Our house buyer is wasting time being petty

Bucky88

Hi all,

I will make this as short as I can but will try and get as much detail in.

We are currently in the process of buying a new build and selling our home to a FTB.

when we put our house on the market in the middle of May 2021 we were open and honest with all the people coming to view so they all knew what to expect. We explained that the new build we are looking at will not be ready until November but we would need the exchange to happen as quickly as possible due to the new build having a 41 day reservation.

On the 21st May we accepted an offer and received our memo of sale that same day. We then reserved our new build a week later.
2nd June our buyer had his valuation survey done for his mortgage and 2 days later an offer.
We were not made aware of any issues from either our buyer, his solicitor, our solicitor or the estate agents.

Just over 3 weeks later we get a call saying a surveyor wants to come and view the property and came on the 25th June. We asked our estate agents why it had taken 3 weeks for this to happen so they asked the buyer as they thought all was moving along. He didn’t say why it took so long to get this sorted and was made aware again we needed to be at an exchange quickly. We also found out he had not instructed his solicitor at this point even though he was told by the EA to do this immediately and by us once the offer was agreed.

the report came back with a few issues and a recommendation that the cost of the works would be £5000. We initially offered half of this which we believed to be fair. Our buyer declined and said he wanted £7000 for the price £5000 for the works and £2000 for any extras that come to light. We were ready to pull out at this point with him being unreasonable but decided to offer £5000 off the agreed price as we didn’t want to lose our new build as it is perfect.
we also said he needs to instruct his solicitor straight away and submit searches. This was done on the same day 29th June. We asked if he would indemnify the searches so we could exchange quicker and even offered to pay for this but he declined.

whilst waiting for the searches to come back the usually enquires came up with nothing out of the blue.
The searches were all back by the 2nd august, at this point we are nearly a month passed our reservation date. We are chasing our solicitor and the EA to chase our buyer and his solicitor to get the exchange done.

we were then told his solicitor is on holiday for 2 weeks and would not be back until the 16th.

we confirmed on the 16th that no issues had been raised with the searches and again tried asking for a date of exchange as we were now given an ultimatum to exchange by today 20th august. We passed this to our buyer in the hope to speed his solicitor up. However it appears he hasn’t been in touch with his solicitor until Thursday 19th August where he mentioned something about a schedule of condition for the house due to him exchanging now but not being able to complete in November and he doesn’t want to risk being responsible for any issues that arise.

However our solicitor has had no communication from the buyers solicitor since the 2nd August. He told us that we need to know what conditions they want, so we asked our buyer and he said he doesn’t know. 

Today 20th august we have been on the phone all day on and off to the EA and our solicitors to find out what is going on.
our buyer is saying he wants some form of condition I writing that we are responsible for any issues that arise until completion. We explained that our house insurance covers all this. We again asked what conditions he wants exactly so it can be put in writing but he said he doesn’t know and said what if the boiler breaks to which we responded saying it is in the pre contract that it is working and will be working when we complete.

our solicitor said he is being extremely petty asking for something like this as he should expect to pay for repairs and issues to a house he will be buying.
it is also worth noting that the last information we had from his solicitor was that they are happy with everything and just need the buyer to sign and pay his deposit. But he is still wanting some condition we are responsible until completion.

we have told him that we need to know by Monday if he is going to exchange or not and if not then we will see it as he is not willing to purchase!

is it me or does this request he is asking form seem a bit petty??? We have bent over backwards for him since the start even though he delayed from the start and he is not budging from his position. We are at the point now where we either want him to sign or just cut our losses and give up on the house move!

Monsternextdoor

He is being petty, I mean how long does he want you to guarantee this ? 

What if a window gets broken a week after he is in the property are you going to be liable for the glass being replaced ? 

nimbo

I wasn’t allowed to receive the memo of sale until I’d instructed my solicitor. 🤷‍♀️

as a first time buyer currently. I couldn’t get a survey (level 3 due to the age of the property) in less then 5 weeks. In part due to my surveyor being on holiday for 2 weeks. The estate agent said the ones they knew of had similar wait times… 

I paid for my surveys and it took over three weeks for my solicitors to do what they needed to instigate these. I expected my contracts through as the estate agent said they’d be on the way way and they to took 4 weeks. 

I posted my paperwork through their letter box 3 days after it arrived at my address (Sunday - as this was quicker then weighing at a post office). 

You may feel they are lolly gagging. But different peoples views of urgent are different. And we have to remember what is urgent for us may not be urgent for them. 

He wants some assurance if the roof falls in between now and then he isn’t buying a lemon. He’s anxious about what is likely the most expensive purchase of his life. It may seem petty to you. But he just wants some reassurance by having a long gap he’s not going to end up shafted. 

People who are selling will be less concerned over small repairs that may become something bigger if left. 

Ivrytwr3

You should have dropped this buyer a long time ago.

Thrugelmir

How much longer has the developer given you to exchange? 

Shaztastic3000

Drop this fool

eddddy

Monsternextdoor said:

What if a window gets broken a week after he is in the property are you going to be liable for the glass being replaced ? 

TBH, it's probably things like things like broken windows, leaks etc between exchange and completion that the buyer (and/or their solicitor) is worried about.


They may be worried that, if they exchange contracts now, windows might get broken (letting the rain in), or leaks might develop, and you decide not to deal with the problems - and you just leave them for the buyer to sort out after completion in November. So 3 or 4 months of gradual damage is done.



FWIW, I was involved in a sale were exactly that happened. It was an empty house, and somebody broke a window between exchange and completion. The seller wouldn't repair the window, or even board it up to make it weather-tight.

I asked the solicitor if the buyer could claim damages from the seller. He described it as "a complicated situation" - and suggested that the buyer probably wouldn't bother, because of the potential legal costs involved, 

Jimjim78

The joy of selling to FTB'ers. Most are difficult, you seem to have found one who is impossible. Good luck resolving. Sorry I can't offer any practical advice.

goodwithsaving

It no exchange by Tuesday, drop the buyer. That's deluded, not just petty.

Trynsave2

My understanding of what you have explained is that you want your buyer to exchange asap, but wait for months for your new purchase to be built. As your buyer is committed to buy once exchange takes place, I think it is sensible for them to request some guarantee that you will maintain their property, albeit not one that has paid for yet, until they gets the keys to maintain it themselves. Doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. You live there and know what you are passing on, and what may or may not need attention, they don't. I know that once I have mentally moved on I'm less than keen to keep on top of the small stuff and all they are looking for is assurance that you won't wash your hands of potential issues which a FTB may not have the immediate funds to put right. Like it or not, you want the sale to go at your pace so sign the bit of paper and get on with it.

Keswick1uk

It's not really petty as you have conditions too.

I think, in this case, its fair enough as you've stipulated the long completion date that's caused the request. It's a negotiation for the wait time. In the normal short exchange completion period I would view it as petty.

If you are concerned about agreeing to maintain the property like this, perhaps its a sound request for them to need it in writing!