Difficult buyer

Hoploz

A builder to fill in the cat flap? Is it a hole in a wall? if you agree to doing this work, do it between exchange and completion. Otherwise he could still pull out before exchange and leave your poor cat having to cross its legs till you get a new buyer!

What did he say about the carpet?

I totally agree with others regarding direct contact with a buyer. We had the same thing some years ago, and I will never exchange phone numbers again. He ended up pulling out on the day before exchange due to a mix up over completion dates, he called me a liar, expected us, a family, to complete the same day as exchange and I said no, we just needed a few days in between - we were already half packed, and had removals on standby! In fact my solicitor told me his buyer was not ready anyway. He shot himself in the foot but it was a bloody nightmare esp having someone yelling at us from outside the house while we cowered horrified inside with our toddler.

sniggings

fawnyb wrote: »

Well we really have no choice. We want to move asap! He's a complete !!! and from what we have been told by the EA he is rude and they have never heard of such ridiculous demands!

Really? I'm sure they have heard worse, think they are just humoring you...yep it's trivial, but it's you now making this to more than it needs to be, offering £100 on exchange/completion is daft, just do that work or tell him no.

Fair enough if he comes back with a new list, up to now it's 2 simple things, and if as it sounds the carpet is part of the sale, a lifting carpet seam should really be fixed by you.

jimbog

I would suggest that you pay to have the cat flap sorted and before you move out strip the house of all the 'extras' you were intending to leave

dgtazzman

I wouldn't agree to invest anything before contracts are exchanged. I MIGHT consider agreeing making good the carpet and cat flap between exchange and completion, but I wouldn't invest money into it before the buyer can no longer pull out, leaving you with the bill for his demands. I would be putting the cheapest carpet in I can find, however. Some of that lovely 3-4 pounds per square meter builder carpet, in the most hideous color I can find.

I'd probably feel more for a sort of cashback/retention deal on completion towards the carpet and making good the cat flap, so the buyer can make his own arrangements, so it's all done to the standards he wants. Seeing the high offer, I'd say something like 500 pounds or so. Won't hurt you much and might keep the buyer and his sols happy.

-taff

Mine is becoming a pain in the @rse too. He wants indemnity insurance for the windows, they don't need it. He wants indemity insurance for the partition wall, it doesn't need it, he wants an electrical inspection done at my expense, it's not going to happen.
If he asks again for indemnity insurance for the wall, I'll be telling him that if he doesn't like it, I'll just pull it down and then he can rebuild it himself.

I'd do as others have suggested, do the work after exchange, and prior to completion. And I'd take the bloody lightbulbs too

dgtazzman

I'm so glad my buyers were a lot easier when I completed last month. They even knocked on the door and told me not to bother cleaning as they would be redecorating as soon as they moved in and would just make everything a mess again ^^

Only problems I had was the buyer's sols chasing papers that didn't exist, took 3 weeks to convince them they were chasing ghosts and cost me around 100 pounds in extra conveyancing costs from my sols answering the same query over and over. In the end, I took charge of the situation myself and started chasing the issue in person as the sols were going round in circles. I got told off for meddling in solicitor affairs, but at least I got it sorted and it only took me 2 days.

JencParker

fawnyb wrote: »

Well we really have no choice. We want to move asap! He's a complete !!! and from what we have been told by the EA he is rude and they have never heard of such ridiculous demands!

You had a choice bank in June when you were advised that you would be highly likely to have the very problems you are now experiencing. You could have pulled out then, but you made the decision to go ahead and are now experiencing what you were warned about. You had a choice but you made this one - now you have to stick with it.

Hoploz

-taff wrote: »

Mine is becoming a pain in the @rse too. He wants indemnity insurance for the windows, they don't need it. He wants indemity insurance for the partition wall, it doesn't need it, he wants an electrical inspection done at my expense, it's not going to happen.
If he asks again for indemnity insurance for the wall, I'll be telling him that if he doesn't like it, I'll just pull it down and then he can rebuild it himself.

I'd do as others have suggested, do the work after exchange, and prior to completion. And I'd take the bloody lightbulbs too

You probably do have an annoying buyer, but I just wanted to say that often these indemnities are requested by the lender, so they have no option but to ask you for them. Of course, you aren't under any obligation to foot the bill, but you wouldn't want them to pull out and then find the next buyer you get asks the same thing again ...

KJBlackwood

I suspect your buyer is going to suddenly demand a decrease in price of somewhere in the region of £10k before he will exchange. If that happens then I hope you will have the balls to tell him where to go.

socmwils23

i would say you have bid on the house as you saw it. Any bid made should reflect work that will need doing at a later date.

If i was you i would just say enough is enough. if he wants to pull out let him, it wouldn't have happened anyway and you can move on to a buyer who actually wants your house.

tell him its put up or shut up time and if he pulls out put it down to experience and move on.