Can I be cheeky and invoice them back??...

dottiepeas

Well, our house purchase has just fallen through!! As the sellers have decided they want more (after agreeing the initial price!!!!) and now remarketed the house!
We are not going ahead, because they want £17k more and also because we don't want to buy from some greedy people who move the goal posts as and when they want!!!

BUT!..I have now wasted £250 for the survey, which I am seriously considering to invoice them back for!!! Is this a bit cheeky!?? It just seems SO unfair, that I (the buyer) has to stomp up money for a survey, then to be told 5 wks down the line, that the price has gone up!! I really think they should pay?....as it's not myself who's not wanting the house!!....The sellers are the ones who changed the agreement!!!

Has anyone else been in the same situation?...where the seller upped the price afterwards?? Well, 6 weeks afterwards!!...not like the next day!!!

Sounds mean, but I really hope they get less than what we were offering!!!!!!:mad:

poppysarah

You can try it... You have no legal recourse though ... I think thats what the term is...

Is it on rightmove?
url would be fun ... have you got property bee so we can see if it's recorded the price change ...

clutton_2

caveat emptor - sorry you have no legal rights of redress at all - dont waste your energies - find a nice home....

simpywimpy

You'll have to put it down to experience I'm afraid but you are right, it is very unfair of them to do that. I bet they thought you'd be left with no option but to up your offer at such a late stage.

Lets hope they get their comeuppance by not getting anyone else to buy for a long time

dottiepeas

Not on rightmove yet, as I only got the call about it this morning!! But there is the old SSTC one, so here's the link!
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-19778143.html
Ex-local authority! For the price they are asking for, there are better spec houses out there. (ie: conservatory, newer and bigger gardens) So I personally don't think it's worth it! It was on the market for 9 mths before!!..so it wasn't like it was a hugely popular house, otherwise it would have gone ages ago.

I know contracts have not been exchanged, but then we wouldn't be put in this position of upping prices if we did!!

If the sellers were not happy to accept a lower offer, why didn't they just hold out for longer and say no to us??? It's 5 weeks they have wasted of our time, and money!

princessamy86

I'm interested to know if your survey said that it was worth £17k more than you paid for it. Some people are really stupid, I bet they come crawling back in a few days when they've thought their way through it.

Jowo_2

There isn't a breach of contract because no contract has been signed. The seller would not have been entitled to seek compensation from you if you withdrew before contracts were exchanged.

I think the law in Scotland where an offer is legally binding is much more civilised, plus some properties are marketed as fixed price - first come is first served - rather than offers over (sealed bids). Saves all the fannying and anxiety of sellers/buyers changing their mind and having to go through tortuous negotiations.

chickmug

Worth trying the invoice as you will never know.

But no legal leg to stand on and it happens all the time - the property business:eek:

gemstars

As others have said you have no legal standing but I think you should definately ask them to return your fees.

What did the survey say the property was worth?

dottiepeas

The survey came in exactly the same as our offer price. No more no less! So I don't see why the sellers think that their house has suddenly increased in value in like- 5 weeks?? Don't they know we are still in a recession and that people are still losing jobs?...it's not like there is a queue of people waiting to buy their house?
Really just don't get some people!....
I totally understand that as the seller you want the best price possible- FINE! But don't accept an offer, then up the price!! Makes no sense....but that's human nature!

Don't think I'll bother invoicing them, it's not like they would really pay it back. Like someone said, it's all down to experience...(we're ftb aswell!)

Back to search.....(GRRRR)

Philippa36

Oh how annoying!! Considering the current climate, you'd think they'd be happy with an offer and a survey to match it!

Don't worry, you'll find a much nicer, more suitable property at the right price and they'll still be on the market in another 9 months waiting for someone to come along and offer exactly what you did