Question for an estate agent, please...
Discussion
If something is mentioned in the particulars of a house (in this instance it is a log burning stove) would I be right or wrong in assuming that it IS included in the sale?
I ask because at the final hour the people we want to buy off have said no it's not, despite not listing it in the fixtures & fittings (contracts due to be exchanged tomorrow)
Many thanks!
I ask because at the final hour the people we want to buy off have said no it's not, despite not listing it in the fixtures & fittings (contracts due to be exchanged tomorrow)
Many thanks!
Yep, if it's in the particulars it should be included in the sale. Agents should get the vendor to check the wording of the brochure at the outset to cover things like this.
Was it not listed in the fixtures and fittings form at all, or down as excluded from sale?
What does the agent say?
Was it not listed in the fixtures and fittings form at all, or down as excluded from sale?
What does the agent say?
Well Dave, the estate agent told us 8 weeks ago that it was staying, it was not mentioned on the fixtures and fittings so we got our solictor to ask specifically if it was staying or not. All parties recieved contracts last Friday and on the same day we were told it wasn't included.
We have been more than generous in accommodating their wishes in EVERY respect regarding moving dates etc etc (it's a long story that I won't bore you, anyone else and most importantly, myself, with) and we're fed up with the goal posts being moved by them every 5 minutes.
We've threatened to pull out on a number of occasions due to their insufferable intransigence (or should that be intransigent insufferableness!), so to THEM it's worth £600k and to us it's worth a couple of grand in solicitor's bills and we'll look next year. And the estate agent loses two lots of commission...
We have been more than generous in accommodating their wishes in EVERY respect regarding moving dates etc etc (it's a long story that I won't bore you, anyone else and most importantly, myself, with) and we're fed up with the goal posts being moved by them every 5 minutes.
We've threatened to pull out on a number of occasions due to their insufferable intransigence (or should that be intransigent insufferableness!), so to THEM it's worth £600k and to us it's worth a couple of grand in solicitor's bills and we'll look next year. And the estate agent loses two lots of commission...
I suspect that the schedule with the lawyers will take precidence over anything that the agent said, or wrote.
However, I'd say you sound like you are in a pretty strong position. Are they going to lose a sale over a stove?
Edited for being a dimwit
However, I'd say you sound like you are in a pretty strong position. Are they going to lose a sale over a stove?
Edited for being a dimwit
Edited by silverthorn2151 on Monday 6th December 12:17
Well we have been dicked about by the vendors AND the agents all the way through. In fact I now refuse to talk to one of the idiots at the estate agents because everytime I do I want to go round and hit him so hard in the face he'd have to shove his toothbrush up his arse to clean his teeth. He never remembers what he says (and denies it afterwards anyway, and yes, this matter of the log burner was caused by him 2 months ago as he said it was part of the deal) and he's a weasley litte shyster. We've even delayed a holiday to move at a more suitable time for the vendors, and I am hoping that the vendors will realise that if they say no and we pull out there's no way they will get the sort of money we are offering if we say "Up Yours" and they try and remarket in the spring.
We may only be talking about a few hundred quid here, and in the grand scheme of £600,000 it's not a lot, but it is, as you say, scockers, the principal of the thing. The estate agent put it in the particulars, said it was included in the sale, we are leaving a log burner at our old gaff on the understanding of this, and now WE are left potentially having to sort the mess.
We may only be talking about a few hundred quid here, and in the grand scheme of £600,000 it's not a lot, but it is, as you say, scockers, the principal of the thing. The estate agent put it in the particulars, said it was included in the sale, we are leaving a log burner at our old gaff on the understanding of this, and now WE are left potentially having to sort the mess.
davepen said:
Just Sold.
With our chain our buyer wanted to move fast, her buyer didn't - so we got conflicting messages up the chain. We got to the "exchange now, or we go on a long holiday" stage. At least once you have exchanged you can focus on the move and forget the past.I'd say to the agent, as your offer was made on the basis the fire was there.
Either it is included, or you knock off say £10K+ to allow fitting of a new one, or you say goodbye. Let the agent sweat and earn his fee.
Unless the fire is a family hierloom, your buyer should see that it would be a lot less bother for them to buy a new one for their new place, or you use the "chipped" ammount to get a new equivalent in place.
Hope it works out in the end.
According to Section 4j of the IES02 Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents:
You (ie the agent) may be liable if you include anything in the Sales Particulars which causes you to doubt that the information may be correct.
Presonally I reckon I'd have them on that.
One of the agents said it was included in the sale
Another said "it was never discussed with the vendor" in that it was never to be included. Sorry, but I could argue that the roof was never discussed either, so why aren't they taking that with them?
It's in the brochure
f
k em.
You (ie the agent) may be liable if you include anything in the Sales Particulars which causes you to doubt that the information may be correct.
Presonally I reckon I'd have them on that.
One of the agents said it was included in the sale
Another said "it was never discussed with the vendor" in that it was never to be included. Sorry, but I could argue that the roof was never discussed either, so why aren't they taking that with them?
It's in the brochure
f
k em.Talk to the agent.
If its a deal breaker they will probably swallow the cost themselves. By this I mean the agent reduces their fee to the seller (by the value of a second hand stove) and you get the stove.
Both you and the seller walk away feeling like they didn't back down.....and you walk away with your balls in one piece because you didn't lose the house your wife/partner/rubber doll has set her heart on.
