Diary of a High Street Conveyancer – We all need to take a stand against the bullies

Conveyancing is not just about law. In fact, as I’ve got older, I’ve realised it’s about so much more.  

When clients ask me about completion and when they are likely to move, I don’t answer with that old cliche, “How long is a piece of string?”

Instead, I tell them it depends on many variables, including which firms are involved in the chain (and we all know the firms that make our hearts sink when we hear their names), if mortgage offers are needed throughout the chain, and whether buyers and sellers are going on holiday or have other personal matters that will influence when they can move and have an impact on the rest of the chain.

But I also always point out that we do not know the seller or the buyer and we do not know how that person is going to act, especially under pressure.

And with that in mind, there are times when I want to tell my selling client that the buyer is being unreasonable; that they should walk away and re-market the property. But I understand why a seller doesn’t want to do this: the fear of not being able to re-sell the property, and the idea that it’s better to stay with this particular buyer rather than risk finding a buyer who is even more unreasonable.

So I have to applaud the clients who realise they’re being messed around by a buyer and make what are undoubtedly difficult decisions.

It happened to one of my clients this week and I am still applauding them now.

My clients are selling an empty property. The buyers’ conveyancer had suggested a completion date, which we agreed. All documents on our side were signed and we were due to complete before the Bank Holiday.

On Thursday, the estate agent forwarded an email from the buyer in which the buyer stated he would come to the house at a set time with a builder and, following that visit, he would be asking for a price reduction.

No polite request as to whether it would be acceptable for him to come to the house. Just a blanket statement that he would arrive at a time to suit him and his builder. It was irrelevant to him whether that time suited my clients or the estate agent.

He had not given any indication until then that there were any issues with the property and, in fact, my client reminded me that he had a survey done the day after the sale had been agreed back in February. Yes, that is how long it was taking for the sale of an empty property by a buyer with no property to sell.

We had received unnecessary enquiries and we had dealt with random points which were not progressing the transaction. But clearly this last email to the estate agent was enough for my clients to say, “forget it”.

We discussed the risks as the market is not particularly buoyant at the moment, but my clients were adamant: they no longer wanted to sell to this buyer.

He had suggested a completion date to which they had agreed and now he was trying to knock down the price at the last opportunity.

They told the estate agent the sale was off. I told the buyer’s conveyancer we would not be proceeding with the sale.

And what happened next?

The buyer decided he would not need to come to the house after all and he still wanted to complete before the Bank Holiday.

We still intend to re-market. My clients told me that they would not be bullied into selling their house.

That led to a discussion about how, at different stages in life, we encounter bullies.

But we must never forget that buyers and sellers can also be seen as bullies and – just as in the playground and the workplace – I applaud those who stand up to them.

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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