House sold, awaiting exchange, awkward buyer, advice pretty please :)

paradilly

Hi,

I would really appreciate some advice from the experts. My life is hell at the moment, i think Im close to haveing a heart attack from the stress!

We are selling our house. The surveys etc. have been completed and we were told that on the 3rd that the contracts have been drawn up and about ready for exchange.
Exchange did not take place all that week and it was left until Tuesday when we were informed that the buyer would like to exchange and complete this coming Wednesday (19th, a week later).

I should point out that we have already agreed on a price of less than what it is worth for a quick sale.

We were not happy with this as we would have fully commited before the exchange of contracts, fearing this was a ploy to gazunder. It turned out to be true as we demanded contract exchange for today (Friday 14th) in order for completion on wednesday upon which his solicitor told us that he had change his mind and the property was only worth £15,000 less than the agreed price. We declined his offer and instructed to put the house back on sale if he didnt change his mind and pay the full (discounted) price.

Eventually, half an hour before the close of play, he agreed to pay the full price again, that was yesterday (Thursday 13th).
Because of the delay we cannot now complete until the new year however he has stated that he will exchange on Monday 17th BUT wants us to be fully moved out of the property by Wednesday 19th or will pull out of the deal.

The guy who is buying the house turns out to be from a property management firm and although some of this is out of my hands (we are living in an inherited house and the executor is pulling the strings) we are now waiting for the contracts to be exchanged on Monday. This means we have to get ready for Monday by packing all weekend but we are determined not to start the actual move (hire the vans and storage) until the contracts have exchange.

What do you guys and girls make of all this? His behaviour is weird and we dont trust him but what could he gain by doing this? What is your guess what will happen?

Any insight MUCHLY MUCHLY appreciated.

Thanks,

moneyistooshorttomention

What a little "darling" (not!) he turned out to be.

First he promises you a quick sale in return for a reduced price and then turns round last minute and does a try-on for even less!

In that case - you owe him nothing ...but nothing....

Promise him what he wants to hear - ie exchange on this date and that you will comply with his (totally unreasonable) demand to be out so soon after to suit him.

BUT....once you have safely exchanged....then "Oh...whooops...oh my....butterfingers....THEIR fault" (decide who "they" will be - solicitor, removal firm, etc - take your pick...) as to just why you cannot be out until the date YOU decide.

That would be my tactic if I'd caught a b****** rather than a normal buyer (if I possibly could that is).

Not sure whether the "completion date" is set in stone at exchange - which would tend to mean you cant follow that tactic. Even if it is - what realistically could he do? Could he sue you? Would he sue you? Does he have any comeback at all with you if you don't comply with letting him have things all his own way (bar that even lower price the little "darling" was trying for)?

Right now in your position - I would have gritted teeth and held my nerve and bargained I would win against his attempt to gazunder - so congratulations that you did that and won. Pat yourself on the back for not giving way and falling for it there.

Then check whether he has any realistic chance of doing a comeback at you for not being out when it suits him.

Good luck.

PS; You say "little darling" is working for a property management firm. Any chance of googling for any useful info. that you might be able to use against him? He must have tried this particular tactic before now and someone somewhere might just have put something up on the Internet about it if you're lucky and, if you're very lucky, they won at the next hurdle he puts up.

paradilly

Thanks for the reply,

Its great to know that there are still good humans out there willing to help others for no comeback, you are restoring my faith in humanity which has been waining recently as you may guess!

I suppose all hangs on whether he does actually exchange on Monday.

I see what you say about agreeing to everything until he has exchanged which I certainly will do but I still cant see what he is up to. Is he just trying to make us suffer for the failed gazunder attempt?

If the exchange and completion was on Wednesday then I would guess that he would be trying to get us to not be out in time and then sue but the completion wont be until the new year. The thought has even crossed my mind that the property could be vandalised (free new windows for him as an example) in between but it turns out its his responsibility if it is (we also have house insurance BTW).

As far as I can see we will have no comeback, unless of course we are not moved out by the new year (we will easily be) and there is nothing legally forcing us to be completely moved out by wednesday..

Thanks again for the response, oh and for the pat

paradilly

Sorry, just read your ps. I know his name, address and the name of the company but nothing seems to come up on google. I do also know that he has 7 foot high gates to his house with big "this house is being monitored by security" notices on it, all his neighbours have a standard 4 foot driveway gate so go figure...

Thanks again.

Paddles

Just wanted to offer my sympathy. I had a similar thing when I sold my house. I sold really cheaply and they still kept trying to knock money off (I was in negative equity by time they had finished but really needed the sale to complete). They really made my life hell and whereas, when I sold my previous house I left a moving in bottle of wine and card for my lovely buyer, for these horrible people I left them nothing and hope they are truly miserable in their new home.

I think the problem with selling cheaply is people then realise how much you want to sell and feel they can apply pressure to get even more money off.

Strong belief in karma is all that keeps me going when dealing with people like these!!!

Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you

Better_Days

paradilly wrote: »

Eventually, half an hour before the close of play, he agreed to pay the full price again, that was yesterday (Thursday 13th).
Because of the delay we cannot now complete until the new year however he has stated that he will exchange on Monday 17th BUT wants us to be fully moved out of the property by Wednesday 19th or will pull out of the deal.

Very strange. My understanding is that the property is yours until you complete, so you do not have to get out until then. I wonder if your buyer has made arrangements to have work done and wants to access the property before completion. You should not permit this as this will alter the condition of the property between exchange and completion. He could damage the property between exchange and completion and then try and get the price reduced again.

Call his bluff again. The property will not be his until completion so it doesn't matter whether you are there or not. IVO your buyers demands I would stay in the property until completion.

Your solicitor will be able to advise you regarding failure to complete after exchange, suffice to say it very rarely happens as there are significant financial penalties.

Don't forget that your buyer has also invested in this purchase through solicitors fees, survey etc, so he has something to lose too.

I really feel for you, stay strong and I do hope this is all sorted out soon.

Ivana_Tinkle

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

BUT....once you have safely exchanged....then "Oh...whooops...oh my....butterfingers....THEIR fault" (decide who "they" will be - solicitor, removal firm, etc - take your pick...) as to just why you cannot be out until the date YOU decide.

What appallingly bad advice. Failing to complete would cost the OP thousands.

Your buyer is a git. All you can do is try to keep your head and don't spend any money or energy on removals etc until you've actually exchanged. I'd tell you to put your house back on the market in the meantime but there's not a lot of point until after Christmas.

artbaron

Personally I wouldn't deal with him at all, but of course that's up to you. I can't imagine he'd play these games and make absurd demands about you vacating your own home only to play it straight for the rest of the process. He has something nasty up his sweaty striped sleeve, you can be sure of that.

Yorkie1

He cannot demand that you vacate before you have completed. Until that point the property remains yours and he has no rights to demand anything.

What a bully.

terryw

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terryw

Ivana_Tinkle wrote: »

What appallingly bad advice. Failing to complete would cost the OP thousands.

Your buyer is a git. All you can do is try to keep your head and don't spend any money or energy on removals etc until you've actually exchanged. I'd tell you to put your house back on the market in the meantime but there's not a lot of point until after Christmas.

The OP is not wanting to fail to complete or even intending to do so or even thinking about this. Completion is not until the new year.