Chit chatters with experience of selling properties...Please advise

tell him no problem,£1000 bond required,if he pulls out he loses his money.

In theory it's not really a major drama of a request if you have had a non refundable deposit but if I were you I'd say no. When they own the property they can do what they like of course but as it is still part of your Mum's estate I would not let them have access to do alterations personally. Let them wait until the property is sold would be my advice as if the sale fell through things would get unnecessarily very complicated in them amending what they have done. The bottom line is that you have absolutely nothing to gain by complying with the buyers wishes for access to the property. It's a resounding no from me.

Tell them no.

It would be a no from me, too.

Definite no,dont entertain anything before completion.

I'd say yes as I did exactly what your buyer is doing and I don't see the problem.  Once he has exchanged a deposit has been paid which he will lose if he doesn't complete.  Mind you I wouldn't have pulled out if they said no.

Ask your solicitor if you are concerned.

Thank you for your input folks. Apologies for not checking back in between breaks in the the darts action.

An updated email from my solicitor for which I should have added to my original post...re: allowing a decorator access:

"It’s not really a legal issue so it is entirely up to you whether or not you choose to allow this. If you decide you are willing, I would get a key undertaking signed. The difficulty I suppose from your point of view is that if anything goes wrong and completion doesn’t take place for any reason, you will be left with whatever has been done."

I feel our solicitor has been rather slack with her undertakings and keeps dumping everything on us. She should be explaining what a key undertaking is and advising us. Anyway I looked it up and it's a form of deposit, though it doesn't say how much or what % we should seek up front in case anything goes wrong...ie, damage etc.

I'll post back once I get a reply from solicitor. As for the grubby estate agent - No comment!

Thanks again, DnB.

Not a cat in hells chance should you agree. It's downright cheeky. He could then leave a half completed job and try to knock £10k off the offer knowing you will be in a pickle.

There is no reason why anybody should make this request.

I would respond by saying you don't agree and any further requests outside of a standard exchange will result in you pulling out and putting the property back on the market.

take no risks ,you would be wise to refuse ,get him on the back foot.

Once exchange has taken place the deal becomes legally binding so no real need for a deposit. That being said I'd still refuse entry until completion.

As Aspro said it becomes legally binding.

The property is just a shell with all furniture removed. Since my original posting this has been doing my nut all night. Having done a bit more online searching I have agreed in principle to the buyer's request providing he signs the key undertaking draft I have requested my solicitor to draw up.

I've had no such problems or issues like this in the past with buying or selling a property. Just want it done so we can move on.

perhaps get another solicitors opinion

Why are you having to ask this question on a betting forum?
As an ex estate agent I can tell you it's not that unusual a situation where a purchaser asks for access to a property after exchange. Your estate agent should have talked this through with you and explained the pros and cons. All agents should have a key undertaking document which he should have shown you and gone through with you. Your agent should also speak to your solicitor to let him know what is going on.
You are only going to let him in after exchange and when the sale has exchanged the buyer is legally liable to complete the purchase so what are you worried about?

I hate having agree with Bix, if he is a former estate agent (aka unqualified parasites) but he's right.
Once you have exchanged contracts, you should have a non refundable deposit, typically 10%.
The only risk therefter is that he causes loads of damage and doesn't complete... you can them sue him.
Your solicitor sounds like a complete numpty ... a lot are.

BTW I am applying for probate for my late mother in law's estate - wife is executor and a beneficiary. At initial meeting when we went for will etc, she assumed she would be doing all the administration and probate ... and blithely said that her charge rate was £175 per hour and she charged on a time basis.  I said thanks but thatI would do all the work as it's all pretty straightforward.
Cue lots of stuttering and red face.

Bix, it's a thinly veiled (isn't that the catchphrase on CC) i've got loads of money coming my way thread.

On a serious note, I was gauging some input and interaction with the clever folks on here.
And yes, by delving deeper I found the answer myself when the incompetent solicitor should have done her job and pointed it out.
At first I thought the buyer could still pull out after exchanging without losing any deposit. I now know this is not the case.

Many thanks for you post and making things a lot clearer. Much appreciated.

P.S. My estate agent has told me nowt since the price was agreed.

Memememe, I also did the probate on my own. Especially after the fee I was quoted was £1k!
Once you get the forms (a lot of pages) they're pretty straight forward as long as you have the required information to hand.

Good luck and thanks for your reply.

I would say no. It just adds an unnecessary complication. If they are serious buyers they will except this and want a quick completion.

Dartsn ... well everybody,

That form PA1 ... WTF ... question B5 - Grandparents who survived the deceased ... number under 18,  number over 18.

FFS somebody's made a will - they haveto be over 18 to make a will in the UK.  Ican't think of any circumstances where any of their grandparents would be under 18.
Isuppose their granny could have married a toyboy.
Same question asked about parents.

Now somebody has originally designed that form, it's been reviewed, it's been tested.

What has been going on inside their heads to think it's a sensible question to be asking?

