stage. Despite how it sounds, this isn't a house in a complete whole and is a place we really want - hence waiting so long - and don't want to lose money by pulling out. I am now considering telling the estate agent that for every week he drags this on for beyond next Friday, we will reduce the offer (currently 218k - 230k was the asking price) by £500. Is this a bad idea? Right now it seems he has nothing to lose by dragging it out for as long as possible, so think this may put a rocket up his backside. I'd appreciate any help or advice anone can give. Thanks John