Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Hi Everyone
Well this week has been a crazy week!!! Some of you may already know that we are in the process of selling our house for the third time!! The previous two times the first time buyer fell out of the chain. We have now resold to our previous buyer, however as there was a lapse of 4 months in between they decided to make us an offer £8k below their previous offer which we were not happy about but felt we had to accept.

Previously, we decided to leave some fixture and fittings ie curtains, carpets and lights but decided on this transaction and as some people had offered to buy them off us we would not include them. Get the picture so far? Well this was all well and good. We sold on the 14th June and agreed to exchange in 5 weeks 20/7. Also the agent said that as they were our previous buyer and had already done a survey and searches etc it should be a smooth transaction....yeah anyone heard that before!!!!

Well a few days after their survey, yes they decided that they now wanted to do a full structural and considering they couldn't offer us a bean more etc etc we had to reduce our price we were furious!! anyway enough of that rant we phoned the agent any problems no he has spoken to them and all is well good. Furthermore, their solicitor wrote to ours indicating that there were no problems. All set to exchange tomorrow 5/8.

We went away for the weekend and returned on Monday to find a letter from their solicitor which stated that actually there were a few issues re survey ie boundary wall is hazardous (doesn't belong to us and they would know that on their survey!) and that the pipework to the boiler in loft is untidy!!!! Anyway due to these serious issues they are not asking for a reduction in price or remedial work (yeah what exactly do they plan to do?) but would proceed with the transaction if we would leave our bedroom furniture which is not fitted but very nice cost us £3.5k, garden accessories, sheds and workshop, carpets, curtains, lights, mirrors, white goods i.e freezer, dishwasher etc and a whole range of other bits literally taking the whole cake!!!
As you can imagine we told them no in no uncertain terms that they could go away!!
I wrote to the solicitor and told him that unless they exchanged we will put the house back on the market, we wont do remedial work or reduce the price or leave anything here. I would rather burn stuff now then let them have it. Obviously the agent knows we are off to oz so i think they think we are desperate. yes we are keen to go but they are not going to take advantage.

Anyway the agent rang us and tried to imply that we were being unreasonable as we really wouldn't want to take those items to oz would we? we don't want to take some items true but I'm not telling those bloody snakes! other items yes.

anyway i then phoned our solicitor and he told me that our agent was apparently against us as he is charge of the whole chain and our being resistive to their requests is damaging his possibility of obtain commission down the line. Rich then phoned the agent and he wasn't there! he spoke to his colleague and advised him of our decision and also said that if he is acting not neutrally and the deal falls flat we will take it further.

yesterday the agent called me and acted as if he never received the msg...yeah right am i getting cynical in my old age?

The phone was hot yesterday and i certainly was not backing down. Anyway after a lot of discussions we agreed that we would leave curtain poles, carpets, lights, freezer and dishwasher for £500 and the agent would reduce his fee by this much.

The buyers think they've got one over on us but they haven't. The irony was that the agent said the buyers wanted it as it was before ie the poles, carpets and lights. they then came back and asked for the freezer and dishwasher which the agent will stump up for. He then came back and asked for the sheds and workshop and that we should leave them behind as a gesture of goodwill????? i ran out of that a long time ago!! Our workshop cost over £2k 18 months ago and I'm sure we can resell easily for £500 locally it is bigger than a garage. Our other sheds are also large and the children's is particularly sweet and I'm sure we will get a £100 for it. Anyway the long and short is any money in my pocket is more dollars for aus. Told him no and that if they wanted them they would have to pay for them. he never came back to me so i am expecting the phone to be hot again today.

The only problem now is that both PSS and John mason who i have decided between are now getting really booked up for end of Aug which is our planned completion. i am not prepared to pay a deposit until we exchange and have told them so due to this being our 3rd transaction. Anyway please keep all your fingers and toes crossed that we can sort things out and then exchange!! the agent is hoping for Monday. I will believe it when it happens. If all goes well we will be off to oz in October hooray!!

Sorry for the rant but for those of you in the process of selling, keep your cards close to your chest and don't give in even when you are desperate to go. At the end of the day we would have relented to secure the deal but played hard ball and it worked, I'm sure for some it may not have done.

Good luck to all of you in the housing nightmare!
Irene ;)

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

God, I feel exhausted just reading all that!

Seriously though, I think the most stress I've ever had was selling our house 3 years ago....it has certainly put me off wanting to move for a good few years. I got to thinking that our house seemed to attrack nasty/unreasonable buyers...

[ps. we are renting out our UK home while we are over here!]

Good luck....hope it works out soon!

Angela

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Hi Irene, what a cheek the purchasers have, but unfortunately this seems to happen more and more often.

We have yet to put our house on the market, but am not looking forward to it when we do, will certainly bear in mind what you have said.

Sending you some karma.

Jo

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Erm - don't really know what to say except good luck & hope it goes OK.

If you could afford to do it - it would be really nice to tell the buyers to f*** **f, especially as they must have shelled out loads of money on the surveys etc.

