Instructing a survey when we are due to exchange?

[chocolateorange03]

Any ideas what is going on here please?

Our buyers made an offer in spring this year, it's been a long process and we are finally near the end of it, all enquiries have been answered. Our buyers are very keen to be in before Christmas, as are we. They are pushing for move date within 2 weeks, which is great as we really want to move now too.

But today they have informed our agent that they are instructing a home buyers report, which is fine, but why leave it till now when we are ready to exchange?

Is this realistically going to happen within 2 weeks?

Thank you

So this has been going on for nine months and they haven't even done a survey?! They aren't serious.

Because they want to drop the price post survey. A common antics apparently.

I sold my house and it certainly hadn’t dragged on as yours had but they suddenly decided to get a drains check really late in the process. It was fine.
But yes they should be able to get the survey done and report back within a week. But I’d say they can’t push for a pre Christmas date if it no longer suits you. If it dies insist they have a definite exchange and completion date.

They are definitely serious, they were in love with the house and have held on through many set backs, that's why we can't understand what's going on, they've made it very clear today that they don't want any more delays, and we absolutely can't afford to renegotiate the price if any issues were to arise as we wouldn't be able to continue with our onward purchase if they did. What are the chances of getting a survey done within the next week?

they are going to try and renegotiate - else whats the point in the survey?

You need to tell them a completion date, or prepare to re-list

It might be their lender is checking the value but it's really late. Or they decided to change lender or need a new offer due to time lapsed.

Get your solicitor on it.

I agree, it sounds as though they're looking to renegotiate at the last minute @chocolateorange03.

Last year our - cash - buyers had a full structural early on in the process, saying they'd not try beating us down if any issues arose (we'd already accepted 25k under asking) and they didn't.

Then, after more than 50 (!!!) enquiries were raised by their conveyancing solicitor, they demanded a septic tank survey when we were at the point of exchange. Our onward purchase, a probate property, had been ready to exchange for several weeks and we were starting to lose confidence that we'd be moving at all.

We agreed to the septic survey and - having again assured us they weren't doing it to renegotiate - lo and behold, they asked for a further 10k off. We were so keen to move, we reluctantly agreed...although we did succeed in getting the same knocked off the cottage we were buying.

However, we did issue an ultimatum, saying if we agreed to the further reduction we wanted to exchange immediately with completion a week later...and that's exactly what happened.

This is strange.

Could it be that it has dragged on so long that they are having to get a new mortgage offer? The new lender might be insisting on a basic survey.

I would be getting the EA to ask them why they are organising a survey at this late stage. As it makes moving in 2 weeks very unlikely.

It does seem very strange. In my experience surveys can be arranged pretty quickly but the report issuance is anything from same day to a week. Problem being, the unknown means you won’t be able to set an exchange/completion date which makes moving in 2 weeks unlikely.

As a side note, why do so many people want to be ‘in before Christmas’? I can understand moving in November, but not mid-December (as in this case). The house will be chaos and everything will feel new/strange and unsettling - doesn’t sound like a relaxing Christmas to me! Granted, this is a generalised statement, there are obviously circumstances where people need to move asap, but that’s a case of ‘in asap’ and not ‘in before Christmas’.

Agree with pp, I would be wary of a request for a price reduction last minute. I would make it known via agents you will not be renegotiating on price.

Playing devil's advocate here, is it possible your buyers didn't know they needed a home buyers report?

We were first time buyers less than 10 years ago and well into process when a colleague asked me who had done our report. I had no idea it was a thing and sorted one immediately.

TLDR; Sellers at that point had already moved out and tried to put us off having one, it turned out they'd hidden huge issues which report uncovered and we had to pull out.

This is about you caving in and agreeing a lower price. They are want it as agreed or not.

Don’t fall for it. stick to agreed and walk away if you need to. The market will pick up in January and you are likely to get another buyer very quickly

Yes you can still move in time, it’s going to be difficult and stressful.

Thanks for everyone's advice/input. I suppose we will just have to see what happens next.

Thanks again

Hello again,

The surveyor came this morning, he was here for about 40 mins and upon leaving said everything was straightforward. Is this a good sign that perhaps the report is going to be good?

I know no one actually knows the answer to this so just wondering from others experiences.

Everyone in the chain is still looking to complete next week.

Thank you