Vendor not completing paperwork and keeping us in the dark

purpleCat552211

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I had an offer accepted on a house at the beginning of August.
We were informed by the EA that the vendor had had an offer accepted on somewhere herself and that she was keen to move ASAP due to her family out growing where they are currently.

However, we are three months down the line, and despite chasing our solicitors and the EA (purple bricks) on a regular basis we have been informed that they are still waiting on the vendor to completed and send back the property information form and fixtures and fittings form, from what I gather this should have been completed a long time ago, she has now had this paper work for at least 10 weeks.

Due to all attempts from her solicitors and the EA to chase her being unsuccessful, we decided to email her directly as purple bricks encourage direct communication between vendor and buyer. The email was asking her to contact us to let us know what is going on as we were worried that nothing was happening her end and that we cannot wait around indefinitely for her. After no response to 2 emails, we printed them and posted them through her door as a last resort, we then received a response from the vendor saying she has a family issue that she needs to prioritize, and that she fully intends to continue with the sale of her house once this is dealt with, she gave no time frames etc despite us asking this explicitly. We responded to this within 24 hours again telling her we cannot wait around forever and asking her to at least complete the paperwork to give us some faith that she is still in a position to sell and we have heard nothing since.
We have responded to all requests from our solicitors within 48 hours of receiving them, we have paid out a lot of money already for solicitors fees and the survey. Our solicitors have told us that we have been waiting a long time but there is nothing they can do.
We are at a loss about what we can do in this situation, it seems like she is stalling but is keeping us in the dark. We are first time buyers and have no chain so can be more flexible, but the not being told anything is making us miserable!

Any advice on what to do would be much appreciated.

How long is too long to wait on the vendor?

davidmcn

Look for something else to buy and let the EA / her solicitors know.

Skiddaw1

I agree with davidmcn.



Whatever is going on in her life, it seems clear that currently at least, progressing with her house sale is not a priority. You'll be throwing good money after bad if you don't now set an ultimatum and stick to it if nothing further happens from her end. There are other houses....

foxy-stoat

Look elsewhere - they are obviously time wasters.

Wyndham

A family issue could be any number of things, but given the circumstance could well be serious illness/death etc. These things come along and knock you for six - everything else moves down the priority list. You also may not wish to discuss it with relative strangers.

Either wait, but it's obviously not clear how long you'll need to wait for, or move on. This is how house buying can go - life sometimes gets in the way. It's often a long, drawn out, expensive process, unfortunately.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

purpleCat552211

Thanks for your reply,

I am aware that a family issue could be any number of things, and appreciate that things may well need to take priority, however I feel that if she could be a bit more open with us and actually reply to our correspondence, maybe not about what is going on for her, but even estimated time frames etc we might feel a bit better about waiting it out. If she has a serious family issue going on I can totally understand, and actually we are in the fortunate position where we do not need to move asap and could accommodate a longer wait, I think it is the not being given much information at all that is frustrating us the most!

We have been keeping an eye on the market to see if anything else we like comes up, but I think it is the wrong time of year now going to view somewhere tomorrow, if we like it we may well put an offer in and withdraw our offer on the other one, or at least give the vendor a date where will will pull out if nothing happens.

Hopefully it will all work out for the best what ever we do! Again thanks for your reply

foxy-stoat

Just pull out now, you wont end up buying it.

Wyndham

purpleCat552211 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply,

I am aware that a family issue could be any number of things, and appreciate that things may well need to take priority, however I feel that if she could be a bit more open with us and actually reply to our correspondence, maybe not about what is going on for her, but even estimated time frames etc we might feel a bit better about waiting it out. If she has a serious family issue going on I can totally understand, and actually we are in the fortunate position where we do not need to move asap and could accommodate a longer wait, I think it is the not being given much information at all that is frustrating us the most!

They might not know timescales. If someone is having serious treatment, then you don't know how it's going to go, and they may, or may not, make it in the end. EVERYTHING goes on hold for that when it's someone you love dearly. I appreciate it's frustrating, but would it be better if they said 'a month' then couldn't meet that?

hb2

Tell your solicitor to suspend work until further notice, then start looking elsewhere.

diggingdude

Everything does go out the window when family issues happen, but that doesn't excuse them stringing you on. I'd give them an ultimatum and see what their response is first

Davesnave

You're not losing anything by leaving your offer 'live' for now,but don't hold your breath, as there's clearly something major afoot which may change everything.

Even if it's something like sudden terminal illness, you're obviously dealing with a very wobbly vendor who cannot cope, so it's no use even thinking about time frames.

Just get back out there and start a new search. Even though it's the awful PB, they'll let you know soon enough if something changes to your advantage.