Too long to instruct Full Structural Survey?

[Deleted User]

Hi.  We thought we'd sold our Edwardian house (it's not as grand as it sounds!) in January of this year but (very) long story short, following a Full Structural Survey of our house, they pulled out of the sale because of the lounge staircase (there are gaps between the 'treads' of the 1980s stairs and she felt it was too dangerous for her grandchildren when they would have stayed at the house.  I would point out here that they had no second viewing where perhaps this issue may have arisen.  I have never sold a property before and now know to insist on any future interested buyer having at least two viewings).  My main gripe (and there are other issues with these 'buyers'; the very same people have recently messed around someone else who we know personally who was selling their property - but I'll save that for another discussion!) is that they took around eleven weeks to make the appointment for the Survey.  We were planning on buying a bungalow around the corner that needed quite a lot of work doing to it, so that delay of eleven weeks took us further along the road to buying that bungalow. If they'd instructed a Survey and pulled out sooner, it would have still been hugely disappointing but at least we wouldn't have been nearly three months closer to achieving what we wanted; the emotional cost, not to mention the financial cost of that will stay with me for a long time to come.  We're also extremely disappointed that the EA didn't nudge this couple sooner to get the Survey done; they knew of our plans with the bungalow and all the effort we went to to get a builder on board/design the new layout, etc.  Or am I wrong to feel all this and eleven weeks isn't anything unusual?  We have now taken the house off the market completely.  I'd be grateful for any thoughts but I'd also ask you to bear in mind in any replies that I have never sold a property before and didn't know how long was too long and/or what warning signs to look out for; we'll certainly be on our guard in the future.  A hard lesson has been learned.  Thank you in advance. 

eddddy

MrsP1974 said:

they pulled out of the sale because of the lounge staircase (there are gaps between the 'treads' of the 1980s stairs and she felt it was too dangerous for her grandchildren when they would have stayed at the house.  

It just sounds like you had a flaky buyer. 

I'd suspect they either got cold feet, or there was another reason why they didn't want to buy (which they didn't want to tell you) - so they used the stairs as an excuse.

FWIW, I suspect that a good carpenter could have added backs to the stairs, without making them look too strange.

[Deleted User]

Hi Mickey666; thanks for replying.  Yep, definitely think they're flaky buyers.  As mentioned in my original post, the very same people pulled out of our friend's property about a month ago.  Amongst other things (reneging on agreed price, etc) it also transpired that they apparently couldn't provide evidence of how they were going to pay for his property?!  And looking at their address on our Memorandum of Sale, according to Zoopla (and other platforms), there has been no sale or indeed *any* transaction on that address since 2007, so something is definitely up with these people.  Something needs to be done with the whole English housing market system; it just stinks.  A much sturdier footing at the beginning of the process for *all* parties concerned needs to be put in place.  I can believe your lady with the 'stairs' anecdote; our house is over three floors and some of the feedback from viewings was that 'three floors wouldn't work' for them.  That's fair enough but it's completely obvious from looking online that it's over three floors?!  We've had other disappointment throughout the whole selling process and it's left us feeling utterly disenchanted; with people and with Estate Agents (I felt that they could have nudged our 'buyers' to proceed with the Survey sooner, knowing what we know now).  I'm sure we'll find our Prince one day Mickey666 - thank you - but it'll be a long time before we look for him again.  Thanks for your reply.   

[Deleted User]

Hi eddddy; thanks for your reply.  It's so strange; they really loved the house apparently, so much so that they made an offer the very afternoon they viewed it?!  (We initially rejected it but then all agreed on a higher price two days later).  As mentioned in my original post, these 'buyers' pulled out of a friend's property very recently for other odd reasons (let alone the fact they couldn't provide evidence of how they'd have afforded his property).  And I completely agree with you re: carpenter but from the sounds of it I think they're rather unhinged to think that way.  I really wish there was a way of reporting such people; I don't know, some sort of 'red flag' system; they're truly messing around with people's lives.  Do you think eleven weeks is too long to wait for a buyer to instruct a survey?  Thank you.   

