Misrepresented Chain

8iatch

I am in a chain that is going nowhere fast, 5 months down and we still haven't exchanged. When I instructed my Estate Agent I advised that we were in need of a quick sale. The house sold within 2 days and we were told that there were 2 other houses in the chain with the lower house sold. Two months into the sale we were told that there was a 3rd house in the chain which had been sold but he buyer was awaiting a mortgage offer. For 3 months we have been given excuses and reasons as to why we haven't exchanged, this paper missing, this solicitor wants this and now it looks as if it will fall though. The lowest house in the chain has been removed from our chain and completed with the mystery house now taking the lowest part of the chain. I would never have agreed not to put my house on the market if I had been told that there was an additional house in the chain that was not sold. On top of that my estate agent allowed people into the property and some damage has been sustained. Although there was an agent present there were at least 8 people in the property, some upstairs and some downstairs - the agent was not able to watch them all. This was not agreed by me - I feel that the reality of the chain was not disclosed and I have experienced almost half a year of stress - my agent says he was kept in the dark but I don't know how that can be. Do I have some redress on any of the agents if I lose this sale?

DRP

You need to regain some control of the situation (for your own sanity if nothing else).

You hold a lot of leverage at the moment as the EA won;'t be receiving a penny if the sale doesn't go through. I would be making sure that you get an agreement that the damage will be paid for (by the EA) - ie. subtracted from your final bill.

In terms of the chain, at some point you need to put forward a deadline on which you throw your toys out of the pram and pull out, whilst remembering that the next buyer might take just as long...

Procrastinator333

Have a go at getting the EA to pay. You have a case. Just articulate it politely, make the point they were showing people around, they were responsible for your property at the time. You understand accidents happen, but expect them to make good the damage done. Something like that. T&C's you signed that tries to get them out of it. Or they will deny it. But worth a go.

In terms of the chain. My suggestion would be to tell all parties that as of next Monday your house is going back on the market and you will be taking viewings again. And that if anyone makes a similar or better offer you will be moving on without them. That should put a rocket in the right place. Though it does risk someone else in the chain doing something similar and it all falling apart. But after this long and being misled like this, what have you really got to lose?

And personally I would do the re-marketing with a different estate agent to be sure your current one doesn't just not bring people round to view.

Good luck with it.

principlecounts

I can sympathise, I sold my house late October 2014, and had an offer accepted on a house I wanted to buy about a week later. "Solictor's respresentative" who was working with the estate agent, said the process to exchange should all be smooth sailing, should take about a month, as everyone in the chain is going through the same estate agents, before Christmas the latest. Turned out to be b*llocks. I was at the bottom of the chain as our buyers are investors and they aren't in any particular rush, they want our property because they bought a similar property nearby. The next person in the chain was my seller, and the next was the seller's seller. Every week since my offer was accepted, I have been calling the estate agents to get an update, and since December when we were expecting the process to be moving along, we were fobbed off many times. The reality was the person at the top of the chain had been and is currently still looking for a property! It's only recently just been uncovered, and now I don't really get any updates unless I call.

Like DRP says, it's important to take control and set some standards for yourself, after all, you're giving the estate agents a lot of money - make them fulfil their duty! Last week I put a deadline when I will start considering other properties, and I've just confirmed an exchange date to propose via my solicitors. If not met, considering my buyer is content, chain dropped. Next.

8iatch

Tried Deadlines, didn't work, we put the house back on the market in November but it was too close to Christmas then just as we got another bloomin offer the chain restarted and low and behold its all stopped again - I would have more chance of swapping bodies with Megan Fox than I have contracts!

Argghhh

the problem you may have is the wording in your estate agents contract - if they have introduced a buyer who is in a position to proceed then they will expect their fees as its not their fault someone up the chain is causing delays

DRP

Argghhh wrote: »

the problem you may have is the wording in your estate agents contract - if they have introduced a buyer who is in a position to proceed then they will expect their fees as its not their fault someone up the chain is causing delays

From the initial post I am a bit confused about who is on each end of the chain and who is causing problems.

Nevertheless, personally i don't think this kind of clause would be enforceable.

*If it is the buyer who isn't chain free then they aren't a 'ready and able' buyer anyway.
*If it is the onward chain that have misrepresented themselves then it doesn't matter because pulling out of the purchase doesn't affect the OP's sale (ie. the agent's fee is secure).

DRP

8iatch wrote: »

Tried Deadlines, didn't work, we put the house back on the market in November but it was too close to Christmas then just as we got another bloomin offer the chain restarted and low and behold its all stopped again - I would have more chance of swapping bodies with Megan Fox than I have contracts!

You need to follow through on the threat & deadline, then.

kingstreet

Did you report the alleged damage to the agent at the time?

What was the outcome?

AdrianC

The problem isn't the chain, it's the people in it.

My mother's sale looks like it's falling through at the moment. There are precisely two houses, three people and no lenders in the chain. She's buying off somebody moving into rented. Her buyer is, apparently, chain-free and cash. She's downsizing and needs no mortgage.

Her buyer has mucked her about from the get-go, and now - RIGHT before exchange - has said "Oooh, but we haven't had a survey done. Can't possibly exchange in less than a month, or complete before April". Clearly, that's rubbish. The most likely explanation is that they can't raise the money in time.

This is her second buyer. The last one swore blind they were cash and no-chain, too. Then it turned out they did need to sell their house, but hadn't even put it on the market. Then they just disappeared into the ether and stopped returning all calls.