Vendor causing us problems- advice gratefully recived

Pumpkin7

TrickyDicky101 wrote: »

Somewhat off-topic, but I think the English system of no enforecable contract on property transactions until exchange has taken place isn't necessarily bad: it has benefits in that the contract is only in place once all parties have carefully considered whether they are happy to move forward with the purchase/sale. If all verbal agreements were enforceable, I wager it would probably result in as many grievances occuring as under the current system; they would just be different. I'm not saying it's perfect but you do know where you stand (ie nowhere) until exchange has taken place. Hence why exchanges should be synchronised up and down the chain.

In an ideal world they should be synchronised. Our solicitor said normally he would advise us not too exhange on just the sale but said this case was extreme.

The FTB'sat the bottom literally rang up(first day of our honeymoon might I add) and decided unless we agreed to complete by 3rd they would walk and we had to have signed that very day! (though as we a were away solicitor signed on our behalf). So it was deemed that this was an exteme case. We already lost 1 sale and there is a surplus of houses in the area for sale.Plus my child already started school in the area we hoped to be in.

Seems we have just been left to bend over backwards to suit everyone else and left in a mess now

ILW

I would suggest that your solicitor has badly advised you.

shimano

If you are sure a new mortgage offer will impair things, you could write a letter, CCing solicitors, EA, to the vendor saying your offer of £xxx expires on 17:00 9th December and replaced with an offer of £xxx-20k (so you unless they agree to exchange on 10th, complete on 17th (assuming 5 day notice for mortgage company), or if you are feeling extremely bullish, complete by 17th or you will withdraw completely.

Based on your tone, saying you will withdraw by 17th sounds apt.

usagirl_2

Pumpkin7, I really sympathise with you. Shimano's advice is definitely worth considering.

We're in a similar position, but not as bad - our vendors did the same thing as yours; all along, they were going to be moving into rented, or with friends & family. Then, just as we have become ready to exchange, they've found somewhere they want to buy! (Last Thursday I was told this) It's so frustrating when the goalposts are moved so far into the process. It's been going on since June..........

We also considered renting so we don't lose our buyer, but simply can't afford to. Also, my son will lose his school place if we don't move by start of Jan. It's all so frustrating! The only time I'm not (quite so) stressed out about it all is at the weekend, when I know nothing can be done by anyone, anyway!


I so wish you luck and hope you get sorted, with some peace of mind. (After you've given your vendor a piece of yours!!)

tbs624

You *chose* to exchange on your own property without having the security of an onward exchange at the same time. The fact that your own buyers threatened to walk away if the 3rd was not to be the date of exchange does not necessarily mean that they would definitely have done so. They would then have lost their survey costs etc and had to have started over.

Your anger at your vendor is understandable, esp given your mortgage "life" but people's circumstances change: perhaps your vendor, like you, discovered that she couldn't actually afford to rent as she had originally planned? She would likely as not had to have committed to a mim of 6 months in rented and perhaps going for the property that she is now intending to buy made more sense to her.

It does however seem daft that she seems prepared to lose you which obviously may put her own purchase at risk unless she plans to rent out short term and try to re-sell later. Are there other properties similar to hers which are currently on the market?

What are the repective solicitors and the Estate Agent doing in the midst of all this?

ginvzt

Ok, we were first time buyers and our vendors were messing us when we were buying. We made an offer after talking to them and they said they moved as soon as we are ready, and they would be moving in with family/renting. We made an offer end of November/beginning of December (sorry, it was few years ago) and we were ready by mid January. We didn't complete until March 7th, and that only happened after we sent a letter to vendors/EA/solicitors saying that if the contracts are not exchanged within the week, our offer drops by certain amount each day (I think it was £1000 or £2000, the purchase price was £135k). The vendor quickly got their act together and we exchanged - not by the deadline we set, but a couple of days later. We kept the price at £135k, as it was only a couple of days, and completed a week later.

Richard_Webster

However this was not possible so everyone agreed on the 3rd December. Then 2 weeks ago vendor claims know nothing about the 3rd!

That is the knub of it all. Never ever trust what other people tell you in chains. Always talk direct to the people concerned and make sure they give check things like dates with their solicitors. Sometimes they do agree a date but then realise that it isn't possible when their solicitor explains things.

When clients tell me "everyone agreed [such and such a date]" my immediate comment is to say it may well not be true. Estate agents convey half information from one party to another and what you get is not necessarily true. In this case it is possible that OP spoke directly to the vendor to ascertain the 3rd was agreed and the vendor then denied she said that. Much more likely the estate agents told OP that "everyone had agreed the 3rd..."

silvercar

Lenders often allow an existing mortgage offer to be extended, if they won't your solicitor needs to make clear to their solicitor that your offer drops by 20k if completion is delayed.

I can't see what you gain by pulling out now, stick with it and hope it happens.

Pumpkin7

shimano wrote: »

If you are sure a new mortgage offer will impair things, you could write a letter, CCing solicitors, EA, to the vendor saying your offer of £xxx expires on 17:00 9th December and replaced with an offer of £xxx-20k (so you unless they agree to exchange on 10th, complete on 17th (assuming 5 day notice for mortgage company), or if you are feeling extremely bullish, complete by 17th or you will withdraw completely.

Based on your tone, saying you will withdraw by 17th sounds apt.

I think this is very good advice Im going speak to my husband about this. The vendor should be aware of the gravity of the situation but maybe in writing this would bring it home. I wonder if she thinks this is just a tactic to hurry her up/ get a reduction. Sadly its not.

Though we will see if can extend the offer.

On principle I would walk away from this one. But Im trying to do what is the best for us not the worst for her.... if that makes sense.