Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – Excuses, excuses

I’m not sure if it’s the current economic climate, with increased costs of living and wider world events, but I had a number of chains fall through this week.  

It set me thinking about the reasons clients give for not proceeding with the sale or purchase of a property. All of that emotional investment and expense, and then deciding not to go ahead.

Why?

Here are some of the reasons I’ve heard over the years:

• One last Christmas in the family home. We offered completion after Christmas, but the buyers really wanted their first Christmas in the home sooner than the following year and the whole chain fell apart.
• The buyers noticed that the neighbours had painted their house a hideous shade of green.
• The seller told the estate agents they were taking the fire surround; the estate agent told the buyer (my client). As it was the fire surround that broke the deal, I decided my client didn’t really want to buy that particular property.
• The garden was triangular – apparently leaving nowhere for the evil spirits to escape to.

The last one in particular, and others like it, infuriate me. Surely this would have been apparent when the property was viewed and before an offer was made?

Similarly, when a would-be buyer views a semi-detached house and then tells the estate agent they’re disappointed as they wanted to buy a detached house.

Surely it was apparent from the photographs they saw and liked enough to arrange a viewing?

Conveyancing is a varied web and we’re at the centre, pulling all of the threads together to try and keep it in one piece.

What reasons have you been given?

This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. The views expressed are those of the author and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.

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