| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! 14:31 - Jun 16 with 2137 views | tonybied |
Sorry, this is going to be a long read! I posted on her previously concerning getting outbid on a property as FTBs, and the pain it had caused. We since found somewhere else theat we really liked (we haven't allowed ourselves to fall in love after our previous experience though!)
We're pretty far down the line with our purchase. Exchange could well be on the horizon soon as the vendor has messaged me to see how we're doing (not confirmed, but I suspect they're ready to plan exchange on their purchase), and we now need to make the decision on whether to go ahead or not.
Things started off nice and smoothly but survey results and local authority search came back at the beginning of last week, and we started to panic. No planning or building regs for a porch rear extension and structural wall removal in the kitchen. I asked our surveyor to pay attention to these, as even before we had received the search results, we had already asked our solicitor to raise enquiries regarding the works because they had filled in that there were no alterations on the TA6! These enquiries were not answered straight away compared to most of the other initial enquiries. This is where we first started to feel a little skittish.Our solicitor stated it probably the case that they didn't get planning/regs and that they were probably going to offer an indemnity, which is not totally unusual.
Survey time - The vendors told our surveyor that the work on the extension (now starting to be referred to as a lean to!) in 2000 and the porch in 2002. There was no date given for the removal of the kitchen wall. The surveyor obviously wouldn't commit too much on the works as he can't see the buried work, but he was otherwise positive about the standard of what he could see. He even stating that the lack of paperwork probably wouldn't put him off if he was purchasing it himself, and commented along the same line as our solicitor, that this is more common than most people think.
We got the local authority search back about a day later, which showed no planning has been applied for for anything and that nothing was showing building regs-wise, since a boiler replacement in 2014, when it was still a council owned property. All this started to raise my Spidey senses, and I decided to go back through paperwork and do some more investigating. I then spotted something else in the TA6 that didn't occur to me, as at the point of recieving the TA6 we'd only had our initial viewing with the EA. We went for a second viewing and the vendor and her partner facilitated this viewing. The TA6 stated she was alone in the property but the partner told us he's been living there with her for 20+ years. Our solicitor said that they'd raise an enquiry for confirmation that all tenants would leave the property at completion but more distrust starting to form!
I started to ponder more and thought, I could possibly believe the extension had been in place since 2000, but the porch looked too modern to be 23 years old. So I then thought I'd take to Google Earth to study when these structures became apparent. The extension appears on Google Earth sometimes around 2017-18 and the porch is seemingly built in 2021! Jeez, distrust level is now defcon 5! After speaking with the surveyor and solicitor they calmed us down and kept pushing the line that this is common and the solicitor didn't seem to be too fussed about the lies, stating that work is "set to structure after 10 years" meaning the authorities are extremely unlikely to chase any retrospective planning/regs. Solicitor said they'd understand if we'd lost trust in the vendor and wanted to pull out but that they didn't feel it added much more risk to us. We started to think that it must just be FTB nervousness kicking in and we should just carry on as we really like the house.
Fast forward to today. Vendor messages to inform their solicitor has replied to all enquiries raised and that they're just waiting on our end. Our solicitor then sent us through the answers they'd been provided with. They' ve claimed again that work was done in 2000 and 2002, and that planning was not required, no answer to building regs sign off. Our solicitor has gone back again asking for evidence that planning/building regs are not required. Not only that , the last straw that's kind of pushed us back into complete distrust and on the verge of pulling the pin again. The vendor has pushed back and refused to even get an indemnity policy to cover their failings.
We also requested our broker to check for rates with our lender this weekend, which are now a bit better, so our broker has said he'll ask the lender to sort this. I have told the vendor this and informed them that it could be a couple of weeks for this to be sorted. That means we have a bit of thinking time at least.
We're really unsure where to go with this now. Our solicitor provided a quote for the indemnity and has asked if we want to buy the cover. It's £115, so nothing in the grand scheme of things but it's more the principle of it than the cost. They fcked up, they lied and now they want us to pay to cover that fck up.
Are we being FTB faries again and do we need to wind our necks in? Or should we run for the hills? As I previously mentioned we really like the property, there hasn't been anything come to market since that is as suitable, and the properties we bid on before this we were priced out of the bidding rather quickly. Head is thinking there are too many reg flags here, but heart is saying the advice so far has been that they're nothing to be too flustered by and that we like the place so binning it off for lies that would likely not effect us too much and a fairly cheap indemnity.
