Offer Accepted - Completion End Oct - but property still on the market!

dfarry

Hi all, it's been an interesting week in this movers life....

Remember our little saga... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=244806

After all the hassles and missed deadlines of August the chain eventually collapsed when my buyers buyer (the one whose solicitor had been insisting on the Deed of Variation) pulled out.

As a result my vendor put his place back on the market and we were left unsure what to do next. The kids (a big factor in the timing of our move) went back to their old school.

Within two days my buyer was back... WITH TWO OFFERS ON THE TABLE... one a buy to let, one a first time buyer. He has chosen the Buy to Let and the survey on his property will be done tomorrow. In the meantime we told our vendor's estate agents but they are adamant that they will leave the property on the market. They haven't said they wont sell to us, but it seems they want to see if some one else can come in with a higher offer. In the meantime we are left waiting and wonder.... if all goes well with my buyer we should be able to exchange within a few weeks with completion at the end of October and luckily the new school places are being held for us. My vendor knows all this but is still sticking to his guns... despite him needing to move asap and it's unlikely a new buyer will be ready before us.

Whilst I understand my vendors frustration, as he has lost a fair bit of money apparently but it wasn't our fault the chain collapsed. But his stance on the current situation is irritating me....so much so that we looked at another property ourselves yesterday and may put an offer on it.

I'm not sure what to do now, this new property is nice but costs more and I think my offer may be declined anyway (I'll use the -10% - if your not embarrassed rule of thumb) also this would lengthen our move to maybe Xmas and the rest of the chain might not like this.

Or we could sit tight and hope for the best... my vendors EA's have said though they would need to pass on offers they are making prospective buyers aware of the situation and in their words "Don't feel they need to resell a property they have already sold"

Or with emotions running so high.... just stay where we are, don't relocate and I'll have to find another job.

EdInvestor

my vendors EA's have said though they would need to pass on offers they are making prospective buyers aware of the situation and in their words "Don't feel they need to resell a property they have already sold"

I suspect this means that the property is not really on the market, in fact.

dfarry

Not really... though my vendors agent seems to be very supportive if us and apparently has tried to persuade their client otherwise my vendors property is still FOR SALE, it has the sign outside and is on both RightMove and the agents website.

Any others placed or even strong indications of interest (having been told of the situation) would be put forward by the estate agent.

dfarry

Well here we are... one month later... and surprise surprise my buyers solicitor and his estate agent have again been totally useless.

During this time my vendor has left his property on the market but luckily no offers that I am aware of.

That said.... we think (THINK as we are not exactly sure due to the lack of information from my buyers solicitors) that almost everything is in place for exchange.

We set the deadline for exchange to be this coming Friday (20th Oct.) and completion next week to fit in with the school half term. If it doesn't happen then we won't be relocating and I will be resigning from my current job.... so it's a bit of a crunch time at the mo. :cool:

lilyann1

Good luck.I posted in your other forum too.
The worry with us is if our vendor goes back on the market too,and with prices around here rising,if he goes back on at higher price we won't be able to afford the house.
Keep us informed

PoorDave

dfarry wrote:

Not really... though my vendors agent seems to be very supportive if us and apparently has tried to persuade their client otherwise my vendors property is still FOR SALE, it has the sign outside and is on both RightMove and the agents website.

Any others placed or even strong indications of interest (having been told of the situation) would be put forward by the estate agent.

Did you ever know of an agent not being supportive when you're about to buy the house they're selling, and thus earn then their money?!

dfarry

PoorDave wrote:

Did you ever know of an agent not being supportive when you're about to buy the house they're selling, and thus earn then their money?!

To an extent yes.... but they could have quite easily sent other potential buyers in there in as they had nothing to lose in doing so - however they have not.... the property is a good one, the best that we saw and we looked at around 25 different properties so I am sure it would have sold very quickly if other buyers had viewed it.

dfarry

The exchange didn't happen... so I have told my solicitor to stop chasing people.

In the meantime I have told my estate agent that we are considering our options this weekend and look likely to withdraw.... I'm just waiting for my buyer and vendors comments now.

pawpurrs

Why didnt it exchange, is it just waiting for something that is holding up the sale, dont cut your nose off to spite your face.
Its such a nightmare, my thoughts are with you and all the rest of us playing this funny old game.

dfarry

Basically my solicitor, estate agent, and to an extent buyer have been greeted by a wall of silence.

My Buyers solicitor (Stephensons) have a large call centre type set up.... other MSE members have had problems with this company... you call through, wait ages, then eventually get someone who has no idea about the case.

My solicitor has the email address of the person handling the purchase, sends mails, gets read receipts back, but no response.

My estate agent this week has been chasing the buyer.... his buyer and also the solicitors. The buyers estate agents seem to be far from efficient either and haven't seemed to grasp the priority of this case.

Earlier in the week we heard that some further enquiries needed to be answered by my buyer. He never got the letter from Stephenson so instead they faxed the details to his EA. He answered the question there and then and sent them back.

Since then the only other feedback we have had from my buyers solicitors is "Everything in place on the purchase, signed mortgage deed, signed deed of variation, just awaiting response from enquiries"....that was early in the week. So it seems whilst the solicitors sit on their backsides, we are left in the dark.

8 weeks ago or so after the chain collapsed we stated clearly that we MUST move in the half term period... my buyer and his buyer (a buy to let investor) were clear about that. Everything got off to a flying start, with surveys etc... but I just don't understand how for what seems 3-4 weeks, nothing further has been done and we have had no feedback.

These guys have cost us our new house, a relocation, a new school for the children and it looks like my job, as my current commute is stressing me to breaking point (this morning I went by car...it took 2hrs 20 mins).

So thanks to Cunningtons (my buyers buyers solicitors), Robinson, Hedges and Jackson estate agents.... and especially Stephensons (my buyers solicitors) as your inaction and incompetance has cost many people dearly, financially and emotionally!

A big thumbs up to my solicitors - Conveyancing Warehouse (Roberts Solicitors), Ward and Partners (my EA's) and even Lampons (my vendors EA's) who have tried everything possible to keep this move on track.

chivers1977

I really feel for you. we are using CW and buying through ward and partners too. If you exchange next week could you still complete next week or is that wndow closed now?