House buyers suddenly being difficult at 11th hour!

[spydie]

We are in the process of selling our first home, and buying somewhere bigger. We were supposed to be exchanging this Friday, however today our buyers have come back with a list of demands following their survey :-(

The moral of the story, I should have listened to gut instinct when they were being difficult earlier on in the process haha!!

According to EA, the survey has advised they do not proceed with the sale unless they have 4 things done/checked and certified - boiler service (fine, it's due in August anyway and covered by our homecare plan), coverings on the water tanks (one is covered, but there is a small overflow which isn't - no big deal we can sort that), the chimney should be swept (seriously!) and the electrics should be serviced.

We pushed back on the last two, and advised they could pay for their own survey on the electrics. However, the EA has then said that despite these recommendations on the survey (which on the face of it are no big deal, although sweeping the chimney is utterly ridiculous - we've had it done each autumn and its maintenance, they can do that themselves), they want the entire house rewired and 'bought up to current standards'.

It's a Victorian cottage, the electrics are of course not current standards, but they are not unsafe and they are not 'that' old - we are now going to have the survey done ourselves so we can see what is what, and hopefully prove to them that whilst not current, they are not a hazard and do not warrant rewiring from a safety perspective.

Worryingly, our EA is now saying they are some of the most difficult buyers they have come across and they wouldn't put anything past them. We have advised EA that we will not re-wire the house and will put it back on the market - we have already taken a reduction on asking price, and we believe, but need to double check, that their valuation has valued the house at the price we have agreed on, so in current state. They had an independant survey done, so seperate to their lenders valuation.

I could cry, desperate to move ASAP, want to get in and get settling as baby due in January. If we end up back on the market, its just getting later and later :-(

Only pay for things that you won't regret if the sale falls though. So if the boiler is due a service anyway, you might as well get it done, and if the survey had actually found something unexpected wrong that needed fixing, then you might as well do that, since another buyer would probably raise the same problem. But if the sale fell though, an electrical survey would be completely wasted money - it's not going to say everything meets current regs, because it won't, so it's not as if you can use to to reassure another buyer.

I had a very similar scenario following my buyer's survery - requests for boiler servicing, roof repairs, indemnity insurance and goodness knows what else. Spent a sleepless night worrying about it. Then I woke up and smelled the coffee. Told the estate agent, and my solicitors, I've already accepted under the asking price for a quick sale. Other houses in the road are selling at the same or higher price, in no better condition. If the buyer wants a house in immaculate condition I suggest she looks at new builds only. I will not get any work done and I will not drop the price. She won't find anywhere better for the money in the area. If the buyer isn't happy with that then the house goes back on the market.

I suppose it depends whether it's a buyers or sellers market where you live. Surveys are always scary because the surveyor has to cover themselves, therefore they always recommend lots of things be done. You just say know, then it's up to the buyer whether to take the risk or not.

You just say no

I wouldn't even pay for a boiler service as it is not yet due. Every survey I have ever had covers the arse of the surveyor by recommending that plumbing/wiring/chimneys etc are checked. Even in almost new houses. It is almost standard wording as these things cannot be checked by a normal survey. As first time buyers, your buyers probably don't realise this and are running scaredawkward

When you buy a house you buy as seen, not in perfect 100% to your taste/never have to lift a finger for years condition. They need to get real.

Effectively they have paid for a private survey to use as leverage to get a reduction in the price but as the bank have confirmed the valuation, they haven't got a leg to stand on. If your estate agents also handle rentals, they may be able to get an electrician out to you to do an equivalent of a landlord safety certificate pretty quickly for not very much money but they may require the fuse board to be changed, I am not sure I would bother.
Give them an ultimatum and get the house back on the market.

Oh jeez I have just come home to a letter from our solicitor, our buyers solicitor wants us to confirm if the white goods and oven we agreed to leave have instruction manuals!!!!! They do but right now I might just burn them!!!

What's also interesting is they advise that their mortgage offer was approved last week and that their solicitor has now commenced the local searches. WTF!? Well the EA can bloody well check that first thing tomorrow because if that is the case it's going back on the market, nothing is going to happen anytime soon.... Ours took 3/4 weeks to come back.

Put it back the market, it will only get worse

We had similar buyers they still make me angry when I think about about them and it was over 5 years ago. They didn't buy our flat.

don't sink to their level. Keep the instruction manuals but do nothing else.

get it back on the market and forget these clowns.

Pull out, it's not going to end well.

You can download manuals off the internet so easily. You'll be paying for the oven to be cleaned next.

Fgs you can get manuals online. These people are a pita and wil drive you spare.

To be honest as a FTB there are lots of things OH and I have learnt about as we have gone along.

Re electrics, I understand these will always flag red if they are a few years old (sometimes only 5-10 years) as regulations are updated so frequently. However, if they are VERY old and a rewire genuinely seems recommended in the next few years, it is a big and messy job. As FTBs there is no way we could afford it, and before research I would be likely to do as a surveyor said because I have no other knowledge to go on.

It's very easy to get pulled into silly games with houses seemingly, I wish people could just be fair and honest both ways around.

I hope everything works out for you, whatever happens!

