Estate agent - pressure to start searches

Annie1960

pisco wrote: »

Hi all,

More thanks in order, I see! The estate agent did send us a long list of all the survey findings (apparently) and what's been done to correct them.

Any idea how I'd find out about how long searches take in my area, TheCyclingProgrammer? I hadn't factored in local variation in timelines as an issue, to be honest.

All of the estate agents in the area should be very familiar with how long searches take, and they will tell you.

pisco

Things have taken a slightly nightmarish turn today. It transpires the vendor has instructed HIS solicitors to undertake the local authority search. We have been forwarded a fax from his solicitor stating that we are expected to reimburse him on completion

Our solicitor has further informed us that doing so will cost us more than her original quote for the searches, as she was offering them in a 'bulk discount' sort of deal.

I feel really panicked.

fed_up_and_stressed

pisco wrote: »

Things have taken a slightly nightmarish turn today. It transpires the vendor has instructed HIS solicitors to undertake the local authority search. We have been forwarded a fax from his solicitor stating that we are expected to reimburse him on completion

Our solicitor has further informed us that doing so will cost us more than her original quote for the searches, as she was offering them in a 'bulk discount' sort of deal.

I feel really panicked.

Tell him that you have NOT agreed to this and as such will NOT be paying for them

kiddy_guy

Seller is a mug or is about to be repossessed.

Why harass the buyer when the whole delay is their fault?

OP - the seller can remarket but it will just add more time. You're in the box seat so doNT let the Seller bully you.

TheCyclingProgrammer

You could offer to reimburse the vendor no more than what your solicitors quoted you for the searches. This makes you no worse off and in fact, if it all falls through, you've still saved money on the searches as seller won't get his money back.

In fact you could have the best of both worlds...searches completed sooner rather than later without the financial risk.

I certainly wouldn't be paying any more than you were going to in the first place. Seller has a cheek if you ask me!

pisco

We've written to the estate agent and our solicitor explaining that we are very disturbed by the fact that this happened without our agreement and that we're unwilling to incur additional costs. Fingers crossed that you're right, TheCyclingProgrammer.

kiddy guy - the weird thing is that the house is being sold empty. The estate agent is arguing that the vendor resents having to pay council tax and has to keep travelling to it to check on it, but we're talking about waiting a couple of weeks for the survey results - hopefully nothing more.

I just feel that something very odd is going on here that I'm failing to grasp and I'm hugely uncomfortable with it.

AdrianC

pisco wrote: »

Things have taken a slightly nightmarish turn today. It transpires the vendor has instructed HIS solicitors to undertake the local authority search. We have been forwarded a fax from his solicitor stating that we are expected to reimburse him on completion

Our solicitor has further informed us that doing so will cost us more than her original quote for the searches, as she was offering them in a 'bulk discount' sort of deal.

I feel really panicked.

Quite simply, the seller can tell his solicitor to do whatever the hell they want them to do... but there ain't no way that you need to foot the bill. Your solicitor is going along with this rubbish? I think you should be considering this as a warning that your solicitor is less-than-with-it. Big corporate chain recommended by the EA, by any chance?

jbainbridge

Ignore the EA - they work for the vendor.
Ignore the vendor's solicitor - they work for the vendor.

You need to understand that the things you are doing now - survey, searches etc. are for YOUR benefit. YOU need to satisfy YOURSELVES that the house is right for you. If you are not satisfied by your investigations you may need to walk away (as the previous buyers did) ... and even though that may seem hard it may be the right decision.

Don't be bullied by the vendors ... (obviously) they want you to buy the property. Just take the time to satisfy yourselves it is right.

Wait for the survey and read it carefully. If you have any questions take the time to ring the surveyor and talk it though with them

Finally - how the vendor's solicitor believes they can request 'your' search I have no idea - it worries me that your vendors are so desperate?!

Hope it all works out!

pisco

I know. I agree that something seems amiss here and I've also been cursing this evening about the fact that our solicitor just forwarded the letter on and didn't go ballistic herself. To give her the benefit of the doubt, I'm hoping she's just awaiting our reaction before advising us further. She is a small local solicitor who came with excellent reviews - although I'm starting to suspect that she's losing patience due to not having seen a penny from us so far and having to deal with all this.

I'm struggling to get my head around the fact that the hot water tank was only reconnected last Monday and suddenly we're receiving threatening letters from the seller's solicitor saying he's 'seriously considering putting it back on the market'. Am I naive in thinking this is all moving mightily quickly?

Tassotti

What was the problem that the vendor needed to rectify?