Unbelievable.

[debaura12]

Hi

Can you believe this.

I had my offer accepted on a flat on 1/08. The vendor sold the property with the leases having been written (she was the freeholder of the whole block).
Can you believe it is now 17 weeks later and the leases still have not been written!!! In this time I have been paying £525 pm rent.

What would you do, I am out of my mind.

It is shocking that this should happen. There should be far stricter laws regarding property exchanges. I have read loads of stories on the internet of unscrupulous and negligent vendors and buyers. In these times of greed and selfishness the law needs to be strengthened with deadlines and penalties for breaches of practice. I can only see this getting worse.

oh my goodness badaboom I have only just started to read this! I had heard this on the news.... THANK YOU!!

I am so close to withdrawal, my nerves are shattered.

Chill, she isn't doing this to piss you off!

Thanks but There is no chill. I have just been informed that she has raised the price of the freehold. No she is not doing it to piss me off, she is doing it out of greed, which pisses me off. Her solicitor is lax and stupid. I had a nightmare the first weeks after I bought this flat, when she appeared as a huge rat! God I should have got out then.Spoken to EA, he is completely with me and at his wits end.

Lots of drama there OP. If you don't need a mortgage then just how have you wasted the rent money? If you are a cash buyer just go elsewhere and do an easier deal.

It's true there is lots of drama. Because I am renting now.

Yes I am thinking I need to go elsewhere. This will be the second time that this has happened. I was really hoping this would work out.

It was a really nice flat, with a garden. Rare around here.

If I were you, I would go back out flat hunting but say nothing to your vendor. Who knows things may actually move along? In the meantime you may find something much better and I know house buying is a total pain in the arse but I am a firm believer in the right property for you will come along. And that is speaking as someone whose last house move took nearly a year.

All house-buying is stressful, but you do need to calm down a little about this. You are housed, you have no need of a mortgage so you're in a great position objectively. You are not losing money.

If you need to withdraw from this deal, then do so and look for somewhere that you like better. can get a better deal on and feel more confident about.

If you are a cash buyer, and speed is important to you, then set out your expectations when you offer i.e. I will pay asking price if we complete within 8 weeks, but if we have not exchanged by X date I will be dropping my offer to £x or whatever.

As a cash buyer lots of people will be falling over themselves to have you as their purchaser. Just be very clear with everyone from the outset what you expect. Chase hard - solicitor, EA, leasehold/management company. Don't let it get to the stage where nothing has been provided after 4/6/8/12/17 weeks.

If I were you I think I'd pull out - you haven't once mentioned that the property is perfect or unique or whatever else so from an outsider's point of view there would be nothing to regret in starting again with another property.

Are you buying the freehold too then? I'm confused

X-posted. If you have fallen in love with it you can swallow your frustrations and negotiate if you feel strongly about it. But I'd also do as PP suggested and look around at what else is on offer at the moment, on the quiet.

Thank you very much NoSquirrles, I am a ftb so your concise advice is very pertinent to me and I am going to copy this into my diary. I have learnt so much in the year I have been looking. Hopefully I will be lucky. I am going to wait one more week for the leases to materialize and have a good look through them. If they don't materialize I am going to continue looking for another property. (I have been looking all this time and found nothing that compares to what I chose, that is part of the problem).

atticusclaw2 I was hoping to, but the EA has told me that one of the other flats wants to buy the entire freehold for block, and there is outside interest. It has already gone up 2k! I don't think there will be enough interest for a 50% share ie 3 flats.

In an ideal world, you would buy share of freehold - this gives you effectively voting rights over how maintenance is planned, paid for and delivered.

Leasehold that's well-established would also be less risky from your point of view.

The situation with this particular flat sounds complex, so make sure you understand what is being offered and what you are getting for your money.

I was hoping for my share of the freehold, but in reality there will be no way of knowing before I purchase the flat. (perhaps no one else will take up the offer).

Thank you again NoSquirrels X