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Compensation advice - was sold the wrong property
Krissie_Fortune
Posts: 5 Forumite
I am usually more of a reader in forums than a poster, but on this occasion I could really do with a few words of advice.
The situation is a bit of a mess so I will try to summarize as best as possible.
Essentially, my mum (who was living abroad) purchased a house in the UK as a cash buyer. She didn’t have a lot of money in the pot so the property she purchased was valued £25K. As it seems common with properties of that price, there weren’t many internal photographs on the sales particulars.
Mum requested more photos from the agent, the ones he supplied showed the place looked in fair condition inside and ready to move into. The estate agent assured her she could purchase and renovate/redecorate whilst living there.
This is where it gets tricky, as my mum took his word for it, didn’t view the property as she was abroad and didn’t get a survey (seeing as she didn’t need a mortgage even the survey a bank normally would do obvs didn’t take place).
She purchased it, and arrived to a derelict property which didn’t reflect the photos given to her. As it transpires, the agent was supplied the wrong photos by the seller and is claiming no responsibility for the matter. Upon inspection of the sales brochure it actually shows the wrong property from that too (the house is in a terraced street where they all look pretty similar, but windows weren’t in the right place etc etc so we know it to be incorrect). She paid 25K for a property that was actually worth about £13K in the condition it was in.
[FONT="]I know the situation isn’t looking good as my mum didn’t follow proper protocol with the purchase, getting a survey done is so important and could have prevented this happening. However, I am shocked that the estate agent’s have so little to say. They hadn’t stepped foot in the property even once yet they were discussing it in detail with my mum without mentioning that key point, not to mention they advertised the wrong house in the first instance.
So far we have attempted to go through the property ombudsmen, who concluded that the estate agents should have done more but only awarded a very small compensation figure that wouldn’t even cover my time filling in the paperwork.
My mum had to sell the place at a loss of £12K. She’s approaching retirement and now is unable to move back to the UK at all. She’s devastated (I have since lectured her on how a property purchase should go, so please spare me that! She kept me in the dark until it went wrong). I’m desperate to try and claw back some sort of compensation for her from this mess and don’t know what route is left/worth pursuing.
Concerned that instructing a solicitor would end up costing more that we can claim. Has anyone had a similar experience, or would know of a trustworthy person/company that can help with this sort of thing?
Thanks in advance,
Knackard, frustrated daughter who is yet to win the euromillions and save the day :embarasse[/FONT]
[FONT="][/FONT]
The situation is a bit of a mess so I will try to summarize as best as possible.
Essentially, my mum (who was living abroad) purchased a house in the UK as a cash buyer. She didn’t have a lot of money in the pot so the property she purchased was valued £25K. As it seems common with properties of that price, there weren’t many internal photographs on the sales particulars.
Mum requested more photos from the agent, the ones he supplied showed the place looked in fair condition inside and ready to move into. The estate agent assured her she could purchase and renovate/redecorate whilst living there.
This is where it gets tricky, as my mum took his word for it, didn’t view the property as she was abroad and didn’t get a survey (seeing as she didn’t need a mortgage even the survey a bank normally would do obvs didn’t take place).
She purchased it, and arrived to a derelict property which didn’t reflect the photos given to her. As it transpires, the agent was supplied the wrong photos by the seller and is claiming no responsibility for the matter. Upon inspection of the sales brochure it actually shows the wrong property from that too (the house is in a terraced street where they all look pretty similar, but windows weren’t in the right place etc etc so we know it to be incorrect). She paid 25K for a property that was actually worth about £13K in the condition it was in.
[FONT="]I know the situation isn’t looking good as my mum didn’t follow proper protocol with the purchase, getting a survey done is so important and could have prevented this happening. However, I am shocked that the estate agent’s have so little to say. They hadn’t stepped foot in the property even once yet they were discussing it in detail with my mum without mentioning that key point, not to mention they advertised the wrong house in the first instance.
So far we have attempted to go through the property ombudsmen, who concluded that the estate agents should have done more but only awarded a very small compensation figure that wouldn’t even cover my time filling in the paperwork.
My mum had to sell the place at a loss of £12K. She’s approaching retirement and now is unable to move back to the UK at all. She’s devastated (I have since lectured her on how a property purchase should go, so please spare me that! She kept me in the dark until it went wrong). I’m desperate to try and claw back some sort of compensation for her from this mess and don’t know what route is left/worth pursuing.
Concerned that instructing a solicitor would end up costing more that we can claim. Has anyone had a similar experience, or would know of a trustworthy person/company that can help with this sort of thing?
Thanks in advance,
Knackard, frustrated daughter who is yet to win the euromillions and save the day :embarasse[/FONT]
[FONT="][/FONT]
0
Comments
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Caveat emptor.
There's no available recourse. Sometimes you just have to take your mistakes on the chin.0 -
Where in the UK can you buy a property, even a derelict one, for £25K? And the lucky second buyer got it for £13K then?0
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Getting anyone, never mind a professional,to pop round on her behalf and look at the property would have prevented it happening.Krissie_Fortune wrote: »[FONT="]getting a survey done is so important and could have prevented this happening[/FONT]
I can't see much scope for getting further compensation.0 -
Hmmm, tricky.
The EA will have a disclaimer saying that all information is based on what they have been told blah blah blah... this is why surveys are required.
A quick survey would have told he all she needed to know... (obviously you know this).
The negligence here unfortunately seems to lie with your mum so it would be throwing good money after bad.
I very much doubt there is any case to answer.Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
Here are a few (admittedly some of them are effectively condemned by a proposed redevelopment).Where in the UK can you buy a property, even a derelict one, for £25K? And the lucky second buyer got it for £13K then?0 -
Having dealt with the ombudsman, and no evidence the EA was misrepresenting the situation deliberately, I don't think there is a lot to do about the purchase.
You might find that you can only look to the future. Does your mother need support? Why was she buying a place here?0 -
Was a solicitor involved in the conveyancing?
What do they say?0 -
Yes, this is just a forum. Really you need legal advice. But view it with a little scepticism, solicitors like to make money too lol.
I think rather than going after the EA, you'd have to go after the seller, but you might have to prove he knew he'd given details for the wrong property. This might not be easy to prove.0 -
no compensation is realistically going to be made, your mother made a decision albeit the wrong one and now has to pay for it, there is no one else to blame to get compo."It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"
G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP0 -
Given he extremely low value I'm surprised that she's surprised!
Sorry it's caveat emptor0
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