h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Buying a house is supposed to be one of the most stressful things you can do.

We've been locked in the house buying process since last August. As previously detailed in these pages, the first house we bid on fell through a few days before completion when the seller got cold feet.

Since then, we found a great semi-detached house, within our budget and in the area we wanted. The seller had repossessed it and wanted a quick sale, but our solicitor has insisted they sort out a number of basic issues.

The sticking point stopping a quick sale has been the plans. The plans they've provided have been for both houses on the plot. Our solicitor's wanted them split, and the seller's just made excuses and given us botch jobs.

Our solicitors have finally found the issue. When the seller repossessed the two houses on the plot, they didn't have the plans drawn up properly. By a significant margin.

They've been trying to sell us 80% of a house. And we're not buying 80% of a house.

So we have three options.

1) Buy 120% (including all of the other house), and watch property values plummet thanks to the unsellable 80% of a house glued to it, potentially screwing our finances for life.

2) Walk away, start the whole process somewhere else, and write off all the fees we've paid up until now.

3) Hope that the seller can track down the original owner and get them to sign over all of the land, so that they can re-draw the plans and sell us the house after a delay of approximately another six weeks.

We're, for want of a better option, going for number 3. Drawing out the stress even further.

And if that wasn't enough of a ballache, I've managed to contract a secondary viral infection. Turns out the flu virus can wheedle its way into various tubes to produce what's called 'viral orchitis'. A literal ballache, if you will.

.603

Ouch!

Well I guess the vendor has two options. Either get it sorted, or try to find another buyer who (a) wants the property, (b) can get a mortgage), (c) comes up with an acceptable offer, and (d) is unlucky enough to engage a negligent solicitor. Given that that combination is fairly unlikely, I'd hope they'd get it sorted.

That kind of basic, nasty, dishonesty does trouble me though. I think you've got to be some piece of work (solicitor and vendor) to try and rip someone off like that. I was going to say that I wonder what else they might be hiding, but that's likely to be the major thing. I'd probably have been tempted to walk away on principle, but if everything else is right about the house that's hard to do.

Hope it all works out, and that you're feeling better soon....

They're now claiming that they did all the relevant paperwork with the land registry and that they just 'forgot' to re-draw the plans.

I don't think it's dishonesty, I think it's being slack. They repossessed a new build house, hoping for a quick sale with a minimum of effort. And, unfortunately, we're making them put effort in to get their sale, so they're dragging their heels every step of the way.