To start to get tough (house buying)

[Pepperwand]

Sorry if this isn't the right place but posting for traffic.

We're currently in the process of buying a new build house and selling our current home. The house builder has put a 28 day exchange deadline on us which I understand is standard and I'm also 29 weeks pregnant so very keen to keep the momentum up. We're ready to exchange on our purchase but need our buyer to be ready so we can exchange on the same day.

Our buyer is currently in rented so we're in a short chain but I spoke to the estate agent today and apparently she only instructed a solicitor two weeks ago so they haven't even started the searches (it's been about 6 weeks since we accepted her offer). She has however had a survey done on our house and due to some minor points that have come back wants to drop the price by £2k. Honestly at this point we just don't want the sale falling through and are worried about the exchange deadline being just over 3 weeks away so would you agree to the price drop but on the provision we exchange in the next three weeks?

Sorry if this is rambling, it's our first time selling a property and buying a new one. Im hoping the exchange deadline given by our house builder could be flexible but I'm wondering if it's time to start hassling and sending some stern emails? I just hate the stress of not knowing whether it's all going to go through or not when we've already paid out money!

[Fiveredbricks]

DO NOT BUY NEW BUILD ANYTHING. RUN AWAY NOW.

[Singlenotsingle]

She doesn't sound serious. How much notice does she have to give on her rented place.

And you'd have too insist on exchange within the three weeks but if she's only just instructed solicitors, the searches can take longer than that!
And has she got a mortgage offer in place?

[MsVestibule]

You definitely need to start playing hard ball but unfortunately, you need them more than they need your house! If she only instructed her solicitor two weeks ago, is exchange in three weeks realistic? What will happen to your new home if you can't exchange in three weeks?

[Singlenotsingle]

And I AGREE with Fiveredbricks!!!

[Alsohuman]

Firstly, you're the builder's customer so you should be dictating the timescale not him. There's no reason why you shouldn't make the reduction dependent on your preferred exchange date, there should be enough time.

[Livelovebehappy]

The builder would surely be prepared to wait an extra few weeks if necessary, rather than go back to the beginning of the sale process with another buyer?

[Pepperwand]

We do need her more than she needs us unfortunately. She's apparently got her mortgage offer and the survey she had done was a homebuyers and valuation survey which I think means the mortgage provider is checking the price is right? I'm not sure if three weeks is realistic although our solicitor is really on it and we were ready very quickly which is why I think it may be time to get tough.

If we don't exchange in three weeks I'm not sure what happens, the fear is that they'd put the house back on the market but in reality I'm hoping they'd be flexible if things were progressing. My nesting instinct is kicking in and I want to know where we're going to be living , new builds round here are the only way of getting something with enough bedrooms that's affordable ATM unfortunately!

[Singlenotsingle]

New builds are generally shoddily built, small rooms, small gardens, narrow roads and nightmare parking.

[crunchie12]

We had a new build - it was great. Big rooms, no snagging. Nice and fresh. We only moved as we backed on to a busy slip road and it was ridiculously noisy. If we could've picked the house up to move we would have. We were there for 3 years. I miss the house terribly.

I do think it's time to get serious with her.

[crunchie12]

Also we had a decent sized garden and drive way for 3 cars

[Pepperwand]

I'm not asking about whether or not we should be buying the new build, it has bigger rooms than our current house, more bedrooms, a reasonable garden and a driveway that will fit two cars. I'm asking if I send a strong email saying something to the effect of "yes to the price reduction but only if we exchange within three weeks" whether I sound like a loon as that's unrealistic or whether that's justified.

[Wildcate]

You can send that email but she’ll never exchange in 3 weeks - as a PP says, the searches will take longer than that.

[Lellikelly26]

It depends how quickly the searches come back. The local search can take a bit of time, you should ask the buyer to tell their solicitor it is urgent and pay for an expedited service. In my experience the builders do allow delays as they set short and unrealistic timescales, though admittedly it does push things through faster than they would otherwise

[Alsohuman]

Searches are all done online, they can easily be done in three weeks.

[sighrollseyes]

Solicitors do everything at their own speed.
When I moved house it was supposed to happen when I was 20 weeks pregnant eventually happened when I was 36 weeks pregnant - no reason for any delay just solicitors being slow! In the end I'm convinced they only got it sorted because I became the phoner from hell literally every day, said I'd pull out as baby was due in 4 weeks, suddenly happened overnight!

[Bigpizzalover]

I’ve recently bought a new build and had the same 28 days to exchange from reservation - there was no way I’d be able to exchange in that timescale (I needed to be removed from mortgage with exP) which meant they needed to get a mortgage on the house in their name to remove me on the deeds before I could exchange on this one... made them aware from the start, gave them regular updates and they happily delayed it for me as they knew I was pushing to progress with it. Just speak to the builders.

[Stopandlook]

Dropping the offer is a shitty thing for your buyer to do, but too common unfortunately. Yes - I would say yes on the stipulation of a deadline being set. That’s what we did when our buyer gazundered us.

Note to all: just don’t do this!

[Alsohuman]

It's not gazundering. The survey has thrown up problems that will cost £2k to fix. It's standard practice.

[mrscatmad31]

We have bought two new builds, last time our builder kept saying we had to exchange by a certain date but it went way past that date, they won't put it back on the market, these things happen

[MegaBat]

@Fiveredbricks why would you do that? I hate posters who de-rail a thread by picking something completely pointless from the OP to make a point about. Which is completely irrelevant to anything

[Stopandlook]

OP says minor points that were likely obvious. It is gazundering if they then drop price by 2K when the seller has already gone quite far along with their purchase. Sounds like they were just looking to justify it.

[Alicesweewonders]

We've bought a new build, spacious rooms & hallways. Large garden, off road parking, very quiet. I love it. Don't generalize

[Alsohuman]

Gazundering is when you try to pay less for no reason whatsoever just before exchange, which is what happened to me and I told the buyer to fuck off. Reducing your offer on the basis of the survey isn't gazundering, with any sense does it.

[Alsohuman]

Anyone!

[BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo]

Well said Megabat