Help!! Vendor threatening to pull out!!

Tsj90s

Hi all, had an offer accepted of 140,000 (listed as 145,000) on my first home mid december. Mortgage offer in place, searches back, title report recieved and I've signed my side of the paperwork which I'll drop off tomorrow (wanted to drop it off today but I'm waiting on a reply to my queries from my solicitor regarding a 8 pound yearly rentcharge on the property). Its an empty property and was rented but been empty for a few months. First listed in october, he sold it but then the buyer pulled out due to losing his job. We then snapped it up in december. The estate agent rang me last week and said the seller will withdraw if all is not completed in February and put the property back up for rent as he is currently paying a mortgage on it. She said the sellers solicitor hadnt heard from my solicitor yet. This is quite unreasonable given we are in an exceptionally busy time with Covid, stamp duty holidays etc. Since putting the pressure on the solicitor he has raised his enquiries and provided my full title report with contracts etc which like I said I will drop off tomorrow. He said once he has replies for enquiries we can discuss exchange and completion. Here's my issue, I have a Lifetime ISA which part of my deposit is in. Moneybox have advised 2/3 from the request of withdrawal to withdrawal. I have asked my solicitor if I can request the withdrawal but keep getting not yet. He said moneybox are much quicker than they say but that doesnt help is organising a completion date! My worry is if we are leaving 3 weeks "just in case" this will go past the end of feb. What can I do to ensure I dont lose it? I have a baby and we really need this house for space as I'm currently living at home, I dont think I could take starting again if he pulled out!!

Racky_Roo

1. Have you had your searches back? They are taking a long time and without them back you can't complete anyway unless you opt to risk it - sorry just seen they are back so that's good.
2. I think the vendor was very optimistic wanting it completed by mid Feb when you only offered mid Dec and you take into account Christmas and Covid. It's probably a bluff by them to panic you, which seems to be working, remember if they get new tenants they will struggle to sell without vacant possession
3. You have open enquires so nothing is going to move until the vendor replies to them and your solicitor is happy. There's no point withdrawing your money from the ISA if the response on enquiries leads to more questions

I suppose i'm saying you need to take a deep breath and wait. Buying is all about waiting i'm afraid and the EA should be managing the vendors expectations on timescales and not stressing you out

es5595

I imagine the vendor was getting anxious that they'd accepted your offer in mid-December and still not heard from your solicitor! You can offer willynilly, but for the solicitor to start the ball rolling you have to invest some £££, so perhaps they were concerned you hadn't yet and wondered why?

Hopefully now your solicitor has got in touch its allayed some of their fears, do you have direct contact with them? I'm assuming you've gotten a real solicitor not a conveyancer? Just keep in touch with them very regularly, and the estate agent, but also be realistic. It might be worth speaking to the estate agent to remind them you're very motivated, but if the vendor is planning to pull out in February, you're obviously very concerned as its incredibly tight, and perhaps the estate agent would be able to let them know what a more realistic timeline is in the current climate?

Seashell517

Tsj90s said:

Hi all, had an offer accepted of 140,000 (listed as 145,000) on my first home mid december. Mortgage offer in place, searches back, title report recieved and I've signed my side of the paperwork which I'll drop off tomorrow (wanted to drop it off today but I'm waiting on a reply to my queries from my solicitor regarding a 8 pound yearly rentcharge on the property). Its an empty property and was rented but been empty for a few months. First listed in october, he sold it but then the buyer pulled out due to losing his job. We then snapped it up in december. The estate agent rang me last week and said the seller will withdraw if all is not completed in February and put the property back up for rent as he is currently paying a mortgage on it. She said the sellers solicitor hadnt heard from my solicitor yet. This is quite unreasonable given we are in an exceptionally busy time with Covid, stamp duty holidays etc. Since putting the pressure on the solicitor he has raised his enquiries and provided my full title report with contracts etc which like I said I will drop off tomorrow. He said once he has replies for enquiries we can discuss exchange and completion. Here's my issue, I have a Lifetime ISA which part of my deposit is in. Moneybox have advised 2/3 from the request of withdrawal to withdrawal. I have asked my solicitor if I can request the withdrawal but keep getting not yet. He said moneybox are much quicker than they say but that doesnt help is organising a completion date! My worry is if we are leaving 3 weeks "just in case" this will go past the end of feb. What can I do to ensure I dont lose it? I have a baby and we really need this house for space as I'm currently living at home, I dont think I could take starting again if he pulled out!!

Why are you waiting on enquiries to hand in paperwork? Just hand it in.

If you're waiting on replies from the vendor's solicitor, then point out that it's not you holding things up (mortgage offer done, searches done, waiting on the other side). Get the agent to chase up the replies.

If the exact date of completion ends up being March 5th or whatever, I doubt the vendor will be too worried over it. Nothing magic happens at the end of Feb, it's just a date to focus the minds of everyone involved.