Hope that helped
If its a deal breaker they will probably swallow the cost themselves. By this I mean the agent reduces their fee to the seller (by the value of a second hand stove) and you get the stove.
Both you and the seller walk away feeling like they didn't back down.....and you walk away with your balls in one piece because you didn't lose the house your wife/partner/rubber doll has set her heart on.
Hope that helped
Edited by 98elise on Monday 6th December 12:54
98elise said:
Talk to the agent.
If its a deal breaker they will probably swallow the cost themselves. By this I mean the agent reduces their fee to the seller (by the value of a second hand stove) and you get the stove.
Both you and the seller walk away feeling like they didn't back down.....and you walk away with your balls in one piece because you didn't lose the house your wife/partner/rubber doll has set her heart on.
Hope that helped
Yeah right!If its a deal breaker they will probably swallow the cost themselves. By this I mean the agent reduces their fee to the seller (by the value of a second hand stove) and you get the stove.
Both you and the seller walk away feeling like they didn't back down.....and you walk away with your balls in one piece because you didn't lose the house your wife/partner/rubber doll has set her heart on.
Hope that helped
Edited by 98elise on Monday 6th December 12:54
If you are prepared to walk away, play hardball. It's unlikely that they will ultimately call your bluff at this stage.
So you're right on the point of exchanging and not happy with the way you're being treated?
And you're not desperately in love with the property?
In this economic climate spending £600K isn't peanuts
Now's your chance to get your own back for all the dicking around the vendors and agents have made you put up with to get this far.
I'd go to the agent and tell them your final answer is the fire stays AND the price drops £20k. You've got a day to exchange or I'm pulling out. It's piss or get off the pot time.
You have their soft bits firmly in your hands and can squeeze them as much as you want
And you're not desperately in love with the property?
In this economic climate spending £600K isn't peanuts
Now's your chance to get your own back for all the dicking around the vendors and agents have made you put up with to get this far.
I'd go to the agent and tell them your final answer is the fire stays AND the price drops £20k. You've got a day to exchange or I'm pulling out. It's piss or get off the pot time.
You have their soft bits firmly in your hands and can squeeze them as much as you want
Fezant Pluckah said:
If something is mentioned in the particulars of a house (in this instance it is a log burning stove) would I be right or wrong in assuming that it IS included in the sale?
I ask because at the final hour the people we want to buy off have said no it's not, despite not listing it in the fixtures & fittings (contracts due to be exchanged tomorrow)
Many thanks!
If the details stated 'log burning stove' rather than 'space for log burning stove' than it's deemed to be included in the sale. It's also a built-in item rather like a prefabricated detached or conservatory - either in theory could be dismantled and taken away but it's never done.I ask because at the final hour the people we want to buy off have said no it's not, despite not listing it in the fixtures & fittings (contracts due to be exchanged tomorrow)
Many thanks!
Perhaps your question from the Solicitor raised a greedy thought in their heads that there might be a slight possibility that you thought they might be taking it, so that's what they decided. People work in funny ways sometime!!
ColinM50 said:
So you're right on the point of exchanging and not happy with the way you're being treated?
And you're not desperately in love with the property?
In this economic climate spending £600K isn't peanuts
Now's your chance to get your own back for all the dicking around the vendors and agents have made you put up with to get this far.
I'd go to the agent and tell them your final answer is the fire stays AND the price drops £20k. You've got a day to exchange or I'm pulling out. It's piss or get off the pot time.
You have their soft bits firmly in your hands and can squeeze them as much as you want
Why do we need to drop the price by £20k? We're quite happy with the amount we're paying, but we were led to believe the stove was included. Having spooken to our solicitor she says that if it is listed in the details it should stay, and that's what we want. We just want a stove, not £20k off. (Though that would be nice I can tell you it wouldn't happen!)And you're not desperately in love with the property?
In this economic climate spending £600K isn't peanuts
Now's your chance to get your own back for all the dicking around the vendors and agents have made you put up with to get this far.
I'd go to the agent and tell them your final answer is the fire stays AND the price drops £20k. You've got a day to exchange or I'm pulling out. It's piss or get off the pot time.
You have their soft bits firmly in your hands and can squeeze them as much as you want
We do love the property, but we don't like being taken for a soft touch, that's all.
It seems that whatever happens, the agent MAY be liable anyway.
I've just looked at that Isaac.
In it it states: A misleading statement is one from which a reasonable person would be likely to make a false inference, even though the statement is not itself false.
So not only have they gone against their own code of conduct, I reckon the estate agent may have broken the law.
In it it states: A misleading statement is one from which a reasonable person would be likely to make a false inference, even though the statement is not itself false.
So not only have they gone against their own code of conduct, I reckon the estate agent may have broken the law.
they have specifically mentioned it in the particulars, the interpretation for the Misdiscription Act will see to them. If the vendors have signed the brouchure it will show some due dillegence for the Agent but "if in doubt, leave it out" should be the mantra. Or word it in such a away that a reasonable person wouldn't assume it was included, ie: Space for diswasher, space for washing machine..
mention the words trading standards in a letter to the Agent and you should find your self with a compromise quite swiftly....
mention the words trading standards in a letter to the Agent and you should find your self with a compromise quite swiftly....
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