Bloor Homes - 28 Days Exchange - will they redact the sale?

alexandhercastle

My partner is purchasing a new build for us. He is not a first time buyer, he previously shared a mortgage with his previous partner, which, because of COVID, and, I am more than confident, a-large-willingness-to-ignore-and-not-chase-up-on-things-with-her-solicitor-because-she-was-getting-a-good-deal-out-of-my-partner-still-living-there-situation, has taken 18 months to get him removed from the mortgage, and it's still not quite finished, him having only been able to return the forms to his solicitors on Friday because her solicitors took forever to get the correct amount of equity onto the paperwork. SIGH! 

We early birded the house, and paid the reservation fee, perhaps a little naively not realising they had marked him as a first time buyer despite us being very open with the sales people about his situation . We have also paid for half the options upgrades (totalling around £2000) and have confirmed on the flooring we want (again, half of this will be due end of November)

A couple of weeks ago, we had a very unfortunate interaction with a sales manager who was adamant they had received no contact from my partner's solicitor, and started to state if we missed the 28 day deadline they would put the house on the market. We complained, not about the transactional or legal points raised, but mainly about how we were spoken to, essentially, as if my partner is trying to con them out of a home. Our complaint was passed to another sales manager who took an hour on Thursday evening to explain why we were con artists and that we deserved to be spoken to like this. Apparently they thought he was a brand new buyer (because of course, you would be allowed to talk to a first time buyer like scum usually) and anytime I tried to query the tone of the conversation, or the comments her colleague made about my partners physical appearance (an ill advised quip about the lack of grey hair in his beard indicating he wasn't stressed enough) I was spoken over, even referred back to the original crux of their argument, which was PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE. Even going so far as to state they would start harassing the mortgage broker themselves. A large proportion of the issue seems to be we didn't choose their approved solicitor or mortgage broker because, we knew they wouldn't have our best interests at heart. 

My partner's solicitor completed some basic enquiries last week (he is still awaiting the results of the local search), and his mortgage approval is in it's final stages, his mortgage broker has provided all details to Bloor homes. Who 'kindly' agreed to move the exchange date out 2 weeks. We are chasing up on these things to ensure they are in the loop but it doesn't feel right to me, I've got a bad feeling that I just can't shake. 

We have all had a really tough year, and have a lot of personal things going on, making it almost impossible for me to feel that they won't just cancel the sale, even after the time and effort invested. 

What do you think? Has anyone experienced Bloor homes before? What are they really like? Is it normal for these new build sales people to be so pressuring and aggressive?

GoogleMeNow

My daughter and son-in-law bought a Bloor home a couple of years ago.  The transaction took around 3/4 months and long past the 28 day exchange date.  The conveyancing and due diligence needs to be done, regardless of what Bloor would wish for. 

Usually, developers back down when they can see that progress is being made, particularly as they are not going to sell the property again any quicker.  It is entirely possible that Bloor can't check progress as easily now that you are not using their 'preferred' solicitor, but to be honest, that's a good thing for you.  Your solicitor is acting in your best interests, not rushing it through to appease their developer client rather than you, their actual client.

The one thing I would say is, once they take your money for upgrades, you will not get this back if the transaction doesn't go ahead.

Hold firm, you are doing the right thing here.  Just keep them in the loop by reiterating what stage your solicitor is at.

Edit to say that Bloor were not pushy at all with my daughter and she and her husband are very happy in their home - they were FTBs though with the Help to Buy Equity loan and did use the developer's solicitor, so perhaps they are the ideal couple to have made extra money from.

alexandhercastle

GoogleMeNow said:

My daughter and son-in-law bought a Bloor home a couple of years ago.  The transaction took around 3/4 months and long past the 28 day exchange date.  The conveyancing and due diligence needs to be done, regardless of what Bloor would wish for. 

Usually, developers back down when they can see that progress is being made, particularly as they are not going to sell the property again any quicker.  It is entirely possible that Bloor can't check progress as easily now that you are not using their 'preferred' solicitor, but to be honest, that's a good thing for you.  Your solicitor is acting in your best interests, not rushing it through to appease their developer client rather than you, their actual client.

The one thing I would say is, once they take your money for upgrades, you will not get this back if the transaction doesn't go ahead.

Hold firm, you are doing the right thing here.  Just keep them in the loop by reiterating what stage your solicitor is at.

Edit to say that Bloor were not pushy at all with my daughter and she and her husband are very happy in their home - they were FTBs though with the Help to Buy Equity loan and did use the developer's solicitor, so perhaps they are the ideal couple to have made extra money from.

Thankyou! That's helpful to know ref the options payments as well. Please to hear your daughter and husband are happy too hopefully the quality of the home will outweigh the negatives of how we are being made to feel 

user1977

alexandhercastle said:

him having only been able to return the forms to his solicitors on Friday because her solicitors took forever to get the correct amount of equity onto the paperwork

A couple of weeks ago, we had a very unfortunate interaction with a sales manager who was adamant they had received no contact from my partner's solicitor

And has your partner's solicitor told him that they had in fact been in touch with the developers? The first part of your post suggests the solicitors may well have done nothing so far if they've been waiting for your partner to return the initial forms. If (as far as the developers are concerned) there's been radio silence from the solicitor then I can understand them wanting some reassurance that things are in fact moving along.

alexandhercastle

user1977 said:

alexandhercastle said:

him having only been able to return the forms to his solicitors on Friday because her solicitors took forever to get the correct amount of equity onto the paperwork

A couple of weeks ago, we had a very unfortunate interaction with a sales manager who was adamant they had received no contact from my partner's solicitor

And has your partner's solicitor told him that they had in fact been in touch with the developers? The first part of your post suggests the solicitors may well have done nothing so far if they've been waiting for your partner to return the initial forms. If (as far as the developers are concerned) there's been radio silence from the solicitor then I can understand them wanting some reassurance that things are in fact moving along.

yes they have, we attended site on Friday 14th, were told the solicitor had been in touch Thurs 13th by the solicitor himself, and then confirmed he had sent enquiries on Monday 18th. All of this and as part of the 'dressing down' received from them on Thurs just gone, it wasn't good enough and they wanted more. 

MrCarrot

Wow, how odd that you posted this so recently.  I wonder if you are looking at the same development as us, because we are experiencing a similar thing. We have spent weeks liasing with Bloor and jumping through their every hoop.

Recently we went to reserve, and at the last possible moment they said we had to use their "recommended" solicitor and IFA.  This is despite the fact I've been telling them for weeks that we have our own, and despite the fact that it is against their code of practice.

When we refused the conversation quickly went from bubbly and friendly to aggressive, at which point we were effectively blackmailed with the threat of them selling the plot to someone else. We have walked away and like you I have a very bad feeling; they are only nice and friendly when everything is stacked heavily in their favour.

Fortunately for us we haven't committed any money yet.