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!

With a chainfree buyer who has nothing much to lose by just walking away, there’s no way I’d quibble over £500. My tactic would be to agree the reduction contingent on exchanging on a tight but realistic exchange date with completion a couple of weeks later.

I would probably suggest meeting half way on the cost of the wall, subject to exchanging on the date your builders have given. But, it is down to the solicitors to pull their fingers out.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the buyer having only instructed solicitors 2 weeks ago if she waited for the survey report.

I'm about to market a house and until I know potential buyer's mortgagor is happy with valuation and survey, I won't be instructing a solicitor. I'm not prepared to incur any unnecessary costs so need to know buyer is definitely proceeding.

The ball is in your court re dropping the price but hassling the buyer won't make her solicitor any faster once she has explained what date you all want completion. It will just add to the stress.

Did she only instruct the solicitors two weeks ago, or did they only start to work on the sale two weeks ago? I only ask because the solicitors we employed called us twice to ask for the next instalments of money (they taken money in blocks so cover the cost of each phase of the checks, contracts etc). Three months down the line when I asked for copies of the checks etc, it came to light that NOTHING had been done. She literally hadn't even opened a file in the office for us. The only way we existed in their system was as an email where we hired them. We completed the sale less than a week before I gave birth (home birth), the house didn't even have a kitchen or a working boiler. It was the most stressful experience of my life.

It will not be done in 3 weeks, I can assure you. I have bought and sold a lot of properties and basically I have to do the solicitors job for them. They are rediculously slow. You need to make many, many phone calls to all parties involved including estate agents to push it forward

I would agree about the £2k, the buyer asking for a reduction on works that the property needs following a survey is standard. As long as they are not taking the piss.

You need to have a proper chat with your solicitor so that your expectations are managed. From experience I would say 3 weeks to complete is unrealistic

Thanks all, the issue is there is a crack in one side of our garden wall and the surveyor has apparently suggested that it is rebuilt, although she won't let us see the report

Oh dear

I had this when selling my late father's place, where several "builders" who looked round insisted their "expert surveyor" had picked up anything from a few small issues to the whole place falling down ... and interestingly it was the catastrophe-mongers who refused sight of the alleged paperwork

On advice, I negotiated only with those who would disclose the survey and learned that all the place actually needed was a repair to the chimney flashing and an adjustment on some guttering joints

As said, rather than assuming anything I'd want a lot more reassurance that your buyer's serious about proceeding - if she's not, you really need to know now in order to re-market the property

@wildcate
the searches will take longer than that
How do you know how long the searches take in the OPs area? My local authority returns a local search result in 3 working days, all other searches can be obtained online.

On advice, I negotiated only with those who would disclose the survey

^^ this. Tell them you will only consider negotiating on price if they first let you see the report.

Yes we were more than happy to share the survey or at least extracts of the relevant sections. Not an unreasonable request at all!

@Mildura

How do you know how long the searches take in the OPs area? My local authority returns a local search result in 3 working days, all other searches can be obtained online.

You’re quite right

I should have said ‘in my experience of buying several houses, in several local authority areas, and in the experience of everyone I know well enough to know how their house purchases are going, across even more LAs, local searches have never been completed in under 3 weeks’