Frustrating buyer

thelanky1

Firstly apologies for my rant in advance.

We are selling our shared ownership flat and things are hopefully near the end. 

Recent works were done for which we need to contribute £10,000. We are leaving this money as a retention.

But our buyer keeps raising more and more enquires relating to this. Her main concern is that what’s the stop there being another big bill in years to come.

I am not actually sure what answer she actually wants. The whole chain is ready and we are just waiting for her and she seems in no rush. 

Irishpearce26

Frustrating buyer or diligent buyer. Same thing different angles.

Either hang on or pull out. 

thelanky1

Irishpearce26 said:

Frustrating buyer or diligent buyer. Same thing different angles.

Either hang on or pull out. 

I fully understand that she is checking everything and she has been given last 3 years service charge records and all the details of the building works.

I just think she wants someone to turn around and say don’t worry there won’t be anymore works for x amount of years and I am not sure that’s going to happen.

She keeps suggesting completion dates to us and solicitors and then finds something else to ask questions about.

canaldumidi

Clearly neither you nor anyone else can guarantee a property won't need work done in the future! Indeed, it's pretty well guaranteed that at some point, some work will be needed. That's the difference between property ownership and renting!

All you can do is declare what work is currently planned or known about. All she can do is get a survey done to establish the condition of the property.

If this is not enough for her, then

a) she should not be planning property ownership and

b) you should be re-marketing!

NameUnavailable

There will always be more bills ahead, she's got to understand that.

£10K would have been a fair amount of work - what was it for? What kind of building is it?

Having just spent £10K your buyer should feel happy that some major works have been carried out now (and she didn't get a bill 6 months after moving in!).

OTOH, with the new building safety requirements coming in, it's possible that there will be expensive surveys and remediation works to pay for in the coming year or two........

Thrugelmir

thelanky1 said:

I am not actually sure what answer she actually wants. 

To avoid an unexpected £10k bill in 5 years time I'd say.  Understandable that your buyer is performing due diligence.  Why should she trust you? Not going to be your problem once you've sold the property. Somebody in the chain has to be last. 

TripleH

When we sold our flat there were major works planned. Our buyer asked that we pay for them in full.

We offered to deduct half off the price on the grounds that the works were to replace items near the end of their life and that we would obtain no benefit from the work. We as a building were asked to vote on what the changes would be and got our buyers to vote for their preference (work would be uniform throughout the building). They accepted this offer.

I assume your buyer has had a full breakdown of what the recent works were for?

thelanky1

Thank you for all the replies. Our block is a converted Victorian House containing 4 flats. 

The works relates to external painting and repairs, rendering etc. Nothing structural. The cost was so high as nothing had been done for the last 10 years.

The final invoice is not yet out, however the estimate contains a breakdown of what the work relates to. We are leaving the money based on the estimate, and have had confirmation that the final invoice will not exceed this. All the information that is available in relation to the works has been shared. 

Crashy_Time

Thrugelmir said:

thelanky1 said:

I am not actually sure what answer she actually wants. 

To avoid an unexpected £10k bill in 5 years time I'd say.  Understandable that your buyer is performing due diligence.  Why should she trust you? Not going to be your problem once you've sold the property. Somebody in the chain has to be last. 

In this climate if I was the buyer I would pull out.

firebubble

Such a pain to have a jittery FTB at this stage of the process.

She needs to focus on whether there is a sinking fund (if not, start one herself), and then try and establish how often the major works are done. You mentioned that it has been a long time since the last works - maybe provide more information to her on this (solicitors only go back 3 years as standard - perhaps go back right to the start from when you purchased the property? Also, is there any sort of management committee amongst the leaseholders which means she could have a say on what works are scheduled?

Your buyer will find this with every single leasehold flat. No one wants big bills, but they are an occasional fact of property ownership.  People seem to reiterate the rhetoric of 'it's better to pay a mortgage than rent', but don't give the rest of the picture which is buying means accepting other responsibilities, which always have a cost attached to them. The reality of owning an asset is that there will always be maintenance costs.

Crashy_Time

firebubble said:

Such a pain to have a jittery FTB at this stage of the process.

She needs to focus on whether there is a sinking fund (if not, start one herself), and then try and establish how often the major works are done. You mentioned that it has been a long time since the last works - maybe provide more information to her on this (solicitors only go back 3 years as standard - perhaps go back right to the start from when you purchased the property? Also, is there any sort of management committee amongst the leaseholders which means she could have a say on what works are scheduled?

Your buyer will find this with every single leasehold flat. No one wants big bills, but they are an occasional fact of property ownership.  People seem to reiterate the rhetoric of 'it's better to pay a mortgage than rent', but don't give the rest of the picture which is buying means accepting other responsibilities, which always have a cost attached to them. The reality of owning an asset is that there will always be maintenance costs.

Yep, many of the people caught in the cladding/other regulatory mess at the minute, especially if recent buyers, would have been cheaper off renting.