I have a lovely client. She loves the area where she lives in a rented property. She loves the house she rents. So when a house a few doors up came on the market, she jumped at the opportunity to buy it.
The survey revealed some issues with the boiler – not unusual, other than we were somewhat concerned that as the house she was buying was also an ex-rental property, there should have been current gas and electrical safety certificates.
She had a report done but all this revealed was that further investigation was needed. The seller would not allow further checks and set a deadline to exchange contracts.
My client was uncomfortable with not knowing the true extent of the works but a (very) small price reduction was agreed.
We received a revised mortgage offer, my client signed all of the documents and gave notice to her landlord.
Having assumed that the landlord would just continue to rent out the house she was living in, we got everything ready to exchange contracts.
And then she called me.
I could tell from her voice that something was on her mind and she then told me that the landlord had decided to sell the house she was living in.
Cue a long conversation involving me asking how she would feel when the new owners of her beloved rental property moved in, which house she really preferred, and so on.
It may not surprise you to learn that she preferred her rental property to the property she was buying. So she made an offer to buy her house from the landlord and we waited nervously for his decision. The offer was accepted and when she told me I could hear the relief in her voice.
Now – how to deal with the estate agents for the other property, where we had a deadline to exchange contracts by five o’clock that afternoon but we were still concerned about the boiler.
I sent a one line email advising them that she had decided not to proceed and we waited to see what would happen. That was our final decision but we were interested to know if the seller’s solicitor or estate agent would agree to further inspections.
I received an email from the estate agents: it was a standard email notifying me of a fall through and that the sale was not proceeding. No questions asked, no attempt to call me (or my client) to ascertain why we were not proceeding (which was not only because of the boiler) – nothing. And nothing from the seller’s solicitor either.
It was somewhat odd in that we were at the point of exchange of contracts and there was no attempt by anyone acting for the seller to hold the transaction together. My client had not been difficult – she had been incredibly accommodating throughout.
So, would you like to know my client’s response to the estate agent’s email advising that the sale was not proceeding?
She wrote:
I am actually speechless.
That is a truly appalling and totally unjustifiably contemptuous response to a situation that has been blown up into an avoidable situation by the seller.
Astonishing.
Good luck to them selling that house…
We deal with this sort of thing all the time. Clients do not. They are buying a dream and they want support and guidance.
In all of the talk about the digitalisation of the process, other than providing gas and electrical certificates at the start of this transaction, the result would have been the same. She could easily have exchanged earlier in the week before she knew that the landlord was selling a house she really loved and then not been able to change her mind.
We wanted to exchange contracts but had concerns, and no one helped to alleviate those concerns. A further electrical check would have saved this transaction but there were unnecessary delays by the seller.
This is what we deal with every day. It is about people buying their dream, but then life gets in the way and forces decisions they did not know they had to make.
Enjoy the sunshine this week!
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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