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:36 - Jun 16 with 1727 views | vilanovablue |
If you have the indemnity you will have covered yourself in case of the worst happening. I have to say though the people you are buying from don't exactly seem transparent though which is faintly concerning. Did the work on the house pre-date the current owners? |  | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:40 - Jun 16 with 1681 views | Zx1988 |
Tough to say - there's two ways of looking at something like this where, in the grand scheme of things, you've got fairly minor issues.
The main issue for me would be the dishonesty of the vendors, and the fact that they are doubling down on their lies when presented with the facts. Whilst it would be easy to sort my own indemnity policies etc., any good will would have very quickly evaporated in these circumstances.
I understand the main issues are these:
Lies regarding the front and rear extensions, particularly concerning build dates.
Lack of regulatory sign-off for the internal alterations.
Limited extensions should come within permitted development - has your solicitor been able to advise you as to whether the extensions here would fall within that remit? If this is the case, the only real risk would be the quality of the works, or lack thereof. Push your solicitor on this if they haven't advised - this is what you are paying them to do.
The internal wall is probably the bigger issue if no sign-offs have been obtained. Whilst a shonky porch will be a shonky porch, you don't want the masonry above being held up by sky-hooks, and an indemnity won't do you much good if the whole thing comes tumbling down. Ideally it would be worth having the works opened up and inspected, in order to confirm that it all complies with building regs. This is known as 'normalisation'.
In my shoes, I'd be pushing back to the vendor and asking them to foot the bill for the normalisation works, and for any indemnities that your solicitor believes should be required.
At the end of the day, you are a first time buyer and a very attractive buyer to have. Similarly, you have a lot less to lose than they do if you wish to pull out of the sale. There's no harm in playing hardball, and telling them that your decision to purchase will be contingent upon their willingness to cooperate.
Similarly, it might be worth just checking with your solicitor what the penalties are for lying on a TA6, and having them politely remind the vendors' solicitor of the duty of candour on these documents. |  |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:41 - Jun 16 with 1673 views | Zx1988 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:36 - Jun 16 by vilanovablue |
If you have the indemnity you will have covered yourself in case of the worst happening. I have to say though the people you are buying from don't exactly seem transparent though which is faintly concerning. Did the work on the house pre-date the current owners? |
Not necessarily true.
An indemnity will generally provide cover in the event of enforcement action, or a decrease in value attributed to the issue covered by the indemnity.
If poor workmanship and lack of regs leads to, say, the collapse of any unsupported masonry, the indemnity will be of no use whatsoever. | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:58 - Jun 16 with 1564 views | vilanovablue |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:41 - Jun 16 by Zx1988 |
Not necessarily true.
An indemnity will generally provide cover in the event of enforcement action, or a decrease in value attributed to the issue covered by the indemnity.
If poor workmanship and lack of regs leads to, say, the collapse of any unsupported masonry, the indemnity will be of no use whatsoever. |
That's true but if it's been there since the early 2000's I'd be less concerned about it falling down. | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:01 - Jun 16 with 1542 views | tonybied |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:40 - Jun 16 by Zx1988 |
Tough to say - there's two ways of looking at something like this where, in the grand scheme of things, you've got fairly minor issues.
The main issue for me would be the dishonesty of the vendors, and the fact that they are doubling down on their lies when presented with the facts. Whilst it would be easy to sort my own indemnity policies etc., any good will would have very quickly evaporated in these circumstances.
I understand the main issues are these:
Lies regarding the front and rear extensions, particularly concerning build dates.
Lack of regulatory sign-off for the internal alterations.
Limited extensions should come within permitted development - has your solicitor been able to advise you as to whether the extensions here would fall within that remit? If this is the case, the only real risk would be the quality of the works, or lack thereof. Push your solicitor on this if they haven't advised - this is what you are paying them to do.
The internal wall is probably the bigger issue if no sign-offs have been obtained. Whilst a shonky porch will be a shonky porch, you don't want the masonry above being held up by sky-hooks, and an indemnity won't do you much good if the whole thing comes tumbling down. Ideally it would be worth having the works opened up and inspected, in order to confirm that it all complies with building regs. This is known as 'normalisation'.