Also for whoever said they've only got a survey done to get a reduction, I don't think you can know that to be true. We are getting one done because we don't have massive cash reserves and if there are a few things that need doing we want to be able to prioritise them. If we don't get it done there could be basic things that are easy to fix now that might break or cause more damage and cost more in the long run. We are not DIY people and know very little, so it's spending £300 to hopefully save us a lot more in the next 10 years.

The sole reason we are doing this privately and not via the lender is because the lender can put a retention on some of the funds until work is done. We were always going to get a survey, but this way it avoids the lender being potentially shirty about what could be minor things that we are prepared to stomach the cost for.

Obviously some buyers are a nightmare just like some sellers, but I definitely think FTBs like myself can be naive and have little option but to go on advice given from others.

I get the points you are trying to make, however EA has read out the relevant sections of their survey to us and it states no where a rewire is required, only to have a survey done. If that comes back and says the entire system should be condemned that is entirely different situation..... However, the house has also been valued in its current state so why should we have to fork out when their lender clearly feels it's worth the price they originally agreed. Sold as seen and all that.

This is our first house, we had a survey done too and investigated a couple of things as paranoid/naive/tentative FTBs (at our own expense however!), and then over the years have had things done. If they can't accept that a Victorian era house will need the odd thing doing to maintain it, then they should have really thought about that and maybe opted for a new build (or a tent, as i would imagine they would be cheap to maintain...!). I get what you are saying, but selling a house isn't a charity, our next house purchase rides on a successful sale and also making a certain price, so we've little patience with being put through the ringer on things they really should have considered at the offset, and had they looked properly at their two viewings, would have noticed the electric board is an older style (we believe it's mid-late '80's, so it's not that ancient).

I wasn't saying yours aren't taking the mick, but posts seem to swing to people being cheeky sods and I just wanted to highlight that some FTBs (like me) have no DIY or house experience at all and I have found that 'professionals' can be very opinionated as to what you should do. Some of my family told me I should be really pushy over xyz but I said no because I like the house too much to mess the vendors around and risk losing it. They would totally have done it though..!

As I said it can be so easy to get pulled into games we have been very honest and open with our vendors in the hope they will be the same back. House buying in England is way too stressful isn't it!

I guess most people have a similar experience to share so it sounds all negative! I know what you mean ;-) we can't be bad buyers, as our vendor has offered to take us out for dinner when we are we done!!

But totally agree - way too stressful and a case of everyone beware haha!!

Honestly, I would just instruct the EA to remarket the property. It is all too likely that, three hours before exchange, they will suddenly insist on a price drop. If you think that the current scenario is stressful - well, that's going to be so much worse .

I do not see this sale going well for you, except with different buyers. Sorry.

I'm not sure I can cope with moving with a newborn haha, not in the middle of winter!!

We moved when I was 8.5 months pregnant with DS1. It was fine & gave us an immediate talking point with the new neighbours when he arrived (late). Put some money by for paying the movers to do the packing too. It gives you an excuse not to unpack straight away and, actually, maternity leave is a great time to potter away steadily at your unpacking. I also got to know a lot of the retired/working from home neighbours well on maternity leave, as we were around in the day.

Jevoudrais, you are right, I am sorry. It is wise to get a survey to understand the extent of future work. We bought a house and ignored the contents of the survey because we loved it, we're desperate to move and the sellers wouldn't budge on the price. In hindsight, we should have paid more attention to the details of the survey.

If they are only now doing searches there is no way they could exchange in the near future. As I said above, electrical survey is standard suggestion for an older property.

An electrical survey is perhaps sensible but surely the buyers should pay for that?

Well we decided to do the electrical survey ourselves for two reasons - first is its then our document, avoiding any uncertainty over what is actually in it. Second, as it's an old house/old electrics if we do go back on the market we are likely to need it for buyer No2! We are using our usual electrician and he's said if anything is not ok he will fix there and then and has allowed a whole day; that won't cover replacing the entire fuse board etc but hoping that should be ok.....!!

Updated our estate agent this morning ref searches and he is chasing their solicitors to find out, basically, WTF they are playing at! Ultimatum was given yesterday to buyers but before we knew about searches - they can't meet the ultimatum now so actually no idea what's going to happen next. I want to get viewings lined up but husband doesn't agree right now.... I am 110% expecting more ridiculous demands but he apparently sees the good in people....

"I am 110% expecting more ridiculous demands but he apparently sees the good in people.... "
There's a phrase I've seen here a few times that I think is very apt for your situation - 'When somebody tells you who they are, listen to them'. Your buyers have told you exactly who they are. I agree that more ridiculous demands are in the pipeline, including a last-minute gazunder.

Buyer of MIL flat wanted £5000 reduction ' for a new boiler' .Boiler was fine and had just had its annual service .It was a 2 bed flat.No way would a new boiler have been £5000(3 years ago) .We told her No .Stuck with us and bought the place .But we weren't desperate to sell .Had been told she was ideal
Buyer as was in rented property and wanted to move quickly , so I bust a gut to empty and clean the place .In the event she delayed exchange for 3 months .What gets into people? And when oh when will we adopt Scottish system