To pull out of house purchase?

[FreshDoughDaily]

This is a bit long....

We offered on a house in May. Our offer was accepted by the seller with the caveats of: we complete by a certain date (so the seller can claim some stamp duty back) and we do not try to renegotiate on price.

The property is large, it's intended for multigenerational living. We're trying to future proof as much as possible. There is no chain. Parts of the property are tenanted but it is being sold as vacant possession. It has been for sale for over three years. We are really committed buyers and have already started packing so we can be out of our property as soon as possible.

The seller takes two weeks to complete the seller's pack and submit it to her solicitor. So now we're in June. My solicitor is amazing, super quick to respond so as soon as he receives the draft contract, he starts raising enquiries with her solicitor.

Meanwhile I get a phonecall from the agent asking if the tenants could still live in the property when we own it? No. They can't, was my initial response. I email my solicitor as I'm worried now, he assures me the contract states vacant possession and requests evidence that notice has been served to the tenants from the seller's solicitor - this has still not been received yet in mid July

A week later, the agent copies and pastes an email from the seller and sends it to me. Could two of the tenants stay as they don't have anywhere to live and here is their tenancy agreement....? For the sake of not delaying the sale, I agree as the tenants will be living in a part of the house we won't initially need but I am having a properly drawn up contract, not carrying on with a forged holiday let where one week he pays and the next week his wife pays so they don't look like they live there permanently.

The survey report shows there is significant work required to the property which is going to be spendy and also it's looking like building regulations haven't been met on extensions.

Agent's colleague who covers lettings advises not to take the tenancy on in light of survey results as the property would not meet Rent Smart guidelines. They advise the seller to give the tenants notice (as they should have done when the memorandum of sale was issued).

Seller now demands in mid June that we exchange on a date in July, and when we have exchanged, the tenants will then be given a month's notice so we can complete at the end of August. My solicitor says absolutely not as there are still numerous outstanding enquiries. We're not in a position to exchange. Emails are sent to their solicitor, nothing is received.

Meanwhile, another property £50K cheaper has come on the market on the same road. No chain, no tenants and is actually bigger with more space around so better for multigenerational living. We go for a first viewing and get a very quick survey on it. Seller agreed to this as he's keen to sell. Survey indicates less work required than the first property. Seller wants the asking price, no negotiations but as I said we're £50K better off already.

Spoke with my solicitor yesterday who said he cannot advise on a completion date on property 1 as there are still numerous outstanding enquiries dating back from a month ago that have not been responded to. We still don't have any evidence about the tenants notice being served.

The agent asked for an update and advised the seller has spent £2K rehousing the tenants as "I didn't want to exchange with them in situ." I pointed out that she and her colleague advised me not to take the tenants on. Apparently the seller is now willing to negotiate on price in light of the survey report. I explained that even if I was buying the house for £10, I still couldn't as my solicitor is still awaiting the documentation legally required for the sale to complete. And he has no evidence of the tenants leaving, just her word.

AIBU to pull out of purchasing house 1 as the seller has been a PITA from the get go? House 2 seems straightforward, the seller wants to sell and isn't making demands.

If you've got this far, thanks for reading!!

YABU - don't mess people around, stay with the house you've offered on.

YANBU - house 2 all the way. Seller has nailed her own coffin.

The amounts of times I have said "Does she want to sell this house? Why is she acting like she's doing me a favour allowing me to buy it? Surely I'm doing her the favour by taking it off her hands, it's been on the market 38 months!"

Never thought I’d see the day where I agreed with someone pulling out last minute. But here it is.

It was stated many times that the tenants were on a rolling contract and were to find alternative housing prior to completion. However, yes, huge lesson learned. Absolutely never again. If I were to buy ever again after this experience, the list of questions I would have for the agents would be long!

Yanbu pull out and offer on new house.

So I'd guessed from my experience in a previous job that as the tenancy agreement the seller has drawn up is quite frankly, a load of b*, legally it means nothing. Therefore, even when I did want my own house back for our original plan, the tenants don't necessarily have to leave as technically by law I couldn't evict them. Hence me wanting a proper legal agreement. The lettings agent agreed with me, before advising that actually I be best not to take them at all.

