House purchase - How to get my deposit back

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hakouna

Registered User
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Hi ..
Went sales agreed a month ago , my solicitor received contracts , loan approved but lender waiting for valuation report . I was very happy with the new purchase untill the structure survey showed deffects in the support timber and some other minor stuff .
The point is that the EA is pushing very hard to sign the contract , constantly asking me to ignore the structure report even without knowing what it consists of , EA stated "unless there are a major problems or the house will collapse there is no point to delay signing contracts " . Got a call from EA yesterday urging me to contact the surveyor to send the bank's valuation report by fax and told me that we have to sign the contract max today as the vendor is waiting to sign his new purchase today . I am not happy with the way EA is pushing me to sign the contract , it is very suspecious for me , I feel there are a trap somewhere and I am not conviniced to sign the contract at this stage , in fact I am thinking to get out of this purchase . Any advice ? What is the best scenario to secure my deposit ? shall I inform my solicitor and make it official through them or I should inform EA my self ?
Appreciate your replies
 
Of course the estate agent is pushing you to sign contracts however if you aren't happy with ANY aspect of the house or the process you can back out. You can either halt the sale via your solicitor - you need to tell him either way - or you can tell the agent yourself, whichever you prefer. Alternatively you could ask for a reduction in the price if the work highlighted by the survey is repairable. Do not allow yourself to be bullied.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
Thanks Sarah . Would my solicitor back me up ? EA is using my solicitor to put pressure on me , my solicitor called me 5 times asking for the eval. report although there is post delay as surveyor post it a week ago and solicitor e-mail me to contact the valuer to fax it to me then to bank ASAP .

EA informed me by phone yesterday that we have to sign by today !!?? very very short notice and there was no delay from my side ... As I said very suspicious to me , and this only makes me thinking to backout.

If I decide to backout :
*/ would that be an issue with solicitor and my lender ? I will tell solicitor all the truth but how he will charge me in this case ? I am planning to purchase anyway if I find a good house that satisfies me and my family .

*/ From my previous reading I guess I am entiteled for full refund , Shall I expect any troubles from EA ?
 
hakouna said:
EA informed me by phone yesterday that we have to sign by today !!?? very very short notice and there was no delay from my side ... As I said very suspicious to me , and this only makes me thinking to backout.
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If you're already thinking of backing out, let the day go by and call the EA's bluff. You can explain to him tomorrow that you're acting in good faith but that you're entitled to wait for that report and to make a decision to proceed or pull out based on it. You might even comment that EA's aren't exactly in the public's good books lately, so being pushy isn't going to help his cause. Nor is attempting to circumvent due process by getting your solicitor to pressure you.... he has no right to do that.

Sale Agreed for just a month, and the month of December at that, is hardly taking the pi$$. He's probably just after some extra commission cash in time for Christmas.
 
I went through something similar at the start of this year - everything was fine until the surveyor went in. Basically they had done a hatchet job on the electrics when they tried to 'renovate' and it would mean everything being ripped out. There was lots of other problems as well and after much soul searching I decided to pull out. I was gutted because I'd been looking for over a year and I was happy with the house (until the surveyor went in anyway), the price and location. I considered going back with a lesser price but then decided against it. I felt like there was a weight off my shoulders afterwards.
The estate agent got quite bolshy when I told her I was pulling out, but I pointed out to her that she had lied to me when she told me an electrician had carried out the works. I sent her the report and told her the surveyor had described the house as a 'fire trap'. She posted my deposit back out to me, as they have to do so you shouldn't have a problem with that.
In terms of solicitors, I used our company solicitor and got him to bid on a number of properties for me afterwards before I finally got a place. He just charged me the once. He was a little dearer than some of the 'bargain' solicitors you can get now, but he was worth it for peace of mind.
Whatever you do, don't let the estate agent bully you. It sounds like they know what a hovel it is and are desperately trying to get rid of it. If you're considering doing the work get the surveyor in again to do a more detail survey, that will give you a better idea of exactly what you'll have to do. Otherwise walk away - you'll save yourself a lot of money and heartache in the process
 
Hakouna - your solicitor should be working for YOU, not the estate agent. Tell them both that you will not be signing anything until you've read the report in full and have priced the cost of the remedial work. I would also flag up to both parties that you aren't happy with the results of the survey.

