Page 2 | Can you ask your buyers to change solicitors?

Lunapuf5 · 2023-03-06T18:32:28+00:00

We have just sold subject to contract and just got to see who the buyers solicitors are on the memorandum of sale and they have a terrible reputation and could slow us down massively leading to our sale falling through and losing money. Could we request for them to change their solicitors now since we are just at the beginning of the process and impose it as a requirement otherwise we'll pull out?

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/03/2023 21:01

If she still will like to go ahead with them after our warning then we'd just sadly have to withdraw the acceptance of the offer. I will definitely not force her to do anything if she does jot want to.

So what does “I will definitely not force her” mean in this context? That you won’t physically force her? I would have imagined that was a given. Because “I won’t force you, but do what I want or I pull out” pretty much amounts to the same thing.

It’s your house, so if you want to pull out, pull out. But why pretend you’re giving your buyer any kind of choice here?

Original poster

Lunapuf5 · 06/03/2023 21:09

Gazelda · 06/03/2023 20:05

My tone reflects your earlier reply, where you told me you'd run for the hills if you were our buyer. We would definitely not have that tone with our buyer who was ever so lovely, we would simply inform her and give her a heads up about the reviews, which maybe she did not even read especially if she went with her broker's recommendation and ask if she would be willing to change as we fear it would slow the whole process down not only for us but for her as well. If she refuses she has every right to, but we have every right to pull out too*

But your first post clearly states
That you're thinking of imposing it as a condition of sale.

Can I respectfully suggest you re-look at how you word messages and your tone? It may be reasonable to make a suggestion that they look at reviews, but your posts on here have come across as quite entitled and aggressive.

We will definitely tell her in a polite manner, firstly it wouldn't even be us speaking to her it would be our estate agent, who will explain the situation and she can make a decision based on that. It is not an imposition that is just the facts, if she does choose to stay with them we will unfortunately have to pull out as it would be too risky and would add extra stress. My defensive attitude is towards people calling me entitled and telling me they would run for the hills if they were my buyer- which I believe is extremely rude . Me having concerns about an already stressful process most likely getting to be stressful than it needs to be is not entitled, and I'm not forcing anyone to do anything, it is my home I'm selling and if I don't feel comfortable with this risk I do have the right to pull out.

OP posts:

Lcb123 · 06/03/2023 21:11

You could ask and let them know your concerns but doubt it’s enforceable. We used a solicitor as a buyer last year that has rubbish reviews but was fine for us.

Runnerbeans8 · 06/03/2023 21:13

It feels a bit premature to be basing it on reviews when you haven’t experienced any problems yet. Don’t forget most people that complain will do so because they’ve had a problem. We used PPL who get bad reviews and they were fine, and our purchase dragged on and on (not their fault). We couldn’t fault them really.

Original poster

Lunapuf5 · 06/03/2023 22:43

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/03/2023 21:01

If she still will like to go ahead with them after our warning then we'd just sadly have to withdraw the acceptance of the offer. I will definitely not force her to do anything if she does jot want to.

So what does “I will definitely not force her” mean in this context? That you won’t physically force her? I would have imagined that was a given. Because “I won’t force you, but do what I want or I pull out” pretty much amounts to the same thing.

It’s your house, so if you want to pull out, pull out. But why pretend you’re giving your buyer any kind of choice here?

oh my god are your for real? of course she has a choice, she may wish to keep the solicitor and go for a different property, of course I will pull out if she's not comfortable to change solicitors just as I'm not going forward if she doesn't its pretty simple.

OP posts:

WomanStanleyWoman2 · 06/03/2023 22:53

Of course I’m for real. It’s you that’s struggling to understand the very, very basic principle here. You’re saying you’re not going to force her to do anything - but what precisely could you force her to do anyway? Make her buy the house at gunpoint, using a solicitor of your choice?

You're giving her an ultimatum. Your call, but don’t play the innocent.

Inkpotlover · 12/03/2023 08:00

@Lunapuf5 What happened in the end? Did they capitulate?

dollymixtured · 12/03/2023 08:45

Lunapuf5 · 06/03/2023 22:43

oh my god are your for real? of course she has a choice, she may wish to keep the solicitor and go for a different property, of course I will pull out if she's not comfortable to change solicitors just as I'm not going forward if she doesn't its pretty simple.

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You are coming across as an arrogant bully. If you want to avoid giving that impression in future you would do well to heed the advice of past posters and work on your tone.

EstherHazy · 12/03/2023 13:15

Let's all just take a step back here!!

My two-pennies:

If I were the buyer, I would be cautious of taking advice from the seller on who to go with- objectively, it is not in the buyer's interest to do this (I wanted to use a solicitor at the same firm as my sellers but they said no because it is a conflict of interest - its not exactly the same here but there is some kind of parallel about whose interests the choice is in).
Online reviews are not everything and the buyers must have reasons for choosing this solicitor, whether it is personal or EA recommendation for example. People tend to only post reviews for extreme situations and not the large % of business that is just 'normal'. So, bad reviews are concerning / disheartening but I think maybe just take a step back and think how reasonable your requirement for a different solicitor is?
If the firm are genuinely rubbish, there could be an argument that, efficiency aside, it's in the sellers interest if the buyer's solicitor isn't up to scratch - they may be more likely to let things through without proper scrutiny, which affects the buyers and not the sellers.
One assumption it's probably reasonable to make is the buyers have chosen their solicitors based on budget. If the seller wants them to go with someone more expensive, as a buyer I'd maybe say 'yes sure but I'm cutting my offer by £1k to pay for the extra costs'. So - OP, maybe be prepared for that?

Best of luck - let us know how it goes!!