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Original poster

Should I try to contact my buyer directly?

22 replies

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 11:11

We are in the process of moving - our buyer is a first time buyer, and we are moving into a new build.

We just had a letter from our solicitor, asking us to complete next week and that we keep to our agreement of moving into temporary accommodation whilst our new house is being built, as this was part of the purchase negotiation.

Problem is, we never agreed to that, it's completely fabricated!
We said in passing to our estate agent we would CONSIDER renting, IF we hadn't found anywhere to move ourselves.

As it happens, we had our offer on the new build accepted the day after we accepted our buyers offer, and it was built months ago... It's the show house, fully furnished and everything... So definitely not still being built.

Our buyer has contacted the estate agent furious we've "gone back on want we agreed", I have told the estate agent we never agreed it but I don't trust them to pass this on - they have obviously miscommunicated it in the first place.

I want to try contact our buyer directly to put the record straight.

Should I leave it to the solicitors and estate agents and hope for the best, or try and find her on fb etc to see if she wants to communicate directly?

OP posts:

Smallinthesmoke · 12/10/2018 11:24

Your issue isn't "setting the record straight". It is communicating an acceptable completion date, if you can't do next week. They don't care where you are going or what you said, they just clearly want to be in ASAP. So the question is... how quickly can you get out? and to let your estate agent know so they can communicate that. My estate agent passed on my emails directly, perhaps that is a good way to avoid miscommunication.

Original poster

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 11:51

Thank you, that's not a bad idea, I may ask them if they will do that and pass on a written communication directly.
We can't move out until our purchase completes, we are still waiting for searches and it is taking a lot longer than our sale for some reason, despite the offer being accepted only days apart.
We don't have the option to move anywhere in between, as parents don't have room and obviously we can't rent somewhere for just a matter of weeks.

I was just worried that the estate agent has led her to believe something that she has clearly based her offer on - I don't want our buyer pulling out on the basis that we went back on something that we didn't agree to in the first place.

OP posts:

B00dyM4ry · 12/10/2018 11:56

If you need to you can rent for a few weeks - we did. You get the removers to quote for a container and storage. They come and instead of a removal van they load a container. They store it and then deliver it to the new house. The quotes I got cost the same as one move but with the storage costs on top. You then do a long rent on a holiday house so no hassle with a short let/ bills / council tax.

FunRequirement · 12/10/2018 12:21

I had this issue as well.

I had the removals give me a storage quote as well as the move. What we ended up doing was getting in contact with the new build company to put pressure on the solicitors to hurry up. Tell them that your buyer is threatening to pull out. There are ways to rush some of the searches. We got in 3 weeks after reserving by doing this.

If you have to put your stuff in storage then start messaging Airbnb hosts to let their property for a few weeks. Some should offer you a long stay discount. Otherwise, you might also consider taking a holiday at this time and going to something like an all-inclusive abroad while your stuff is in storage and everything is being completed for your purchase.

Original poster

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 12:50

The thing is - we never agreed to it.
So why should we go to the hassle and financial loss of renting and storage when we never said we would?

OP posts:

lastqueenofscotland · 12/10/2018 13:34

I wonder if this is the other sode to the thread a few posts down...

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 12/10/2018 13:47

Moral of this story- never trust an estate agent

Sorry but no sympathy here- I’ve also been stung by EAs and conveyancers! I think it happens to a lot of people.

Chalk it up to experience, take the hit and move on. Remember you will save on mortgage + bills during this period if you go for Airbnb so you might not be as out of pocket as you think.

Is it really worth risking your buyer waving goodbye for the sake of a couple of grand? Especially with Brexit around the corner.

Smallinthesmoke · 12/10/2018 13:49

It might be that you go back and say that you will be ready to complete when your searches are concluded, and explain that the fact that the place is new-build is neither here nor there as it is finished. That might reassure them that you are not waiting for it to be built, it is just like being in a normal chain.
Then put some serious pressure on speeding up your searches and getting an estimate of a date for exchange- we were in daily contact with our estate agent and solicitor at this point. Funrequirement's approach sounds sensible.
Good luck! It is so stressful...

Mildura · 12/10/2018 14:27

they have obviously miscommunicated it in the first place
or the FTB is deliberately trying it on. There are a number of different possibilities where to place the blame in situations like this.

Original poster

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 14:44

Never thought about the buyer just trying it on. Interesting!

I have contacted the estate agent again and got some more info.

The buyer is a teacher and wants to move in school holidays so is saying she can only move in October or it'll have to wait until December. She won't do a weekend as she has other commitments every Sunday and apparently cant move in just one day. Which is strange, as we were planning on moving in a day, and I'm pretty sure most people do!
She has offered to let us rent from her parents (the house she currently rents) until we move!

