First Time Buyer HELP!!! PLEASE!!!

petchy

Hi Folks,

I just wondered what you thought of this situation we are in. We are first time buyers and have had an offer accepted on a house. The vendors said when we went round it wouldn’t be a problem for them to move into her parents house if we were purchasing the place. We have just had the survey done on the property, and low and behold, we got a phone call from the estate agents to say moving into the parents house is no longer feasible, and they were looking to move straight into a house that they were going to buy.

It seems to me that this has always been the case, and now that we have started to pay out things that they are beginning to play games…or is that me being cynical. I mean we are first time buyers, and in rush really to get into the house, however we’d like to be in sooner rather than later, as this process could potentially take months!

We know the people selling the house are looking, as they did go to see a friend of ours property a few weeks ago….

Can anyone advise on the situation??? Or can I have anyone’s opinion on what to do in this scenario?

Please help!!!!!

Thanks

rach29

Grr, I hate it when people do this. As you say, they probably had no intention of ever moving out to parents.
There are a couple of things I would do in this situation;

1) call the selling Agent and ask to view other properties (thus letting them know you are prepared to let this one go, even if you aren't)

2) Discuss with the selling agent lowering your offer. (Remember the circumstances have changed, you made your offer based on the fact that you would not be in a chain and now you will be) This probably wont result in a lower offer being accepted but it will keep the Agent & Vendors on their toes!

3) Ask your Solicitor to put everything on hold at present to avoid paying any further fees (unless you have a no purchase no fee deal)

This is what I would do & others may have different ideas/opinions & they will no doubt be along to offer them soon.

Try not to get too stressed, it's REALLY hard when you have your heart set on a property, but (if neccessary) like busses there will be another one along soon....

chant1l

I agree it is annoying when people change their minds (and it regularly happens for all sorts of reasons) but getting mad /angry or even will only add to the stress. You can add extra pressure to the process by renegotiating/threatening to pull out etc but this will not necessarily get the result you want or change the circumstances.
You are now in a chain, where the purchase above you may have several above it (when they find a house) point out to the agent that this does not suit you and that whilst you are still happy to buy the house at the agreed money, you will be looking elsewhere as you need to secure a "concrete" deal.
Whilst you don't want to upset anyone you don't wish to be left dangling....

This may act as a catalyst for your vendor to act or change his gameplan, and allows you to keep looking without burning any bridges.

petchy

Thanks for that!

At the moment with the solicitors we have signed forms confirming they are our solicitors, but we haven’t paid them for anything yet….as they haven’t done anything! I’ve sent a cheque to them to hold on to for land registry fees but to hold that back.

Do you think it would be feasible to give the vendors a date to complete, and if not either invoke some kind of financial penalty….or something along those lines?

rach29

I doubt very much your Vendors would agree to that. What's in it for them?

As Chant says, keep looking whilst keeping your options open. Whenever I've lost out on a purchase I've always found something I liked better. Remember your Vendor probably doesn't want to lose you either!

petchy

Well to agree a date shows a commitment that they are going to sell!

If they dont then they obviously dont get the sale!

We have already paid for a survey! so it seems they have waited until we did this to tell us that they werent moving, which is very sneaky!

there must be something we can do! ideas please!!!!!

rach29

I understand you frustration Petchy, but if they agreed to a date when they haven't even found a property yet would leave them in a terrible position.

We have already paid for a survey! so it seems they have waited until we did this to tell us that they werent moving, which is very sneaky!

Indeed! Unfortunately many buyers behave in this way in order to safeguard their sale. It isn't nice & I don't believe it's right but I really can't think of a way to combat this other than to try my suggestions in post 2.

Maybe someone on here will come along with some other suggestions for you, I hope so but either way GOOD LUCK

petchy

yes i hope some one can come up with something!!

The only thing is before we put the offer in they said they could move no probs....now that we have had our survey that all of a sudden has changed!!

Doozergirl

Not much you can do. I do think you shouldn't do any more towards the sale until they find somewhere with a complete chain. What you don't want to do is continue spending money if the worst case scenario heppens and tey don't find anywhere.

In the meantime, do keep looking because it won't hurt. A mortgage company *may* sometimes waive a second valuation fee if the first falls through.

I would point out to your vendors that saying things just to please you, has in this case, only proven to upset you. It would be sensible therefore for them to be completely honest with you if they want this transaction to proceed.

I do bang on about this, because honesty is the only way to get through a house sale/purchase relatively unscathed.

Don't put time constraints on anyone, by the way. It's neither you nor them in control of the conveyancing, so you can't be the ones to dictate. You'll end up disappointed again and it becomes a viscious circle by that point.

petchy

Yeah i mean we have been honest, and have been hit through our honesty!!!

I just think there must be something or other than we can do!!!

epz_2

given the time of year you probably got a better price than if you were to buy in mid spring but think about it like this.

if they screw you about for a couple of months then similar houses will likely have increased in value more than any survay cost (1) so dont be afraid to cut and run to get one discounted by less interest in winter, hell two weeks rent is likely more than the survay cost.


(1) well at least till rates go up again, look at me predicing houseprice rises lol even if they are just seasonal ones