Seller demanding exchange timeframe that can't be met

kingstreet

So you're dealing with a property developer/builder who is trying to get a 28 day exchange, with a longer completion?

The same logic still applies, if their solicitors don't get everything to yours in good time, you can't impose a schedule which is unmeetable.

warmer_2

Road_Hog wrote: »

Having sold a property recently, I have lost patience with buyers. The buyer had the survey done in early November and when I chased up in January, I was told we couldn't exchange because the wife of the buyer had gone on holiday for the whole month. It was only when I instructed the estate agents to remarket the property, that he got a panic on and got the exchange/completion done in a week.

I thought I already said, we can't move faster, their solicitors haven't answered our solicitors questions, there are still mistakes in contracts, unexplained lease information etc, our solicitors asked 18 questions within a week of the first searches coming back. At no point has anyone our side delayed anything.

ognum

warmer wrote: »

I thought I already said, we can't move faster, their solicitors haven't answered our solicitors questions, there are still mistakes in contracts, unexplained lease information etc, our solicitors asked 18 questions within a week of the first searches coming back. At no point has anyone our side delayed anything.

Does the vendor have an EA? My tactic is to keep the EA fully informed and if the vendor doesn't answer questions promptly or there are errors Ian contract I email the EA and ask them to lean on the vendor.

This has always worked for me and often the vendor has not been told the situation by their lawyer.

Try it!

G_M

Stop being negative by telling him his proposed date is impossible (even though you know it is).

Try positive: "Yes, that would be great. I'm really pushing my solicitor on my side and hope we can exchange next week too. Is everything going smoothly your end? Has your solicitor sent back the xxx? Fingers crossed and we'll be moving in soon. I'm so excited"

When nothing happens in a week, you blame the solicitors who won't let you Exchange.

agrinnall

Tell him that if he want to ask you any questions in future then he should do so through your solicitor, and tell your solicitor not to pass on any questions that aren't capable of being answered.

sonastin

You say that they have sold several properties already? This might be the tactic that they have developed through the experience of those other sales. The previous buyers might have been tardy and dragging their feet and the vendor had to keep making threats to keep things moving. Roll onto your purchase and the vendor is tarring you with the same brush.

It is never wise to believe the other party "must know..." simply because they have been told or you think they've been here before. They may be having trouble understanding the message or they might be getting mixed/completely different messages from other parties in the transaction. The other situation could have been completely different to this one.

As G_M said, you'll have a better chance of influencing him if you agree that you want the same thing and tell him you think that the ball is in his court to make it happen. If his solicitor is telling him that he's waiting for something from your side (perfectly possible - its a 2 way transaction and they can both be waiting on different things) and you are telling him what he wants is impossible, he's probably forming a picture that you're not wanting this sale to go through. You can't influence the exchange date but you can change the picture he's seeing.

Thrugelmir

Tell the vendor to speak to their solicitor. Refuse to speak to them directly liaise through the EA if neccessary.

warmer_2

It sounds like we have done everything right then, we did say we want to exchange as quickly as possible and if we can do that in the next couple of weeks great but that we can't say next week when his solicitors are yet to supply all the information requested and needed.

We really don't want to pull out but if it's the seller tactic to gets us to move quicker it's a bad one as it's just made us feel very unsure of him.

SmlSave

Road_Hog wrote: »

I know this is going to sound quite harsh but I don't see what your problem is
If the offer went in a month ago, then that is plenty of time to get the survey done and the searches returned. What else is it you are waiting for?

Some people just don't bother reading the original post!


I would refuse to speak to the seller directly from now on OP and tell them to go through their solicitors.

go_cat

I hope there isn't something they don't want the solicitor to challenge hence rushing it through