Buyer trying to delay completion

Karen_Artioli

Mr.Generous said:

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.

Yes, that’s what I thought! I’m “glad” to hear I’m not just being impatient and my concerns make sense.
Do you think threatening to pull out to speed things up will help? The whole process is way too slow from their side.

JReacher1

Karen_Artioli said:

Mr.Generous said:

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.

Yes, that’s what I thought! I’m “glad” to hear I’m not just being impatient and my concerns make sense.
Do you think threatening to pull out to speed things up will help? The whole process is way too slow from their side.

Collapsing the chain because of a two week delay seems overly drastic. If the buyer does pull out then you’re starting again from scratch. Will take months. 

Karen_Artioli

diystarter7 said:

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

The first viewing was made by buyers’ cousin and his wife in a video call with the buyer who was in HK. The cash offer was made straight away at the end of the first viewing which was accepted. His cousin said the buyer and his family will come from HK soon so he was viewing on his behalf - weird, we thought it was an investor pretending to be a ‘family’ as some sellers would avoid investors. But as it was cash and highest offer, we didn’t mind. I’ve been in touch with the cousin since then, never spoke with the buyer.
Couple weeks ago the cousin said the buyer and his family arrived from HK and wanted to say hi. So they all came (buyer, wife, daughter, cousin and cousin’s wife), brought chocolates, asked for information about school for the daughter - at this instance it sounded genuine.
They are all living in the cousin’s house now until completion so they should be in a hurry more than I am. 

donutandbeer

I won’t be surprised that they were just not very prepared, since they were not even in the UK themselves and buying a property in HK is very different to buying here. Or maybe they want to take out and transfer their money after a certain date (perhaps it’s in an account that if they take it out early they’ll lose some money) and they just thought it wouldn’t be ready by 17 June anyway so expected there to be delay and didn’t mention. If they have just arrived in the UK not that long ago then I suppose they wouldn’t have all the money transferred to here already. 

They do sound sincere. If they pull put you will need at least another 8 weeks? to sell and that’s if it’s a chain-free buyer. Also what if the chain collapses. 

Karen_Artioli

donutandbeer said:

I won’t be surprised that they were just not very prepared, since they were not even in the UK themselves and buying a property in HK is very different to buying here. Or maybe they want to take out and transfer their money after a certain date (perhaps it’s in an account that if they take it out early they’ll lose some money) and they just thought it wouldn’t be ready by 17 June anyway so expected there to be delay and didn’t mention. If they have just arrived in the UK not that long ago then I suppose they wouldn’t have all the money transferred to here already. 

They do sound sincere. If they pull put you will need at least another 8 weeks? to sell and that’s if it’s a chain-free buyer. Also what if the chain collapses. 

That’s what I thought as well, but holding the money is just selfish as myself and my seller is also losing money with the delay.
I thought if I threat to pull out they might speed it up and transfer the money quickly - if that’s the real reason.

housebuyer143

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?

It took my solicitor 2-3 weeks to review mine as the money was all over the place and very messy. Then they need the file to be reviewed and checked over again.
Some solicitors are slow as well, like really slow! 

anselld

Karen_Artioli said:

donutandbeer said:

I won’t be surprised that they were just not very prepared, since they were not even in the UK themselves and buying a property in HK is very different to buying here. Or maybe they want to take out and transfer their money after a certain date (perhaps it’s in an account that if they take it out early they’ll lose some money) and they just thought it wouldn’t be ready by 17 June anyway so expected there to be delay and didn’t mention. If they have just arrived in the UK not that long ago then I suppose they wouldn’t have all the money transferred to here already. 

They do sound sincere. If they pull put you will need at least another 8 weeks? to sell and that’s if it’s a chain-free buyer. Also what if the chain collapses. 

That’s what I thought as well, but holding the money is just selfish as myself and my seller is also losing money with the delay.
I thought if I threat to pull out they might speed it up and transfer the money quickly - if that’s the real reason.

You make it sound like they are doing this deliberately to be awkward, but the bottom line is they are not ready.  The contract is not ready, the money is not ready, the signatures are not ready.  The chain is not ready to exchange until everyone is ready and some are inevitably slower than others.  You will probably find they were never bought into the date of the 17th anyway.
Why is it costing you money to wait a couple more weeks?   Not everyone responds positively to threats so that really should be a last resort.

MattMattMattUK

anselld said:

Karen_Artioli said:

donutandbeer said:

I won’t be surprised that they were just not very prepared, since they were not even in the UK themselves and buying a property in HK is very different to buying here. Or maybe they want to take out and transfer their money after a certain date (perhaps it’s in an account that if they take it out early they’ll lose some money) and they just thought it wouldn’t be ready by 17 June anyway so expected there to be delay and didn’t mention. If they have just arrived in the UK not that long ago then I suppose they wouldn’t have all the money transferred to here already. 

They do sound sincere. If they pull put you will need at least another 8 weeks? to sell and that’s if it’s a chain-free buyer. Also what if the chain collapses. 

That’s what I thought as well, but holding the money is just selfish as myself and my seller is also losing money with the delay.
I thought if I threat to pull out they might speed it up and transfer the money quickly - if that’s the real reason.

You make it sound like they are doing this deliberately to be awkward, but the bottom line is they are not ready.  The contract is not ready, the money is not ready, the signatures are not ready.  The chain is not ready to exchange until everyone is ready and some are inevitably slower than others.  You will probably find they were never bought into the date of the 17th anyway.
Why is it costing you money to wait a couple more weeks?   Not everyone responds positively to threats so that really should be a last resort.

Well they are doing it to be deliberately awkward. They and their solicitor will have been aware of timescales involved and have since early May to get their affairs in order but have chosen not to. Some people will be slower than others due to unchangeable circumstances, however these people have had more than a month to prepare something which takes around two weeks, that is a deliberate choice to inconvenience others.

Shaztastic3000

These jokers will likely never complete - in my experience only around 10% of HK buyers do. Pull out now and take it on the chin.

hackneylou

You shouldn't threaten to pull out as that's a nuclear option not worth going down that route. You could try negotiating on the date. Remind them that they had previously agreed to the earlier date that everyone else in the chain has been working to. Offer a compromise of completing at the end of June.