Seller backed out/ solicitor costs?

chinesetopteam

Hi,
My brother was due to exchange contracts for a home he was looking to buy. It took 2 months to negotiate, surveyor, etc and one day before signing the seller contacts us citing he cannot sell property due to his solicitor advising him that he's going through divorce proceedings.

However now my brother is stuck with the associated costs ie solicitor fees and surveyor costs. Is there anyway the seller is liable for these costs because had he been open from the start, obviously we wouldn't have wasted the money and time.

Many thanks

AnotherJoe

Nope, unfortunately not unless your brother was buying in scotland.
People can pull out on a whim they don't even need an excuse.

chinesetopteam

Ah right, thanks for the advice!

davidmcn

AnotherJoe wrote: »

not unless your brother was buying in scotland.

Despite popular mythology, even in Scotland either side can pull out without penalty before the contract is concluded. The main difference is that we tend to be in a contract at an earlier stage.

AnotherJoe

davidmcn wrote: »

Despite popular mythology, even in Scotland either side can pull out without penalty before the contract is concluded. The main difference is that we tend to be in a contract at an earlier stage.

How dare you crush my fantasy with your ugly facts

So its not as simple as, once your offers been accepted then the deal in set then? I think thats the general view from us southerners of what hapepns, but obviously its not that simple?

fewcloudy

AnotherJoe wrote: »

How dare you crush my fantasy with your ugly facts

So its not as simple as, once your offers been accepted then the deal in set then? I think thats the general view from us southerners of what hapepns, but obviously its not that simple?

It's been a while, but I think here in Scotland we call it 'concluding missives' and nothing's binding up till then. But as already said, it doesn't take too long to reach that stage if all is well, about 4-6weeks IIRC...


fc

MortgageMamma

Get your brother to check his contracts with the solicitors - some clients insure their legal costs. I've not come across this exact scenario but I do know if you instruct solicitors online via a firm I use that if the seller pulls out or if your sale fails for any reason out of your control they cover it. I'm not sure if they cover it as in giving cash back, or credit your account for more searches and work for when you next buy, but I know that some firms offer this protection.

davidmcn

AnotherJoe wrote: »

So its not as simple as, once your offers been accepted then the deal in set then? I think thats the general view from us southerners of what hapepns, but obviously its not that simple?

Don't worry, Scottish punters get it wrong too and their conveyancers spend ages trying to put them right

The offer is a written one from the solicitors, and takes the form of a full contract - so in theory the sellers can send back a straightforward written acceptance and you then have a binding contract (though it may be conditional on e.g. the buyers receiving a mortgage offer or concluding a contract for the sale of their house). In practice though the initial "acceptance" is just a verbal one that the price and date of entry are agreed in principle.

These days buyers don't want to be committed until they've got their finance definitely sorted out (which takes as long as it does in England), and sellers might not want to accept all the standard conditions in the offer e.g. an obligation to produce consents for every alteration to the property. And although we have less of an obsession with "chains", there may be toing and froing while the parties try to fit in their other plans. So while there's an expectation that everyone is going to tie things up as quickly as possible, we'll often still be in limbo until the last minute.