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Original poster

Buyers instructing a survey 4 months after putting in an offer

13 replies

BooToYouHalloween · 25/08/2024 17:42

Surely this is piss taking of the highest order?

We’re selling a leasehold flat. We’ve answered all their enquiries so far, they had a drive by survey from mortgage company. They’ve been in the property multiple times. As we entered month four we were pushing for an exchange date (as we’re in a chain) only to be told they’ve just instructed a surveyor and want to wait for the survey to come back before setting an exchange date. They put in the offer four months ago and we were under the impression the entire time they were opting not to have a survey done because it was a leasehold property.

The reason we’re four months in with no exchange set yet is because their solicitors have been totally inept from Day 1. We think their solicitors only just realised no survey had been done and advised them to get one to cover their own (the solicitors’) arses.

Has anyone ever experienced this before?

OP posts:
Oochiesmoochies · 25/08/2024 18:04

Could be looking for reasons to chip money off their offer.

Papricat · 25/08/2024 18:14

Run.

Pieandchips999 · 25/08/2024 18:18

Sounds like my old buyers. They did very similar and attempted to knock down the price on the door of exchange. Despite saying they wouldn't have a survey. Luckily I was entirely fed up of the rest of the chain and didn't have the money to spare and was beyond dealing with any of them any more. This resulted in me giving the ultimatum to confirm with no more mucking around and exchange or it was going back on the market the next working day. They stopped mucking me around and it sold at the original price.

Twiglets1 · 25/08/2024 18:21

It’s not up to solicitors to tell their clients to get a survey or not, that is client choice. My bet would be they have just decided they should get one or have maybe read online that they should, or friends/family have suggested it.

Either way, and though it’s late in the process which is annoying, it’s their right to get a survey and the property being leasehold or freehold is probably irrelevant to that decision. I wouldn’t say they are taking the piss getting a survey just a shame they didn’t book one a couple of months ago.

Original poster
BooToYouHalloween · 25/08/2024 18:33

I’m very annoyed at our agents. When we made an offer on the property we are trying to buy it was a condition of the offer that we had to instruct a surveyor within 10 days of our offer being accepted. I can’t understand why our agent didn’t advise us to include similar terms on our sale.

OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 25/08/2024 19:26

>it was a condition of the offer that we had to instruct a surveyor within 10 days of our offer being accepted.

I would have told them to sling their hook. No way would I be forking out £900 for a survey until after valuation and seeing the TA6 and TA10 forms. Our last seller want to take a wood burner, which would have lumped us with a 5k bill as it would also now need a flue liner.

There are reasons people do things in a specific order. Sometimes, it’s sellers taking the piss.

Sellers seem to think they have all power over a buyer once they have paid for a survey.

Twiglets1 · 25/08/2024 20:38

Agree with @KievLoverTwo that as a buyer I wouldn’t be dictated to either about when I booked a survey.

Are you sure you don’t mean you had to appoint a solicitor quickly @BooToYouHalloween

It’s unusual for a sellers EA to attempt to dictate a time scale for booking a survey.

BlueMongoose · 26/08/2024 21:01

I'd give them an ultimatum- a date, and say, that's it, if it's not through by then, the deal is off.
I'd not regard a buyer as serious if they didn't instruct a surveyor within a week or two of their offer. I'd not myself put in an offer and then wait for all the queries on the form from the vendors before having a survey, that takes ages. Besides, I'd want the survey and any resulting reports to be in before that in order to ask supplementary questions.

PS if a buyer can't recognise a wood burner when they see one, and before they make an offer, they're not looking very carefully, are they?

WhatsitWiggle · 26/08/2024 21:05

Tell them as they don't appear to be ready to proceed, you are putting the flat back on the market. Their offer still stands but you need a buyer who is ready to exchange, if they can do that, you'll take it off the market again.

Your agent hasn't worked very hard for you though, they should have been chasing the buyer long before now.

N4ish · 26/08/2024 21:11

KievLoverTwo · 25/08/2024 19:26

>it was a condition of the offer that we had to instruct a surveyor within 10 days of our offer being accepted.

I would have told them to sling their hook. No way would I be forking out £900 for a survey until after valuation and seeing the TA6 and TA10 forms. Our last seller want to take a wood burner, which would have lumped us with a 5k bill as it would also now need a flue liner.

There are reasons people do things in a specific order. Sometimes, it’s sellers taking the piss.

Sellers seem to think they have all power over a buyer once they have paid for a survey.

Edited

This is exactly how I do things. I’m not paying hundreds of pounds for a survey until mortgage valuation has been done and TA6 form has come through. Having said that waiting 4 months to book a survey does seem excessive.

KievLoverTwo · 26/08/2024 21:37

BlueMongoose · 26/08/2024 21:01

I'd give them an ultimatum- a date, and say, that's it, if it's not through by then, the deal is off.
I'd not regard a buyer as serious if they didn't instruct a surveyor within a week or two of their offer. I'd not myself put in an offer and then wait for all the queries on the form from the vendors before having a survey, that takes ages. Besides, I'd want the survey and any resulting reports to be in before that in order to ask supplementary questions.

PS if a buyer can't recognise a wood burner when they see one, and before they make an offer, they're not looking very carefully, are they?

>PS if a buyer can't recognise a wood burner when they see one, and before they make an offer, they're not looking very carefully, are they?

They said they had always thought they would take it with them and cap it off, leaving us with an empty chimney breast.

That’s something they made up in their own heads without discussing with us and tried to gaslight us into thinking we misremembered.

Like I said, sellers also take the piss.

Mumof2girls2121 · 27/10/2024 06:08

Yes similarly anyway! The week before exchange was due my buyer wanted to come make holes in the walls! 4 months in to the purchase process, was going to pull out if I didn’t let him!

0hshutupshirley · 27/10/2024 07:07

Our seller has done similar up the chain to the house he is buying. We were meant to exchange contracts last Friday and on Wednesday he announced to the chain that he's had back the results of a specialist damp survey on the house he's buying and wants to renegotiate the price after he gets quotes. It's looking like our whole chain is going to breakdown. I'm so angry. Who does that? Why didn't he get the survey done months ago?
We have our contract signed and ready to go and our buyers are MORE than ready.

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