House purchase, gone wrong.

horizon

Back from our new batch of house viewing.
Didn't enjoy it at all.

Most of the rental properties we looked at were in a poor condition. The nicest one was let just before we got there.
The one property we viewed for sale, I liked it, my wife didn't. Great !

I thought we'd got over the hurdle of disagreeing on loads of different properties.

Up to all this sh*t happening, I thought people were over reacting when they were complaining about the stress levels involved in buying and selling houses.
Now I know what they mean !!!!!

horizon

snuffy wrote:

Estate Agent also at fault?

I was talking to an Estate Agent this afternoon, and apparently they are legally obliged to pass on any offers they recieve to their vendors.

But in the case of the EA involved in my purchase, I have heard a lot of mutterings about his dodgy methods, and it would not surprise me in the least if he was encourageing her to put the house back on the market.

IE :- Higher selling price = Higher commision

*noodles*

Sorry to hear your story, Same thing happend to me just before exchange we lost our rental property as we hand handed our notice in, ended up living with mother in law for 4 weeks.

I know it feels bad now but it will get better. We viewed as many houses as we could when it happened to us and the good thing about it was we viewed houses and areas we would never have considered before and found something fantastic which was in an area we wouldn't have considered first time round.

The post from CWCW made me laugh out loud. :rotfl: I love that idea, its about time people get a taste of their own medicine. As you can tell even after I harp on about my new house I am still very, very bitter about the whole process!!

I would be tempted to right a polite letter to her (via the estate agent, so not to look threatening) asking if she would be prepared to contribute to your costs.... You never know she may really have needed that extra cash and could deep down feel awful about what see has done for you. The worst she can do is say no!!

reehsetin

goldbyron wrote:

Never heard of a 'lock out' - is this legally binding?

im a law student, and we learnt about it last week so i hope it would be

BobProperty

reehsetin wrote:

im a law student, and we learnt about it last week so i hope it would be

Do explain please, I only know of options as a legally enforceable method of fixing a buying price.

reehsetin

notes i made during lecture - 'while in negotiations seller may still look for other buyers, is legal but causes distress and buyer has spent time and money, 'lockout' contract is a seperate contract requiring its own consideration where the seller agrees not to speak to other prospective buyers for a while (2/3 months)

thats all i have unfortunatly

benood

Unfortunately this sort of thing can happen - it happened to us a few years ago on day of exchange - seller had been double crossing us all the way along.

However, you might be able to sell your survey to the new buyers? I've heard it's possible but not been there myself - saving some money at least - depends if you can face it - whatever you do don't give any sight of it to the other side before you've had a cheque clear!

EdInvestor

Now if the solicitors would only get their act together and sort the searches/conveyancing in a timely manner (as they most certainly can do if they try), then the whole thing could be done and dusted in about 3 weeks and the likelihood of gazumping would be far less.

In a volatile housing market, it's the 2 month delay that causes the problem, as prices can move quite dramatically in that time.

The fault lies with the slow and lazy solicitors who haven't improved their efficiency at all in 30 years, despite the fact that the info in most cases is now online.

A_Nice_Englishman

EdInvestor wrote:

Now if the solicitors would only get their act together and sort the searches/conveyancing in a timely manner (as they most certainly can do if they try), then the whole thing could be done and dusted in about 3 weeks and the likelihood of gazumping would be far less.

In a volatile housing market, it's the 2 month delay that causes the problem, as prices can move quite dramatically in that time.

The fault lies with the slow and lazy solicitors who haven't improved their efficiency at all in 30 years, despite the fact that the info in most cases is now online.

An example. I am selling (not buying at the moment) and my solicitor wants £50 up front "because we have to supply the buyer with up to date office copies. These have to be purchased from the Land Registry". They are available online to anyone including the buyer's solicitor for £6.

BobProperty

reehsetin wrote:

notes i made during lecture - 'while in negotiations seller may still look for other buyers, is legal but causes distress and buyer has spent time and money, 'lockout' contract is a seperate contract requiring its own consideration where the seller agrees not to speak to other prospective buyers for a while (2/3 months)

thats all i have unfortunatly

Wonder how much that would be? Also could be difficult to enforce or prove breach.
An option (for anyone interested) is the right but not the obligation to buy at a fixed price within a fixed period of time. I have never seen it used, only heard of the theory. I put it to my learned friend that an option is a simpler, and easier to enforce, "tool".