Vendors Contacting Buyer

dave_the_fox

Hi guys
just to let you know i am buying a house lol
however, things have stalled a bit thanks to getting reports etc after the survey.
Now my gf has just rang me and said that the vendor has rang her up at work and started to ask her loads of questions, eg whats happening, we have done this that etc.
now im not sure but is she actually allowed to do this?
cheers
:money:

cattie

How did she get your gf's number, did she give it to vendor? Usually you wouldn't give a phone number to vendor & all dealings are done via estate agent, who acts as go between & co-ordinator between vendor, buyer & each solicitor.

Best ask the vendor to make enquiries via ea in future rather than contact you by phone.

dave_the_fox

It was her work phone, when they shown us around they spoke about work etc typical women gossiping!
so its not illegal or anything like that?
thanks for your reply btw

cattie

No it's not illegal. It would be different if the vendor were trying to contact your solicitor direct for info, now that isn't done. They would end up with a flea in their ear!

Only the ea or other parties solicitor are able to make contact with solicitor's involved for info.

Curv

No, it's not 'illegal', although it's bad form to do it uninvited.

Our vendors sent me a get well card (I broke my leg) and wrote their email address in it. I emailed to thank them and we've stayed in close contact ever since... we text a fair bit too. It's been useful for us as buyers as we've been able to ask loads of questions that seem too trivial to bother the estate agent with but that will make life a bit easier. And it's been good for them as vendors because when everything seemed to be going wrong over the last day or so we've been able to swap information that the other wasn't privy to and, therefore get to the bottom of things and come up with a solution that suited us both. Much better than faffing about passing messages through estate agents.

Having said that, our buyers are a complete nightmare and I'd be horrified if they got hold of my number.

So, in response to the OP, I'd say that if you aren't comfortable with the direct contact, or if it gets to much, then ask them to communicate via the estate agent. If you don't mind it then it could prove useful.

HTH

olibrofiz

One time when I moved the EA's gave me the sellers phone number , said they didn't mind, and as the sols & EA's were mucking about so much we decided between us when we were going to exchange and complete. It all worked out fine.

grey_lady

I thought it was normal for vendors / sellers to have contact, my family seemed to think so when i bought my first place - i ended up writing a quick note with my phone number in it to the vendor if she needed to get hold of me, that way things moved much quicker.

dave_the_fox

Thanks for clearing that up then guys!!

Running_Horse

We gave our number to our vendor before making an offer, and it was useful to have a direct line of contact. But I would never expect calls at work. Perhaps her EAs or solicitors could let her know it is bad form.

KiKi

Yeah, it's a bit of a judgement call. On the one hand it could be useful, if you have a reasonable vendor.

On the other hand, they could potentially make your life hell by hassling you. Unfortunately you're not going to know that until you have a bad experience! You can always tell them to go through the EA only, but that's more difficult once you've already allowed them to contact you directly.

Hope the purchase goes really smoothly for you.
KiKi

Richard_Webster

It often helps for the seller and buyer to have some direct contact.

If there are negotiations involved it is easier to talk direct because a subject can be introduced gradually and reactions can be gauged in conversation, rather than phone call to by buyer the agents saying he want £1,000 off for some works. Agent puts point to seller, seller reacts and fires off a reply which goes back via the agent. It will depend on the nature of the issue and what the seller and the buyer are like. Some people are frightened in talking to others and may prefer the agents to do it. Others find that having an intermediary in the middle can make more of a drama out of things that could have been discussed sensibly over a cup of coffee.

One thing people do need to appreciate is that it is unwise to rely upon what others say about their state of readiness and completion dates etc., without getting these matters thoroughly checked. People will often agree some date without checking with their solicitors that it is possible, or will check and then not bother to check back 3 weeks later that it is still possible.