In my shoes, I'd be pushing back to the vendor and asking them to foot the bill for the normalisation works, and for any indemnities that your solicitor believes should be required.
At the end of the day, you are a first time buyer and a very attractive buyer to have. Similarly, you have a lot less to lose than they do if you wish to pull out of the sale. There's no harm in playing hardball, and telling them that your decision to purchase will be contingent upon their willingness to cooperate.
Similarly, it might be worth just checking with your solicitor what the penalties are for lying on a TA6, and having them politely remind the vendors' solicitor of the duty of candour on these documents. |
Thanks, that's food for thought. Although they haven't doubled down, as I haven't shared the Google Earth stuff since our solicitor didn't really seem bothered by the evidence when I offered it up. They just told the surveyor these dates and then stated that the works had been in place over 10 years when answering our solicitors enquiries regarding the work.
It mainly is the trust issues, but then once we move in we don't ever have to deal with the buffoons anymore, which makes me think we should just plow on.
The wall does appear to be load-bearing but there is a massive chunk of wood bracing the ceiling now. The surveyor said that he would've expected to see signs if any of the work wasn't done proficiently but he said what he could see was looking just fine, with no tell-tale signs of poor or under-standard work. | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:02 - Jun 16 with 1525 views | tonybied |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:58 - Jun 16 by vilanovablue |
That's true but if it's been there since the early 2000's I'd be less concerned about it falling down. |
That's one of the red flags/lies, though, I know it's long, but read the OP again! | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:03 - Jun 16 with 1520 views | iamatractorboy |
Wow, that sounds extremely stressful. I wouldn't blame you in the slightest if you pulled the plug, even if it will have cost you a fair bit in money and obviously time, as well as the intangible emotional cost etc. I can identify; last year had something not dissimilar where I was buying a property with an extension, only for my solicitor to discover at the eleventh hour that planning permission had not been obtained. The funny thing was, the council had done the building regs inspections. Seemed like very much right hand/left hand as far as they were concerned. Just to make it worse, the vendor's dad was the builder who had done the work! Apparently she was rather unhappy with him once she found out, can't say I blame her. Anyway, I pulled out but it wasn't just because I was fed up as it had dragged on so long, it was also that nagging feeling of 'what else might they not have told me?...'. I think that's certainly something you'd need to think about in this situation because it all sounds very fishy to me. | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:07 - Jun 16 with 1480 views | Ryorry |
Vilanova asks a very good question in his last senteence.
Surveyors' reports aren't worth the paper they're written on in my experience of buying 3 houses - failed to spot multiple serious potentially lethal defects (one very nearly did kill me, a bodged DIY chimney lining which actually sent CO & other highly toxic chemicals straight into the main bedroom, giving me multiple strokes).
Personally I'd swerve it, esp if the vendors are now trying to rush you - what else have they covered up or lied about? Indemnity or not, you're the ones who'll have to put up with the stress, bureaucracy & consumption of your time in resolving any issues arising. Even if nothing does turn up, would you always be nervously looking over your shoulders - what if there's a change in the Local Authority's policy or control, eg?
Other better houses might be just around the corner too. But I'm obviously ultra-cautious after my experiences; it's a decision that only you and your partner can make in line with your feelings & situation. |  |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:24 - Jun 16 with 1395 views | wrightsrightglove |
You can gain retrospective building regs so I’d be pushing for the seller to provide these. It’s not necessarily an issue now but as and when you come to sell this issue is going to pop up again and could potentially put people off / lower the value of your home. If the sellers are confident in the work and that it would be covered by permitted development then they should have no problem paying a couple of hundred pounds for building control to come round and retrospectively sign off the works. If they’re not happy to do that then that probably tells you everything you need to know. My advice would be to trust your gut | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:29 - Jun 16 with 1358 views | Zx1988 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:24 - Jun 16 by wrightsrightglove |
You can gain retrospective building regs so I’d be pushing for the seller to provide these. It’s not necessarily an issue now but as and when you come to sell this issue is going to pop up again and could potentially put people off / lower the value of your home. If the sellers are confident in the work and that it would be covered by permitted development then they should have no problem paying a couple of hundred pounds for building control to come round and retrospectively sign off the works. If they’re not happy to do that then that probably tells you everything you need to know. My advice would be to trust your gut |
100% this.