Sarah

www.rea.ie
 
The EA holds your deposit in trust and is fully refundable to you , you don't even need to give him a reason unless you have signed the contract.

I suggest you ring him and ask him to have the deposit available for collection in one hour.

If you don't get it tell him you will sue him and all costs will be to his account. He will pay up.
 
If you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

They have blinked first and you now know how desperate they are to close in a hurry. Get a your surveyor to give you a generous estimate on the cost of putting the job right and use this to bring the price that they will accept down. Don't be to greedy though, you still want the house, and I suppose you must have some sympathy for the seller..

If you don't complete now, as they have no other buyer at present, even with the best will in the world, the deal cannot be closed with any other party for at least another two/three months minimum and as they have already shown they want to close quickly.

Use the inpormation they have given you to your own advantage. The EA is being unreasonable in trying to bully you into signing before you have completed all your checks and costed repairs which you had no idea of when you agreed a purchase price


Murt
 
Thanks all for your help and your great advice .
I spoke with the EA , he tried to give me the same face as yesterday , I was very firm with him and told him the reasons why I want to pull out .
As we getting into Christmas he mentioned Account department will be close from tomorrow , so I hope I will get my deposit after that .

Thanks again and Happy Christmas to all
hakouna
 
Good on you,if you have that gut feeling always follow it. Just a bit of advice,we lost a house because our buyers pulled out and we pulled away from a house because of serious defects that showed up,but vendor wasnt going to lower price. Now we were still charged professional fees on both houses plus the sale of our house which came in at just over 3K. So dont be surprised if your solicitor still charges you for professional fees. We decided not to move in the end.
 
The first thing to note is that the EA is acting for the person selling the house. The vendor would more than likely be buying another house and would not be in a position to close the sale on their new purchase or perhaps they can't put a bid on a property that they like until they know that they have the funds to do so. It's a vicious circle really. The vendor would more than likely be putting pressure on the EA to try to get you sign so that they can go ahead with their own plans. The EA is being pushy with you and shouldn't be as pushy but you have to be fair to him also and just tell him what you're thinking, being honest and straight up is the best policy. Let you're solicitor know as well that you're not going ahead and why and no-body is going to force you to do it.

Suggest calling in for your deposit or sending someone else in. It doesn't matter what kind of firm it is, they will have access to a chequebook with out without the accounts person in the office.

You have to like what you're going to buy, it's going to be your home presumably and it's a huge outlay. The deposit is fully refundable if you haven't signed the contract but once you've signed the contract, you loose your 10% deposit. Don't ever buy a house just for the sake of it, you have to want it and love it :)
 
Deposits are paid over subject to contract so are refundable until you sign the contract. I had a very bad experience with a solicitor when buying my house and was bullied by him. It was my first dealings with a solicitor. If I were doing it again I would pay whatever it cost to have a great and trustworthy solicitor on my side. I am left with problems in my house.
Good on you for giving it to the EA.
 
niceoneted said:
I had a very bad experience with a solicitor when buying my house and was bullied by him. It was my first dealings with a solicitor. If I were doing it again I would pay whatever it cost to have a great and trustworthy solicitor on my side. I am left with problems in my house.
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Surely, the solicitor is not responsible for the problems you have in your house... Did you get your house surveyed?
 
Never believe a business that claims that there is no one in who can hand you back your deposit. This is plain unadulterated lying. Many years ago we had a problem with a Kelly letting agents in Rathmines. We signed a lease and handed over the deposit - the landlord subsequently changed his mind and decided not to let the house to us. The trouble we had getting the deposit back! No-one from 'accounts' was ever in the office. In the end I threated to go down the road to the Garda station and magically the cheque got signed and handed over.
 
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