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Hi Irene
god some people really take this piss eh i bet you feel like telling them to bu**er off they are not getting your house. But alas you cant, that must be so infuriating for you. when we have to sell i will not be telling people that we are migrating so good luck and hopefully you are on here soon saying yes done it

Vicki & Billy :scared:

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Hi All
yes thanks for your kind words and karma it is so bloody frustrating...just hangin on like a thread. We were supposed to exchange today but was told by our agent that the first time buyer was away on long haul and won't be available until Monday. Today rich rang the agent to get them to email us re the fee reduction and advised him about shipping. The agent then suddenly let slip the air stewardess was around and about, he quickly tried to eat his words but they all talk s**t! Don't believe a bloody thing they tell you. Anyway the only thing i can say is that we have had the last laugh as I haggled for a 1% fee in the first place. When we got this lousy offer I got them to reduce their fee by £1250 and now I have got another £500 off them so they haven't done so well out of me. I think estate agents are over rated and paid way too much.

Anyway if a few of you can take some lessons from our stories then it is worth ranting about. i apologise for the lengthy thread but really my blood pressure is rising!! I have even gone to the doctors today as i have ulcers and a sore throat. I haven't been well physically and this extra stress has really worn me down. Please god I will be posting on Monday that I have exchanged!! The only problem is there are 2 days in between and anything can go wrong!
Irene :rolleyes:



QUOTE=billy0911]Hi Irene
god some people really take this piss eh i bet you feel like telling them to bu**er off they are not getting your house. But alas you cant, that must be so infuriating for you. when we have to sell i will not be telling people that we are migrating so good luck and hopefully you are on here soon saying yes done it

Vicki & Billy :scared:[/QUOTE]

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Phewwwww!

Is this what we're to go through when we sell. Ouch.

Hope it all works in your favour.

Cheers

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Well done for holding out Irene. Good luck for Monday

Mind you when we bought our previous house the mental old bat selling it stated that the sanitary fixtures and fittings were NOT included. Further enquiries revealed that she wanted to take the toilet as it was new and the wash basin taps!!!!!! :rolleyes:

you've got to laugh

Suzy

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Potentially no help but you never know ...

When we put our place on the market the agent knew we were going to Oz. We were very upfront and in hindsight very aggressive with our "depite going to Oz we do not have to sell, any p***taking and they can f*** off immediately etc etc " before we officially put it on the market.

The agent was very good and at the slightest sniff of anything we jumped on it. Obviously different time and different market but did work. Good hastle free sale.

Maybe softly softly ain't going to work. That said you may be too far advanced to take this stance. Then again maybe not?

Good luck.

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Some people are crazy.....just a quick question. If your buyer pulls out between exchange and completion what happens? and has this actually happened to anyone on this forum?
sorry to sound so negative but we were just talking about what will happen if we put our notices in, items shipped and then bang on completion day we dont complete...what happens? do we keep their deposit?
Irene

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

My understanding is that as long as you have fulfilled your obligations then you keep the deposit at least!

Exchanging is essentially a contract and therefore you could actually sue for further "damages".

Never heard of a collapse post exchange and I assume that this is because it is relatively binding ... ie deposit at stake ...

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Thanks brizbound

So we could hand in notices etc and get on with our life.
Fantastic just keep the fingers and toes crossed for monday. Hopefully i will have a better post then!
Irene

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Irene,

Talk about Buyers from Hell. You have my sympathies - I'm spitting in rage on your behalf after just reading your posting!!! They clearly DO want the house so just stick to your guns and face them down on any more demands! And as for your bloody agent - excuse me, but as well as giving him a well placed kick up the ass, he needs to remember who his client is, the cheeky so-and-so.

One day you'll look back and laugh at the whole episode - but in the meantime, just try and keep perspective on the whole thing. Yes, they are a bunch of little puckered brown a-holes but you need to get the sale exchanged before you tell them that!!!

Hang in there!

Nicky

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Hello Nicky & Dave

You couldnt have said it any better!
The agent is a snake!
They are weasels and I will be glad when we have exchanged so I can really say what I want. Up until then I have to be fairly polite but firm to ensure I dont lose my buyer! It really is like walking on egg shells.

I spoke to solicitor just after 5 tonight and he said that he will speak to their solicitor now and hopefully we should exchange first thing monday am. I laid it on thick that any delay may causing shipping dates to be extended etc so if they want to complete on such and such date theyd better pull their finger out.

Lets hope by 10 am we are sorted? Do solicitors get going that early? :rolleyes:

thanks for the kind words I certainly feel a bit better and now appreciate that we are not being unreasonable. You really start to doubt yourself when you are isolated and everyone is beating you with a bat!
Thanks everyone
Irene

Re: Rant..rant....rant!!!!
 

Irene,

Your solicitor will be able to confirm but at exchange you and your buyer enter a legally binding contract, and completion (which is essentially just the transfer of monies) must take place by the set date.

If you have exchanged contracts, you should crack open your bottle of champagne as really exchange is the point of no return for the buyer - they are committed financially.

There would be a clause in the contract paperwork that stipulates if the buyer pulls out after exchange and before completion, then they are liable to pay a percentage of the sale price plus interest.

Hope this helps to set your mind at rest!

Nicky