New build con artists?

Newbie19719802

pinkteapot wrote: »

Ask to see a copy of the T&Cs that they mentioned for yourself. Try and get someone to put it in writing to you that you must use the people they say.

If that fails, do you have a contact at Linden that you could speak to?

It doesn't make sense for Linden (if they own the property now?) to make it this hard for people to buy the houses. Builders usually want to offload PX houses they've taken on ASAP!

That's exactly what I thought. They want to exchange within 28 days of contracts and complete 1 week after exchange. Which suggests they want to move quickly and we're more than happy to do so. However, making us go through their broker and solicitor will only slow it down in my opinion as it's already in place.

Newbie19719802

westernpromise wrote: »

I don't even begin to understand this.

Are you saying that you, party A, are "buying" a house from party B who has already contracted to part-exchange it with party C?

If so, you cannot be buying the house from B. You're buying it from C (the builder). Presumably, the terms of the deal between B and C is that C must get at least £X net for the sale of B's house, otherwise B stumps up the difference? That would explain why B is still knocking himself out doing the marketing, and presumably is also funding the estate agent, even though he's not actually the vendor.

It sounds to me like the builders want to secure the sale of their new-build house by offering part exchange deals, but the nasty string attached is the one whereby their buyers do all the work selling the part-exchange for them, and incur all the usual expenses they'd incur if there were no such p/x.

It makes one wonder what the point of part-exchanging is. In essence, all it does is secure the new home buyer the new house, but at the cost of committing to paying the difference between its price and some agreed price for that of the house they are part exchanging. If the builder keeps stuffing up the process by insisting on their choice of solicitor, it exposes the part-exchange owner/vendor to the risk that they can't sell that house for X but they still owe the builder X. They are locked into the buy before they have completed the sell.

It wouldn't work for me!

Well this is the thing. The estate agent is submitting the offers to, in effect, party D (new homes group), who are working for Party C (linden homes). The estate agent is under the impression that the people living in the house (party are getting their new property regardless but I highly doubt that. They were probably sold a dream to be then forced into their broker and solicitor. It seems that party D are doing all the ground work with agents etc.

rochja

You are trying to become a partner in a builder's quick move scheme, the purpose of which is to stimulate a stagnant market. It helps the builder's turnover but can reduce their profits. To work, all parties have to commit to the timescales in order to keep the cash flowing. A homeowner who is in a hurry to sell gets an offer to buy from the builder at a less than market value so that the homeowner is definitely in a position to proceed. Now the builder is carrying the risk of ending up stuck with 2nd hand housing stock. It therefore only uses companies familiar with its operation and its site to control time scales. You get a house in double quick time at a bargain price and your only downsides are that the builder calls the shots over timings and chooses your solicitor for you - a solicitor who is never the less bound by rules to act professionally. I have used such a scheme to move from the Scottish borders south and can tell you that was the only way for me to get moved - and the builder got stung because of the market conditions up there. When the builder finally offloaded my original house the purchaser made an absolute killing. BTW. Linden homes are quite a class act and calling this a con is O.T.T. You just have to decide whether you want to go ahead. Generally these panel conveyencers are no dearer than anyone else halfway competent

DTDfanBoy

How is this a con ??

The property developers don't want equity tied up in the PX property, so they are demanding that purchasers use their solicitors/mortgage brokers as they believe that it will speed up the process.

Either make it clear to the developers that you can exchange quickly or move along.

At the end of the day the property developers can sell the PX house in any manner they choose, the can sell it only to people willing to use their solicitors and mortgage brokers or only to people who have a black cat named George drive a blue Volvo and agree to pay the agreed price totally in 10p coins.

Why is it that every post on MSE which has Scam or Con in the title more often that not ends up involving neither :rotfl:

Newbie19719802

rochja wrote: »

You are trying to become a partner in a builder's quick move scheme, the purpose of which is to stimulate a stagnant market. It helps the builder's turnover but can reduce their profits. To work, all parties have to commit to the timescales in order to keep the cash flowing. A homeowner who is in a hurry to sell gets an offer to buy from the builder at a less than market value so that the homeowner is definitely in a position to proceed. Now the builder is carrying the risk of ending up stuck with 2nd hand housing stock. It therefore only uses companies familiar with its operation and its site to control time scales. You get a house in double quick time at a bargain price and your only downsides are that the builder calls the shots over timings and chooses your solicitor for you - a solicitor who is never the less bound by rules to act professionally. I have used such a scheme to move from the Scottish borders south and can tell you that was the only way for me to get moved - and the builder got stung because of the market conditions up there. When the builder finally offloaded my original house the purchaser made an absolute killing. BTW. Linden homes are quite a class act and calling this a con is O.T.T. You just have to decide whether you want to go ahead. Generally these panel conveyencers are no dearer than anyone else halfway competent

I admit calling it a con was a bit O.T.T, perhaps I should have put a ? at the end of the the subject heading. Thanks for you input, I didn't expect everyone to be on my side as such. I can see the risks for them but I didn't get a bargain and I won't be making a killing either.

I now have to walk away from a broker who has an offer for me and who has done since November and now walk away from a solicitor I've been using. You must know more than me as I'm a first time buyer but would this come at a cost? May I ask what experience you have with linden homes to call them a class act? I'm not doubting them at all but to flat out say they will not sell to me was just unusual, or so I thought so.

kingstreet

Can I respectfully point out if the OP had come here and said he was being told by Connells he has to use their mortgage service and solicitors, everyone would be up in arms and rightly so;-

http://www.thenewhomesgroup.co.uk/new-homes-mortgage-helpline

Scroll down to the bottom;-

"New Homes Mortgage Helpline is a trading name of Spaull Limited who is an appointed representative of Connells Limited."

misslitt

Add a link to the flat from Zoopla. Your flat owner maybe reading. I am currently under pX with Lindon Homes myself.

fairy_lights

I'm in a similar situation to you, currently in the process of buying a house from a building company (Bovis), which has been part exchanged by the current occupiers for a new build.
There has been no pressure on us to use their solicitors or mortgage brokers though, it's never even been mentioned. We did have to show them our AIP and proof of deposit before they accepted our offer but they haven't made any demands on us since then.
Are all your communications going through the estate agents or have you had any direct contact with Linden homes?

Newbie19719802

fairy_lights wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation to you, currently in the process of buying a house from a building company (Bovis), which has been part exchanged by the current occupiers for a new build.
There has been no pressure on us to use their solicitors or mortgage brokers though, it's never even been mentioned. We did have to show them our AIP and proof of deposit before they accepted our offer but they haven't made any demands on us since then.
Are all your communications going through the estate agents or have you had any direct contact with Linden homes?

The estate agents have been taken out of the equation as such, and now the 'new homes group' are dealing with the communication. They wouldn't give my broker a number for linden to speak to someone direct. He has tried to get in contact via the contact numbers on their site but no luck as of yet. This is why I think it may not even be lindens policy, and that the company representing them is trying to make a bit on the side and push them onto us.

Our broker was more than happy to forward our AIP and deposit details across but they are standing firm.

kingstreet

In this instance, Linden contracts-out its PX stuff to NHM;-

http://www.thenewhomesgroup.co.uk/part-exchange

so they have every opportunity to act like their estate agency cousins and say the purchaser must use their mortgage service and solicitor, regardless of Linden's view.