How can I speed up vendor?

[Livedandlearned]

Ftb here, offer accepted mid September, all searches and enquiries back. Just waiting for our vendor to decide if they will renegotiate the agreed purchase price as the survey highlighted a crack in the chimney that needs to be repaired or the chimney replaced.

This decision has taken them 4 weeks and counting so far.

I was really hoping to be moved in before Christmas but I just can't see it happening, is there anything I can do?

I've told the estate agent that I want to be moved soon, and she says the vendor wants to progress as well. Doesn't seem that way to me!

The lenders valuation was £230,000 and we offered £238,500 which the lender is fine with but that's what the solicitor said we should use to try to negotiate some money off to deal with the chimney.

Well in that case if you're really keen on the house and want to get it over the line, I'd go back and say that you've reconsidered and are prepared to honour your original offer of x provided you exchange this week and complete by xx.

Good luck! Lucky you, in a new house by Christmas (we're facing our second Christmas in a rental and still house hunting!!)

I personally wouldn't take advice on price or negotiation tactics from my solicitor

All this messing about for £2k?

They are probably working out if they can get more by re-marketing!

I definitely won't be listening to my solicitor again, I did because she's a well known and trusted conveyance solicitor locally and has been for a long time, plus being ftb we just took her advice.

Up until last Thursday the searches hadn't come back so we were still waiting.

2k isn't a lot, we had a chimney and damp issue with a quoted 20k of work, we agreed to split the difference. If you went down that road you are asking for 1K which in house sales is barely anything - you could try that as a fair suggestion to the vendor.

There is a damp issue as well from a flat roof that needs replacing but the most important part is the chimney.

The surveyor says it's dangerous, but I know they cover their backs. The builder and roofer say it's dangerous but then they probably would, to get the work.

I'm going to call the estate agent tomorrow and see what's happening with the vendor, and see what she says about going halves, I'm happy with that, I just don't want to appear desperate (even though I am)

If everyone says it's dangerous, it probably is. It's not safe to assume otherwise. Not all tradespeople are iffy, we've had several who have assured us that electrical/roofing work we thought might need doing didn't even when they'd have got any work that needed doing-and that was before they were all so busy. And a surveyor will generally ask you to get a roofer in if they feel something is doubtful, but if they went as far as to say it was dangerous, that's a bit more than just covering their backs.

I would probably not try to get money off for it at the stage you're at in your circs., but I certainly would get it fixed.

Dangerous, yes fix. But honestly for £2k, I'd suck it up. And I'd imagine that if it's an old lady's home, you've got a fair bit put aside for renovation so just add it to the list.

I would not have negotiated on such a small sum. All houses need some work, but unless over £5k, I wouldn't bother asking for money off and would have just added it to the eventual cost of buying the property. You were ill advised and your solicitor doesn't seem to be able to get things back in track!