Infuriating, illogical reason for not wanting to exchange contracts

G_M

Buying property, especially when as a home rather than an investment (BTL etc), is always stressful. It's up there with marriage and divorce.

It's also unpredictable. Nothing is certain until the ink has dried. Neither the timing, nor the costs.

Yes, people let you down, make apparant promises about their timescales, or assure you the boiler is tip-top whn it isn't blah blah andmore.

You just have to suck it up.... or walk away.

so your options are
* to pull out,
* insist on the date you want (and risk being told no),
* or negotiate the date

wolvesman89

I've had bad news about the biggest thing I've done in my life and didnt feel it was very tactful to be what i saw was condescending and rude to be honest. I'm having a crisis of confidence in this chain and my own personal situation means I have to try to find a way of getting this completed in the next couple of weeks. I'm not necessarily saying I'm paying interest only when I'm on a repayment mortgage (total payments still £260 including capital payments) but clearly the remainder of the payments will benefit me as my balance will be reducing rather than it going into my landlords pocket.

I have a no completion no fee fixed arrangement with my solicitor where I would lose £250 if I pulled out. I would lose £215 for the valuation fee. Other than that, that's about it.

I'm annoyed because I don't want to be messed about, and my gut instinct is that this person may, when we get to July, delay further. That will cost me even more, when I could find another property with less hassle (no chain property just gone on the market in same street). I don't think the person is very interested in this sale as clearly if you're willing for the chain collapse for the sake of a small inconvenient of moving before a holiday you obviously don't care!

wolvesman89

Ok G_M, thanks for you response and I'm sorry for flying off the handle at you, just had a bad day and was hoping to find the best way forward.

G_M

mrginge wrote: »

Was going to offer an opinion. Don't think I'll bother after that.

Don't hold back mrginge. You're opinion is as valid as anyone's (and likely to be more diplomatic than mine..).

OP's response is stress and frustration. Like I said: property, marriage, divorce....

wolvesman89

I agree with G_M, mrginge your input would be highly appreciated and I again apologise for my reaction, as G_M said just pure frustration.

POPPYOSCAR

Like others have said moving home is one of the most stressful things you can do in life.

We had someone pull out just before exchange simply because they changed their mind about moving.

We also had another time, an agreement that on payment of a non refundable deposit we were 'guaranteed' the property which turned out to not be worth the paper it was written on.

All you can do is threaten to pull out, this might make them change their minds if they think you are serious.

Good luck!

mrcow

Really, there is nothing that blustering away to an estate agent or solicitor is going to achieve.

You are a very small link in the chain. If it all falls through becasue of some vacant ultimatum then you're going to lose out on your house full stop (let along one extra month's rent).

Moving house is stressful. But once you're in and settled in 3 months time, this will all seem like a distant memory.

Just roll with the punches. House buying is notoriously stressful. You've not even exchanged yet. It could get a lot worse before it gets better. Take it on the chin and enjoy your holiday. In the big scheme of things, this is not a big problem.

pmlindyloo

I can totally understand your frustration as we had only us and our buyer in a chain and timing didn't go to plan.

We put we needed 4 weeks between exchange and completion and this wasn't 'noticed'/passed on to our buyer. The buyers wanted an earlier date because they were going on holiday (first we'd heard of it!)

Communication was a nightmare so I can imagine with 5 in the chain it must be horrendous.

In the end it has to be about compromise. Only you can decide which option to go for. I suspect you knew your options (if you didn't then you certainly do now!) and was just looking for a 'rant' and possibly a miracle, wave your wand and it will all be OK.

Do you love this house enough for you to be the one to be the 'bigger man' or do you just want to teach someone a lesson because they are taking the p**s and this is more important than getting the house you want. Or don't you mind pulling out and then starting all over again?

By the time you sort this out the exchange and completion date will have been put back even more.

G_M

wolvesman89 wrote: »

...

...my gut instinct is that this person may, when we get to July, delay further.

Why not propose Exchanging now with a July Completion date. It may not be ideal, but at least you get the certainty of a contractually binding date.

mrginge

Ok.
If you are prepared to pull out over this then make the threat. But do not bottle it if you get called out.
However, you are in a chain of 5. You can maybe influence your vendor slightly, but in reality you have to accept delays given that anything could happen to someone further up the chain. Instead of antagonising people i would sit back, pay the rent, enjoy the nice weather and have a large gin and tonic.
When you buy the house you will have plenty of opportunities to get stressed out about maintaining and repairing the bleeding thing.