Getting very nervous about house sale

millie84

I am the process of waiting for the sale of my house to go through. A couple of weeks ago I was told we would be able to discuss completion dates imminently. Then the buyer decided they want a gas and electric safety survey, which is fair enough, they are willing to cover the expense too. But they seem to be delaying sorting it out, they have to propose contractors to the estate agents and me and my ex have to consent. I'm not sure whether to insist on my own choice of contractors. Its an old house and no work has been done on the boiler or electrics in the last 11 years. I haven't lived in the property for the last 6 years myself.
I'm worried that something will come up on the electrical check and they will try and reduce their offer, or even drop out.
I'm on a very tight budget and don't have the money to cover any shortfall, or solicitors fees if it all falls through.
I'm also peed off at my ex. If he'd sorted it out 3 years ago when I first got solicitors involved, we wouldn't be in this situation. I'm worried something will happen to the house too. Ex has left it empty (despite the mortgage not allowing this) since August, and I'm doubtful that he has the correct insurance (he says he does, but is probably lying).
Please don't judge me, I've had people on here before saying I just don't want to pay, but I can't create money from nowhere that I simply don't have. I'm in debt, trying to pay it off.

Doozergirl

Just let your buyers do what they need to do. Worrying about it isn't going to change the outcome.

Are you managing your debt through the correct channels (a DMP, for example) or struggling with interest payments?

If they do renegotiate, deal with it at the time. It might be better to negotiate with your mortgage company on any shortfall than wait for another buyer. The is where the likes Step Change will help you organise your finances, if you haven't gone to them already.

millie84

Thank you.
I do have a DMP through Stepchange. I'm hoping once the house is gone, I can get an IVA, and get back on my feet again. At the moment, I'll be paying back my debts for the foreseeable future.

Doozergirl

It might be painful now, but even if you take on a little more debt to be free of the house, it will be a good thing. The house will be gone and it can't cost you financially or emotionally anymore.

I'm in a similar position this week. We should exchange and complete on the sale of a house that has cost nothing but money in the time I've owned it. The buyers are going back to look next week now it's empty and I'm a bit nervous that they might want to renengotiate but it is what it is. If the price stays the same, I'll get a little bit back in change and I'll buy myself something nice and confine the memory to the bin

andy5000

Feel for you - not a good place to be but you''ll get through it. But honestly if the electrics have had no work for 11 years then I can almost gaurantee they'll find something and try and knock some money off - if I was buying I'd try the same.
If the house is empty borrow a couple of time switches and table lamps to make it look lived in during the evenings. Open and close the curtains too or try and get a neighbour to park their car outside your house a few times - we do the curtains for neighbours when they're away.

sparky130a

millie84 wrote: »

Then the buyer decided they want a gas and electric safety survey, which is fair enough, they are willing to cover the expense too. But they seem to be delaying sorting it out, they have to propose contractors to the estate agents and me and my ex have to consent. I'm not sure whether to insist on my own choice of contractors.

They don't have to propose contractors to you for consent , and certainly not the EA.

And you can't insist on your own contractor. They'd be mad to accept those terms.

Just let them get on with it.

millie84

sparky130a wrote: »

They don't have to propose contractors to you for consent , and certainly not the EA.

And you can't insist on your own contractor. They'd be mad to accept those terms.

Just let them get on with it.

I'm only relaying what the estate agent told me yesterday. She said they have to check the contractors are legit. They could send in their mate, who could say anything. But equally, they could argue that I would do the same.
I know the electrics won't be up to current regulations, but as far as I know they just have to be safe.

sparky130a

millie84 wrote: »

I'm only relaying what the estate agent told me yesterday. She said they have to check the contractors are legit. They could send in their mate, who could say anything. But equally, they could argue that I would do the same.
I know the electrics won't be up to current regulations, but as far as I know they just have to be safe.

Whilst a valid point the EA is getting above their station. It's none of their business who the buyer uses. You can of course refuse, but that could jeopardise the sale.

I certainly wouldn't accept a vendor "vetting" my chosen contractor.

Correct, chances of the electrics being up to current regulations is minimal. If the buyer expects this they are deluded.

millie84

andy5000 wrote: »

Feel for you - not a good place to be but you''ll get through it. But honestly if the electrics have had no work for 11 years then I can almost gaurantee they'll find something and try and knock some money off - if I was buying I'd try the same.
If the house is empty borrow a couple of time switches and table lamps to make it look lived in during the evenings. Open and close the curtains too or try and get a neighbour to park their car outside your house a few times - we do the curtains for neighbours when they're away.

I tried leaving a lamp plugged in on a timer but my ex unplugged it
The neighbours have my mobile number in case of any issues. Ex says he works away a lot, he rang me once because they rang him saying they'd heard noises.

Crashy_Time

millie84 wrote: »

Thank you.
I do have a DMP through Stepchange. I'm hoping once the house is gone, I can get an IVA, and get back on my feet again. At the moment, I'll be paying back my debts for the foreseeable future.

You have to separate the two things - Your debts, and what potential buyers do, they are not obliged to bail you out of your debt at a certain price or in a certain time frame, they are entitled to take their time, change their mind, drop their price etc. Confusing the two will just lead to more stress for yourself, IMO you should have plans in place for paying back debt even if the house doesn`t sell.

wantonnoodle

millie84 wrote: »

I'm only relaying what the estate agent told me yesterday. She said they have to check the contractors are legit. They could send in their mate, who could say anything. But equally, they could argue that I would do the same.
I know the electrics won't be up to current regulations, but as far as I know they just have to be safe.

If you/the EA insisted on vetting my surveyors or who I chose to advise regarding a property purchase, you wouldn't see me for dust.

When we bought our house, I had a survey done by my Uncle who is a retired council surveyor. Now, I couldn't use his comments (he gave me a full written report document) to negotiate, as he doesn't have liability insurance now, being retired, but it was helpful having someone look at it that I could trust, and who was honest, without littering his report with caveats. If anything had come up, I would have been in a position to get a specific survey done as a follow up. But I wouldn't have been prepared to go through with such a large transaction without advice from someone I could trust.

Just bear in mind that sometimes the best placed person to advise the buyer may not be the person you would like it to be. If you want to question credibility, I wouldn't question unless I received communication that the survey had flagged something that was going to lead to an offer reduction. If it doesn't find anything, then checking in advance just prolongs the process.