Estate agents must think people are stupid!!!!! their oily reputation not licked off a stone

[Namechangaroo]

He's just told me that the vendor is about to pull out if I don't instruct my solicitor to wave the outstanding obstacles. But solicitor has told me that no bank would accept incomplete title. So although solicitor has been slow identifying and prioritising the issues, it's not like he's asking that any other buyer wouldn't have to get too. I have to take the solicitor's advice even though I am annoyed with him that he didn't make all these points to vendor's solicitor more successfully a month ago.

I've looked at the price register and the estate agent has sold a couple of houses in August and nothing so far in September. I just feel so tense uncertain worried and annoyed now. Loads of middle aged men all too lazy to do any work. If somebody had said to me mid august, we need x,y &z I could have done it myself got whatever letter or declaration is required!

Between solicitors passing the buck and each hoping the other one will shrug and let something slide, and an estate agent who thinks I can't see online how much commission his company has made this month and last month....... well, argh. And, another thing, if the EA is telling me that the vendor is "broke and distressed" then what is he saying to her about me? I wouldn't want anybody told that I was "broke and distressed" just to try and hurry a sale along.

Can you tell your solicitor to drop the outstanding obstacles? I'd it actually anything important. We told our solicitor to forget chasing up letter of comfort for a porch as it was stalling the while process and we were worried the vendor was getting annoyed.

thank you for your reply 50shades.

Well I tried to tell the solicitor to let it slide and he told me that this is not an issue a mortgage lender would allow. so, if that is the case, should I advise him to let it go? I don't want to lose the house over it though...

I do get how important it is but I am frustrated that he didn't communicate this successfully to the vendor's sol weeks ago! I reckon the vendor thinks these issues were only brought up with ten minutes to go. It must feel like that.

If my solicitor is correct that it is an issue a bank wouldn't over look either then there' d be no point the vendor taking the house off the market now and going back to the drawing board but then, there's a shortage of four beds in the area. Oh the stress.

I will wait til Thursday and then I will tell the solicitor it's too late sorry we have to go ahead and if I ever sell the house YOU can sort this mess out.

I hope I have some.

incomplete title is the vendor's problem.

What are they doing about it?

They can't expect to sell without it. I had all this pain a couple of years back when trying to sell a not-registered family home and the solicitors had filed the old deeds under a previous name. As I had known the house for a lifetime I was able to swear that I knew the boundaries etc were correct.

If you manage to get a mortgage on the house without good title (doubtful) and if no neighbour or relation comes along and proves they own all or part of it, how do you think you will be able to fix it, if the current vendor can't?

EA is trying to bully you into a bad decision. The sale is all he's interested in. Don't stop looking at other houses. The vendor has nothing to gain by pulling out (except a bit of peace).

Your solicitor won't (shouldn't) be able to report to mortgage company unless they are happy with the title, therefore you can't release funds.

It's not as easy as telling you to tell your solicitor to dismiss it, but that is estate agents for you.

Also you seem to blame your solicitor it may be that he was waiting for the docs to come through and now after what may seem like an she they haven't materialised amd they're getting the blame! (I used to do conveyancing and hate the blame game which it always turn into).

Best advice is get your solicitor to speak to agent in the morning spelling out what the problem is, that will hopefully shut them up. I've had situations where the sellers sol blames the buyer solicitor be aide they are trying to co we their star from when they bought a did property which their client is now selling!

Thank you PigletJohn, I don't need a mortgage so the solicitor was just telling me that a mortgage lender wouldn't accept this to persuade me that I need to 'hold firm'. I think. I do have sympathy with the vendor though, as this has been chugging along for months and literally a month ago I signed the contracts and I thought woohoo we're ten days away now. Are you a solicitor? I don't want to start looking at other houses at this stage! That would be crazy. I don't want that. I presume the vendor doesn't want that either [argh]

i am a homeowner, not a solicitor.

The family home I sold had been in the family for 3 generations, and was not on file at the Land registry.

It took a day or two for our solicitor (vendor) to prepare the papers (I had a photocopy of the old deeds which the previous solicitor had mislaid) and I went to a Commissioner For Oaths to swear them so we could get Title registered. In your case you have no long-term knowledge of the house so would not be able to swear so convincingly.

Later the original deeds were found which was more satisfactory.

call your sol anfd tell them to call and speak to the vendor's sol.
that usually gets things going.

No of course not if it affects the mortgage then I'd just follow what the solicitor said, sounds like your vendor is acting bizarrely . In our case we decided to proceed without something bit it wasn't something that affected the mortgage.

If the vendor has put their house on the market without a proper title they need their bumps read. They do not need synpathy! Do not touch the place until you can sort out such a basic thing!

The estate agent should also know better than to demand such an outrageous agreement from you! Estate agents are Evil. And if you one day want to sell and the future buyers are buying with a mortgage than you will have a nightmare selling.

Thank you everybody. PigletJohn, It sounds like a similar thing, a neighbour is going to write a letter to confirm that she has lived there since the house was built, she was the first owner of the house and she is going to confirm that the pavement has always gone outside of the grass area at the end of the row of gardens. Something like that! I don't know if it needs to be notarised by a commissary or a registrar? Her declaration and signature is enough I think.

Thank you everybody. PigletJohn, It sounds like a similar thing, a neighbour is going to write a letter to confirm that she has lived there since the house was built, she was the first owner of the house and she is going to confirm that the pavement has always gone outside of the grass area at the end of the row of gardens. Something like that! I don't know if it needs to be notarised by a commissary or a registrar? Her declaration and signature is enough I think.

Well you really need to check that the neighbour's letter is enough. A house with no title is going to be a nightmare to sell on. My friends bought a house with no title and it has been an enormous pain to sort out. Don't go against the sol's advice on this :/

it will surely be down to the Land Registry what they accept. The vendor will have to get the property registered before they can sell it to you. It isn't your job. Don't take it on. Your solicitor will tell you what sort of title to accept. IIRC it is Title Absolute but I may be thinking of something else.

The vendor and the agent will both be aware that nobody will want to buy it without good title, except maybe a mug. don't be that mug.

If it's enough of an issue for your solicitor and mortgage company it will be an issue for everyone else who might try to buy.

They ought to get their obstacles sorted out. Besides when you come to sell you'll have the same issues.