aargh - sellers messing us about

trailingspouse

Signed contract and paid deposit to conveyancers two weeks ago. At the time they reckoned completion would be 'any day now'. Today I'm told that they are still waiting for confirmation that the vendors have signed the contract.
When we went for our second viewing, the vendors voluntarily told us that they hadn't yet found a place, but would go into rented accommodation once their house was sold, so we needn't worry about there being a chain. After I'd spoken to our conveyancers this afternoon, I rang the vendors' estate agent, and was told that they have now found a place to buy, and want the two deals to go through on the same day. Well, it would have been nice to have been told.
Is there anything I can do? Don't want to scupper the eventual purchase of the house, as it's perfect - but a bit miffed that what should have been fairly straight forward is now dependent on their own purchase going through. What if the people they are buying off also need to find somewhere?? Would it be worthwhile saying 'We want to complete by x date' and seeing what the reaction is? Any other suggestions as to how to speed things up? We've done everything in good faith, and in a timely fashion, and now I'm wondering if there's anything else they told us that might not be entirely accurate.

martinsurrey

Well since you love the house they have you over a barrel...
If you would really walk away you could do anything you wanted, as I guess they now want the purchase to go through.

I am thinking along the lines of "Exchange by XX date and and give a completion date which is before XX date, or my purchase price drops by £70 a day (£490 a week) to cover increased costs and associated expenses, or I walk away".

harrup

I am thinking along the lines of "Exchange by XX date and and give a completion date which is before XX date, or my purchase price drops by £70 a day (£490 a week) to cover increased costs and associated expenses, or I walk away".
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Yowsa, martinsurrey, that is spectacularly bad and dicey advice. No offense but...seriously?!

I'm not into being coerced and blackmailed. MOST people aren't. Are you?

If somebody spoke to me like that...unless my house was a dungeon which I had no hope in hell to sell to anyone else...I would call it quits on the current sale proceedings with that buyer. There and then.

Leaving the prior buyer - assuming they still want the house which I believe the OP does - in the highly unenviable position to either grovel like mad to assuage the vendor's indignation ...or to lose the property to maintain their pride. NOT a good place to find oneself in.

harrup

[QUOTE=trailingspouse;60815505
Would it be worthwhile saying 'We want to complete by x date' and seeing what the reaction is? Any other suggestions as to how to speed things up? We've done everything in good faith, and in a timely fashion, and now I'm wondering if there's anything else they told us that might not be entirely accurate.[/QUOTE]

It's DEFINITELY worth stating that you wish to complete by a given date!

As with most things it's not what it said but HOW it's said.

I would advise against feet stomping, throwing-toys-out-of-prams demands, though. Which can backfire.

If you, instead, view it as a normal part of the ongoing negotiation from accepted offer to mutually accepted moving in date, you'll remain calm and in control. Not necessarily in control of the exact day you hoped to move in...but at least it doesn't prevent a respectful dialogue. Absence of which might really hamper a smooth sale.

ash28

martinsurrey wrote: »

Well since you love the house they have you over a barrel...
If you would really walk away you could do anything you wanted, as I guess they now want the purchase to go through.

I am thinking along the lines of "Exchange by XX date and and give a completion date which is before XX date, or my purchase price drops by £70 a day (£490 a week) to cover increased costs and associated expenses, or I walk away".

To be honest if I was the vendor I'd just say....cheerio, enjoy the walk. The house would be back on the market before you could blink.

As a seller I wouldn't be held to ransom by a buyer.

andrea1968_2

If your solicitors are holding your deposit could you perhaps ask what's happening to the lost interest - especially if it does turn into a bit of a lengthy wait......it may be a 'it's going into our coffers thanks very much' answer but you may get a little bit back.

Good luck

Ivana_Tinkle

You need to get on to the estate agent and explain, calmly, how disappointed you are to hear that the house is not chain-free as you were told, and get them to speak to the other agent(s) further up the chain to find out how long the chain is and where each transaction is up to. Don't make any threats, but make it clear that you need the full information so that you can then decide whether you're willing to wait.

Of course the agent will put a very positive spin on the whole thing, but if you can at least find out when the offer was accepted for each transaction in the chain then you've got a vague idea of how long it might take. (eg if your vendor's offer was only accepted this week and their vendor hasn't found a place yet, then it's going to be a seriously long time; if your vendor is buying an empty property and their offer was accepted a month ago then it might not be so bad.)

Once you've got a better idea of what you're dealing with you can decide how angry to be about it! If it's a very long chain, or an incomplete chain, then you can push for the vendor to go into rented as they originally promised, whereas if they're close to exchange on their purchase anyway you're just going to have to wait it out.

martinsurrey

ash28 wrote: »

To be honest if I was the vendor I'd just say....cheerio, enjoy the walk. The house would be back on the market before you could blink.

As a seller I wouldn't be held to ransom by a buyer.

but its okay for a buyer to be held to ransom by a seller?

It’s not normal advice, but this isn’t a normal seller, they've already messed around 3 sets of buyers (so around £6k of other people’s money wasted) and I for one would rather give them an ultimatum, and then get told to shove it, than hang on for months on end to eventually lose it anyway.

At least this way you give them the option to focus their minds, set dates, and stick to them.

If Id said “exchange by this date and complete by this date or I walk since we’ve waited so long already?” would you have said that was “holding them to ransom?” not really, it’s a reality of life that people can’t wait around forever, maybe if the vendors had an idea that time costs money, they would wise up.

ash28

martinsurrey wrote: »

but its okay for a buyer to be held to ransom by a seller?

It’s not normal advice, but this isn’t a normal seller, they've already messed around 3 sets of buyers (so around £6k of other people’s money wasted) and I for one would rather give them an ultimatum, and then get told to shove it, than hang on for months on end to eventually lose it anyway.

At least this way you give them the option to focus their minds, set dates, and stick to them.

If Id said “exchange by this date and complete by this date or I walk since we’ve waited so long already?” would you have said that was “holding them to ransom?” not really, it’s a reality of life that people can’t wait around forever, maybe if the vendors had an idea that time costs money, they would wise up.

No - it was the exchange by xx date or I reduce the offer price by £70 a day.....if I were the seller I'd tell them to get stuffed.

If I were the buyer I'd try to negotiate a date and push for the rental option - whether the seller would feel morally obligated to rent (after having said they would) is another matter.

If the seller was unwilling to negotiate a date or rent then as a buyer I would tell them to get stuffed and live with the loss of money and move on.

We were in a similar situation a number of years ago....we waited 3 months for the seller to find somewhere and we had instructed a solicitor, arranged a mortgage, survey and searches done. We walked away. The house was never actually sold.

Some people are just time wasters - buyers and sellers.

trailingspouse

Aargh.

I will go in to see the estate agents tomorrow, and test the water with a suggested completion date in about a month - that seems reasonable to me, and as I said, we like the house.

Ivana_Tinkle

The problem is that the vendor and agent will both agree that they'll be ready to complete in a month. It's meaningless.

You either throw a strop and tell them they need to go into rented, or you sit patiently and wait. The middle option (wait it out, but keep hassling everyone and getting yourself stressed by imposing deadlines for things that aren't really within people's control) just gives you a lot of grey hairs for no real benefit. I know - I spent much of last summer doing precisely that!