Buyer won't sign contract

kazbrett

You guys have all cheered me up! Thanks. Whilst I wouldn't lower my principles to his by buying fish and leaving in strategic places, I won't be cutting the grass, sweeping the garage/patios, cleaning the oven or even hoovering. Plus if he wants to come measure up between exchange and completion, then the answer to that will be that its not convenient. If he'd been any sort of a decent individual, then I would have left a bottle of wine with a moving-in card - that's no longer needed. We also have a brilliant social life with our neighbours and will see them regularly, so will definitely be filling them in on the situation. Losing some of the window lock keys etc sounds like a good idea though...

dodger1

With the simple fact you have other interested potential buyers I would tell him no deal, we go ahead with what was originally agreed or the sale is off. If you really don't want the hassle this may bring just make sure the items no longer work when you move out. Personally I'm too stubborn for this kind of wind up, nobody is going to get one over on me after making an agreement. Oh and don't forget if you agree to the demands he may in a few days just before completion say knock another £1000 off or I pull out.

sonastin

On the theme of really petty revenge...
Unplug the items before you leave. Cut the plug off and shorten the wire so that it just doesn't quite reach the nearest plug socket. Re-wire the plug.

Alternatively, find a similar item for sale on e-bay. Forward a link to that item to the estate agent and ask them to pass it on. Tell him that you are taking YOUR fridge/washing machine and he can find his own with little effort. If he doesn't play ball, buy the stuff off e-bay for him.

kazbrett

dodger1 wrote: »

With the simple fact you have other interested potential buyers I would tell him no deal, we go ahead with what was originally agreed or the sale is off. If you really don't want the hassle this may bring just make sure the items no longer work when you move out. Personally I'm too stubborn for this kind of wind up, nobody is going to get one over on me after making an agreement. Oh and don't forget if you agree to the demands he may in a few days just before completion say knock another £1000 off or I pull out.

Can I buyer ask for money to be knocked off before completion? Once we've exchanged, I assume he can't do that?

dodger1

kazbrett wrote: »

Can I buyer ask for money to be knocked off before completion? Once we've exchanged, I assume he can't do that?

To be honest I don't know, so let's say before exchange then.

nomoneytoday

Why not get another fridge and washing machine 2nd hand or freecycle?

go_cat

kazbrett wrote: »

Can I buyer ask for money to be knocked off before completion? Once we've exchanged, I assume he can't do that?

Nothing can be altered after exchange of contracts

LittleMissAspie

sonastin wrote: »

On the theme of really petty revenge...
Unplug the items before you leave. Cut the plug off and shorten the wire so that it just doesn't quite reach the nearest plug socket. Re-wire the plug.

Ooh that's good.

I'm sure that when buying a house the contract can't specify WHICH fridge-freezer is left, just A fridge-freezer. Get one off freecycle (the scummier the better) and leave it behind for him. Same with the washing machine. There'll be absolutely nothing he can do about it.

phoebe1989seb

We had a similar situation with the buyers of our house last year, but it was the EA at fault. Our EA that had dealt with our sale was on a day off the day our buyers offered and the buyers stipulated three items were left behind apart from the obvious.....

1) a custom made large iron light fitting in a room with a vaulted ceiling.....we agreed

2) a hand built granite topped island unit....we agreed

3) the 'aga'.....we agreed

It was only just prior to exchange that we realised a mistake had been made when our buyers referred to our Rangemaster oven as the 'aga' - we did also have a real aga supplying heating etc.

We were not happy as this had cost £2000 and even second hand they can go for up to £1000.

The buyers threatened to withdraw and eventually our EA gave us the princely sum of £250 towards a new oven as they admitted that the guy in the office the day their offer came in had got confused about the aga and oven as he had never been to our property and the sale went ahead......

Definitely not worth losing a sale for in my opinion......

botchjob

As someone else suggested, if the make/model of the fridge n WM aren’t specified in the fixtures and fittings list – or noted in the particulars or in any of the photos – then there is nothing to stop you buying clapped out replacements to leave.

But at the end of the day it’s a negotiation. Do a deal. Move on.

That said, our buyers behaved so badly in the run up to exchange and completion that I got very petty about a few things. We were moving to a doer upper so I ended up replacing lots of high-end fixtures and fittings (not specified in any of the particulars or photos) and replacing them with B&Q cheapo rubbish.

Gawd, the buying/selling process brings out the very worst in people….