Any minor (or not so minor) niggling issues will be magnified hugely in a less-than-buoyant market. If it's a concern for you, you can be all but certain that any well-informed buyer will also raise the issue when you come to sell. | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:42 - Jun 16 with 1281 views | Herbivore |
Think others have covered this pretty well, but it's not a case of you being fairies or a case of running for the hills, it's likely somewhere in the middle. Stuff like this is very common which is why your solicitor (and the surveyor) are pretty relaxed about it, but this is their day job and not a home (and expensive asset) as it is for you, so it's understandable to be worried about it.
There's some good advice, such as pushing for retrospective building regs sign off. The risk with that is they say no and you're then left with a decision about whether to pull the plug or not. If they say no it doesn't mean the work is shonky necessarily, it means they don't want the hassle or expense of doing something they don't feel is necessary. It's a bit of a game of chicken in some ways, if they feel confident they can secure a sale without having to do it, they won't do it. If you feel you need it to feel confident enough to buy the house, you'll insist on it. At some point, one of you either backs down and concedes or one of you pulls the plug on the deal.
Only you can really decide on what your red lines are. For what it's worth, I've had to get indemnities every time I've bought a house (which is only three times so not loads) because of either covenants or building regs stuff. It's not that unusual and I'm fairly chill about these things, perhaps more so than I should be. That's not to say my approach is the right one, it's a big purchase and it needs to feel right for you. [Post edited 16 Jun 17:39]
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:43 - Jun 16 with 1281 views | bsw72 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 14:36 - Jun 16 by vilanovablue |
If you have the indemnity you will have covered yourself in case of the worst happening. I have to say though the people you are buying from don't exactly seem transparent though which is faintly concerning. Did the work on the house pre-date the current owners? |
Covers the financials but in the worst case if something has to be knocked down and redone, then the stress and inconvenience around that is huge.
Personally, I would be very concerned not so much about the missing building regs etc, but more about as to why the different lies - that would suggest to me there is maybe something more fundamental here . . . |  | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:49 - Jun 16 with 1264 views | hype313 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:43 - Jun 16 by bsw72 |
Covers the financials but in the worst case if something has to be knocked down and redone, then the stress and inconvenience around that is huge.
Personally, I would be very concerned not so much about the missing building regs etc, but more about as to why the different lies - that would suggest to me there is maybe something more fundamental here . . . |
I'd lower the offer by £15k. Sounds like a can of worms to me. |  |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:51 - Jun 16 with 1255 views | homer_123 |
At the end of the day, it's about your appetite for risk.
Do you still want the house? That's the first question you need to ask yourself.
If I were in your shoes, I'd ask for retro building regs and an indemnity. If they say no, then drop the price you are willing to pay by a fair amount (£10k plus - I have no idea what you are paying so this might be more depending on the price of the house) and if they don't move, I'd walk away but that's me.
Don't feel rushed or pressured into buying (or selling). There will always be another property.
Bought and sold a fair few properties over the years and walked away from a few as well when it hasn't been right. |  |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:05 - Jun 16 with 1086 views | Ryorry |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 15:24 - Jun 16 by wrightsrightglove |
You can gain retrospective building regs so I’d be pushing for the seller to provide these. It’s not necessarily an issue now but as and when you come to sell this issue is going to pop up again and could potentially put people off / lower the value of your home. If the sellers are confident in the work and that it would be covered by permitted development then they should have no problem paying a couple of hundred pounds for building control to come round and retrospectively sign off the works. If they’re not happy to do that then that probably tells you everything you need to know. My advice would be to trust your gut |
Gut feeling is a good call - people forget that Ma Nature gave us instincts for good reason! | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:15 - Jun 16 with 1056 views | Churchman |
It’s very much a personal thing how you deal with people, what you accept and what you don’t. It’s not easy. It is easy for the heart to rule the head and for weariness with it all to set in. That’s when mistakes can be made.
You won’t ever make a bigger purchase than buying a house. You need to be completely comfortable with all aspects with it including any problems you might have when you come to sell it if they’re not resolved now. Until you Exchange Contracts, the power and your money lies with you. You are in control.