The non-contract tenancy is a complete deal breaker, even without all the foot-dragging. Do your sanity a favour and instruct your solicitor tomorrow to withdraw your offer, then buy house 2. You owe the seller nothing and frankly, their behaviour is downright weird.

It’s the system being very antiquated. But still it’s a massive purchase and buyers need to ultimately put their position first and the system allows it

Thanks for this. I've got a feeling on Monday the agent will be even more cross with me and will cite similar about the money spent. I'll remember your post and point out that of course the house needs to be empty for the next buyer unless as @eggsley and @UnhappyHobbit have said, the property is to be a landlord's investment.

My solicitor shared a bit of a horror story from a sale he's worked on in the past. Tenants were due to move out on day of completion which was a bit risky. They didn't. Nine whole months later they actually did vacate. The seller had to pay compensation to the buyer for the nine month delay. Hence him advising we don't even exchange until we see a tenancy notice and I should inspect the property after they have vacated, prior to completion.

JFC do not be guilted into continuing with the sale! Sounds like a bloody nightmare. House 2 all the way.

Don't buy a massive pain in the arse house just because the estate agent is a bit cross. They are always a bit cross if their sale isn't going to go through! You don't owe the seller this. It's possible other people have made offers during the 3 years and have pulled out due to the dicking about.

Can you imagine the Mumsnet mileage I'd get from that situation? 😂I'm almost tempted to take one for the team now?!

You should be leaving house 1 alone anyway under the circumstances, whether you’d found house 2 or not.

House 2 - you don’t need the stress of the tenants becoming your problem - house 1 purchase is a mess and will get messier and more expensive. You don’t owe the vendors anything , they have messed you around and are trying to make their problems your problems.

I wouldn't even exchange with a tenancy notice. Giving a tenant notice to quit absolutely doesn't mean they will meekly leave. They may well stay there until formally evicted, which in itself could take a long time. If, as you suspect, they have a dodgy tenancy agreement the chances are that they can't be forced out with a court order.

It’s not last minute. The seller is screwing around and hasn’t got everything in order.

Go for house two

Why has house one been for sale for three years?!

I think you would end up moving in to house one and the tenants still being there after you’ve been told that they’ve gone. It sounds like a train wreck waiting to happen

Have the tenants actually left yet? That part about the seller spending 2k on rehousing them suggests that maybe they have left?
If they are still in situ, then there's be no issue at all with you pulling out - if you were my client I wouldn't let you exchange until the tenants had all vacated.
If they have left, it's more of a dilemma, but even so, if the second house is cheaper, bigger and more suited to your needs and the seller is more proactive, then that's the better option for you.
The seller's solicitors should have told them that the tenants need to be out before exchange, from the outset. I wonder if the sellers were clear in their instructions that there were tenants at all. It sounds as if not only was the tenancy itself dodgy ( fraudulent even) but it also didn't comply with relevant legislation in terms of H&S, and this in turn does not reflect well on the sellers - they clearly don't have the moral high ground here.

Even if the seller of house 1 were selling to a landlord who intended to take on the existing tenants, they would still not be willing to proceed with a tenancy that was scribbled on the back of an envelope with a crayon.

Who has voted YABU???? 😲😲😲😲

At this point you’d be unreasonable to carry on with house 1.

The estate agent has clearly done more work over 3 years to justify their fee, which they won’t get until you buy it. Of course they are angry but so what? It’s a business and they should have been clear to the vendor the property sale will never go through until the tenants are out.

You need to get out of house 1. The sellers of that house have being trying to sell it for 3 years and they were told you can't sell it with tennents still living in it. You know that extensions were done without planning. The survey has shown up more problem's than you originally expected.

You given the sellers time to get rid of the tennents and sort out issues and they are just dragging everything along.
Say you buy that house I feel once you get in and start to do work on it more jobs will need to be done. Building materials have gone up a lot in price and it hard to get good trades people to do jobs.

I would go with house 2 and get a full survey on it. It has no tenants and the seller wants to get it sold quickly. Also it does not have a load of problems like house 1 either. It means when you buy this house you won't have the stresses and cost of house one.