Sellers are a nightmare

[feejee]

Grrr, hope you dont mind me having a wee rant.

This is the 3rd house we have tried to buy, we appear to have a knack of selecting houses with terrible sellers.

We put our offer in in August, no chain, old lady in a home so being sold through probate. I honestly thought we would have the keys by now. Turns out the estate agent are liars, when we first viewed we were told it was being sold through probate. Then when it took 2 weeks to get our offer accepted we were told its actually going through power of attorney and there were 3 grandchildren involved, but now the offer had been accepted it would only be going through one person. It has taken 9 weeks to get the first set of documents signed from them, the fixtures and fittings form...at which point we discover we are dealing with 6 sellers from a family with a rift in it.

So, today i get an email off our solicitor saying there is missing building reg documentation which is required by our mortgage lender. Normally this is the sellers responsibility, but their solicitor is saying they have no money to pay the £46 (so thats £6.50 each, for a return of a share of 190k) so can we pay it...oh and we'll lose it if there's no sale - if there's no regulations the bank wont lend to us...as their solicitor says he doesn't envisage getting a sensible answer from them quickly.

So
a) we pay the £46 and hope we aren't just wasting more money
b) we tell them to jog on, and give the sellers 2 weeks to get this £46 arranged or we leave it (already spent £750 on survey and solicitors and there's nothing else we really fancy though).
c) tell them to jog on and wait another goodness knows how many weeks for 6 people to get their act together and make a decision.

Oh no, what a palarva!

How much do you really want the house? I know you shouldn't have to pay but for the sake of £46 if it's your ideal perfect house just swallow it and hope for the best.

Family feuds and property are never a good mix.

Probate is only when the owner is dead! Buying from an arguing couple is bad enough, you've got six loons.

£46 is nothing but what else will come up? And from experience, dont buy because it is all that is available.

What will be next after you've paid this?!
It's in their best interests to get the place sold and I'm sure they want the money.
I would tell the estate agents that things need to start moving or you will have to pull out.
I had a missing lease with the property I bought and the estate agent had firm words with the vendors as if one purchaser can't go ahead, nor can any others.
They suddenly got it sorted.

I would pay the £46 BUT I’d tell the solicitor that if things do not get a huge move on, you will pull out. Give them a time frame for when you expect specific things to be agreed by them.

I wouldn’t deal with the estate agents, they’ve already shown themselves to be liars. Deal with the solicitors.

What's the £46 actually for? If it's a copy of the building regs certificate can't you just get that from the local planning authority, like you can with planning permissions?

Thats the thing im worried about what else comes after this if we accept the £46 charge. I'll phone my solicitor in the morning and see what their advice is and then get on to the estate agents as well.

im gutted, we were dithering over 2 houses, 1 was being sold by a builder who'd renovated to sell (would have been ok for a few years but not forever) and then this one which was the forever house (but needs a lot of work). If i'd known there were 6 arguing sellers to deal with i think i might have swayed the other direction, blinking estate agents lying through their teeth.

Theres nothing else on the market we really fancy which is a shame so would really like this one. Its just grinding us down, we ended up selling our house in June and living in a cheap rental which is full of damp, freezing cold and living with boxes as I didnt unpack much. I just want a lovely new house to organise and make my own.

I waited nearly a year to move into my place as the owner had to go into a care home and I don't think the family understood what was expected of them to sell a property.
Stay focused on reminding the arguing family (through estate agent/solicitor) that the place simply will not be able to be sold if they don't get their acts together, whether that be to you or anyone else and they won't get their money.
I know the £46 is not much but I don't think that will be the end of it if you don't stand firm.
If you are forced to look elsewhere, it's not really a good selling time but a lot of people get Christmas out of the way before they think about selling.
As a PP said, let your solicitor see what's going on and help you make a decision.

Pay £46 and get then to knock it selling price. But given the hassle so far, what else is lurking.

I put in an offer on a chain free property last March and I was cash buyer. I completed in February of this year because the seller really couldn’t get her shit together.

This is awkward as sometimes arguments can blind folks from all logic. Although this is particularly bad as I’d have just paid the forty odd quid if I was them and not said anything to the others.

I would pay it yes, but then I couldn’t be arsed with the hassle for forty odd quid. Not right, but there it is.

However when is exchange?

No where near exchange yet, we've not even seen the property forms. the only thing we've seen is fixtures and fittings. However solicitor has advised us to exchange and complete on the same day, which we are fine with so when it does happen it should be quick.

Im not holding my breath, especially with these other stories...eek a year to complete. Horrendous.

Ok, I’d be asking the solicitor to set a date now for exchange. You don’t need to complete on the same day, but I think I’d want them locked in to both an exchange and completion date so they had something to work to. And I would make it sooner rather than later.

Ask your solicitor to set out a time line of when things need to occur and when exchange will be then get them to agree to it.

I agree with Bluntness.

If you want this property you’ve got to be proactive and keep checking in with your solicitor.

Ask your solicitor to get a time line set including an exchange date.

And ask him/her to remind the sellers that you are in an excellent position, having sold your house and if you do pull out they will be having to start from the beginning again.

You shouldn't have to pay the £46 until completion, as it will likely be for an indemnity policy to cover lack of building regs, so you would only pay the £46 if the purchase was definitely going ahead. Your solicitor should be able to clarify :)