Oh dear.

beckstrous

My boyfriend and I are FTB and in February we had an offer accepted on a house. The vendor pushed for an 8-week timescale so we duly went off and arranged a mortgage and then they discovered a problem with the rights of way on the house. It needed a deed of rectification, which has now almost been done but which delayed things considerably. The vendor did have the option to get it fixed another, quicker way (indeminity policy), but decided to go down this route.

Our solicitor told us not to hand in our 2-month notice on our flat until this was sorted, and at the start of the sale I explained to the EA that we had a 2-month notice period. (We tried to get it shortened but no joy.) We said we could not afford to pay out rent and mortgage in the same month and he said that's fine, we understand.

When the problem with the right of way came up I also wrote the EA a letter explaining that we would be looking for compensation from the vendor if we couldn't renew our mortgage offer in time due to the delay and had to move out before our notice period. This was on the solicitor's advice. I called the EA as well and he said he understood. We said this because the vendor pressured us into moving quickly on the mortgage when in fact it didn't take long to sort out and we knew we could easily get what we wanted to borrow.

I have just had a phonecall from the EA saying that the deed of rectification is about to be signed off and we should exchange next week. It was a different guy to the one I have been dealing with and when I mentioned the notice period he was horrified. He seemed totally shocked and said (in capital letters) "YOU WANT EIGHT WEEKS BETWEEN EXCHANGE AND COMPLETION?"...

It shouldn't be a surprise since we've been saying this all along (we've said we want seven weeks actually so we can have a week's overlap). We also told them we're on holiday at the start of May and couldn't move then. We gave the same messages to the solicitor and she said she told the vendors' solicitor but now the EA has said to me "I don't think your vendor is going to be happy at all", as if I'd been a naughty child.

But I feel like messages we've been stressing right from the start haven't been passed on. It's not our fault. :mad:

Not sure if I should ring our solicitor or not now, and if I do I don't really know what to say.

silvercar

The vendor did have the option to get it fixed another, quicker way (indeminity policy), but decided to go down this route.

If this was acceptable to you, it would have been a much cheaper and quicker option for the vendor. I don't understand why the vendor would insist on doing it the expensive way unless he was worried that if you pulled out he would have the same problem with another buyer.

The danger now is that he could find another buyer. Especially as your saying you don't want to complete for 7 weeks; in that time he could be ready to exchange with someone else at a higher price.

In order to secure the property you may have to compromise on the 7 weeks.

rchddap1

I'd call your solicitor and tell them what's happened (I assume they also knew that you needed 2 months warning before completion to give notice on your current place). They may have something up their sleeve that might help.

beckstrous

Thank you.

To be honest I'm slightly annoyed at the solicitor because we didn't give in our notice on their advice. I have been phoning them week day since we had our offer accepted asking "can we hand it in yet?" - probably sounding like a little kid, but wanting to know. Sometimes I phoned twice a week and was told "don't hand it in yet, definitely not" - the last time I spoke to her was this Monday.

The EA is acting as if it's a great surprise but I feel very let down because we have been making them aware of our notice (and genuine inability to afford to pay extra rent) right from the start.

beckstrous

PS: We would have been perfectly happy with the indemnity policy anyway so I don't know why they chose to go down the deed of rectification route.

The solicitor led us to believe that it could take ages and whenever I asked for a timescale she couldn't say. I feel as if I have been misled by her now.

clairehi

You have done the right thing.

there is another thread on here from someone who has ended up moving in with family as they gave notice on rented house before exchange.

That said 8 weeks is a long time between exchange and completion, Im not surprised it gave the EA a fright. they just want to get paid ASAP.

Is there no way this could be negotiated down with the landlord? the alternative is to ask the vendor to pay it if they are in a hurry to move.

if not its tough luck for them. given all the hassle you have had with the right of way, it would take far longer than 8 weeks for them to complete with another buyer, starting from scratch.

the EA are just trying to get the best deal for them and their client, dont be afraid to stand your ground. remember they are not on your side.

Heth_2

Do you know when your first mortgage payment will go out, and how much for? We have just completed (has 3 weeks between exchange and completion, and we were on a 4 week rental notice. Actually the 3 weeks was asked for by the seller because of their job rather than us). Have just got a letter from abbey and our first payment is on the 1st of May (we completed on the 31st) so we haven't had to pay the mortgage in April at all.....so we have 500 quid more than expected

beckstrous

Thanks Claire...I have just phoned the solicitor and she said the same as you - that we have done the right thing - it's not that we wanted a long time between exchange and completion, and we said at the start that we were willing to take a leap of faith and hand in our notice before exchange if things were going smoothly.

However, when the right of way problem cropped up, the solicitor warned us not to because she said there was potential for quite a big delay when the deed got to the people who had built the property in the first place. There was also a (very small) risk they would not agree to the deed either, which could have threatened the sale completely.

Luckily that didn't happen of course, but we were only acting on the solicitor's advice.

Yeah, we tried to negotiate with the landlord (via the letting agent) and no joy. I didn't realise when we signed that two months was so unsual...I thought (mistakenly) that it was a legal requirement.

sunflower_2

if i were the vendor i would offer to pay the overlap in rent or at least half of it

beckstrous

Heth wrote:

Do you know when your first mortgage payment will go out, and how much for? We have just completed (has 3 weeks between exchange and completion, and we were on a 4 week rental notice. Actually the 3 weeks was asked for by the seller because of their job rather than us). Have just got a letter from abbey and our first payment is on the 1st of May (we completed on the 31st) so we haven't had to pay the mortgage in April at all.....so we have 500 quid more than expected

We haven't been told that although we asked for it to be on the 27th of each month. Is there a way of finding out? We haven't formally accepted the mortgage offer yet as we haven't exchanged so it's not in any of the documents we have been sent so far.

clairehi

Heth wrote:

Do you know when your first mortgage payment will go out, and how much for? We have just completed (has 3 weeks between exchange and completion, and we were on a 4 week rental notice. Actually the 3 weeks was asked for by the seller because of their job rather than us). Have just got a letter from abbey and our first payment is on the 1st of May (we completed on the 31st) so we haven't had to pay the mortgage in April at all.....so we have 500 quid more than expected

thats a very good point. we found when FTB that we had a free month as rent paid in advance, mortgage in arrears.