Vendor is backing out of selling property to me

Hi,

I have paid a deposit on a property. I have paid fees for a surveyor (€400) as well as a solicitor (which is likely to be between 1k and 1.5k).

Also I have went thought he mortgage process been approved and have my mortgage ready to drawdown. Additionally i have arranged life assurance and home insurance. So I have invested a lot of time in this. Here are some facts:

1. Put in initial offer on house in late Sept.
2. Final offer accepted in early dec.
3. A close date has never been formally agreed.
4. The vendors are currently going through a divorce, believe.
5. The indications all along were that the vendor was keen to sell asap and a close of late jan was verbally agreed.
6. I signed the contract just before Christmas.
7. After Christmas there was a little or no contact from the estate agent. I had to continuously chase him to find out when the vendor would return the signed contract to my solicitor.
8. In the meantime my solicitor was chasing the vendors solicitor to try and formally agree a close date and get the signed contract back.

Last week my solicitor sent an ultimatum to the vendors solicitor asking them to return counter-signed contracts by end of the week or else the deal is off. The vendors solicitor then replied to say that they have never had any contact from the vendor.

I called in to the estate agent as he was not returning my call and he said that he had little or no input at this stage becasue it was sale agreed and it was up to the solicitors to sort it out. He said to me that it should all be sorted over the next few days (this was a week and a half ago).

I suppose my question is: what recourse do I have in this situation given the time and money I have invested in trying to finalise this? Is it just money down the drain. Surely the vendors cannot lead people on like that and let them suffer expense.

I also could have been looking at another property had I have known this would fall through and my money (deposit) has been tied up with the solicitor and estate agent.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

I know it's frustrating but if you have not exchanged contracts then I'm afraid you have no avenue of recourse.

Yeah thats what I thought Sarenco.

So what should I do now. I still want the property i cant hang on in limbo forever without a commitment either way from the vendor. I want them to either tell me no theyre not selling or else yes and here is the completion date. Because then I can start planning etc.

How should I go about trying to get this commitment? Is it through the estate agent or my solicitor?

Who did you pay your deposit to and who issued you a receipt? They have your money and you are entitled to have them refund it.

Hi Mathepac,

Yeah, of cousre, I know that. Im not concerned at all about my deposits as its completely refundable.

My concern is that:

a) How should I approach getting closure on this in terms of a decision from the vendor re are they selling or not etc. I have wasted a lot of time and effort here and could have been looking at an alternative property but instead I have been strung along here and thats what frustrates me although it seems (from Sarenco's response) that its just the nature of the beast. I am royally pissed off though with the vendor, estate agena dn solicitors regarding their lack of communication etc and the fact that I have been strung along and outlayed costs (already outlayed to solicitor and surveyor) as well as the time etc invested.

I think the answer here is no - but as a result of the time and effort and expense I have put in to this do I have any recourse.

It doesnt seem right to me that a vendor can back out of the process at the last minute whilst the buyer has incurred significant costs in their attempt to buy the property as well as their time investment etc.

Get your deposit back and cut your losses, financial and emotional. You have no recourse as a potential purchaser who has incurred costs with no signed contract. Sorry.

I'm afraid I'm with mathepac on this one - in the absence of a signed contract there is really nothing more that you can do.

Unfortunately this is increasingly becoming a problem as distressed borrowers put their property on the market to placate their lenders but will then delay or frustrate the process at every turn.

jim said:

It doesnt seem right to me that a vendor can back out of the process at the last minute whilst the buyer has incurred significant costs in their attempt to buy the property as well as their time investment etc.

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Jim you need to listen to Mathepac.

Had the exact same scenario 12 months ago Jim, paid for surveyor, some solicitor costs, verbally agreed a date but nothing ever got beyond that. We even agreed to let them stay in house for Xmas 2013 as goodwill but in hindsight I was naive and they abused their position and strung us out. They blamed banks for not going through but ultimately they could have let us know months earlier than they did and saved us emotional and financial cost. We loved the house so that blinded us from the obvious.You can try appeal directly to vendors via mail (you know where they live) and see if they'll refund some cost but given the situation they put you in I doubt they are that way inclined.

IMO something has to change in terms of closing properties, there should be some downside to vendor for pulling out after a certain point but as of now they hold all the cards. Luckily for us we found dream home shortly after and in hindsight its a better result so I'd nearly thank the guy if i met him now but this time last year i'd have knocked his head off. Hopefully works out for you too.

So my advice walk away & cut losses. You gave ultimatum to no avail, follow through. The word divorce alone rings alarm bells, nothing is straightforward when other side is involved in that despite what they say about quick sale and you'll be last to know anything.

Thanks very much Dave2015 for that insight!

Found out today though that it's not completely dead and buried - they havent quite pulled out yet and the deal may still go ahead - only concern is their reluctance /delay in returning counter-signed contract, but EA has reassured me so we'll see.....watch this space....

jim said:

... but EA has reassured me

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A politician's promise, an EA's reassurance or a banker's guarantee, which has the greatest value? Always remember the EA works for the vendor and it's in his interest to string you along on the vendor's behalf even if there is no closure in sight.

Jim,
As mathepac has advised the EA's reassurance is worthless.

The fact they have not engaged with their own solicitor should be saying something. Who verbally agreed the close date if their solicitor has had no contact from the vendor?
I'd give them a drop dead date of signing the contracts or you should move on.

I'd also copy the estate agent on this to ensure he's ready to return your deposit on that date - otherwise you'll be waiting for him to return it.

Learn from the experience you only have have some element of protection when the contracts are signed so if this falls through ensure the next one is signed ASAP