Advice Required: Vendors appear to be delaying

mtjones

Hello,

(first post, bear with me) :-)

We had an offer accepted on a property at the beginning of March and had our lenders survey completed very soon after. The survey brought up an issue with building regs and the lack of doors between the dining room and conservatory and as such the valuation is £3k less than the agreed offer price.

We've tried to get the vendor to drop sale price by £3k but no luck, even offered a 'meet half way' option of a £1.5k but they wont budge. I suspect that the £250k agreed is their magic number for paying off existing mortgage.

Part of the problem and the delay has been that the vendor has never and still does not acknowledge that there are building control issues and is taking the line that the everything is OK and we are simply causing a "fuss over nothing" - they have even suggested in a letter from their solicitor that the surveyor employed by our lender was not local and therefore could not value the property correctly. This is utter nonsense as the surveyor is based a 15 min drive away!?

The next issue is that while all this has been going on (13 weeks) we have completed on our property sale, put our belongings into storage and moved into the in-laws; where as our purchase vendor hasn't even put in an offer on another property!

We are now contemplating meeting the deficit from our mortgage valuation by putting down a larger deposit and hope that by meeting their demand of 250k this will give us a an opportunity to force a quick completion.

My question is how long do we carry on with this debacle before pulling out? We really want this property so are prepared to wait but at the same time we need some assurances from the vendor that they are actually prepared to sell.

How long do we wait until we go give them a "complete in 4 weeks or we're off" ultimatum?

Cheers,
Mike

geoffky

Mike why are you over paying for a house?
Is it that special that you are prepared to pay more than someone is willing to mortgage for?
What are others in the area selling for because unless it is exceptional i would be walking and not looking back..

Desperado99

3 months and they haven't even found a property to move to! I would definitely be looking at other properties by now

mtjones

Thanks for the reply Geoff.

I can see what you are saying (and have had the same thoughts myself)... but we believe that at the current agreed price, even with the few things to be resolved it is still worth the 250k.

It is on arguably the most sort after estate in the area and similar properties on that estate are going for the same money, but tend to be in need of the kitchens and bathrooms being refurbished/modernised where as this one already has that work completed. The attraction for us is definitely the fact we can move in and get on with our lives and just do a bit of decorating hear and there as we go.

The main concern is around weather or not they are serious sellers - on one hand they don't appear to have any intention of moving, but on the other the way they wouldn't budge on even the meet half way proposal suggest that they really do need to move?

mtjones

@Desperado99

We have this weekend been viewing further properties in the area and have informed the EA we would be doing so (might give the vendors a kick) ... but if anything it has just reaffirmed that this one is the one for us. Best balance of location, size, price, standard of decoration etc. by far!

:huh:

more_money_for_me

As you have backed down twice already my feeling is that they feel that they have control of the situation and that you will wait around. I would go and see the estate agent selling the property and tell them that you don't feel that they are serious and that you are looking to pull out, but you are interested in other properties in the same area. Either there will be a sudden rush of activity to persuade you to proceed, or if not, you are right they are not serious about selling, so move on. Another vote here for not overpaying.

Manchee

mtjones wrote: »

The main concern is around weather or not they are serious sellers - on one hand they don't appear to have any intention of moving, but on the other the way they wouldn't budge on even the meet half way proposal suggest that they really do need to move?

Or maybe the way they wouldn't budge on even the meet half way proposal suggests they arent that desperate for you to buy...?

geoffky

Must be hard but they are taking the urine...At what point does it become a deal breaker...You need a walk away strategy that you and your wife agree on because you can not wait around for months and months...Good luck.

mtjones

Thanks for the responses. Good to get some other opinions.

Had a chat with the wife last night and we've agreed that at the moment, considering there is nothing else on the market we would want to make an offer on then we will continue with the purchase process but will be actively be looking for other properties at the same time.

Our message to the vendors will be; we're actively searching for other properties, you need to show us you are serious, the longer you drag it out the more likely it is that something else will come on to the market and we will pull out.

Hopefully this will be enough of a warning/wake up call to focus them on to what their priority really is.

We are comfortable at my wife's parents for the time being and we don't want to jump into a decision on a another property just because we feel this one may be heading to nowhere. This is going to be our family home for the next 20yrs potentially so we need to get the right property and location (schools etc.) for us.

We've budgeted for 4 months of storage and are only 2 weeks into this period right now so will be keeping onto of the EA and vendors solicitors and reviewing our position every few weeks.

Cheers,
Mike

pops5588

I think that's a good plan. There's no point cutting off your nose to spite your face, unfortunately it just seems like you've got lumbered with an awkward Vendor :-(

It sounds like you love the house and it suits you down to the ground. I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end.

Good luck!

motherofstudents

I think you are right to look at other houses. It sounds like the vendors are in no hurry to sell -why would they be as they haven't found a house to buy. If they were desperate to move they would at least meet you half way.