Selling house

[Mooshamoo]

This is my first time selling a house. I'm in Ireland. A man made an offer on the house , and he paid a deposit two months ago. He has not done the next step done yet, which is getting an engineer to do a survey on the house. I was told that an engineer was meant to come out last week to do the survey. He didn't come.

I rang the estate agent. The estate agent said that he rang the buyer and the engineer to find out what the delay was , but he hasn't been able to get through to them yet.

Why would a potential buyer pay a deposit , and then wait nearly two months to get an engineer's survey done. I can't understand it? I am aware that any potential buyer can pull out at any time before contracts are signed. But I just want to know if he is going to go ahead with the sale , or if he is pulling out.

Surely that is a longer time to wait to get an engineer's survey done, than normal? Is it? Maybe it just seems long to me, because I am the one waiting anxiously. Maybe it is a normal amount of time. How long did it take for your buyers to do their survey please?

It doesn't usually take 2 months. I would give the buyer a deadine and say that if the survey hasn't been done by XX date, then you are putting your property back on the market. It sounds like he is trying to drag it out for some reason.

If you pull out do you have to return the deposit but if he pulls out you keep it?

if so possibly he’s changed his mind but doesn’t want to lose the deposit so he’s trying to force you to pull out.

No if he pulls out, he can keep the deposit from the estate agent. He is entitled to get the full deposit back at any time by Irish law.

I don't know if it is the same in the UK. ?

That is why people (especially if they have loads of money) in Ireland don't really think too much about paying a house deposit as they know they can get it back at any stage.

If he was someone who wanted to move in and was serious about buying the house I think he would get the survey done.

I'm starting to be worried that he is some property developer with loads of money, who just throws deposits round at houses he is potentially interested in, but then doesn't bother going ahead with some of them.

I just wish I knew what was going on. House selling its hard. Ill just have to keep getting on to the estate agent about it.