Surviving parents and number of surviving grandparents I get .... but how many under 18

mememe
I hate having agree with Bix, if he is a former estate agent (aka unqualified parasites) but he's right

For what it's worth mememe I was an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ( ARICS) when practising and selling houses was just a small part of the business.

bix,

I wouldn't go round saying you were an estate agent then.  Best to call yourself a former Chartered Surveyor - many of us have had unhappy experiences of Estate Agents, they have been known to tell lies.

But thanks for the update.

I think the point of it is that you can call yourself an Estate Agent without any qualifications.

Mind you, it looks like I could get an Associate membership of RICS if I worked in an estate agents for a year.

Jack, are you saying you can be ARICS without the exams?

I always thought that you had to pass the exams for that.

I thought that it was ARICS for an Associate Member

FRICS for more a experienced Fellow Member

and PRICS for estate agents ... maybe I'm wrong

I might have exaggerated a bit there.

"Why are you having to ask this question on a betting forum?"

I am a CeMap qualified mortgage adviser, having passed my exam in 2003 following my full Financial Planning Certificate (FPC 1,2 & 3) in the late 90's. I've been in the industry since 1985 (you didn't need qualifications back then) and I've arranged a few mortgages for forumites along the way.

I have to say that from reading this thread there are quite a few that know their stuff and I feel that the OP was right to ask the question on here, as there are a few of us that do know what we're talking about. Why it was questioned I'll never know.

Punters come from all walks of life and this forum, as I've witnessed many times in the past, is a mine of information for those areas that the rest of us (myself included) know nothing about. I know... I got my oven fixed for as cheap as chips after listening to advice on here.

We are a community; let's be proud of that and continue to ask the questions

HEAR HEAR

group hug

15 years I have been on here and between the lot of us we have been there and done that and help each other out when

..we can. By the way Aspro I have just sent you a p.m. as you maybe can advise me but I didn't want to put it on the forum.

answered

Bix posed the question, but I think we've proved to him that, although we're on a Gambling Web-site, some on here know a lot.  Don't think that Betting = numpties.
He asked the question because his solicitor was useless ... so don't think solicitor = clever.

Anyway,I'm a qualified accountant, I'm painfully modest, good looking, successful, knowledgeable, passed lots of exams, clever, always encouraging my wife to realise how lucky she is to have me.
If I've got any weaknesses, it's that possibly, no ... come to think of it, gently discouraging women not to touch me is not a weakness, no matter how it disappoints them.  It shows great strength.

Well, must be off now to finish  my letter to Santa ...

P.S. My estate agent has told me nowt since the price was agreed.

A decent estate agent speaks to his client at least once a week even if it's just to say that this week there is no news. It's the agent's job to look after his client until the sale has completed. Finding the buyer is the easy bit. In fact if the property is valued correctly and presented to the market properly it's probably true to say that the buyer finds the property and not the agent finds the buyer.
But once the sale has been agreed that's when the work really begins because the agent should be working to get the sale to completion.
The agent should be speaking to all the other people involved in the sale ie the other estate agents, solicitors, mortgage advisors, surveyors etc. to make sure that all is proceeding ok not just with your sale but with all the sales in the chain and if any problems crop up working with everyone to get things back on track.
This is known as chasing the chain and is done on a weekly basis and a weekly progress report is given to the client.
A good agent will probably be on first name terms with the other professionals in the area who are involved in the chain.
When exchange and completion are near his job is to arrange this with everyone else involved so the whole process moves on to everyone's satisfaction.
This is where the experience and expertise comes in and is the part of the job which the public do not appreciate, which they can't do themselves and is actually what they really pay the agent for.
Under the law of agency an agent has a legal obligation to pass on to his client everything he knows about the issue for which he is acting as agent unless his client has instructed him otherwise.
To have no contact after the sale has been agreed is disgraceful.

Many thanks Aspro for your help, very much appreciated.

Anything to do with a 3 million quid mansion?

Aspro, I'm going to PM you too.  Feel free to ignore if you don't want to answer.  Cheers.

Estate Agents are a disease on society. They are not needed - it is a job created to rid people of what is theirs.

No problem Slippy; it's a pleasure to help if I can

Answered Rob...

I just read your 7.40pm post bix and I admire the way you work (or worked) in the industry but I must admit in all my years of arranging mortgages I seldom had contact with the estate agent even though it was an integral part of the CeMap exam. I wish there were more who done the job to your spec to help spread the load a little.

You don't have to use them Roger. You could do it yourself.

Is Sir Slips worried about the new bird getting her hands on the mansion?

A brief update...

I spoke to my estate agent - I phoned him!

EA:There's a couple of things with our buyer's property holding up proceedings and once sorted we will get to completion.

ME: What about the buyer wanting 7-10 days, signing the key undertaking and having his decorator coming in?

EA: Forget that, It won't be happening now. The next stage will be completion and exchange of keys.

So we went through this added grievance for nothing!

Thanks again for the posts/advice.
dnb

Excellent news

Exchange and completion on same day.
Keep fingers crossed.

bix   
10 Nov 15 13:46 
For what it's worth mememe I was an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ( ARICS) when practising and selling houses was just a small part of the business.

I was an Associate of the Royal Surveyors Estates and Housing Organisation Licencing Envoys.

Can anyone believe I was an ****?

