I'm selling my house, do you think that my buyers have backed out, I haven't heard anything for 3 weeks?
Initially they put in an offer in October, no exchange dates have been set, I’m beginning to think I might have to rent, which doesn’t really suit my purposes – I was going to clear all my bills with the house sale and buy a much smaller house or flat outside of London.
Contact your solicitor
Solicitors are like wheel barrows, all the time you are pushing they are moving forward.
Stop pushing and you can go back a week later and they will be in the same place.
It can take a lot longer than three weeks depending on a number of things, including the solicitor. Start pushing for a completion date, say its going back on the market to sell or rent.
Make sure you get a non-refundable deposit with the offer. If they don’t go through with the deal, they lose their deposit.
Call your solicitor, he should keep you updated weekly regarding your house sale, also your estate agents should keep you informed. 3 weeks doesn’t sound at all unusual in a house sale, however, you should still be informed what is happening. Give both of them a ring now, I am pretty sure you would have heard something if there was a problem and it was not going through – if it has fell through, get a new solicitor and estate agent, you should have been informed.
Its not uncommon for it to take 3 weeks to do an inspection, get an appraisal and finalize the loan. However you should be informed every few days about the process, even if the update is just the fact that you’re still waiting for the bank to process the buyer’s loan. You should at least know what’s going on, even if things are moving slowly.
Typically you should get a deposit (sometimes called earnest money) from the buyers before any offer is agreed to and signed. Then if the buyers back out of the deal without a good reason, you get to keep their deposit.
Contact your Realtor or the company that listed your house and ask for an update. If you are selling the house yourself and you have direct contact with the buyer’s then call them directly.
I would think they are backing out.