Or is the person we're buying a house from totally fucking batshit?

[sootspritez]

I'm gonna start by saying I know I'm not being unreasonable, however I am inexperienced, so looking for some guidance on where you think things have gone wrong and what I can now do to placate this nutjob vendor. NC as outing. Will try not to drip feed.

Dh and I are first time buyers. Visited a house. Loved it. Offered full asking price. All fine up until this point.

3 weeks after offer is accepted the survey happens. This is when things start going south.

Let's say that house was on market for 150k. Survey came back and said the house was only work 137k due to needing new Windows, chimney work, roof tiles, etc and the bank believe this was all the house was worth.

Survey cost in excess of £500 so fairly decent survey for a reasonable priced house. Put it to the agents that unfortunately this is now all we can offer as the mortgage lenders I.e. bank believe it's all the house is worth due to work needing doing. Fully prepared to be told tough and that they're holding out for the full price as I know they rejected a previous offer for being slightly below asking.

Vendor agrees to sell for 137k immediately. Phew... Or so we thought.

From this point on the following has happened via estate agents -

• vendor has cancelled 3 second viewings because they were inconvenient though she initially agreed

• she has denied entrance to the property for a contractor to come out with us to estimate how much work needs doing

• pointlessly got in touch to specify that now that they had gone below asking that all appliances wouldn't be included (I didn't want her appliances)

• asked EA to ask us TWICE if we would be willing to offer them more money despite accepting price given by mortgage lender

• when we have asked for another viewing she has proposed just insane times '20 mins at 6pm on the last Sunday of the month' '30 mins at 10.30am exactly 4 weeks on friday' despite us offering to be entirely flexible where possible (I.e. evenings and weekends at her convenience but would be willing to book an hour off work if she can guarantee the time). She says she cannot guarantee time as she works fill time and has 2 boys who play football until 8pm every single night and all day every weekend and they are her priority.

She has told the EA that she thinks we are inflexible and both the EA and the branch manager have apologised to us for her behaviour but obviously won't challenge her on it.

Am I right in thinking she's pissed off about lowering the price and just doesn't wanna sell her house?!

So much admiration!

Bold and brilliant move 👏

@Mum4Blake

Sorry - my last post was in reply to you.

@Bluntness100 To be fair, other posters will have had different experiences. Are you an EA? (Genuine question). When I worked in that field, it was only common for second viewings to take place prior to offering to help people make their minds up if they really wanted the property. It genuinely was not common after an offer had been accepted unless the missives had been concluded (Scotland).

Jesus the vendor would have hated me I went back on a couple of occasions and the lady in question was fab. Second viewing with folks and a third to take measurements. Damp flagged on our report she even allowed a contractor to come and assess the work which equated to £1200 and we met half way. I'd walk away if these are the problems you are having now it could only get worst

I must admit this whole situation would be a red flag for me. It sounds like she knows your contractor will find something else and that's why she doesn't want you to have access. I'd be looking for something else by now.

Always go with your gut feelings, sounds like you should pull out of this one asap!

I think you have to decide how much you want the house. Personally I think it's a buyers market. But she's obviously hacked off at having to lower the price, although she didn't have accept the offer...

Options

1. say unless you have access to do x,y,z you may withdraw offer( be prepared to walk away)
2. withdraw offer and find another place
3. do nothing and be patient until it's yours

Good luck! It is a stressful time

Tell the EA that you are going to pull out of the purchase and then watch how flexible she can be

@sootspritez of course you should be able to go back for a second viewing. IMO you should trust your gut, if you're having second thoughts because of her behaviour then I would pull out. Buying a house is a big deal, stick to your guns!

^ Crikey!!!! Wrong thread

Ok, I am from Scotland so probably a little different. The house is not sold until the money changes hands. I have bought and sold five times. We have a home report done here before we put house on the market by law. If buyer wanted a second visit then I would certainly oblige as I would rather they pulled out sooner than later down the line. Most people do want to come round and measure up when offer is accepted.

I think she is being very difficult and could therefore lose the sale.

*I think the problem is that you are expecting to do this further investigation after you’ve already agreed a reduced price.

Normally, you do one or 2 viewings before offer. Then survey. Possible adjustment in selling price after survey. If survey flags up issues which need further investigation, this should have been done before any renegotiation of price. *

I agree with this - you've offered, she's accepted. You've then had the survey highlighting potential issues and re-offered. She's accepted. You're now saying you want the work quoted for before you proceed further. So what's to stop you reduving your offer again? She probably thinks you aren't reliable.

Surely it's entirely normal to have people in to measure up and quote on a house that needs a lot of work? How else are you meant to book builders etc in? We've done this, and we've allowed access for this.

People are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, and they want to get cracking on sorting the arrangements for the building site they'll have to inhabit. Seems completely fair enough to me.