I can only speak from personal experience, though a few years ago now. When house buying/selling I insist people are straight with me. If they break their word or lie to me, I’m out. A mistake, something cropping up in a survey, not understanding at the time that Planning Permission and Building Regs might be required for example? Fine, as long as they are honest and move towards rectifying it.
So for me, from what you’ve said the alarm bells would be ringing loud. There’s always another house out there.
Lastly, I presume you found this through an Estate Agent? He/her represents the seller and will want it sold for their fee or commission. I would deal with him/her first and foremost and not directly with the vendor unless you have to. Make them work for their money. |  | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:18 - Jun 16 with 1049 views | Zx1988 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:15 - Jun 16 by Churchman |
It’s very much a personal thing how you deal with people, what you accept and what you don’t. It’s not easy. It is easy for the heart to rule the head and for weariness with it all to set in. That’s when mistakes can be made.
You won’t ever make a bigger purchase than buying a house. You need to be completely comfortable with all aspects with it including any problems you might have when you come to sell it if they’re not resolved now. Until you Exchange Contracts, the power and your money lies with you. You are in control.
I can only speak from personal experience, though a few years ago now. When house buying/selling I insist people are straight with me. If they break their word or lie to me, I’m out. A mistake, something cropping up in a survey, not understanding at the time that Planning Permission and Building Regs might be required for example? Fine, as long as they are honest and move towards rectifying it.
So for me, from what you’ve said the alarm bells would be ringing loud. There’s always another house out there.
Lastly, I presume you found this through an Estate Agent? He/her represents the seller and will want it sold for their fee or commission. I would deal with him/her first and foremost and not directly with the vendor unless you have to. Make them work for their money. |
But with the ultimate caveat to remember precisely who the agent is working for - they are not your friend, no matter how friendly and helpful they appear to be. All they truly care about is getting the sale completed at the agreed price.
This is one of the areas where, when I'm dealing with buyers in a professional capacity (I'm a surveyor), I feel that FTBs get the short end of the stick. If someone is selling, and has a decent agent, they've got an experienced professional in their corner who can give them the benefit of their expertise and, potentially, help them to negotiate. In this respect, FTBs can find themselves very much on their own. | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:43 - Jun 16 with 996 views | Churchman |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:18 - Jun 16 by Zx1988 |
But with the ultimate caveat to remember precisely who the agent is working for - they are not your friend, no matter how friendly and helpful they appear to be. All they truly care about is getting the sale completed at the agreed price.
This is one of the areas where, when I'm dealing with buyers in a professional capacity (I'm a surveyor), I feel that FTBs get the short end of the stick. If someone is selling, and has a decent agent, they've got an experienced professional in their corner who can give them the benefit of their expertise and, potentially, help them to negotiate. In this respect, FTBs can find themselves very much on their own. |
I hope I made it clear who they represent. The seller.
The point is you can work that to your advantage. You can be fair, honest, reasonable and clear with them and actually press them without any embarrassment. They want the place sold for their commission. It’s in their interests to get it done ASAP. As long as you remember that, making them work is fine.
Yes, it’s tough for FTBs. Always has been, which is why seeking advice and thoughts (Surveyor is obviously key and I’ve come across some good and some ropey ones, just like anyone in any walk of life) is essential. So is patience, legwork and understanding the dynamic. If a transaction breaks down before Exchange, it’s emotionally hard, it’s costly, annoying and frustrating, but you don’t half learn a lot and fast so it’s not always a bad thing to walk away.
FTBs are gold dust. No nightmare property to sell in conjunction with buying. FTBs have the money in their pocket (the bank’s pocket really but it’s the same thing).
Agents and vendors will know that. If you are fair, reasonable, firm and clear what is acceptable, they’ll pick up on that. If they don’t, that is another signal to say farewell.
House buying in this country is b horrible. The law should have been changed years ago to make it more transparent and easier, especially in respect of Leasehold that’s been a minefield for decades. Sadly house purchase is not helped by there being so many rotten, devious people out there. | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:53 - Jun 16 with 958 views | Zx1988 |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:43 - Jun 16 by Churchman |
I hope I made it clear who they represent. The seller.
The point is you can work that to your advantage. You can be fair, honest, reasonable and clear with them and actually press them without any embarrassment. They want the place sold for their commission. It’s in their interests to get it done ASAP. As long as you remember that, making them work is fine.
