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Property/DIY

How long for court to force a sale of a house?

15 replies

Calico1 · 15/12/2014 14:58

Hello, long story but I am trying to buy a house and the vendor is obstructing the sale...

His ex partner has already got an Order of Sale on the property via the court some time ago which forces the sale (there are a number of debts charged against the property). The vendor accepted our offer back in August but still hasn't instructed his solicitors to start the legal process and is being evasive with the estate agents. We have a cash buyer for our house and now we need to get the process going or we will lose our buyer. It looks like the ex will have to enforce the court Order - the court can apparently take over the sale of the property but I have no idea about the process.

Does anyone have experience of how long this takes?

I'm grateful for any information.

OP posts:

Report

wowfudge · 15/12/2014 15:03

Can your conveyancing solicitor not advise you on this?

Calico1 · 15/12/2014 15:08

I've asked my solicitor but not got a useful response...he said 'it could be quick or take a year or so'....I was hoping to find out from someone who has experienced the process.....

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Calico1 · 15/12/2014 15:41

Anyone??

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roneik · 15/12/2014 16:26

I know somebody that bought a house with their daughters partner , they all lived including 2 children in it. It then went sour in early 2013. It has been on sale for eighteen months now. The person I refer to spent best part of two grand at solicitors and that does not include the payments for her half of the mortgage. She is now in rental. They her daughter and her partner have done everything to stall the sale. They pulled every plant and shrub out of the garden to make what was a nice 5 bedder in good street look like a council house. It went to court but they are still there and it's still on rightmove

Cedar03 · 15/12/2014 16:50

My experience of being stuck in a chain where there was a reluctant vendor further up the chain means that if it was me I'd be looking for somewhere else to buy.

We effectively had to force our vendors into selling to us and moving into rented accommodation because they wanted to wait for the people they wanted to buy from to make their minds up. We felt that 6 months was long enough and threatened to pull out altogether.

This didn't involve court orders, just a seller who couldn't make up their mind whether they were selling or not.

So I guess it depends how keen you are on this particular house.

specialsubject · 15/12/2014 17:52

sadly I'd say 'forget it' - or at the least, go into rental if you still want this house. This person is clearly going to move as slowly as possible, and if they won't even instruct solicitors you are in for a long haul.

Calico1 · 15/12/2014 18:07

Thanks guys, I don't think he will instruct his solicitors as he has been stalling for months, so our only hope of getting the house will be if the court takes over.....

It's the only house in the village where we live that we can afford to move to so we might as well stick it out and see if we can get it, otherwise we lose the fees we have already forked out....

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specialsubject · 16/12/2014 09:52

rental it is then if you don't want to lose your buyer. A pain with two moves, but not the end of the world.

hope it all works out and that your patience will be rewarded.

StampyShortnose · 16/12/2014 16:13

We bought a house in similar circumstances, from first offer - from a couple who pulled out cos of the time the process took- to our completion was 18 months.

Calico1 · 16/12/2014 17:15

18 months!! I'm not sure I can be that patient...Did the court take over the sale?

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StampyShortnose · 16/12/2014 17:34

No, court did not as the husband decided at the v last minute to cooperate.

Calico1 · 16/12/2014 17:49

Ah ok thanks for the info - I'm hoping the court will take over the sale as it is becoming obvious that the vendor is playing games with us all. One buyer has already given up and that was about 18 months ago. I think the vendor is hoping we will give up too.

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lessonsintightropes · 17/12/2014 17:12

We were in this position last year, trying to buy off a divorcing couple. After 6 months we had to pull out and we found somewhere else. Our solicitor's advice (and that of the vendors estate agent) was that it was unlikely to come off any time soon, and there was a high risk of ghost gazumping near exchange (during London bubble period). Hope you have better luck than we did.

Calico1 · 18/12/2014 15:53

Thanks for your feedback Lessons, we're going to give it a gamble - nothing to lose as no other property fits the bill and budget at the moment. I heard yesterday from ex partner that vendor has now signed the contract for sale after threat of court taking over..... we are selling our house through the same estate agent so they have a double interest in us getting this house. Fingers crossed....!

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RojaGato · 18/12/2014 17:04

I lived in a house for 13 years whilst something like this went on between my parents, a bank and the courts went on. a lot of that was due to the 1980s housing slump, but still. I'd start looking for another house to buy if you can.

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