EA/Seller messing us around

SamDude

All,

We are FTBs and we saw a 3 bed house and put an offer in for £240k. This was rejected, so we upped the offer to the asking price of £250k. This was back in April.

Since then, all of our surveys and paperwork has been completed. Our solicitors are still waiting for the draft contract. The sellers have said that they will only arrange their paperwork through their solicitors when they have found a property to move to.

It has been nearly 5 months and they still haven't found anything!

I have been putting (gentle) pressure on the EA to find out what is happening. Up until now, they have been sympathetic to our position and have tried to get the sellers to hurry up.

My wife had a conversation with the EA yesterday and they are now changing their tune. They told my wife that the seller had:
-Put an offer in on a property and had it accepted
-Put an offer in on a property and had it rejected
-Still not found what they were looking for
(all in the same coversation).

Then the EA started mentioning things like the house is now worth £20k more since we had our offer accepted and that the properties that the seller was looking at were increasing beyond their affordability.

Sorry to shout, but: HANDS UP WHO THINK ESTATE AGENTS SHOULD KNOW RISING HOUSE PRICES ISN'T NEW?

This has left us feeling increasingly frustrated.

Our mortgage offer is due to expire in November and it doesn't look likely that we will complete by then. We will have to apply for a new fixed-rate product that will be much more expensive than the 5.11% we currently have available.

We have been looking at other properties and there is nothing availble that suits our requirements or budget.

We really want this property and the EA/seller know that they could put it on the market and have it sell within 2 days (as was the case with us).

Is the EA bullsh*ting us and trying to scare us into either increasing our offer or withdrawing from the sale so they can sell it to someone else for more?

Could the EA be telling us about the increase in value without the consent of the seller? (If I were to give the seller the benefit of the doubt, it could be argued that are unaware of the EA's conversations with us).

The seller hasn't lost out anything so far, if they haven't found their next property then they aren't going to be delayed by restarting their sale again.

It looks like they hold ALL the cards and we are the only potential losers if it doesn't work out.

Some comforting advice would be nice

irnbru_2

aass11 wrote: »

Since then, all of our surveys and paperwork has been completed. Our solicitors are still waiting for the draft contract. The sellers have said that they will only arrange their paperwork through their solicitors when they have found a property to move to.

How buoyant is your local market? Postcode?

Consider the money you've spent so far as lost, start looking at other houses.

Set a deadline for receipt of the draft contract and when it passes, withdraw from the purchase.

SamDude

irnbru wrote: »

How buoyant is your local market? Postcode?

Consider the money you've spent so far as lost, start looking at other houses.

Set a deadline for receipt of the draft contract and when it passes, withdraw from the purchase.

The property is in the SL3 post code area. The market is very fast. A property a few doors away from the house came on the market this week. I called the agent to arrange a viewing (although there were some compromises on our wish list) and was told that someone had offered the asking price...

As mentioned, we have been looking for similar properties for a few weeks now, but nothing comes close to the one we are buying...

I have a feeling that the EA/seller would be happy for us to look at other properties and withdraw from the sale.

We are continuing to look though!

Doozergirl

YOu shouldn't even start the conveyancing process until you have a complete chain for this very reason. Either you end up waiting forever, or, God forbid, your vendor doesn't find anything and

I htink the EA was 'fluffing' to try and keep you happy. Selling for more is of no consequence to the EA - it would be particularly hard with a house that you've offered £250k on anyway. £1 more and someone's paying another £5k in Stamp Duty.

You have no choice but to carry on with what you are doing or issue an ultimatum if you are prepared to lose the house.

SamDude

I have asked our solicitors to contact the sellers solicitors to find out their position directly .

By bypassing the EA, we hope to get a 'reliable' update of the sellers position and find out if they wish to continue (or not).

SamDude

An update:

I spoke with the estate agent and discovered something new!

I was told that the seller was unhappy at the asking price when it was first offered on the market (at £249,950) back in March/April.

She wanted more for the property, but the estate agent convinced her that due to the increased stamp duty, it would be harder to sell.

So - the seller was unhappy with the price in April, and has stated that she thinks the property is undervalued now (which means prices have gone up since April - that's a new one, no?).

I wish I knew that the seller wanted more at the start. I wouldn't have committed financially to the property in the first place by paying £600 for a homebuyers survey...

I feel that I have been misled by the estate agent and the seller. The estate agent knew that the seller wanted more money and the seller went along with the estate agents suggestions.

I have written to the estate agent outlining my issues and have requested details of their complaints procedure. They are not a member of the OEA, so I doubt they have a complaints procedure...

I know that nothing is guaranteed until exchange, but can someone advise if I have any ammunition to recover my valuation fees?

Can I threaten them with the small claims court? Will they (estate agent and/or seller) laugh at me, knowing that I am powerless?

We are looking for another property as we have no confidence in the estate agent or seller to move forward with this sale.

Thanks all.

bazza1603

Ask them to rent.... We were in the sellers position and were prepared to rent...even with a 2 year old and another due soon....

A house came on the market days after we paid the rental deposit...

Good Luck

Baz

merlinthehappypig

Frankly I would cut your losses and tell them to get stuffed. Unless it was genuinely undervalued in April (hands up anyone who knows an agent who would do that?) it will not have gone up in the meantime. It may not have gone down either, but it will be harder to sell. The market has changed a lot in the last few months.

As far as recouping valuation fees, sorry but that isn't going to be possible. There was a thread a few days back from someone who had managed this, but, if it was a genuine case, it was very specific circumstances and a one off. Sadly sellers and buyers can withdraw at any stage prior to exchange of contracts without penalty.

I have to say that leaving it this long before querying progress was a big mistake.

SamDude

Thanks guys.

Just to clarify, we have been putting pressure and checking progress since the start, so it isn't something we've left until now.

We have also been looking at other suitable properties since our offer was accepted - but have not come across anything or viewed anything that could be a possibility. We are satisfied that we've not missed out on anything else in the meantime.

We knew we had to write-off the valuation fees, but I just wanted to check if there was a way to escalate it.

We have walked away from this one and looking for another...

Jet

Were you definetely told that the sellers had placed an offer on a property and had it accepted before you got solicitors and surveyors involved?

If so, then I feel for you and if this turns out to be a lie, I would be very angry with the estate agents.

If however, you went ahead with paperwork and surveys before the sellers had found a place to buy, then I think you were jumping the gun and whilst there is always a risk than anyone in a chain can pull out at anytime before exchange, I think it's more likely if the seller hasn't actually committed to anything themselves.

stevie_wonder

I think the time for "gentle" pressure has passed. You should set a deadline for the vendor to have had an offer accepted on a house or you'll withdraw. As a FTB you are sometimes naive and let things ride because you don't know the process, and I've been there before too. Ideally you should have nipped it in the bud 2/3 months ago, but you are where you are now.

You may lose 600 quid on the survey, but if you can afford a £250k house then it shouldnt be too much of a hit (not nice though still). Otherwise you could be hanging around indefinitely.

Keep looking and see what else is around. As an earlier poster said, the market has changed alot since Sept, and the number of buyers is greatly reduced (and new properties coming on) but you may just find what you want - fingers crossed you do!