Buyer trying to delay completion

Karen_Artioli

I’m buying/selling and I’m the only one in the chain: buyer-myself-seller.
We’ve been in the conveyancing process since March and our target date was 17th June (next Friday).
Now (a week from expected completion) I got the news that everything is ready but my buyers solicitors are saying 17th June is too soon and suggested 7th July!! Their excuse is that buyers money is in Hong Kong and it takes couple weeks to receive the money and carry out the checks, also they need time for them to review the contract and buyers to sign it.
There is no way my seller and myself are waiting that long and my solicitor agreed it’s unacceptable as everything is ready.
As per google, a bank transfer from Hong Kong to the UK shouldn’t take more than 3 days.
What should I do? Any advice would be much appreciated.

anselld

Not much you can do really as clearly everything is not ready.  You can ask your Solicitor to encourage the buyer to bring things forward but there is no real leverage other than the nuclear option of threatening to pull out.

housebuyer143

As above, not much you can do. If the buyer is making all the right sounds and still seems keen then all you can do it wait.

pinkshoes

Since March isn't that long for a completion in July. I think you're being impatient!

Exchange contracts then set completion for 7th July. What difference does another couple of weeks make?

Karen_Artioli

pinkshoes said:

Since March isn't that long for a completion in July. I think you're being impatient!

Exchange contracts then set completion for 7th July. What difference does another couple of weeks make?

The thing is that they are not “ready” for exchange either. Their solicitors say they need 10 days to review the contract which they received in early May - why they need to review it at last minute?
And this money thing seems to be a silly excuse.
If they were so keen I wouldn’t mind exchanging and then waiting for completion if there was a genuine reason behind it.
But the unreasonable excuses to delay exchange worries me!

Karen_Artioli

anselld said:

Not much you can do really as clearly everything is not ready.  You can ask your Solicitor to encourage the buyer to bring things forward but there is no real leverage other than the nuclear option of threatening to pull out.

Everything is ready, it’s just their solicitors being slow. Why in the earth they need so long to review a contract and exchange? And this money thing is clearly an excuse. 

I wouldn’t mind waiting for completion, but buyer wanting to delay exchange is just weird and worrying.

diystarter7

OP
I hear you.
It' not just getting the money over but verifications ie fraud checks/money laundering checks etc if its a large amount over a few hundred k's.

you can always back out if you feel they are taking the mick.

Mr.Generous

Sorry to say it but a few HK buyers have been known to offer and progress a sale on multiple properties and then only complete on one. Doesn't matter what checks EA makes, each one can be shown the same proof of funds.

Karen_Artioli

diystarter7 said:

OP
I hear you.
It' not just getting the money over but verifications ie fraud checks/money laundering checks etc if its a large amount over a few hundred k's.

you can always back out if you feel they are taking the mick.

That’s the response I was expecting to hear! When I accepted the offer, they passed a substantiation process which also involves money laundry checks so I wasn’t sure it needed to be done again, I thought it was just an excuse to delay things for some reason. Do you have any experience how long it actually takes?

diystarter7

Karen_Artioli said:

diystarter7 said:

OP
I hear you.
It' not just getting the money over but verifications ie fraud checks/money laundering checks etc if its a large amount over a few hundred k's.

you can always back out if you feel they are taking the mick.

That’s the response I was expecting to hear! When I accepted the offer, they passed a substantiation process which also involves money laundry checks so I wasn’t sure it needed to be done again, I thought it was just an excuse to delay things for some reason. Do you have any experience how long it actually takes?

No, sorry but I do know for a fact that I only buy and sell chain free as does my family most of the time. Even then the buyers and they've been genuine come out with a new problem.  The most stupid one was and it was a kind of cover-up that the sellers who were chain free like we were at the last minute could not contact their daughter who was also named on the deeds - exchange of contracts/completion was delayed by a few days.

Have you met the buyers and how many viewings did they complete, you can often tell if they are genuie or not IMO

JReacher1

Karen_Artioli said:

diystarter7 said:

OP
I hear you.
It' not just getting the money over but verifications ie fraud checks/money laundering checks etc if its a large amount over a few hundred k's.

you can always back out if you feel they are taking the mick.

That’s the response I was expecting to hear! When I accepted the offer, they passed a substantiation process which also involves money laundry checks so I wasn’t sure it needed to be done again, I thought it was just an excuse to delay things for some reason. Do you have any experience how long it actually takes?

I assume it will be done by the 7th July