Chloe901

When did these 11 weeks elapse? We offered on a property in mid-March, but didn't instruct a surveyor until the very end of May due to the lockdown, so it was probably about 10 weeks for us. We were also on the fence as to whether we wanted a survey - ultimately this didn't actually delay anything as we did all our hemming and hawing while lockdown was in full swing, but perhaps similar things have impacted these buyers?

Regarding the issue of accommodation over three floors, perhaps some of the viewers weren't keen, but thought it was worth a view in case the house gave them the wow factor? I know that when we were looking in earnest we definitely saw some properties that weren't exactly what we were looking for, simply because we wanted to ensure we were viewing a good range of properties and didn't end up missing 'the one' because it had something (e.g. three-floor living) which on paper we wouldn't choose, but in practice we'd be willing to put up with if the house gave us that special feeling.

[Deleted User]

Hi again Mickey666.  We now know that all things considered, unless there's exceptional circumstances, that eleven weeks without arranging a Survey should be ringing alarm bells; we'll never get caught out that way again in future.  As I mentioned, I'd never sold a property before (my husband had, but that was fifteen years ago when people didn't seem so flaky and just seemed more straightforward then?!  This is why I'm also pretty annoyed at our (now 'ex') EA; they should have pursued this more strongly -and with more urgency - on our behalf, I feel).  Because we also have a downstairs bathroom, we were just grateful that someone had shown such interest (it puts most people off but coming from someone who actually lives with one, i.e. ME, it's honestly not the horror show that most people believe!  But people think what they think, of course).  The couple who messed us (and our friend) around are in their sixties and funnily enough, you mentioning your footballer previously, the husband was a professional footballer himself for a well-known Premier League side back in the '80s!  (You'd think that people of that age are past messing around but it just goes to show you that there's seemingly no age limit on sheer stupidity).  Anyway, you're right Mickey; we won't let the loonies win but as I say, it'll be a couple of years before we dip our toes into the murky waters of house-selling again, particularly with coronavirus around for the forseeable and the impact it may have on the economy.  Thanks so much for your comments; it's been nice chatting with you and thanks for listening.    

moneysavinghero

Why would it take a full structural survey to see that the stairs had gaps between the treads?

Mickey666

MrsP1974 said:

The couple who messed us (and our friend) around are in their sixties and funnily enough, you mentioning your footballer previously, the husband was a professional footballer himself for a well-known Premier League side back in the '80s!  (You'd think that people of that age are past messing around but it just goes to show you that there's seemingly no age limit on sheer stupidity). 

Obviously I won't be mentioning any names on here, but if he was premier league player who later went to a European club and was also an Irish international player . . . no, better stop there

moneysavinghero

Mickey666 said:

MrsP1974 said:

The couple who messed us (and our friend) around are in their sixties and funnily enough, you mentioning your footballer previously, the husband was a professional footballer himself for a well-known Premier League side back in the '80s!  (You'd think that people of that age are past messing around but it just goes to show you that there's seemingly no age limit on sheer stupidity). 

Obviously I won't be mentioning any names on here, but if he was premier league player who later went to a European club and was also an Irish international player . . . no, better stop there

Premier League did not exist in the 80's.

Mickey666

Fair enough.  I have little or no interest in football so know little about it and didn't want to mention the actual club he played for, which is very definitely in the premier league today, is in London and might begin with a 'C' 

Actually, it was our agent who told us who he was when calling to see how the viewing had gone.  We'd never heard of him, which explained a few things about his behaviour when he introduced himself as if we ought to have recognised him.    

I did buy his book though, but when he couldn't buy our house I gave it to one of our builders who was a big C****** fan.

Perfectly nice guy, from our brief encounter, just couldn't follow through on his offer.

[Deleted User]

Mickey666  I realised that after I'd posted my reply; it was the good old First Division then, of course!  The team our 'buyer' played for are currently in the Premier League though.  I'm a football fan myself (Liverpool, in case you're interested!); I'm certainly not a 'buff' but I may have to try and work out who you're talking about!