I am on the verge of backing out of a property sale. What are my options? [Merged]

jimbog

raptor2004 said:

so why can't we agree on an exchange date??

the issue with the gates hasn’t yet been resolved 

raptor2004

jimbog said:

raptor2004 said:

so why can't we agree on an exchange date??

the issue with the gates hasn’t yet been resolved 

Got a response. Vendor is unwilling to repair the gates. Spoke to the EA who were quite sttrong about the point that the ad itself only said, "gated" and not "electric gated". The problem was I was led to believe by the EA that the gates do work and the vendors need to find the fobs and ask one of their uncles how to operate it. And now the EA director wants me to send correspondance about the gate as that particular EA is on leave. The only correspondance I have is me repeatedly asking him whether the gates work and if there is an update. I don't really want to be in the business of sending conversations between myself and the EA as it won't resolve anything. The EA is behaving a bit shady....What should I do now

raptor2004

I should mention that the vendors informed the EA back in mid-September that they won't repair the gates and I was only informed today when I called in.

raptor2004

ThisIsWeird said:

raptor2004 said:

Grizebeck said:

I am stunned you paid a deposit.

Lesson learnt. Rather let it go and move on if I am not happy 

Hi Raptor.

The two second-hand appliances are worth, what? £200? (Check Facebook Marketplace for similar second-hand items). 

The kitchen stools, ditto - check Google for a guide price. (Are they of a rare and specific vernacular?)

And you are considering walking away, forfeiting your £5k deposit, over this?

Even the gates, if they don't work, are likely to be pretty cheap to repair. And you are considering forfeiting £5k over this?

In the overall scheme of things, that of your short, medium, or even long-term ownership of this house, these things are virtually immaterial. Losing £5k for a not good reason surely isn't?

This is not rational behaviour; it is (over)emotive, in my view.

May I ask if you have a condition that could be influencing your decisions here? If so, do you have a family member, friend or colleague who could help you here to work a reasoned way through to completion?

You shouldn't be 'happy' about walking away over such trivial matters, and the loss of £5k.

As others have pointed out, that £5k contract does make them liable if they don't leave the property 'vacant' on completion, so perhaps this makes them nervous too? Tbh, I don't know if 'vacant' includes such goods, or is it just humans!

The fridgefreezer is worth about £2k second hand (new about £3.5-4k). The washing machine is worth about £500 used. I have accepted they dont want to part with that and that is fine. only issue now is the gates.

Vendors will not repair the gates...and we don't know how much it will cost to repair....

raptor2004

EssexHebridean said:

TheJP said:

raptor2004 said:

Thanks.

what I don’t understand is why is the searches taking so long?

I paid my solicitor 6 weeks ago now.

Your solicitor will use a third party company to commission the searches as they are across various organisations, on top of the other conveyancing checks they will do the searches are usually one of the last things that get done.

It's not standard to leave the searches until late on - generally they are one of the earlier things to get instructions on and deal with, once contract papers have been checked and any mortgage offer received. 

As for "why so long" - because some local authorities are truly, painfully slow. Sad but true - and that has been pretty much the same situation for well over 30 years to my knowledge, and I suspect longer! 

OP one thing I would suggest is that if you are considering pulling out over the issues you've stated, perhaps this is not the right property for you? If you do pull out and start looking elsewhere, bear in mind that as said, there is no certainty that will be any faster, and of course everything including mortgage offer will have to start from the beginning again. 

Quries outstanding. vendors will not repair the gates and have confirmed. what are my options

cymruchris

raptor2004 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

raptor2004 said:

Grizebeck said:

I am stunned you paid a deposit.

Lesson learnt. Rather let it go and move on if I am not happy 

Hi Raptor.

The two second-hand appliances are worth, what? £200? (Check Facebook Marketplace for similar second-hand items). 

The kitchen stools, ditto - check Google for a guide price. (Are they of a rare and specific vernacular?)

And you are considering walking away, forfeiting your £5k deposit, over this?

Even the gates, if they don't work, are likely to be pretty cheap to repair. And you are considering forfeiting £5k over this?

In the overall scheme of things, that of your short, medium, or even long-term ownership of this house, these things are virtually immaterial. Losing £5k for a not good reason surely isn't?