It means moving twice for the sake of speeding it up by a few weeks... I have chased the progress on our purchase and it sounds like that's all it's going to be - they've already started initial enquiries and are just waiting for one more local search to come back next week.

My husband thinks it's ridiculous that they are pressuring us so much to move out, just so she doesn't have to take time off work (pretty sure teachers can ask for a day in term time for certain life events, as I have friends that are teachers that have taken time off for moving) or doesn't have to give up one Sunday of coaching sports. We will have to take more time off if she wants to do it during the week.

Ive suggested she rethinks moving on a weekend, and have said we will think about her offer to rent for a few weeks in between (but I'm certain my husband won't go for that).

I knew moving is meant to be stressful but I didn't expect all this!

Thanks for the suggestion to pressure our seller to hurry things up, I will definitely consider telling them our buyer is threatening to pull out if it doesn't hurry up with it all.

OP posts:

Mildura · 12/10/2018 14:56

cant move in just one day
She doesn't have to! She can move in over 2 or 3 consecutive Saturdays.
Presumably she's under no pressure to move out of her rental, given she has her parents for a landlord!

Definitely sounds like she's trying it on.

tentative3 · 12/10/2018 14:59

I'm confused as to who it is that wants to move on a weekend, but it's not going to happen surely? You're not going to be able to complete on a weekend so unless you go into rented and have an overlap you certainly aren't going to move on a weekend.

Original poster

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 15:21

@Tentative, sorry - to be clear, when I said she doesn't want to move on a weekend, I meant complete on a Friday.
We'd assumed we would complete on a Friday - so we would move out that day and she would get the keys as soon as we'd gone - probably in the evening, and would then have Saturday to move.

Our buyer feels 1 day won't be enough time to move house though.

I think she just needs to wait about 3 more weeks til our purchase completes, we can all agree on a mutual date to move, rather than pushing us into renting in between just so it's more convenient for her.

OP posts:

specialsubject · 12/10/2018 17:28

Your princess of a buyer needs to pay for removals like the grownups do. Set an exchange date and completion a week or more later. Completion cannot be at a weekend.

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 12/10/2018 17:34

Oh my gosh-despite what I said earlier about sucking it up, your buyer sounds totally inflexible and deluded about how moving works! What a fuss pot. Doubt you’ll be able to accommodate her very specific needs- not through lack of trying- it just doesn’t work like that. It’s the EA responsibility to explain to FTB how this process works and how she cannot really have control of it!

notangelinajolie · 12/10/2018 17:40

If you delayed moving is there a chance you could loose the sale?

notangelinajolie · 12/10/2018 17:43

*lose.
Posted too soon.
If it were me I'd just go, put my furniture in storage and rent an Airbnb.

costacoffeecup · 12/10/2018 17:49

This is just life as a buyer, it's not like you agreed a particular completion date when she made the offer and even if you had said you'd move into rental if necessary it's really not necessary for the sake of a couple of weeks when you've got a purchase going through. I think I'm with your husband here!

Original poster

Crossfitgirl · 12/10/2018 18:04

Theres been no mention of the buyer pulling out, I'm fairly confident she won't - I know she had looked at lots of places and ours was the only one she liked... I also know she is on a fairly tight budget so don't think she will want to loose the fees she's paid so far.

I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, I have asked the estate agent to reiterate she should reconsider moving outside of school holidays, or over more than one weekend If she really doesn't think she can move in a day.

I'll just wait and see.
She had made out it that letting us move to her parents rental in between would be a "gesture of goodwill" but actually, if she agreed to just move outside of school holidays there would be no issue at all!

OP posts:

Smallinthesmoke · 12/10/2018 20:22

Call her bluff.
Exchange ASAP and completion just before Xmas, if that's all she can manage.
Or you complete on a Friday and she moves on a Saturday like a normal person.

ChiaraRimini · 14/10/2018 14:22

Can't move in a day??
Well it's tough shit if you are in a chain. You need to vacate on the day of completion normally by lunchtime. The house doesn't belong to you anymore. It's not rocket science you just start packing in advance and get a moving company!

AwkwardPaws27 · 14/10/2018 15:06

she would get the keys as soon as we'd gone - probably in the evening

Usually completion is set for 12pm or thereabouts, and that is the time you would need to be out and hand over the keys, so she would have most of Friday and all day Saturday.
We got our keys on a Thursday and didn't move til the Saturday as we couldn't get the time off work & were moving from rented, so we could wait a few days to move in as we had an overlap anyway.

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