@RSEH0LE

They think it's all over...

Talk about bypassing the estate agent (who just so happens to represent both buyer and seller).

This afternoon my solicitor sent me an email request from the buyer's solicitor:

"I have today seen my client. He is very worried as he hadn’t factored into his original offer the work that is required to the property. Therefore he has requested that we make a revised offer (£10,000 less than agreed)."

"He is ready to proceed (subject to sale) as soon as possible."

Regarding the buyer, the above post from RogerTheButler is 100% correct.

Here's part of my email reply to my solicitor...

As for the buyer saying "He also hadn’t factored into his original offer the work that is required."

This is simply not the case as the estate agent phoned me several times during sale negotiations, hence the agreed drop in price, (I have the phone recordings). From the goodness of my heart I even allowed the buyer to have the key code combination to my mum's home so he could have access. He viewed it at least 6 times.

Please inform the buyer's solicitor "There will be no further renegotiating from the Agreed price, and furthermore, we are in no rush to sell."

See RTB post.

There's more...

Then I phoned the estate agent...

He said he's worked with the buyer before. He's a very volatile character who blows hot and cold.
When I mentioned he wanted a price drop due to work required the estate agent was fuming.
Leave it with me and i'll smooth it over with him, but I won't phone him to night as i'm so angry with him.

See RTB post.

He said he's worked with the buyer before. He's a very volatile character who blows hot and cold.


In other words a known chancer.

If you are genuinely not in a rush to sell, I would try to take back control of the situation (the buyer seems to be running the show and calling all the shots atm) - Start by telling the agent any more messing about from the buyer and it goes back on the market. He has got more to lose than you.

For those who said let the decorators in between exchange and completion?? Are you mad?? FFS it could quite easily turn into your worst ever nightmare and your own insurance wouldn't give you the time of day - You complete on the house and THEN rip the guts out of it if you so wish - you don't do it whilst it still belongs to someone else .

Told you it was the thin end of the wedge.

I am a qualified High Net Worth Adviser (although not done mortgages for a few years) and the last minute price offer forces desperate sellers (often in chains and with their lives re-arranged in lieu of the move) to begrudgingly accept.

Hence KISS.

Keep it simple, agree to nothing out the ordinary and know your buyer as best you can!

Hope you get the FULL price agreed on the date agreed or just drop him, it's a sellers market currently.

Couldn't agree more with charwell. Personally I'd go for the jugular and send him a 'buy it or forget it' ultimatum. He had the chance to view it and the survey would have revealed anything out of the ordinary. End of chat imo

Classic case of price reduction offer just before exchange (particularly when exchange and completion on same day, hence my post on 18 Nov.). In this situation tell him the deal is at the original price or no deal. In today's market you may get more by putting it back on the market.

charwells and Emdens advice is spot on.

charwell did you go on work 'conventions' when they were around.?

My final email to the buyer's solicitor was "We won't accept one penny less than the agreed price."
Sale withdrawn - Property is back on the market.

Been a frustrating month and i'm annoyed as we now have to pay our useless solicitor 75% of her fee through no fault of our own because of a **** of a buyer being an utter pain in the ass. I've been looking online and apparently some solicitor's do no sale no fee? - Feckin hindsight!

Pity I didn't ask on here 6 months ago as it could have saved around £500.
Now waiting to hear from the solicitor with her final bill.

Overall it's been a galling yet eye opening experience and a big lesson learnt.

Once again, thank you all for your input.

My last solicitor on the sale of my property was also useless. 

I had made it plain that as it was nearly christmas and therefore a nightmare to move then, I had agreed with her that I would exchange early January and complete a month later to allow me time to find somewhere to live as I was moving quite a way away.  Then I got a call about two days before christmas saying there had been a mistake and I had to exchange the following day and complete two weeks later.  The worst two weeks to move and also useless to find somewhere to rent!  Thanks to my lovely neighbour he offered to let me move him with him until I got myself sorted out.  I was still there 15 months later.

Nightmare DnB.

Stick a grand on the asking price to pay for the solicitors fees!

Went to plenty of 'meetings' and the like. Always boring as hell :)

Barclays did conventions for their most successful advisers, they were Jollies for the guys. around 10 days in places like Rio, Capetown (Table bay at the waterfront hotel)Boston, Oman, Singapore/Penang Via Eastern orient Express, and many many more, all top hotels Spending money, helicopter rides, etc etc. after 2008 they got rid of their advisers overnight and closed the whole set upover 2,600 employees i believe lost their jobs

Went to Vietnam, Monte Carlo and the likes. Also had lots of weekend jollies at places like The Epsom Derby, Celtic Manor etc.

Lots of royal p1ss ups. Lloyds also did away with their advisory workforce few years ago.

Amazing how estate agents have such little regulation compared to financial advisers/banks and now people complain they can't get decent financial advice.

Pensions seem to be the thing now. I'm offski, GN & GL.

'The house buyer from HELL': Builder who ripped out kitchen and built an unauthorised extension on £800,000 house before the sale had been completed loses his deposit after sale fell through

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3336520/Builder-labelled-home-buyer-...


think this current news story answers all your questions