Yes, it’s tough for FTBs. Always has been, which is why seeking advice and thoughts (Surveyor is obviously key and I’ve come across some good and some ropey ones, just like anyone in any walk of life) is essential. So is patience, legwork and understanding the dynamic. If a transaction breaks down before Exchange, it’s emotionally hard, it’s costly, annoying and frustrating, but you don’t half learn a lot and fast so it’s not always a bad thing to walk away.
FTBs are gold dust. No nightmare property to sell in conjunction with buying. FTBs have the money in their pocket (the bank’s pocket really but it’s the same thing).
Agents and vendors will know that. If you are fair, reasonable, firm and clear what is acceptable, they’ll pick up on that. If they don’t, that is another signal to say farewell.
House buying in this country is b horrible. The law should have been changed years ago to make it more transparent and easier, especially in respect of Leasehold that’s been a minefield for decades. Sadly house purchase is not helped by there being so many rotten, devious people out there. |
I agree with you entirely. It's shocking the number of post-survey conversations I'll have where the buyer seems to be surprised when I remind them that the agent isn't working for them.
The lack of up-front information in particular is shocking. The fact that, when I bought my current place, I had to go through the whole rigamarole of viewing, offering, negotiating, having the offer accepted, and instructing solicitors before finding out information that would have been material to the offer made.
We managed to successfully renegotiate, but it would have saved a whole lot of time and stress had that information been available up front, and we'd been able to make a reasoned offer from the outset. | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:55 - Jun 16 with 948 views | Herbivore |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:18 - Jun 16 by Zx1988 |
But with the ultimate caveat to remember precisely who the agent is working for - they are not your friend, no matter how friendly and helpful they appear to be. All they truly care about is getting the sale completed at the agreed price.
This is one of the areas where, when I'm dealing with buyers in a professional capacity (I'm a surveyor), I feel that FTBs get the short end of the stick. If someone is selling, and has a decent agent, they've got an experienced professional in their corner who can give them the benefit of their expertise and, potentially, help them to negotiate. In this respect, FTBs can find themselves very much on their own. |
When we bought our first house, the estate agent was actually really helpful. We'd got to a point where the survey and conveyancing was all done and for no obvious reason, everything ground to a halt. Our solicitors weren't getting anywhere with the seller's solicitors either. We spoke to the estate agent and within 24 hours we'd agreed to exchange contracts and set a completion date. They are motivated by their commission, of course, but that means they want to get the sale through and that can be helpful to the buyer as well as the seller. We the sold through them when we moved because they'd been helpful, so it was a win for them on that front too. | |
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| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:59 - Jun 16 with 947 views | redrickstuhaart |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 17:55 - Jun 16 by Herbivore |
When we bought our first house, the estate agent was actually really helpful. We'd got to a point where the survey and conveyancing was all done and for no obvious reason, everything ground to a halt. Our solicitors weren't getting anywhere with the seller's solicitors either. We spoke to the estate agent and within 24 hours we'd agreed to exchange contracts and set a completion date. They are motivated by their commission, of course, but that means they want to get the sale through and that can be helpful to the buyer as well as the seller. We the sold through them when we moved because they'd been helpful, so it was a win for them on that front too. |
One can certainly exert some leverage through the agent- expressing your serious concerns to them.
Bear in mind that indemnity insurance will cover things like the ocuncil coming and demanding things. But it will not necessarily cover structural works when you find the problem to develop. Its there to cover the failure to obtain consents, not buildings insurance.
In turn, your buildings insurance may not cover you if it was a fault you were on notice of when you purchased and didnt declare...
The refusal of sellers to agree indemnity insurance when it is their failing is very odd and unreasonable. They will not want to lose a buyer at this stage, so it is surprising over that modest sum. Though sometimes its just a solicitor playing hardball in teh first instance without even having gone back to them to ask.... | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 19:54 - Jun 16 with 729 views | mellowblue |
One thing to bear in mind, unless this is to be a forever house, you might have similar issues as your sellers when you came to sell it. | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 21:01 - Jun 16 with 627 views | tonybied |
It said NO for me! | | | |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 21:10 - Jun 16 with 607 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| More house buying woes - Any advice would be appreicaited! on 21:01 - Jun 16 by tonybied |
It said NO for me! |
Well there you go then....and did your inner voice agree? |  |
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