How do I progress and fix this horror story?

tzzt123

Also, does the agent have the right to claim they are only the messager when they consistently provide us with false information?

Doozergirl

tzzt123 wrote: »

Also, does the agent have the right to claim they are only the messager when they consistently provide us with false information?

The agent is a messenger. Why would they know what the developer is doing? Just like you, they ask, they get told.

Estate agents are marketers. They know no more about the property than you do. Once a sale is agreed, they relay messages, little more.

getmore4less

tzzt123 wrote: »

Hello, Everybody,!

I'm a first-time buyer who got into what I feel is a horror story, so any advice would help.

3 months ago, after a long period of saving up and looking for a house, we found a newly renovated flat in a converted building.
When we viewed the apartment, the agent who was selling it stated that the apartment was ready to move into as soon as we pay, literally on the same day,...............

Was it not obvious on that first viewing the places was not newly renovated and finished.

how many of the 50 were/are occupied.

walwyn1978

tzzt123 wrote: »

True, but also know the developer is going to do this to other people, possibly first time buyers who saved up the money for a long time. That's wrong, and knowing they are going to treat people in the same way and not doing anything about is not right.

I admire your moral stance and agree that this may happen to others. However, purely practically, a moral standpoint won't get it finished any quicker. Could you resolve it (either legally or simply by cutting your losses) and then consider how to alert other people? Worth mentioning as well that if you do go down the legal route to try and get your money back whilst also shouting from the rooftops about how immoral they are, if they were unpleasant they may try to string out the legal proceedings in order to cost you money/hopefully from their POV make you run out of money and drop the case.

davidmcn

getmore4less wrote: »

Was it not obvious on that first viewing the places was not newly renovated and finished.

Glad I wasn't the only one confused by that part of the story!

Until the OP tells us what conditions were attached to their reservation fee it's difficult for us to advise further. Presumably contracts were meant to be exchanged within a certain period of time, but it sounds like neither party currently wants to do that.

tzzt123

Hey all,

Originally the MoS stated that exchange dates or at least an estimate would be given 28 days from when contracts were drafted. It's been 2 months since, and no dates are visible.

The reservation fee was stated as 'nonrefundable', but no other conditions were written

About a month ago our solicitor raised the question of where the full terms and conditions are. When we asked (that time, already pretty concerned with the process) we asked them to send us those terms and conditions. After 2-3 days of ignoring further requests, calls, etc, the terms were sent to us, and include

no way for us to refund unless the building has stopped (which I think is what's happening although no one would admit)

Another pretty suspicious article states that no payments would be made towards my time chasing them up. I raised that question a few times by then stating that I am not expecting to have to chase up and investigate every piece of information they are giving me and that if I am forced to do that, considering the fact they have not been able to provide us with correct information, I will be sending them a bill for my time.

Although the MoS states that by paying the reservation fee, we agree to the terms and conditions, we were not given these terms and conditions at the time of sale, therefore I am not sure whether they are even valid? Moreover, we paid the reservation fee in good faith, and now we are discovering the agent and the developer are not honest.

Lastly, ideally we would like to progress, but given the way these people have been behaving, there are lots of questions to be asked...

tzzt123

getmore4less: It wasn't obvious, especially not the apartment we are purchasing. The apartment was the show apartment, so other than what looked like a bit of cosmetic work, the apartment was ready and even electricity and water were running. Other apartments needed a bit more work, however final work, and we were told it didn't matter. Other than that, there was a bit of paint and cleaning to do.

As a first time buyer, I did not know what were the exact steps needed to be taken in terms of building completion certificate, inspections of all sorts, etc and assumed anything like that was already done based on the fact they told us we would be able to move in as soon as payment is made and contracts are exchanged.