What would you do?

[pebbles77]

So.. i'm sorry but this will be a little long..... in fact very long.

We are leaving London and moving to the country.

We accepted a price on our house in February even though our buyers hadn't had an offer. We accepted as we didn't want to sell until July as our kids were in school in London and we couldn't move until they had left.

We took our house off the market for 7 weeks as we were prepared to wait for our buyers. They then go under offer and although we asked them to do a survey on our house asap they said they didn't need a full survey and only needed a mortgage survey.

They unfortunately used a bank that took 6 weeks to undertake a survey and mortgage offer (it took us and the chain in the bottom just 3 weeks to obtain all of this).

Again we weren't pushing it as we didn't want to complete until July as we couldn't take our kids out of school.

The day before exchange (2 weeks ago) our buyers said that they no longer wanted to go with the mortgage survey but in fact wanted a private survey.

Again, we said absolutely fine.

So, survey came back. Roof tiles need to be replaced - that's fine - we and our buyers have had quotes - both come back as 5k

Then the survey said, our attic conversion is structurally sound however aesthetically could be improved and that would cost 10k.

So our buyers came back and said 40k!!!!! We responded saying we were unsure as to how they came to that figure but we were happy with 5k to pay for the roof tiles.

They then responded and said 35k.

Where did they get these figures from????

So i said " i don't play games, i don't want to play games" we will offer 15k which is the full amount that has been stated and we have to move forward now

they responded "your kids no longer have places in schools in london and therefore you have to leave and therefore we will agree to 25k . FULLSTOP.

we would love to be strong and say where to go but we can't, they're right, our kids no longer have schools here and we do have to move

so..... we've agreed to their amount and will fingers toes and everything crossed everything will go our way

HOWEVER... i no longer want to pay for our cleaning lady to make sure the house is spotless before we leave, i no longer want to leave them with flowers and wine as i had planned and i certainly no longer want to leave them with a long list of all of our neighbours names, rubbish days etc etc.

BUT what i would really like to do is ...........

what would you do???????

Tell them to get stuffed and see who blinks first! In the meantime house prices are still rising in London. Get onto your local LA and arrange back up school places for sept or tell buyers you will be home schooling!

What you said, plus leave a poo in every loo. .

If it was me, there is no way in hell I would sell them my house. Can't you put your children back into school??

If I had to move, I wouldn't mow the lawn for months before they moved in, would remove all the lightbulbs, wouldn't clean for weeks before moving date, would leave all rubbish in the house...basically, I'd show them the same lack of respect that they have shown you.

Are you 100 per cent sure you have no school places? They don't usually remove kids from roll until you have actually moved for this very reason. They are trying to blackmail you. I would tell them to feck right iff.

Oh my god. How amazingly, horrifyingly horrible. People turn into complete *** when they buy and sell houses.

We had a horrible time selling and buying a few years ago. It still comes back to me now and I really hate the people we bought our house from and the estate agents who were also involved. Its horrible when you are caught and feel that you have no control.

If you live in London, have house prices gone up since you originally agreed a price? Have you considered speaking to other estate agents and finding out what they might value the property at and how quickly it might sell (although this would be no guarantee I admit). These people sound like they are taking the piss - how do you know they won't do something else unpredictable?

What does your estate agent say? They don't sound like they are looking after you very well, even though its you that is paying them. You could tell them you are not paying them any more as they are clearly working for the buyers?

I agree on the £5k for the roof tiles (just about, although they should have done a proper survey long before this).

The attic conversion is bollocks. It is structurally sound, but to make it 'aesthetically pleasing will cost XX amount'. Really? So you are expected to negotiate to make it look better? Did they not see how it looked for themselves when they viewed the property?

As for the emotional blackmail with your DC's schools, that would be the point that I would tell them to fuck off to the far side of fuck, then fuck off some more (always wanted to say that). That is beyond low.

I agree with the pp - tell the buyers you have a new buyer interested, and that you have schooling sorted for your DC.

Cheeky fuckers.

Oh, and put the house back on the market. It has probably risen substantially since February if you are in London.

Get the house revalued by a different estate agent. Preferably one who can market it to serious buyers who are ready to move. Perhaps someone whose chain has collapsed and who needs to move in time for the new school year.

Good luck.

Oh and tell your current buyers to get lost. Otherwise expect them to drop their offer again. They have been clear already that their chosen figure represents your desperation rather than their unexpected repairs. Perhaps waiting so long before deciding they needed a full survey was part of a strategy. Who knows what other tricks they will try.

Not a chance in hell would I sell to those bastards.

Put your house back on the market, contact the school to query the places. If you sell to those fuckers no matter how filthy you leave the house they won't care - They've got 35k in their pocket to tidy it up with.