This is not rational behaviour; it is (over)emotive, in my view.

May I ask if you have a condition that could be influencing your decisions here? If so, do you have a family member, friend or colleague who could help you here to work a reasoned way through to completion?

You shouldn't be 'happy' about walking away over such trivial matters, and the loss of £5k.

As others have pointed out, that £5k contract does make them liable if they don't leave the property 'vacant' on completion, so perhaps this makes them nervous too? Tbh, I don't know if 'vacant' includes such goods, or is it just humans!

The fridgefreezer is worth about £2k second hand (new about £3.5-4k). The washing machine is worth about £500 used. I have accepted they dont want to part with that and that is fine. only issue now is the gates.

Vendors will not repair the gates...and we don't know how much it will cost to repair....

So you haven't pulled out yet?

Couldn't you ask a tradesman that deals in electric gates to give you an idea of cost to replace the whole mechanism so that you know the potential upper range - and then it can only be cheaper from there if only a part needs replacing.

Full kits are only a couple of hundred pounds on Amazon, add on a couple of hundred pounds labour to fit - can't be much more than £500 to get them working again. Or you could temporarily go back to the old way of opening the gates manually until you've settled in and then decide on how you might want to progress from there.

raptor2004

cymruchris said:

raptor2004 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

raptor2004 said:

Grizebeck said:

I am stunned you paid a deposit.

Lesson learnt. Rather let it go and move on if I am not happy 

Hi Raptor.

The two second-hand appliances are worth, what? £200? (Check Facebook Marketplace for similar second-hand items). 

The kitchen stools, ditto - check Google for a guide price. (Are they of a rare and specific vernacular?)

And you are considering walking away, forfeiting your £5k deposit, over this?

Even the gates, if they don't work, are likely to be pretty cheap to repair. And you are considering forfeiting £5k over this?

In the overall scheme of things, that of your short, medium, or even long-term ownership of this house, these things are virtually immaterial. Losing £5k for a not good reason surely isn't?

This is not rational behaviour; it is (over)emotive, in my view.

May I ask if you have a condition that could be influencing your decisions here? If so, do you have a family member, friend or colleague who could help you here to work a reasoned way through to completion?

You shouldn't be 'happy' about walking away over such trivial matters, and the loss of £5k.

As others have pointed out, that £5k contract does make them liable if they don't leave the property 'vacant' on completion, so perhaps this makes them nervous too? Tbh, I don't know if 'vacant' includes such goods, or is it just humans!

The fridgefreezer is worth about £2k second hand (new about £3.5-4k). The washing machine is worth about £500 used. I have accepted they dont want to part with that and that is fine. only issue now is the gates.

Vendors will not repair the gates...and we don't know how much it will cost to repair....

So you haven't pulled out yet?

Couldn't you ask a tradesman that deals in electric gates to give you an idea of cost to replace the whole mechanism so that you know the potential upper range - and then it can only be cheaper from there if only a part needs replacing.

Full kits are only a couple of hundred pounds on Amazon, add on a couple of hundred pounds labour to fit - can't be much more than £500 to get them working again. Or you could temporarily go back to the old way of opening the gates manually until you've settled in and then decide on how you might want to progress from there.

It’s all speculation on the cost of fixing it….
Why aren’t the EA or vendor bothering to even get a quote?

I was repeatedly told that it works by the EA and the vendors were trying to find the fobs etc 

jimbog

At least you know now that the gates are being sold ‘as is’ so that issue has now been dealt with 

raptor2004

jimbog said:

At least you know now that the gates are being sold ‘as is’ so that issue has now been dealt with 

not quite, as I was told otherwise by the EA and misled which influenced my decision to go ahead with the sale

nicmyles

raptor2004 said:

Quries outstanding. vendors will not repair the gates and have confirmed. what are my options

a) You can withdraw your offer and look for another property. You may wish to be clear to them that is what you will do and give them another chance to agree to repair the gates.
b) You can proceed with the purchase and have them fixed at your own expense when you own the property.
c) You can reduce your offer by the amount it will cost to repair the gates - they may refuse.
(To facilitate either of the above routes, you can get a quote for the repair, which may require asking them to let a tradesman inspect the gates. They could say no.)

If you are otherwise keen on the property, I'd pick b) personally but only you can decide what's best for you.