Has anyone elses vendor really pulled out at the 11th hour?

[rowtunda]

We are shortly about to exchange . . . but our vendor has announced this morning that if we don't exchange by 5pm today then they are going to pull out of the sale and stay in their own house for a couple more years - something to do with a horse that needs stabling (I kid you not!) and that her kids address needs to be sorted to arrange school for the following year.

We know that they have spent money - structural survey on the house they are buying and the estate agent has told me its their 'dream house'. They also have a skip outside there house which looks like there are chucking loads of stuff out (? maybe whilst packing?)

The problem is that our buyers solicitor has raised an issue with the lender which I was initially told would be sorted in 48hrs but is still not sorted a week later. I can't do anything to speed this process along as its our buyers solicitor and lender. Everyone is ready to exchange today apart from waiting for this confirmatory fax from our buyers lender.

I'm just sat here twiddling my thumbs - hoping beyond hope our vendor is bluffing. Anyones else vendor done this - how did it turn out?

I was

I was only told a couple of weeks ago that it was a chain of nine, up until that point I had no idea there was a chain.
I called yet again to find out what was going on and was told that someone in the chain had died which is why it has been held up, before that I had only been told that that we were being held up by the vendors vendor.

I had been told 'it will only be a week or two' every week since febuary.

When I rang up last week I was pretty annoyed, i have threttened to pull out several times before but each time been prommised a date that came and went. On the phone I demanded honesty and was told they had no idea how long it would take as the person who died would obviously not still be buying/selling so they would have to find someone else.
So technically I haven't messed anyone around because the chain has already fallen apart, although the estate agent completely denied that and promised that everything would be sorted out in a few weeks.

I have wasted a fortune waiting around for them while they messed me around for months.

Only last month the vendors of the house we were buying pulled out on day of exchange. We were in rented and they were separating and going into rented, so was just the two of us in the chain. On day of exchange, the woman of the couple announced she had been instructed by her divorce lawyer that she didn't have to sell and she was going to stay put!!! Fair enough but you think she'd would have sorted that out before putting the blardy house on the market and leading us on!

Everyone told us it was because we were going to find something better and we are now considering another house so fingers crossed.

It's the system that allows people to mess others about that is at fault. We had an offer on our house which we accepted - we were then told that they would like to be in by Christmas which gave us 6 weeks max. We were moving into rented but hadn't found anywhere but said that we would do our best. We found somewhere, pulled a few favours (I have horses, dogs and children at school to sort so it wasn't straightforward) and said ok, we're ready to go - having paid for inventory, booked removals etc.

Our buyers said great, then on the day they were due to exchange pulled out without any explanation. We were livid and seriously out of pocket and our estate agents were livid.

We had put up with them "popping over" to measure for furniture & curtains and staying for hours, endless phone calls about local info and questions re insurance. In the end we wrote them a stern letter telling them that they had behaved badly and that we hoped they felt pleased with themselves. It wasn't libellous, and they didn't reply but I felt better that they knew how badly we thought they'd behaved!

If there were non refundable deposits to cover expenses like surveys, deposits etc there would be less of this pissing about from people.

I had a purchaser pull out on me once on the exchange day and my estate agent wanted me to pay him for finding a buyer. Needless to say I didn't

Our buyer also pulled out at the 11th hour when we were moving out and didn't even properly tell us. They took 2 months to get from offer to survey, during which they kept begging us to wait for them to be ready, but then they had a few issues about the survey and I think they pulled out because too much work needed doing. At that point I was a week from moving out as I had to be in the new area (renting) whether the house was sold or not. The buyer simply stopped contact once we reached the point where we should have been preparing to exchange contracts. The day before our move, their solicitor returned the contracts saying "it would appear the sale is not going ahead".

The good news is we got 2 offers the day after the move and sold the house for more than if we'd proceeded with that buyer. But I think they should have at least rung the EA and said they'd decided not to go ahead and given a reason.

Ok 'we are eternal' i'm sorry for jumping down your throat, it does sound like you were royally messed around by your vendor.

I think I'm a woman on the edge at the moment and super sensitive. House purchasing is miserable.

Just a quick update our vendor is now demanding completion on Thursday (despite us still not being able to exchange).

Our buyers lender still hasn't rubber stamped the idenmity issue, despite us being told it would only take 48hrs 10 days ago.

I will either be moving on Thursday or it will all fall through. Do I start packing?

We had a nightmare situation last year with similar faffers.

Our best friend in the whole business turned out to be our vendor's estate agent! He was able to find out all the solicitors and estate agents acting in the chain and managed to make sure they were all aware that our vendor was serious about pulling out. They all soon got their finger s out.

Get your estate agent to get on the phone and hassle - this is what they're for. Hint to them that if they don't they will not be having your house on the market if it falls through. Have a word with your solicitor too and see if they can push. Ours was fantastic, she hassled our buyers solicitor, very politely, almost every day (despite the fact that he was a woman hating old goat who refused to speak directly to her) and made sure that everything they said they were going to do, they did.

It is so stressful, you just have to ride the wave and hope it turns out right in the end. Good luck.

You can still manage it if you want to.

You can exchange and complete simultaneously. It's not generally done as the solicitors have to work harder to line up all the paperwork and all the funds at once.

It sounds like your buyers mortgage lender is looking for an excuse not to lend. It usually starts with dragging of heels and then continuous requests for further information indemnity policies etc.

If I were you, I would get onto my solicitor and get her/him to inform the buyer of the strict deadline and that you will be requesting the papers returned at that point (solicitor speak for: "end of the line").

The buyers solicitor is then obliged to pass this onto the buyer and more importantly the mortgage lender who is dragging heels.

The outcome will be swift either way. The lending bank will either immediately make funds available for draw down for completion or they will inform the buyer that they will not lend.

Sorry you are having this nightmare. Banks do their best to ruin it and make it stressful. The last time we moved our bank lost out paperwork 5 times and each time had to re-process it. They were just useless. There were other issues as well with them and in fact so bad they ended up paying us a five figure sum of compensation due to stress and financial loss (not to mention loss of vital confidential personal information which later turned up in a pub!!)

We have just exchanged!!!!! completion date next Wednesday (despite our vendor swearing on his childrens life he would pull out if we didn't complete this thurs )

So excited - lets start packing!

Phew - well done.

I've been reading with baited breath. So pleased for you. Hope the packing and moving date go smoothly.

Well done! Sadly its happened to me twice...the first house the buyers lost their buyer and pulled out (thankfully it was during the boom and the house sold again the next day)

My last house the buyers messed us around for 6 months..kept promising this and that..came round about 4 times including measuring up for curtains ( I always see people who do that as time wasters now!), got me to get rid of the muckheap ( I had 3 horses at home) then complained that the field was churned up ( well yes, I had to get a tractor in there in January to get rid of the muck heap, what do you expect) and then agreed a moving date, told us they had booked removals etc, then the day before exchange said they wanted a surveyor..agreed a date which was cancelled with no reason and we just never heard from them again!!

Thankfully I sold it for 10k more...they seriously pissed me off however!