Buyer's support thread #5

[scribblegirl]

Sorry for breaking the last one

and for all....

That fortnight just before exchange was the worst for me too Skittles it's really fraught isn't it i hope you hear something today.

People who repeatedly pull pull out of sales/purchases at the last minute ought to be black listed.

My husband rang yesterday and the conveyancer said to call back today as she was going to ring the vendors solictors to see what's going on as it seems that they haven't been completely honest with our conveyancers. So fingers crossed we get a proper answer. I'm not wanting to rush them, I just want to know what's going on.

Ah Skittlesss that sounds totally shit. Crossing everything it works out.

I'm sorry skittlesss. I hope they don't pull out. It seems very unfair to let buyers get so far and then decide you don't want to sell. Our buyers are good to go and it would be hideous to say to them now, 'actually, we're just going to stay'.

Oh no Skittlesss! I really hope they are just being crap at communicating instead of going to pull out. When we sold our last house we had an offer which we turned down because the agent said they had form for pulling out and there were other people interested. I was so grateful for his advice.

Oh skittlesss - how stressful for you. Hope it turns out to be poor communication and not the worst! Hang in there.

Oh no. :( I hope everything still works out. I'm sorry you're going through this added stress.

I'm really worried. I just did a title search on the flat we are buying. It's share of freehold but I've just checked and the less only has 74 years to run. From research it looks like the mortgage company won't lend on that term even if there is a share of freehold.

I don't know if that means we can force the vendor to extend before we buy or whether we just have to pull out. Is anyone an expert?

Have you tried posting on the MSE mortgage forum?

Can I join in? The sale of my house completes on Friday but the people I am buying from keep moving their supposed completion date on their purchase, and are refusing to move out until that's done, despite me saying upfront that the end of May was my deadline and they confirmed back in Feb that they could move in with family if needed.

My stuff is all in storage, 4 containers full, and I'm staying at a friends but need to be gone by the 4th June. i know I took a risk moving out, but I have it in writing from the agent that the vendors were prepared to move in with family/friends and I told the vendors the end of May was my deadline, and now they are claiming to have not known that.

No but I've had a look on that site. It depends on the lender as to how short the lease can be but even if they will lend its something we would have to sort out at a cost at some stage.

I think I'd insist that the vendor extend at their cost. I have very little faith in the solicitor we have. I might be being unfair to him but as I feel I need to obtain legal advice from someone other than him, I think we might need to change solicitor.

None of my uni mates went into conveyancing because we all hated it which is a shame because I could do with some advice from someone I trust!

Kirin it's awful when you don't trust your solicitor. How far along are you? We moved solicitors and it was the right choice but it was simple as we were right at the start of the process.

Welcome Southwest - sorry to hear your woes. That sounds very difficult. Any chance you can extend your stay with your friend?

Heyhey - we are only two weeks in so not far. He just never responds and has made no attempt at explaining what actually happens and what sort of timeline we are looking at so its me constantly emailing him.

I'm a solicitor and I know that all it takes to keep a client happy is acknowledging their request and telling them when you'll be able to answer. I'm not expecting a full response immediately. I shouldn't be having to google things to understand what's going on really.

I've spoken to our friend who is our broker and she's explained things a bit. If the sol doesn't respond at some point today, I think we might change.

I'm confused; I thought the completion date was locked in once contracts were exchanged?

Urgh, Kirin. Get rid. you're exactly right - all clients want is to be updated, even if that update is 'nothing yet!' But when they won't respond at all it's really worrying, I think.

I feel like that with my broker they kept saying things like

They should be satisfied by tomorrow
We will have an outcome by Monday
Your documents have been passed through

All I was asking was what to expect next ie you may be asked for more documents, it's only the first stage etc

They only email me on each deadline to say there's a delay it'll be another 3 days.

I've given up asking as I only get an answer at 5pm so I know they've left the office and can answer anything anyway.

They sent me a list of documents to forward, 5pm on a Thursday, the links to the examples didn't work. I sent what I though was right and got an email back being picky over the wording of my references! I felt like telling her to be more specific in her requests.

