How would you deal with this?
Hi all,
My wife and I are buying our first home and discovering why buying a home is deemed one of the most stressful things you can do.
TLDR; Seller's blaming our side for "slow" progress and do not seem to take any accountability
We put an offer in on a home that had been on an off the market for some time as I think their original pricing was a little optimistic and they stood firm on pricing longer than most would. They'd eventually dropped it to a guide after the turn of the year with £50k differing from the bottom and top of the bracket.
We originally offered below the guide and were swiftly rejected and told they would only accept offers within the guide price. After a couple of days, we offered the lowest point of the bracket which was met with a few days for the buyers to consider before the EA came back saying there has been a more attractive offer over that time. I was sure it was a ploy by the EA to increase our offer as they said we would need to match it by raising our offer by £15k. My wife wanted the house so much she let me know in no uncertain terms that if I didn't meet the offer, she would never forgive me. I didn't. I offered £10k over our offer and said that would be our firm ceiling.
The offer was accepted and as we had no chain, a large deposit, MIP and solicitor already ready to go, along with the sellers having no chain and wanting to sold us ASAP, it looked promising that it could all move quickly. The offer was accepted mid March.
We spent the first few weeks hearing nothing after chasing and it took until over 4 weeks later for our solicitor to receive the pack from the seller's solicitor so they could begin searches. This was allegedly owing to them providing their solicitor with paperwork at a snails pace. That in itself wouldn't bother me, but a week after that, they're telling us that they've paid their solicitor fees, done everything they need to do and that any holds up are due to us and our solicitor.
We've been in regular contact with them to try and keep things in motion as every time we contacted our solicitor to check in for progress, the response is always the same - waiting for responses from enquiries with the seller's solicitors. Every. Single. Time.
We'd often ask them if they could give their solicitor a gentle nudge as our solicitor is saying that is why they're primarily waiting for. This was mainly in response to them contacting us saying they're concerned our side of things does not seem to be making progress and is holding things up.
Never being quite sure who was on the right side of the truth, my wife decided to drive over to the solicitors while handing over the signed contract pack to see what was going on. Same response again, only this time with proof. Enquiries report showing the queries raised and the real vague and evasive responses by their solicitor. Our solicitor vented frustration that the answers seem to completely avoid progressing things in an almost deliberate fashion.
The sellers have been contacting more recently, with more urgency, declaring their frustrations. That they can't sleep, cannot function and are considering pulling out at the lack of progress.
We are pulling our hair out trying to push for progress with the seller's solicitor allegedly being the stumbling block, but while they tell the sellers everything has been done and they don't need to do anything else, the sellers believe them whole heartedly.
We love the house. We wanted to be done as soon as possible, as the sellers apparently wanted to. Now we're getting so confused with the mixed signals. We can't tell what is going on. Whether there is an agenda to the games or whether these kind of shenanigans are the normal part and parcel of conveyancing and buying a home.
Really, we're just seeking, as first time buyers, whether this seems somewhat normal or we're being blind to what could really be happening
Thanks in advance. Please also consider we are already on tender hooks with it at the moment and stressed up to our eyeballs with the thoughts of losing the home we've fell in love with. With this consideration, please refrain from harsh responses