Tsj90s

Racky_Roo said:

1. Have you had your searches back? They are taking a long time and without them back you can't complete anyway unless you opt to risk it - sorry just seen they are back so that's good.
2. I think the vendor was very optimistic wanting it completed by mid Feb when you only offered mid Dec and you take into account Christmas and Covid. It's probably a bluff by them to panic you, which seems to be working, remember if they get new tenants they will struggle to sell without vacant possession
3. You have open enquires so nothing is going to move until the vendor replies to them and your solicitor is happy. There's no point withdrawing your money from the ISA if the response on enquiries leads to more questions

I suppose i'm saying you need to take a deep breath and wait. Buying is all about waiting i'm afraid and the EA should be managing the vendors expectations on timescales and not stressing you out

Thank you! The estate agent seems to be making it worse! I've returned my signed documents, my solicitor was waiting on a response to some enquiries which the vendors solicitor will be sending in the next day or so according to the estate agent. When I said to her on the phone this morning that they need to bear in mind my solicitor is very busy with covid, stamp duty deadlines, I just got a 'I know but it's a case of who shouts the loudest at the minute'! Everything is in place on my part now, I really hope it's just a panic tactic

Tsj90s

es5595 said:

I imagine the vendor was getting anxious that they'd accepted your offer in mid-December and still not heard from your solicitor! You can offer willynilly, but for the solicitor to start the ball rolling you have to invest some £££, so perhaps they were concerned you hadn't yet and wondered why?

Hopefully now your solicitor has got in touch its allayed some of their fears, do you have direct contact with them? I'm assuming you've gotten a real solicitor not a conveyancer? Just keep in touch with them very regularly, and the estate agent, but also be realistic. It might be worth speaking to the estate agent to remind them you're very motivated, but if the vendor is planning to pull out in February, you're obviously very concerned as its incredibly tight, and perhaps the estate agent would be able to let them know what a more realistic timeline is in the current climate?

I had set the ball rolling and paid for searches on the 17th december, I had an offer accepted on the 16th so it was immediate, however the searches in my area are taking 3+ weeks to get back which is what took so long when you factor in christmas as well. They had requested the draft contract 19th of december so had heard from them but had no enquiries raised until friday last week. Yes it's a proper solicitor I have. I mentioned all the current climate delays to the estate agent and just got the response "i know but it's a case of who shouts the loudest gets sorted first at the moment". I will mention what you've said about a realistic timeline though thank you! 

Tsj90s

Seashell517 said:

Tsj90s said:

Hi all, had an offer accepted of 140,000 (listed as 145,000) on my first home mid december. Mortgage offer in place, searches back, title report recieved and I've signed my side of the paperwork which I'll drop off tomorrow (wanted to drop it off today but I'm waiting on a reply to my queries from my solicitor regarding a 8 pound yearly rentcharge on the property). Its an empty property and was rented but been empty for a few months. First listed in october, he sold it but then the buyer pulled out due to losing his job. We then snapped it up in december. The estate agent rang me last week and said the seller will withdraw if all is not completed in February and put the property back up for rent as he is currently paying a mortgage on it. She said the sellers solicitor hadnt heard from my solicitor yet. This is quite unreasonable given we are in an exceptionally busy time with Covid, stamp duty holidays etc. Since putting the pressure on the solicitor he has raised his enquiries and provided my full title report with contracts etc which like I said I will drop off tomorrow. He said once he has replies for enquiries we can discuss exchange and completion. Here's my issue, I have a Lifetime ISA which part of my deposit is in. Moneybox have advised 2/3 from the request of withdrawal to withdrawal. I have asked my solicitor if I can request the withdrawal but keep getting not yet. He said moneybox are much quicker than they say but that doesnt help is organising a completion date! My worry is if we are leaving 3 weeks "just in case" this will go past the end of feb. What can I do to ensure I dont lose it? I have a baby and we really need this house for space as I'm currently living at home, I dont think I could take starting again if he pulled out!!

Why are you waiting on enquiries to hand in paperwork? Just hand it in.

If you're waiting on replies from the vendor's solicitor, then point out that it's not you holding things up (mortgage offer done, searches done, waiting on the other side). Get the agent to chase up the replies.

If the exact date of completion ends up being March 5th or whatever, I doubt the vendor will be too worried over it. Nothing magic happens at the end of Feb, it's just a date to focus the minds of everyone involved.

Because I had already handed in my paper trails of my deposit money for AML checks but the solicitor was asking me for this and before I made the 10 mile drive to the solicitors I wanted to make sure he didnt require ANOTHER copy of the mass paperwork I'd already provided to him. Anyway I've handed it to them now anyway. The estate agent informed me today the sellers solicitor will be responding in the next day or so.
I really hope your right, I dont want to lose the property, the estate agents are just stressing me out more!

Jeffrey_Shaw

Racky_Roo said:

1. Have you had your searches back? They are taking a long time and without them back you can't complete anyway unless you opt to risk it - sorry just seen they are back so that's good.

Preliminary search results should not be a delaying factor, since most solicitors can obtain ready-made Search Delay Indemnity Insurance policies at very little cost.