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Original poster

please help - what should we do about this <blank> house?

128 replies

serenequeen · 08/06/2004 13:22

here is the situation.

some of you may know that we have been attempting to move house for quite a while (previously discussed on mumsnet, but i can't find the thread now).

we told the estate agents and our solicitors some while ago that if we hadn't exchanged contracts by 4th June we would have to postpone our move until October (due to the fact that i'm currently nearly 33wks pg - baby due at end july) - wanting to allow 4 wks between exchange and completion to make sure the stress on us (we have a toddler as well) was minimised.

our buyers have had trouble with their buyers and to cut a long story short are now running behind schedule. last week we reluctantly agreed to move our deadline to this friday 11th june. have just been told by the estate agent that they will not be able to exchange contracts this friday, but will "definitely" be able to do it by next friday, leaving us 2 wks between exchange and completion. of course there is no guarantee whatsoever that we would be able to exchange next week either.

needless to say i'm getting a lot of pressure from the estate agent to agree to this - e.g. it's very usual (he says) to have only this amount of time between exchange and completion. i'm getting irritated by the hard sell, by the lack of understanding of our situation (most people aren't in an advanced state of pg with difficulty walking some days) and by the fact that we are getting this grief even though we have been consistent right from the outset about what our needs were in terms of timing. that's the sale of our house.

on the purchase side, we are ready to exchange subject to agreement on the fixtures and fittings (also discussed before on mumsnet - can't find that one either) and to consideration for items highlighted from the building survey needing immediate attention.

the seller has been quite adamant from the outset that they are taking most things with them (including the bath from the second bathroom) and what they are leaving they are charging hefty prices for. so far they have refused to consider lowering the price of the house in consideration for a breached damp course and woodworm infestation (house not already priced to reflect that this type of work might need to be done).

dh and i have estimated the costs of not coming to agreement on either of these things and think the additional cost to us would be in the region of £15,000. since we also have my maternity leave to fund for 3m, i'm very reluctant to raid our savings for this much money, especially as we had earmarked it for improvements of our own, not for just making the place habitable, iyswim.

so wise mumsnetters, should i give them the extra week, pull out now, or stick to our plan b of potentially moving in october? (of course our buyer and seller might call the whole thing off if we don't move till october).

thanks in advance

ps - has anyone else noticed they can't find things on search atm?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 09/06/2004 11:06

The subsidence issue is mad isn't it? A friend had this problem since their house had been underpinned. Of course, the fact that it had been rectified meant it was actually far less likely to fall down than the house next door. Not as far as the insurance companies are concerned though.

I don't think that the 2 weeks between exchange/completion should be a problem at all. I'm fairly certain that with my 1st and 2nd purchases, the gap was only a week and this was considered usual. The gap for our current house was 3 months (!) and this didn't seem any less stressful than previous moves.

I'd still be inclined to tell the vendors where to stick it though. They sould like complete and utter .

JanZ · 09/06/2004 11:09

I didn't think that the building societies were allowed to make B&C insurance a condition of the mortgage any more??? I'm probably wrong though.

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 11:17

janz, you only get the really good fixed interest rate if you also get the b&c from them also - otherwise you just get a pretty good rate...

OP posts:
WideWebWitch · 09/06/2004 11:21

sqbk, blimey, have just read your fixtures and fittings thread, what tossers these people are! (won't call them vendors, can see you hate the word, me too!)

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 15:35

a bit shame-facedly bumping this one up the list in case anyone else has anything to contribute...

OP posts:
Blu · 09/06/2004 15:52

What is the exact hold-up for your buyers? Is it delayed paperwork, inefficient solicitors, or what? Have you any realistic idea as to whether they CAN speed up, or not?

Also, what was the valuation in comparison to the offfer price? lower? higher? the same?

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 15:55

their buyers mortgage co could not send a surveyor out until today - therefore earliest offer could be expected is early/mid next week. they are not expecting issues with survey/valuation as it is relatively new build.

for our purchase, valuation was confirmed at our offer price.

OP posts:
foxinsocks · 09/06/2004 16:01

personally, I do think you have to compromise in London at the moment. There is so little on the market at a price you are willing to pay that I do think you have to make some sacrifices (we sacrificed the size of the house/garden for living in a nice area but I do think everyone buying at the moment who doesn't have over £500k in London is probably compromising on something!).

Having said that, not reducing the price even slightly for problems the survey has brought up is disgraceful, especially if the price didn't reflect the problems in the first place and those problems are fairly major (subsidence, damp). We put our foot down and got £4k off the price of our place but it took blood, sweat and tears (honestly) and about 2 weeks of aggressive bargaining to the point where we wondered if the £4k was actually worth it. It sounds like in your case that the reduction is not going to happen - only you know whether that is a compromise too far in terms of your financial situation.

In terms of pulling out of you selling - I guess if you did, you would only be subject again to all the ups and downs of selling a place - keeping it tidy (even harder with toddler and baby) and the chance that you'll have a nightmare chain again. Personally, I would persevere - if necessary, speak to your buyers and explain your position. Maybe they cannot do anything because of their chain but make damn sure they know that you want to do this asap as there will only be delays for them if you're trying to complete whilst giving birth!

