Arrgh I give up why did I bother to buy

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

We had a demanding buyer when we moved 6 months ago,there was only 4 of us in the chain but because he didnt want to move until a certain time which was 5 months(although he didnt mention it until) after we and everyone else in the chain had started spending on surveys ect.
He said that we would all have to realise that there was no way he wanted to move till this date and that if the sale fell through then there was other houses.He didnt do his survey ect till much later.We didnt want to go through all the viewings ect. again so we had to stick with it.I wanted to murder him and dont know how I kept my temper everytime he rang to check this and that.We had so much work to do on our new house and just wanted in in the early summer,despite telling him this he just said glad its not me.
The thing is ,is that there are selfish people who like this man will not budge and unfortunatly there is not much apart from pulling out and losing a lot of money you can do about it.
I hope you get sorted soon,moving is stressful enough without problems like this.

jodenice

Ok well talking sensibly I'm not going to start throwing financial threats about I think, we do like this house and its not long now til we move. I'd be devastated if they called my bluff and took it off the market, especially as I've been waiting in limbo since September last year.

I am not prepared however, to give way any more than I already have and sent the estate agent this to pass on ....'I think you will agree that we have tried to be accommodating on all points but on this point I think, for the sake of our timescales and Marks new job we will NOT be allowing the move to take place on a Saturday and would require vacant possession for the weekend.

Does that sound polite but firm?

MJMum

If they want to move on a weekend, that's fine, but they'll have to wait until the following Monday to receive your money, and for you to be able to move in! Hope someone has pointed this out to them.

Catmeister

JoDenice they can move on the weekend - just make sure it's the weekend before you complete! :rotfl:

Maybe they should ask to move into their next house before they've completed if they're that desperate :rotfl: :rotfl: ! (Saying that, my parents suceeding in doing this, but as the house had stood empty for two years and the reason for access was primarily to re-carpet and decorate, the vendors (children of deceased homeowner) probably realized that the house price would only improve if my parents did pull out before completion!)

They're being unbelieveable s***s, and regardless of whether this behaviour is "normal" or not (I've only bought one house - took forever but in the end the vendors agreed to move in with family) it's still out of order. I'd say you're right not to threaten with penalties - sounds like you want this sale more than them, so unfortuantely you're at a bargaining disadvantage. Can you push forward for exchange so at least you've got more rights?

One option (not to be offered unless vendor kicks up big fuss and asks for further delays - from your posts doesn't sound that unlikely unfortunately)which may be a compromise is to allow for a Saturday 'completion' - basically agree to complete on the Friday, but allow them until 12pm on Sat to move out. This should give them enough time for the movers to leave with all their stuff, and you can have a lie in before heading over with your movers to unpack all your stuff. As this would be a massive goodwill gesture on your part you could make sure that they pay any extra costs incurred by you (eg extra rent for Friday night.) You could still request all keys handed in on the Friday - they only need to leave on the Sat, not return so why would they need keys to your house?

Maybe the above would be fraught with legal options - doozergirl etc please pick holes if appropriate! Just thought of it whilst mid reply, and if it's the only thing to push the sale thru, may be an idea as a last resort.

Best of luck with it all though (and keep us posted) - and I really hope you do move early March!

PS My new job has 3 months training and I'm not allowed AL during this time - I wonder if it's the same as your OH?!

Catmeister

PS Mrstittlemouse what a horrible vendor! Scary to think there are such offensive people out there who still manage to get exactly what they want! Still hopefully with his next move he'll be gazumped or some such!

silvercar

I doubt a solicitor would allow someone to complete on a friday but not move out til Saturday. The property has to come with vacant possession.

Catmeister

zzzLazyDaisy wrote:

The fact is that people do mess about when buying/selling houses, for all sorts of reasons. No wonder it is up there with bereavement and divorce as one of the most stressful things a person can go through.

Of course what you can do is wait till the day before exchange and then say (through your solicitor) that you have been put to lots of additional expense as a result of the delays and make a revised offer of a reduced price.

zzzLazyDaisy I can't believe you're actually condoning the 'messing' about, thus increasing the stressfulness of the process! On my mother's last move the buyers did precisely this - they got a massively expensive survey which showed damp. My mother contested this, and in the end had to pay for two further investigations to show that in fact the house was free of damp. Then, the day before the exchange they lowered their offer by £2,000 - for no reason other than they couldn't afford it. It seemed that they'd got such a comprehensive survey in the hope that it would lower the price, and were so money grabbing that even tho there was nothing wrong with the house, they weren't prepared to pay their full offer price. As a recent widow there wasn't much she felt she could do except accept the reduced offer - the moving date was Oct half term, and (as a teacher) and on her own, she knew she wouldn't be able to otherwise move until Feb half term. They knew all of this, including the fact that she was forced to downscale as result of her reduced financial circumstance - they were just completely heartless. (And they had the £ - passed the house a year later and they've nearly doubled the house with a massive extension - when they bought it 'twas already the biggest house in the road tho - fools!)

Whilst OP does of course have grounds to reduce her offer in that she's incurred extra expenses, this should be brought up now, if ever, not the day before exchange - it won't just affect her but the vendors vendor too - frankly it's just not fair!

Catmeister

Silvercar surely by the point of completion the house is yours, and so you can do as you like with it? Just as you can purchase a btl property with tenants already in? Please correct as before - have no legal knowledge on this - just applying logic.

silvercar

If you buy a house you have to be given vacant possession; any solicitor will advise you not to allow the previous owner to stay another day. There is the risk you could end up going to court to evict them!

BTL with tenants is a bit different as the tenants have a contract to be there, your purchase contract will include transfering the tennacy agreement to you and you are not buying with a residential mortgage.

In answer to your point, with these sellers, I would be tempted to say exchange and you can stay another day, then after exchange tell them the solicitor won't allow it so they'll have to go on the Friday.

Catmeister

silvercar wrote:

If you buy a house you have to be given vacant possession; any solicitor will advise you not to allow the previous owner to stay another day. There is the risk you could end up going to court to evict them!

BTL with tenants is a bit different as the tenants have a contract to be there, your purchase contract will include transfering the tennacy agreement to you and you are not buying with a residential mortgage.

In answer to your point, with these sellers, I would be tempted to say exchange and you can stay another day, then after exchange tell them the solicitor won't allow it so they'll have to go on the Friday.

Good point, and upon thinking about it, this really is probably a lot more trouble than worth because of the potential difficulty, so I withdraw the suggestion! (Would edit it out, but later comments wouldn't make sense.) Not sure the way to go is to lead them on tho - why not just explain that as you can't complete on a weekend, you don't see how vendors suggestion is feasible unless she is prepared to move out before completion. This is of course the same case with everyone, so whilst the vendor may use it as a reason to drag feet, it shouldn't make the difference between using OP or readvertising, so don't see why it wouldn't be mentioned until after exchange, other than p***ing the vendor off.