Things are looking a little more hopeful now after I said completion by the 13th or they pay my storage and other costs, so hopefully we can agree a date and exchange soon.

It's more complicated as the sale was a jointly owned house and the purchase is just me, add to that the friend I'm staying with her mum died suddenly the week before I arrived, and we also had to finalise and host a charity dinner for 130 people two weeks later. Nothing ever runs to plan in our world!

Have to say my solicitor is great. We used her when we purchased the house I'm selling so I used her again, she's great at replying to emails, even if it is to say no news. I'm never buying another house again though, it's too stressful.

kirinm I'm not a solicitor but do work in conveyancing. It is unlikely your lender will lend on a property with 74 years remaining on the Lease. Your solicitor will most likely request that the vendor extends the lease before completion as otherwise you will not be able to do so for two years after you move in and then the lease will only be 72 years. The cost for extending may be substantial and the vendor may not be willing to pay for it. One thing to consider is that the conveyancing process for leasehold and share of freehold will not be quick.

Spickle - thanks. My broker has actually said natwest will lend on a 74 year lease. What is confusing is that as we will become a shareholder in the company who own the freehold and the vendor is already a director of the company, why it would cost anything significant? Certainly it isn't something we are going to be willing to pay if it is going to cost a lot. So infuriating that the 4 flats in the building didn't extend the leases when they bought the freehold.

Do you actually do the conveyancing (please say yes)? I'm just wondering what happens as my solicitor seems incapable of explaining things to me! I think we should be sorting the lease stuff immediately because it does put the sale in jeopardy (from my point of view) but the solicitor doesn't seem to think so.

Also, would you expect to see a lease extension in the actual lease or just on the leasehold title? Sorry for the multitude of questions!

Sorry Spickle one more question! Is 3 months too optimistic?

I get that the vendor might not want to pay bit the lease issue is going to keep coming up if it doesn't get sorted. The flat was on the market for a month which is our area is pretty unheard of. In addition, we didn't get it 'cheap' i.e. he won't get a significantly increased offer if we pull out and he's also on a tight timeframe as he's moving to Australia soon.

Argh, I really hope we don't have to pull out but there's not a chance we will foot the bill for an extension. The sale price does not take that cost into account.

Yes I do the conveyancing but not legally qualified. You would own the
leasehold title and would become a shareholder in the management company for the freehold (seller would transfer his share to you) so it may not cost too much to extend the lease, but would be far better for the seller to extend the term before exchange. Usually there would be a Lease Extension agreement alongside the original Lease which just sets out the new terms but still follows all the restrictions/covenants in the original document. The Lease Extension would be noted on the title deeds. One thing to perhaps be aware of is that the other leaseholders may have to extend their leases too which could be problematical if one doesn't want to, even though it benefits them. Generally having a share in the freehold is better as you will have some say in what works need doing and there may be no ground rent, but there still will be service charges to pay for works needed to communal areas. Hope that helps. Hopefully someone more qualified will come along shortly!

3 months should be ok - we generally advise around 12 weeks for leasehold properties, but much depends on getting information from third parties and the turnaround. Getting the seller to obtain the Leasehold Pack from the Management Company asap will save a lot of time.

Thanks Spickle. Leasehold title says nothing about an extension and looks like the freehold was bought a long time ago when the 99 year lease had only been running a year. Also suggests ground rent is still payable. I was hoping that maybe there is a document I can't access that shows that some changes were made to the lease when the freehold was bought! What's the point of buying it if you don't change the ground rent, maintenance costs or lease length.

I would like the vendor to sort this out. He'll be well acquainted with the other directors and presumably in a much better position to negotiate quickly.

I wish I trusted my solicitor

Sorry, what I meant was that the lease extension would be noted on the leasehold title when it is registered in your name, i.e. after you complete. Sounds like the lease has never been extended since it was originally granted. Yes, definitely the seller should sort it out and I would think your solicitor would push for this in any case. There is a conveyancing solicitor on here, called PeppermintPasty, so maybe you could pm her?