Good luck. I know how stressful this can be.

Blu · 09/06/2004 16:10

Hmmm. They're going to have to work quick (their buyers mortgage company and their solicitors) if they're going to have all ducks in a row by Fri 18th, aren't they? Surveyor to write doc, send it to mortgage co, motgage co to send confirmation etc). I hear it can be done, but it's always taken an age whenever I've been involved!
How much pressure are you vendors under? Can they afford to be messed around?
And what does your DH think?

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 16:32

foxinsocks, i'm tending to agree with you...

blu, yes it is v. tight... and their solicitor doesn't sound much cop. my chap is has made some comments which don't fill me with confidence, but there's not much i can do about it... very hard to tell about our vendors, i think they will not want the deal to fall through. i think we have a pretty good bargaining position. dh didn't want to move in the first place and i have had to persuade him. he wants to call a halt to things

i genuinely think there are strong arguments both for and against, which is why i'm struggling with this...

thanks so much for these additional comments

OP posts:
aloha · 09/06/2004 16:41

It's a lovely house SQ, so I can see why you want it. How aggressive have your solictor's been? the vendors seem extremely aggressive, and I think personally, they could do with a taste of their own medicine. Poor you, it does all sound extremely stressful.

Blu · 09/06/2004 16:43

And is he still going to Glastonbury at the crucial moment?
I honestly think that if everything falls into place by the 18th, then you're ok, and can do it - (AND pull a last minute price drop on the vendors.) And if it doesn't you've got no choice really, as you will be much too pregnant to risk it...(labour from 37 weeks onwards is common, isn't it?).
But since there's nothing you can do to change this, you might as well stop fretting yourself frantic over it.
If you become sure that it IS going to happen, and can get a provisional agreement with a good removal co, then a WEEK between exchange and comletion is something I have lived with in one of my moves.
Basically - would you rather have a v stressful close to the edge but SUCCESSFUL move, or do without the stress and lose the house?

Blu · 09/06/2004 16:44

And I suppose that DH is still planning to go to Glastonbury at the crucial moment?

Blu · 09/06/2004 16:44

Sorry...repeating myself....going dotty.

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 18:04

i think he would hesitate about whether to go to glastonbury or not if i were actually in labour

OP posts:
Blu · 09/06/2004 18:14

Phew: that's one thing off your mind, then

Original poster
serenequeen · 09/06/2004 18:23

yeah, i said he would hesitate - i'm not sure he wouldn't go!

OP posts:
Batters · 10/06/2004 13:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
serenequeen · 10/06/2004 13:45

still thinking, batters, or what passes for it in my addled brain these days...

OP posts:
Marina · 10/06/2004 17:06

Just spotted this and have nothing helpful to contribute, just supportive vibes. I do think they sound like a pack of tossers but (let's hope) they won't still be living in the attic when and if you move in.
I'd be inclined to give them one more week and then pull the (only £1000 to you) rug on the deal. I'm so sorry it has come to this though. We once irretrievably lost a "dream house" at the 11th hour and I still hanker for it occasionally. It wasn't half as dreamy as yours sounds though. V best of luck, SQ.

littlerach · 10/06/2004 17:34

Nothing to add, SQ, but we are also waiting for our sale etc to go through, and I am 33 wks pregnant!!
We have been held up by vendors solicitor being incompetant and not doing his job - typical!! So we have done lots of chasing, and our solicitor has done lots of chasing, you get the picture!
DD was 5 wks early, this one is expected to be early, we were hoping to move by end of June, not likely now. Anyway, I want this house, and will wait and harrass until we get it! The worst that will happen is that I will go into labour on moving day, at least I will get out of the move!!!!
Last time we moved we had about 10 days between exchange and completion, worked fine. We started packing as soon as offer was accepted this time, and have sorted loft and packed non essentials each week. Less to do nearer the date. And removals don't seem worried by our changes of date.
Good luck!!

Original poster
serenequeen · 10/06/2004 18:30

thank you so much everyone, this has been really useful in helping me sort out a logical sequence of decision making.

ok, i think this is what we will do:

(1) decide based on what we know now, if we still want the house, or want to walk away immediately. we're going round again tomorrow to see it to aid that decision-making process.

(2) if we decide we want to carry on, we will allow one more week to exchange contracts - thanks to responses on this thread i know it is possible to have a very short interval between exchange and completion, but i really don't think i can bear to have an interval of less than 2 wks.

(3) if our buyers are on track to complete by next friday, we will increase the pressure on our vendors quite considerably - we will be expecting a reasonable reduction in the price based on the issues we have found - £10k is the figure i have in mind for this.

(4) if the sellers agree - we're sorted, if not we walk away then.

thanks again for these comments, they have all been appreciated, sorry i have not responded specifically to everyone.

how would i get by w/o mumsnet?

OP posts:
Original poster
serenequeen · 10/06/2004 18:30

and good luck to you, littlerach!

OP posts:
gothicmama · 10/06/2004 18:31

sounds an excellent plan SQ

Batters · 10/06/2004 19:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.