Difficult Vendor ..Help!!

E_Mayo

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice.. we are dealing with a very difficult Vendor who has pushed the completion date back by 7 weeks because she wont move on her own!

Vendor was honest at the start saying she wanted to complete by the 4th - which gave us 4 weeks to get searches in etc. We had already completed our sale and have currently been living with in-laws for the last 6 weeks! Our solicitors have been amazing and we managed to be ready to exchange and complete same day which should of been yesterday (Hold up due to vendor needing to send building certs over). Now we was all ready to request mortgage funds ready for completion and the vendor is unable to complete due to an issue on the property the property they are buying and completion will be in 7 weeks!

Now, i have been assured this issue would be rectified in 2-3 weeks. However the vendor has stated as her partner works abroad and leaves this week she will not be moving in on her own and we have to wait 7 weeks until hes home. I have spoken to my mortgage adviser as our mortgage expires around the date hes back which is really cutting it fine (my partner is self employed so getting a mortgage was tricky enough). The adviser has said in 30 years shes never heard of anything like this and has advised us to look for other properties as she sounds like an unmotivated seller - Additionally, i bumped into the vendor the same week (we live in the same village) and she said she didn't really want to move as her neighbours are amazing and she loves the area (i suspect she was just "bigging it" up as i've heard she is desperate for the house she is buying) however i just don't know how to take her.

Adviser has said we could ask to drop our offer as compensation for the wait. The money isn't the issue i just want to move in!!

She basically has said she doesn't want to pay for a removal company and she has no family near to help her move while partner is away - plus she doesn't want to live on her own (Even though he works away so at some point she will be on her own!)

Now if we are living with in laws i reckon some of you are thinking whats the big deal its only 7 weeks - we have 2 small children (ones 4 months) the room we are in with the baby has damp on the outer wall right across, we are living out of suitcases, sharing a fridge/freezer is not ideal there is literally boxes everywhere and its driving me insane. Plus we have a dog which we have to take out for him to do his business as garden isn't secure can get a tad annoying in the rain at 10.30 at night! Additionally, our furniture is stored in my partners new office (he has doubled his unit) this is effecting his business as potential customers are bypassing his business thinking its closed and a nearby competitor is taking advantage of this. Also its not fair on in-laws as we have taken over the house and although they love seeing their grandchildren everyday i'm sure they want their house back!

Now we are not being totally unreasonable, we have asked through solicitors that a she commits to a completion date when the issues are resolved on her purchase, after all she pushed our purchase through very quickly on her demand which we adhered too. However she just keeps saying its not an option, even the estate agent is bewildered after her demands and has never seen a case where the vendor is in so much control.

Vendor has also said they cants exchange/complete as her partner is out of the country - to which i replied BullS** as we have already signed docs ready and the solicitors date when necessary and do a verbal confirmation on exchange and complete.

Does anyone have any advice? she is aware of our circumstances and doesn't see our problem (Even damp and business issues). I have spoken to the estate agent today who is going to speak to her solicitor to see if between them they can get a completion date quicker as she thinks the mortgage offer date is too close (even EA has said if this falls through shes cutting her losses) So i have asked her to say that we have been advised to look for other property's - i don't know how she will take this but i don't think she realises how fragile a chain is!

[Deleted User]

It's just a question of who wants what more. Either you or she need to give, or find common ground.

Looking for an alternative property is an option, but you won't be in there within 7 weeks either.

If you were planning on paying a mortgage shortly, consider using that money to move into short term accommodation. If you can agree a slightly reduced offer, that could also help fund those costs.

Doozergirl

You have reasons why you want to move now. She has reasons why she doesn't.

Both are plausible. Yours isn't less important than hers but vendors and purchasers aren't able to set exchange and completion dates. The solicitors have to do their job - then dates are agreed.

She wanted to move this week but her purchase isn't ready - perfectly normal and expectable given that conveyancing takes as long as it takes.

She doesn't feel able to move now until her husband gets back - why call BS on that? It's perfectly feasible . I wouldn't want to either - I've moved enough and it's a massive undertaking with both of us there!

I appreciate that you are emotional about it, but this is part and parcel of the process. Your mistake was expecting the date to be set in stone - which it never is.

You made the decision to sell and move into the in-laws - it's not great for you, but you took that decision for whatever reason, presumably one that you thought was beneficial to you at the time, and possibly still is. You won't be moving anywhere else much faster!

Nobody will move until a date is agree by all parties. That means the earliest date that everyone is prepared to agree on. It's what happens in any chain. You have no guarantee of anything more secure anywhere else.

