Can the seller just decide to put it back on the market?

Theodom11

Hi.... we are buying a house and the seller is being very very difficult. I’d like some advice please on her latest gem! 

We made an offer that was accepted but the seller refused to take it off the market until we’d had our survey done. Bit of a pain but we arranged for a homebuyers survey and she then took it off the market. That was only 3 weeks ago. We have instructed solicitors and draft contracts have been issued etc we’ve also had our mortgage interview and an offer in principle was issued etc. However she has today said that unless we have a formal Mtge offer confirmed by cob today she will put the house back on the market as she thinks that we should be further along by now! The Estate agent can’t believe it and neither can the mortgage broker. Even without it being nearly Xmas and even without the issues that COVID is creating they all say things are moving at the correct pace. The Bank have said that the mtge is approved subject to their own survey (likely to be a drive by) but it won’t be until next week. So my questions are 
1) can the seller just decide to put it back on the market without (in my eyes) just cause 
2) we’ve spent a fair bit of money already on surveys and legal fees etc .... can I sue (small claims) for those costs if as a result of it going back on the market we lose the house?

FYI we are selling an unencumbered property to a first time buyer (which she is aware of) and the mortgage is c30% of the purchase price (again she is aware) 
any other suggestions ? Is she being totally unreasonable or am i ?

thanks

Forrest

Browntoa

Yes , they can 

But their chances of finding a quick cash buyer to beat you is very very slim.

Small claims is a no , you have no contract with them to purchase

powerful_Rogue

Theodom11 said:

Hi.... we are buying a house and the seller is being very very difficult. I’d like some advice please on her latest gem! 

We made an offer that was accepted but the seller refused to take it off the market until we’d had our survey done. Bit of a pain but we arranged for a homebuyers survey and she then took it off the market. That was only 3 weeks ago. We have instructed solicitors and draft contracts have been issued etc we’ve also had our mortgage interview and an offer in principle was issued etc. However she has today said that unless we have a formal Mtge offer confirmed by cob today she will put the house back on the market as she thinks that we should be further along by now! The Estate agent can’t believe it and neither can the mortgage broker. Even without it being nearly Xmas and even without the issues that COVID is creating they all say things are moving at the correct pace. The Bank have said that the mtge is approved subject to their own survey (likely to be a drive by) but it won’t be until next week. So my questions are 
1) can the seller just decide to put it back on the market without (in my eyes) just cause 
2) we’ve spent a fair bit of money already on surveys and legal fees etc .... can I sue (small claims) for those costs if as a result of it going back on the market we lose the house?

FYI we are selling an unencumbered property to a first time buyer (which she is aware of) and the mortgage is c30% of the purchase price (again she is aware) 
any other suggestions ? Is she being totally unreasonable or am i ?

thanks

Forrest

Sounds like a nighmare seller. However i'm afriad that yes she can put the house back on the market without any reason. Whether the same Estate Agent will want to market the property for them is another question though.

In regards to question 2, No, you can't sue. Well you can, but it would be thrown out straight away as there is no contract between you and the seller until exchnage.

gwynlas

Her property and she can instruct her estate agent to do whatever she wants right upto exchange of contracts. However her estate agent having  introduced you as a potentially proceedable buyer will hopefully be advising her that this is not the best way to keep you interested. Perhaps you should ask to view other similar properties with the agent as she might not be that serious about selling and/or is having cold feet/

moneysavinghero

1. Yes. You have no contract so they can do what they want.
2. No. You have no contract so they can do what they want.

Theodom11

wow thank you all for the very speedy replies. I kind of expected those answers but nonetheless it really is very very frustrating that she can just do this without any recourse. It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet and/or the house hadn’t been on the market since the summer ! Hey ho you live and learn!

AdrianC

Theodom11 said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet ... !

Opinions may differ on that.

You offered, some unspecified period ago - probably around a month?
You didn't arrange a survey until you were told that the place was staying on the market until you had.
The survey was three weeks ago.
You chose to use a surveyor not on your lender's panel, and it will be a month between that survey and the lender's valuation.
The failure to use a surveyor on the panel is probably because you didn't even have a lender in mind - and no AiP - until after that survey.
Because of that, you still don't have a mortgage offer.

Yes, it's a low LtV - but without a lender, you can't buy... Correct?

Would you be happy if it was your chained buyer who was working to this kind of timescale?

moneysavinghero

Low chance they she is going to get it back on the market and a new offer received by the end of next week. If your mortgage provider does the valuation next week as they said then everything is back on. 

However you need to decide whether you still want to continue or not - will this seller be a nightmare throughout the whole process?

AskAsk

it sounds like she is bluffing to get you to move with getting the mortgage offer.  if you had the survey done 3 weeks ago, why is your mortgage still under consideration?  is your bank just slow?

Thrugelmir

Why have you waited to apply for the mortgage?  That should have been the first priority. 

Theodom11

AdrianC said:

Theodom11 said:

It wouldn’t be so bad if we’d been dragging our feet ... !

Opinions may differ on that.

You offered, some unspecified period ago - probably around a month?
You didn't arrange a survey until you were told that the place was staying on the market until you had.
The survey was three weeks ago.
You chose to use a surveyor not on your lender's panel, and it will be a month between that survey and the lender's valuation.
The failure to use a surveyor on the panel is probably because you didn't even have a lender in mind - and no AiP - until after that survey.
Because of that, you still don't have a mortgage offer.

Yes, it's a low LtV - but without a lender, you can't buy... Correct?

Would you be happy if it was your chained buyer who was working to this kind of timescale?

Hmm maybe you’re related to the seller? Yes I would be ok with it because I am a reasonable person. I think 3 weeks on from when we made the offer at this time of year with all the implications of Covid then I’d say we are about where we should be.  

If it helps here’s more detail.... I offered 3 weeks ago the estate agent asked for an OiP (and our solicitors details) and that is all. We had already spoken to our broker and had an Offer in principle (OiP) in hand but the finer details and formal offer couldn’t be confirmed until we found a house. The house was then marked as SSTC. 2 days later we noticed that it was back on the market (nothing mentioned to us at all about that- would you be happy with that?). Speaking to the agent she said that the seller had decided that until we’d had a survey done she wanted the house to remain on the market. She knew we had the OiP and that our formal Mtge interview was later that week, I should also point out that at this point the seller hadn’t even found a property they wanted to move to! Notwithstanding that we quickly arranged for a survey (knowing full well that the mortgage lender would require their own). The house was then put back as SSTC. A further OIP was agreed later that week with the mortgage company but it was subject to a valuation. The mortgage broker has sent an email confirming our offer subject to a valuation by the mortgage company (which they were scheduling for 23rd Dec). The seller was advised but came back today with a demand for us to have a formal offer confirmed by cob today or it’s going back on the market.... do you still think her to be reasonable?