Vendor lied about being chain free

scoobiesnacks

You'll like this one. I agreed a completion date of 1/09 for the property I am/was buying to tie in with the property I'm selling (as you do). I had a gut feeling over the last few weeks that something wasn't right and I suspected that my seller wasn't ready for our proposed completion date, even though she said it was all cool.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that we were due to exchange on Thursday and complete on Friday (stressful enough, thank you very much), when it came out that she was buying somewhere and hadn't told anyone!! Nutter. Her purchase couldn't complete in time which has left me high and dry. I've moved out of the house I've sold, put my stuff in storage and am staying with a mate.

I feel totally let down, lied to and don't trust her a bit. She was pushing really hard to exchange all week and now I know why. She had no intention of meeting our completion date. Luckily we haven't exchanged so I'm free to walk away (minus legal costs!), or renegotiate.

So, here's the question. What do I do now? My heart isn't in it anymore. I'd agreed to pay top money (350k) for something that needs quite a bit of work to bring it up to scratch. It's probably about 15k over market value, but I decided to go with it because of my circumstances. One of the attractions was that I could tie in my sale and purchase at short notice, but now that I'm out of my house and gone through all the stress, I'm not that bothered if it goes ahead. The only thing that would get me interested again is a significant reduction in price, ie 10k. Does that sound reasonable? I know she needs to move so I'm in a fairly strong position. I'm prepared to walk away, so I guess I've got nothing to lose.

Apologies for the long rant but I'm still quite sore about the whole thing! :mad:

silvercar

Your problem is that if you walk away you will be around 8 weeks from likely completion on another property, at least. Are you prepared to wait that long.

If I was near to exchange and my buyer reduced the price by 10k, I would tell them where to go.

Dan29

scoobiesnacks wrote:

The only thing that would get me interested again is a significant reduction in price, ie 10k. Does that sound reasonable? I know she needs to move so I'm in a fairly strong position. I'm prepared to walk away, so I guess I've got nothing to lose.

Agree absolutely. Why not start looking at other properties now, and if this woman does ever manage to get to a position to exchange with you, and you haven't found anywhere else you'd rather buy, insist on a price reduction just before the time of exchange? Not the nicest way to behave but then based on what you've said, the way she has behaved is appalling. As silvercar says, she may well tell you where to go, but if you're really prepared to walk away then you have nothing to lose, as you say. The closer it gets to exchange, the more you'll have the upper hand.

mr218

well, i dont understand why you are paying 15k over the market value as you say. was it because she was 'chain free'?

in any case it is highly unethical of your vendor to mislead you. if i were you, i would stay put and not say anything now. meanwhile now that you have sold, you have the liberty to look for other places as well and are in a very strong position to buy.

when she is ready to exchange arrange a date and then tell her at the very last minute that you want the selling price to be 15 k below what you offered initially as she misled you and therefore you had to incur additional expeses and not to mention unwanted stress.

i suspect that when she fixes a new exchange date she will be ready to buy elsewhere and that will put her under pressure if she wants to complete her onward move as well.

if she does not budge and you geniunely feel that the property is overvalued move away and find something better priced. it might be a hassle for you now but you are in a strong position to buy.so buy something which is not overpriced. good luck

Cara79

This is terrible and am sorry to hear about this. Surely this is something that should have been picked up by the solicitors? Or maybe I'm wrong.

I think you're right, decide if you don't mind waiting for another property, I get the impression you wont mind; have a look at other properties, like you saying something else could be round the corner.

I would try and knock £10k off the price for the hassle, I mean if you're happy to walk away - what have you got to lose?!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Cara

scoobiesnacks

well, i dont understand why you are paying 15k over the market value as you say. was it because she was 'chain free'?

Because she was chain free and I could complete the sale and purchase on the same day. I was the perfect buyer - I'd exchanged on my sale and was prepared to do the deal quickly. It's partly a matter of principle and partly because I believe the property is overvalued. There is very little on the market here, however, and it's fiercly competitive. But I also realise that something else will come along if I pull out and like you say I'll be in a strong position to buy.

scoobiesnacks

Cara79 wrote:

This is terrible and am sorry to hear about this. Surely this is something that should have been picked up by the solicitors? Or maybe I'm wrong.

I think you're right, decide if you don't mind waiting for another property, I get the impression you wont mind; have a look at other properties, like you saying something else could be round the corner.

I would try and knock £10k off the price for the hassle, I mean if you're happy to walk away - what have you got to lose?!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Cara

I know, I don't get how it could have gone unnoticed, but apparently it came as a complete shock to my solicitors and the vendors agents. Some people just lose their sanity when it comes to buying and selling!

clutton_2

""when she is ready to exchange arrange a date and then tell her at the very last minute that you want the selling price to be 15 k below what you offered initially as she misled you and therefore you had to incur additional expeses and not to mention unwanted stress.""

i might be tempted to do this - a bit sneaky, but then so was she - even if she knocks off £5k or £10k you will be financially better off.

robwend

this is not uncommon, my buyers pulled the "chain free stunt, turned out a week before exchange they had a house which they were changing to a buy to let! so had to remortage !so wasnt chain free in a sense as if they hadnt got a mortgage on other house they coudlnt have brought ours, needless to say i was mad as hell but then i didnt feel bad about not telling them about the !!!!ty neighbours that they never asked about.