It's only 7 weeks. Then you'll be in and you'll soon forget. The only thing you can and should do is chill out.

I have to say, I can't believe your EA hasn't come across it before. If we had a pound for every rant on this board about similar, we'd be pretty pleased with ourselves.

pinkteapot

Absolutely spot-on comments from DoozerGirl. I suspect your vendor originally wanted the 4th knowing that her partner would be away after that.

These delays do happen in house-buying. It's frustrating at the time but as Doozer said, it's soon forgotten.

When we last bought, the whole chain was ready to exchange contracts just before Christmas. Completion dates were discussed and due to it being a long chain and various people having holidays, work commitments, and operations (!), we didn't complete until mid-Feb, so almost two months after exchange.

As others have said, you can threaten to pull out to try to scare her into moving but be prepared for the fact she may stand her ground. You won't be able to complete on anything else any sooner. In your position, I'd roll my eyes and push for exchange of contracts as soon as possible, with a longer-than-usual gap before completion. You relax once you've exchanged because the purchase is pretty much 100% going to happen. Problems after exchange are so rare that most solicitors will never have experienced one. Pre-exchange is the nerve-wracking stage.Once you've exchanged, both you and the in-laws know there's a fixed end date, plus you can stop worrying about whether the seller really wants to move. If she tries to delay exchange with no good reason, then it's time to look around at other houses.

Sachs

Agree the completion date on the basis they agree to exchange now. If they refuse to exchange it's highly likely they are lieing to you about something, make of that what you will but i suggest that seeing what else is on the market can't hurt.

It's amazing how unprofessional people can be about house buying/selling but then I suppose most people don't operate in professional spaces.

Soundgirlrocks

Sachs wrote: »

Agree the completion date on the basis they agree to exchange now.

Agree with this, and since the delay means (presumably) you have almost 2 months with no mortgage, or council tax why not book a couple of weeks away to give you and the in-laws a break?

ACG

You could try calling their bluff and saying you are pulling out. Dont get in to a debate about it, just call up and say the vendor is taking the P, you are not prepared to wait around so you are withdrawing your offer. If they question it just explain that your situation is a nightmare at the minute and you are going in to rented for 6 months as you can not bare living with the in laws for another 7 weeks.

That will either focus their minds or they will call you on it.
If it focuses their minds, check behind the radiators for fish on moving in day :P

babyblade41

I always like to control the process rather than being on the back hoof, but you do have to follow it through.

If you feel this may not happen then agree to exchange now with completion acceptable at their preferred date..everyone then knows where they are at
If they are not prepared to do this then walk away , but you must not just threaten or your reputation will be lost

I'd give them until the end of the week to decide how they want to proceed

E_Mayo

Thank You Everyone! I know i probably sound dramatic with this issue, but its the fact her story is changing a lot. First she said if it wasn't complete by the 4th it would be 13 weeks when hes back, then she said 7 weeks after it went past this date. They both have properties and are moving in together (When we viewed she said she would move in with him and get out asap) and now that isn't an option. Her excuse is she doesn't want to live there on her own as she wont know how to work the boiler :[

We had an update from EA before after being told shes in danger of loosing the sale, low an behold her partner is back 7 days earlier so we now have a date in 5 weeks. We are OK with that as long as we can exchange as soon as possible and complete on that day - i assume her solicitor will want her purchase issue cleared up before we exchange which we are also fine with. - so hopefully she will agree to this this

EA has said she is the most difficult person shes ever come across..typical! (She asked if we could move our furniture in a day AFTER completion because she hadn't packed when we was near completion last week ..* Rolls eyes*)

Feel like i am om edge until we actually exchange now!

E_Mayo

That would be ideal however, as said partner is self employed so if hes off he don't get paid (these things need to be planned way in advance) plus all extra money needs to go on new bathroom as it has no bath and with a baby and 4 year old a bath is needed (mainly for me to lock myself in the bathroom and drink wine in the bath ha)

Mutton_Geoff

E_Mayo wrote: »

EA has said she is the most difficult person shes ever come across..typical! (She asked if we could move our furniture in a day AFTER completion because she hadn't packed when we was near completion last week

The agent is humouring you to ensure they don’t lose their sale commission. The vendor needs to have the words “vacant possession” explained to them.

I acquired an expensive dishwasher in my current purchase because the vendor was still faffing around removing stuff after completion took place. I wasn’t prepared to wait for their handyman to arrive some hours later nor pay them anything for it so it was left behind.