Urgent - buyers pulling out!!

pimento

Well we didn't do anything wrong but it all went t!ts-up on moving day.

We were both moving a long way. Us 40 miles and they were going about 120 miles. He was a complete control freak and said that he simply had to have our money by 10am on completion day as they were travelling so far so as completion day was a Monday, we arranged to borrow our mortgage money from the previous Friday (costing us an extra weekend's interest). We were happy to do that to make sure the process went smoothly.

Come moving day, they had their money by 9.30am. We packed up and moved taking our removal van and our car with our 17 year old cat (mum had our son for the day). We arrived at our house at about 1.30pm to find that the vendor and his wife were still there having a shower. I knocked and asked what the delay was. He said "we haven't heard that we've had your money yet" and shut the door in our face.

I called the estate agent who contacted their solicitor to see if there was a problem with the money and they were at lunch. So we all had to sit in the car/van/cat basket for another hour while they took their sweet time getting out. Our old cat had been cooped up for about four hours by then and had soiled the basket but I couldn't let her out.

Finally, they came out of the house at about 3pm smug as you like having used all our hot water. They got the full hairy eyeball treatment from me and I saw her carry out the box with ribbon and champagne out past us.

Shame they forgot to forward their mail...

Wyndham

I do have some sympathy with your buyers. They have been waiting and waiting and are now fed up. Your problems with your purchase are not their problem, and if they feel they have been messed about then I can see why they are making ulitmatums.

Taking the lightbulbs will just confirm to them them that you were messing them about....

I know it's not your fault either, but it must be harder for them being a step removed from it all....

getmore4less

pimento wrote: »

Finally, they came out of the house at about 3pm smug as you like having used all our hot water

It was their hot water,

You take readings of all the utilities when you take actual possesion and submit those

pimento

It was their mail too but they never got it.

andie_303

Wyndham wrote: »

I do have some sympathy with your buyers. They have been waiting and waiting and are now fed up. Your problems with your purchase are not their problem, and if they feel they have been messed about then I can see why they are making ulitmatums.

Taking the lightbulbs will just confirm to them them that you were messing them about....

I know it's not your fault either, but it must be harder for them being a step removed from it all....

Hi Wyndham I get this I really do however, we have not messed them around. We have not commited to a date and then not fulfilled - had thia happened i would fully get reasons for such an ultimatum. The last conversation had between solicitors was that the completion would take place "the week BEGINNING 7th January" now it has to happen ON the 7th of not at all. I feel there is an element if goalpost moving here.

andie_303

pimento wrote: »

Well we didn't do anything wrong but it all went t!ts-up on moving day.

We were both moving a long way. Us 40 miles and they were going about 120 miles. He was a complete control freak and said that he simply had to have our money by 10am on completion day as they were travelling so far so as completion day was a Monday, we arranged to borrow our mortgage money from the previous Friday (costing us an extra weekend's interest). We were happy to do that to make sure the process went smoothly.

Come moving day, they had their money by 9.30am. We packed up and moved taking our removal van and our car with our 17 year old cat (mum had our son for the day). We arrived at our house at about 1.30pm to find that the vendor and his wife were still there having a shower. I knocked and asked what the delay was. He said "we haven't heard that we've had your money yet" and shut the door in our face.

I called the estate agent who contacted their solicitor to see if there was a problem with the money and they were at lunch. So we all had to sit in the car/van/cat basket for another hour while they took their sweet time getting out. Our old cat had been cooped up for about four hours by then and had soiled the basket but I couldn't let her out.

Finally, they came out of the house at about 3pm smug as you like having used all our hot water. They got the full hairy eyeball treatment from me and I saw her carry out the box with ribbon and champagne out past us.

Shame they forgot to forward their mail...

Nice people I'd have let my cat leave them a "present" on their car

Ivana_Tinkle

I went through the exact same thing last spring. My advice: try to accommodate your unreasonable buyers if you possibly can because it's just awful going back to square one, and when you find a second buyer you spend the whole time expecting this sale to go !!!!-up too.

Secondly, get your solicitor to check with their solicitor that your buyers are actually ready to exchange (ie mortgage offer ready, signed contracts at the solicitor's office, cleared funds ready to go). Our mad buyers were issuing ultimatums to our EA about pulling out if we didn't exchange within 24 hours when they hadn't even signed the contracts or transferred the deposit to their solicitor yet - they weren't ready to exchange either, but were too thick to understand that!

pimento

I forgot to say that their stuff had long gone. We passed it on the road as we entered the village with our van. Theirs was instantly recognisible by the classic car they were having transported along with their moving van so the only reason they had to still be in the house was well, nothing really.

andie_303

They are ready they signed contracts yesterday apparently.

Alias_Omega

How well do you get on with the buyers?

Maybe they are living on the sofa of a friends house, and want a house to move into.

If you sell earlier than your new house is ready, you will be living on the sofa of a friends house. You could put your stuff into storage and live in a local B&B/hotel for a few weeks. Not perfect, but could be factored into the cost of buying/selling/moving.

If the buyers live local, you could invite them around for a drink/some food etc and be as open as you can about your chain, exactly how its getting on and how can you help them.

If both the seller & the buyer know exactly how it lays, the people in the middle (EA/Solicitors) cannot bend the truth and both can put them straight.