Curious how you completed yet were in property still keys are normally handed to solicitors prior to completion and I was always told you be out by 10am no later as til you leave can’t complete and it’s not unreasonable for someone to want to get into the house they just bought ASAP why would you want someone else in it now it’s yours.

Meh. If she won't cooperate put out OP. She and the house sound like a bloody headache.

Amazed at some of the responses. I think you should make it clear that you are willing to pull out. Look at other houses. She is being unreasonable.

Bought and sold many times. I don’t this sale is going anywhere. I think for the sake of your sanity I would walk away, chalk it up to experience. Houses are like buses, the one for you will turn up eventually. Good luck

To be honest i would walk away... however

This sounds like it was just the mortgage survey rather than a building/structural one? It was a while ago when i bought my flat but i had two surveys a mortgage one and a structural one. There was different levels of structural i could pick, and i went with a middle one.
It is perfectly normal to have a mortgage one and a structural one and you negotiate if necessary after both depending what they find.
The mortgage one, as you say if your struggling then others will too and she would have to wait for a full cash buyer to get what she wants, but the structural is a little more subjective on negotiating.
My feeling is she's worried you will try to knock her further, or as you say she is worried you'll discover something..

I’ve sold a couple of houses in the past and I would have no objection to someone popping in to measure up last house I sold they came over to measure up and it was all good nothing wrong with being nice especially when the person buying is excited about let’s face it a huge purchase. Everyone is different tho I guess I’m just nice and others well not gonna say

If you cannot get access to the house I would think about withdrawing the offer. It is quite acceptable to have a second viewing and also to get quotes for work. It’s all very well knowing what works need doing but you have to know a ballpark figure otherwise you might not have the funds to do said works. Even then things can change. We had to have a chimney re-built (grade II * listed house) and it cost us several thousand more than expected. Good luck

I don’t understand why you would offer on a house when you aren’t actually confident about the cost of renovation etc. It’s just dicking people around and time wasting.

People are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, and they want to get cracking on sorting the arrangements for the building site they'll have to inhabit. Seems completely fair enough to me.

We are in the process of buying a house which needs a lot of work. We did the appropriate due diligence beforehand re surveys and what to offer. Then we offered. We are waiting to exchange before getting builders in to measure. Otherwise it’s a waste of time and money if anything goes wrong.

YAB a bit U. I've bought 4 houses and I never viewed any of them between having an offer accepted and actually owning the house. I can't see why you'd need to see the house again or have a contractor view it. You've got the survey, you can just google and get a rough idea of what the repairs will cost. I've also sold a few houses and no way would I want the buyers to visit after they'd agreed to buy. It is both horrible and time consuming doing viewings because you have to clean and tidy like mad. She might be thinking that you'll be looking for an excuse to pull out of the agreement. Also surveys sometimes sound really bad, but the house is basically ok. Especially with old houses.

I can see this from both sides.

OP isn't unreasonable to want to know what she's in for cost-wise if she goes ahead, but as multiple pp have now said, that's something she should have ascertained before putting forward the revised offer of £137K. She admits in her OP that she's inexperienced at this, and this is the result.

The vendor, meanwhile, is entitled to have assumed that the revised offer took into account whatever OP knew or had been told about the cost of this type of work, and in her position I too would see OP's repeated requests to view again and bring builders round etc as unjustified. I don't think she's hiding anything. She must know that if the RSJ is an issue she'll be asked about it via solicitors in due course, and also that the same issue will arise with any subsequent buyer.

The thing is, in my experience, buyers who keep wanting to come back to measure this or get a quote for that are very frequently timewasters, who perhaps have offers in on a couple of different properties and are trying to decide which to proceed with and which to drop out of. Nothing good for the vendor comes out of a 'measuring-up' viewing. If you are NOT a timewaster, it can seem unbelievable that anyone would do this kind of thing, but the truth is that you simply couldn't make up some of the deranged shit people get up to where house buying and selling is concerned. Last time I moved house we had a mammoth twelve chains collapse because someone or other up or down the chain had fucked around. It happens. A lot.

So what should OP do? Well, she could pull out, but she wants this house. She could go ahead, but what if she can't afford whatever work needs doing? I think perhaps her best bet is to come clean with the EA about her ignorance of standard etiquette, apologise for not having brought builders in to quote before the revised offer was made, emphasise that she really is committed to the purchase come what may, but explain that she needs to know what kind of cash she's going to have to find for this work, as it won't be covered by the mortgage obviously. And then behave as honourably as the facts allow. Obviously, no one is expected to buy a house that's structurally unsound just because they put an offer in, but I think it would be bad form of OP to use the building quote to haggle downwards yet further, when she's said that that's not her plan.

That's what I would do, anyway.