5k for the tiles fair enough. At a push a further 5k for the perfectly sound coversion to keep things sweet, but 35k?!? I'm sorry but not only are they blackmailing you they are laughing at you.

Your agent is also a shit. I would go back to them now and say you've changed your mind, you get 10k off or you get to fuck. If they don't like it ditch them and your agent and remarket.

I would definitely hold out. I would guess they have been pushing you into this position by stringing you along to the latest point possible.

Do you have a house to move to? Are you in a chain?

Put your house back on the markets at £20k over the original price and send them the link.

No way would I sell to them on principal. Agree they won't give a toss that you haven't left them a bottle of wine. you effectively gave them £35k . Surely £35k would buy a lot of private education even in London

They don't know your personal circumstances so:

The answer is no, we are remarketing the house now once the new valuation comes through.
If a new sale doesn't complete before September, we will house sit with parents/inlaws who will stay on in their Mediterranean villa for a while longer.
Best of luck with your new search.

Cheeky sods - 40k ? Only and only if it has been illegally constructed or it took years for you to find a buyer in the first place.
I'd also be looking for a new agent. How are they acting in your interests here? Any relationship with the buyers?

Good point Jumping - you could employ a qualified teacher to home school them for a term for that kind of cash.

I am 99% certain that state school sdo not remove kids from the register, or allocate their places to others, until the child has left and started at another school. So in your case, not last day of term in July, but 1st September, they will be removed from the roll. If they are on the roll, even if you have given notice, the place is theirs.

If it is Indie, I don't know, but I bet they would stretch to keep them for half a terms fees.

I would call their bluff. the attic thing is ridiculous.
Tell EA you have changed you mind, exchange in 24 hours, complete by 31st July with 5K off, or the house goes back in the market today.

What a cheek.

So you lose out because they want to make a perfectly sound loft aesthetically pleasing?

Fuck that.

That's a ridiculous amount of money

I'd sell it to someone else for the price they're blackmailing you into rather than them!

tell them market has moved, you want 5K more than originally agreed and put it back on the market at more than that. don't they listen to the news?

There is no way on earth I'd accept that shit. Your kids will be able to be educated somewhere. Hell you could employ tutors for the short time it took to get settled and sorted for that kind of money

No, no no! They sound deeply unpleasant and manipulative. You don't say if there is a house that you have fallen in love with in the country? If there isn't I would be inclined to rent while you find the perfect house and wait for yours to sell if you can possibly afford it, or rent in the country and rent your London home and buy a home when you are more settled down there. As a pp said I highly doubt your London home has fallen in value since they started this shennanigans.

I'd back out from selling to them too. Since feb the market has gone up drastically and slipped back a bit hasn't it? So you shouldn't lose much from reselling.

If you do still sell to them, take everything you haven't listed. Don't clean, don't garden. Tell all your neighbours what scumbags they are (once you've exchanged). And if you really want to be evil, one of your kids could have dropped their fish fingers behind a radiator, and knocked your lovely large glass of deep red wine all over the carpet. Etc.

OP I would tell them you don't have to do anything should you choose not to and you certainly don't have to dance to their tune. You have a home and they can get lost if that's their attitude after you have been so accommodating.

A massive reduction for aesthetics: gimme a break! I didn't like the wallpaper in our house and I hate the crazy paving path, but so bloody what.

I'd go back and say either the deal is as it was minus for 5k for the roof tiles or it's going back on the market. Maybe they will see sense having paid for their own survey and perhaps with a mortgage offer valid until X date. I would be extremely wary they would attempt a last minute drop in price though, so protect yourselves.

Are they first time buyers by any chance? FTB's often read too much into surveys - they may not even understand what 'aesthetically' means!

I'm furious for you, what utter cunts!

The only reason to agree is if you have found somewhere you love and really don't want to lose. If you haven't tell them to fuck right off. Wankers!

How are things today?

Thank you so so much for all your advice.

Our kids are at Independent School so we had to hand in their notice in April otherwise we would lose a terms fees.

We are very reluctant to lose the sale even though I would like to walk away. The house we have found is amazing and very little comes on the market in that area so I'm worried if we lost that property we'd struggle to find somewhere else.

If we were to rent in the Country and put our house back on the market I'm worried that an empty house won't be as easy to sell as it won't have any feeling!!!

I'm still fuming, absolutely beyond fuming but we do feel that we have to go ahead with it due to dream house and kids schools (which is what they know and hence are able to blackmail us).

Our solicitor sent back the fixtures and fittings list that we filled out so I could see what we can take. Unfortunately I've ticked that I would leave light fittings so I don't think we can take the bulbs.

I've just got to move on and forget about it otherwise it will eat me up. What goes around comes around and they'll get the comeuppance at some point. I'm still fuming though :)