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Original poster

Would it be unreasonable to ask buyers to pay for...

29 replies

Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 18:48

Our next valuation due to their incompetent solicitor?

Basically to get out of a help to buy mortgage you have to have a special valuation and then pay the Helptobuy provider £200. The valuation only lasts 3 months.

We accepted offer mid August. The helptobuy valuation was completed mid September and expires on Friday 18th. Their solicitor only started asking enquiries etc about our property on the 27th November despite our solicitor chasing and chasing and warning them of the time restrictions since mid September.

We are now 7 days away from the deadline and everyone else in the 5 person chain is ready (and has been for weeks!)

So now we will have to have another valuation done (£300) and their may be further help to buy costs - would we be unreasonable to ask to buyers to pay as it is their solicitors fault we are in this mess.

I’m sure they will say no. However is it worth asking?

OP posts:
Madvixen · 11/12/2020 18:49

Are you using Premier Property Lawyers by any chance?

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 18:51

No our solicitor is lovely, local and excellent. Their solicitor is also a local firm but shockingly slow!

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Jobsharenightmare · 11/12/2020 18:55

You can ask but I wouldn't expect them to agree as you say. They may be equally frustrated and have incurred costs too so from their perspective not in a position to give you money.

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 19:00

Very true @Jobsharenightmare however it’s getting close to the wire for us financially too and affecting how much we can carry forward to our onward purchase.

If they can split costs as a minimum it would really help!

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Galliano · 11/12/2020 19:07

Are you intending to withdraw from the sale if they refuse? There’s really no other reason for them to feel any compulsion to pay this. Under those circumstances if you do ask I expect your antagonism could reduce goodwill from them which could manifest in for example not cleaning or not leaving helpful things they might have done otherwise e.g. manuals or any fittings not explicitly included.

Galliano · 11/12/2020 19:09

Sorry your buyers... so are you upping the price of the house? That’s the only way to get them to pay surely.

DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 19:20

Potentially causing bad feeling over a few hundred quiz seems daft to me. I know it's so, so frustrating but this is unfortunately part and parcel of the house buying process.

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 19:41

@DiesalFive it’s £500 in total each time... so quite a lot!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 19:44

@Galliano we are the sellers not buyers. Basically their slowness is costing us an extra £500

As we are selling for the same as we paid- every time we pay it puts us back financially. They were aware of deadlines on making the offer. We are tempted to pull out but thought it may be worth trying first.

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DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 19:46

[quote Shadowboy]@DiesalFive it’s £500 in total each time... so quite a lot!![/quote]
Not in the scheme of things, really. Again, although frustrating, it really is just part and parcel of the buying process.

Your buyers haven't deliberately incurred these costs, it's unreasonable to ask them to contribute. I personally would not ask.

DiesalFive · 11/12/2020 19:49

If you're genuine about pulling out, I'd be tempted to say you'll have to pull out if you haven't exchanged before your offer expires, as you can't afford to pay again - that may make things move!

Smallgoon · 11/12/2020 19:58

Did you let them know that they'd be liable for any costs incurred as a result of any delay which meant your valuation would expire?

Curious to know why, after an offer was accepted in August, you were fine for them to start progressing at the end of November. I'd have had serious concerns that they were time-wasting if it had gotten to end of September and still nothing.

Daphnise · 11/12/2020 20:03

It is not reasonable.

And I would never pay!

Hk24498 · 11/12/2020 20:03

If you accepted an offer mid August it's not the solicitor- it's the buyers hiding behind the solicitor. The buyer has delayed for some reason and told their solicitor not to do any work until end of November, and due to confidentially the solicitor can't say anything. I bet that's what has happened. Solicitors get a bad reputation often due to their clients not letting them tell the whole story to the rest of the property chain. If a client says you can't say or do anything on a matter you simply are not allowed to! Why would they sit on a case for no reason? - they don't get paid until completion so trust me, the solicitor wants it done asap!

TheLadyOfShallnott · 11/12/2020 20:08

I wonder if @Hk24498 has hit the nail on the head.

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 20:14

@Hk24498 without being too outing yes it’s the solicitor, put it this way the firm has now swapped solicitors working on this file.Since the new guy came into play stuff has happened but obviously as everyone is busy it’s just too late.

Regarding why we ‘didn’t do anything’ until November- because the buyer had the mortgage approved quite quickly we kept persevering as we didn’t want to lose the onward purchase and they seemed keen. I still don’t really but the stress of dealing with trying to get hold of a new valuation over Christmas and the financial outlay that we didn’t budget for is making me unsure if we should just stay.

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DryRoastPeanut · 11/12/2020 20:16

I may get flamed for this but....if I was asked to contribute some sellers costs when I was the buyer, I’d think twice about buying. It makes you sound cheap and I’d seriously be worrying about painted newspaper filling holes in walls and polished wood floors only being polished where visible again!

Sofia2020 · 11/12/2020 20:17

Check with your surveyor, but ours will do a ‘desktop valuation’ acceptable to the help to buy company which is valid for a further 3 months- free of charge.

SendHelp30 · 11/12/2020 20:25

@DryRoastPeanut I’m with you

MrsBobDylan · 11/12/2020 20:26

What @Sofia2020 said - I had a very similar thing with shared ownership and in the end it was possible to request a desktop valuation.

QforCucumber · 11/12/2020 20:26

Weve just sold a help2buy house. We didn't get the hel2buy valuation done until we were about to exchange contracts and agree a sale date because we knew about the 3 month deadline. Also, you can ask the surveyor for a desktop valuation which is about half the price of the full one if your 3 months is up.

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 20:33

@Sofia2020 did you have to pay the Target fee of £200 again?

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Smallgoon · 11/12/2020 20:33

Weve just sold a help2buy house. We didn't get the hel2buy valuation done until we were about to exchange contracts and agree a sale date because we knew about the 3 month deadline.

Was going to ask the OP why they hadn't done the above as it certainly seems the sensible and less risky approach

Original poster
Shadowboy · 11/12/2020 20:34

@QforCucumber we were told that there was a backlog for both valuations and that target were struggling so to get it done well in advance which is why we waited a month then did it. So annoying!!

OP posts:
Sofia2020 · 11/12/2020 20:39

You shouldn’t have to pay target again

Would it be unreasonable to ask buyers to pay for...