House purchase advice sought solictors etc

[Cannonball]

Hi people,

my daughter is purchasing her first house, found the house has a solicitor mortgage in place also deposit etc, now the purchase is dragging its feet terribly she is pushing for a completion date and the moving in date her solicitor is telling her its gonna take ages even if she gets her a completion date the vendor can keep moving the moving in/signing over date as they are waiting on there new build to be completed, is this true ????

I find it absurd if this can be the case, in my day you had a deal done and had possesion of the house in circa 3 months max job done and if the sellers future house was not ready or what ever they would have to find digs somewhere either way they were out so you can take possesion ??? any pointers guys

Thank you

[GJUK]

Yeah sure is.

It's called a chain - the longer these are (with more buyers and sellers along the way), the last one kind of controls and stops everyone else who is ready to proceed to do the deal.

Sure - if you have a good solicitor and throw money at it you can buy a house quickly with no chain. But there are always searches/covenant etc that delay stuff. If the new build is delayed then the people you are buying from have no where to move to - so they will want to wait until their new house is ready.

Now some people can move in to temporary accommodation to 'make it happen' - you could explore this as an option if the delay is LONG. But ask for a date of build completion so you can work to that. They won't want to lose you as a buyer, if you've spent money on searches/solicitors etc then they might assume you won't pick another house.

Hope it goes well.

Jon

[Super Sloth]

My best mate just bought a house and was in a similar situation. He started dropping subtle hints that he might have to pull out and find another place as they had a baby on the way and didn't want his other half dealing with the stress ... etc etc etc...
The vendor suggested they would move out early and rent somewhere to bring the completion date forward and it did all work out for them.

It's a tough situation because nobody wants to upset the apple cart and the deal to fall through. If the vendor feels like she might walk that might be enough to encourage them to be a bit more proactive but like John said they may feel like they have the upper hand and can control the time frame because your daughter has already paid out on surveys et al and won't walk away?

It's frustrating when people won't be straight with you but the only way of playing it straight down the line without resorting to mind games may well be to sit tight and be patient if she's dead set on that particular house and nothing else will do?

[cadboy]

Agree with what has been said above, unfortunately the chain is all linked and the only way to complete is to keep the chain links.

If it the right house that she wants then just wait and keep on pushing to get a date.

Good luck

[andyrob]

just had a similar situation but this time with the buyer who kept messing me about and delaying things, well know buyer who the estate agents were friends with, after months & months told the estate agent to start doing viewings again & next id be picking up the phone to the other estate agent flat was for sale and saying the same thing with.
Sueddenly sale was complete in less than one week
Pressure does work

[lemans-tom]

Two observations

1 Did the seller mention at the time that they were waiting for a house to be built and there were likely to be delays? If not then that's in your favour in terms of leverage, as that could be as long as a piece of string etc?

2 Depends very much on where the 'power' lies in the buyer-seller relationship. Who has the stronger case - has the seller struggled to find a buyer, up for sale for ages etc if so more leverage with your side. If its a popular house/area/lots of potential buyers, more leverage rests with the seller. Depending on where you think the leverage lies in the relationship, it might be worth applying some pressure. Some buyers do cave in and agree to move out in order to 'save' a sale.

I wouldn't bother about upsetting people - its business not personal - and that's why you have a solicitor to do the dirty work.

[lough3969]

As I understand it.

When both parties exchange contracts the completion date is agreed and set, after that it cannot be moved unless by mutual agreement of BOTH parties.

Has she exchanged yet? If not and the Vendors are Bananarama! about then it is a game of chicken...

If she was one of many bidders and or offers and the vendors are in no rush then she will have to flex with their demands.

Her bargaining strength is that as a [chain-free] buyer with all paperwork and lending in place, should she pull out of the purchase, that might threaten the vendors offer on their new property.

Best advice is not to stop activley looking at other property... with all her borrowing in place, she's a great prospective purchaser.

I'm in the midst of all this as we speak...

[db]

It's so Bananarama! up in England and Wales I swore I'd never move again. Then my girlfriend tried to move and had the exact same scam pulled on her so we're staying put now!
In England and Wales there is NOTHING LEGALLY BINDING UNTIL CONTRACTS ARE EXCHANGED.

This means, as happened to me and then to Amy your potential 'buyer' can delay, change their offer, impose conditions, almost anything to mess you around, perfectly legally.

This is now a commonly used tactic to rip off sellers. They string you along to the point where you're dependent on them to buy then slam you with a rip-off offer.
Our 'buyer' insisted we get a detailed plan of the drains, insisted there might be Japanese knotweed (there isn't), demanded they be allowed to come and take photos inside the house... They messed us around for months, the sellers of the bungalow we were buying were on the verge of dropping us. Then out of the blue, the 'buyer' drops their offer £25k! (nearly 20% off the agreed price). They thought they had us over a barrel but we told them to stick it. Surprise surprise they pulled out. No doubt they then just moved on to their next victim.

None of this is possible in Scotland, there you enter a binding contract a soon as a price is agreed.

[R.RUNNER]

Dunc!!!!!!!!!!! you and I are "OLD SCHOOL"........................................................

It`s the best way







"HI-LO horns"

[Cannonball]

Dunc!!!!!!!!!!! you and I are "OLD SCHOOL"........................................................

It`s the best way







"HI-LO horns"

ha HA

WELL She has the house now its all pnned out great for her,, thanks to all ,,,

And yes i need to look at my Horns Mr Runner

[db]

Great news mate, glad it all worked out