Project New Home: A Small Glitch

Another day, another update.

Our solicitor received the contract earlier today, and after reading through all the conditions, raised a few items of concern with us. We made an appointment to see him after work today, so he could go through the list of concerns with us. The main one remains the settlement date - this was now becoming a much more contentious issue than it has been.

We arrived a few minutes late to our solicitor's office, but he too was running late, so it all worked out for everyone. We went through the conditions that he had concerns with, and talked about the reports that we need to obtain prior to exchange. The one thing that kept coming back was the settlement date. It turned out that the vendors have purchased another property, and the settlement date on that property is December 1, the same date as the one stipulated on our contract.

The more we talked, the more it became a problem. Fact remains that I am pregnant and due to be giving birth at the end of the year, and the last thing I want to be doing 3 weeks before Speedy's expected arrival date is to move house.

Nevertheless, we instructed our solicitor to keep negotiating with the vendors' solicitor for an earlier settlement date, and to keep pushing the issue for us. In the meantime, we gave instructions for him to commence the strata search, the building inspection and the pest inspection.

We had arranged to have dinner with Dad and Mum tonight to give them an update on the proceedings. So after dinner, we gave Dad and Mum a thorough report, and they too are very worried about the December 1 settlement date. Dad mentioned a few points, namely that both sisters went into labour earlier than expected with the first baby, and there is every likelihood that Speedy will come early too. Mum was of the opinion that if we are not moved in to our new home well before Speedy arrives, then the soonest we would be able to move would be February.

Mum also pointed out that movers are pretty booked up during December and January (or on holidays), and in her experience, to move during those months, one would had to have booked the movers by now. Dad then pointed out that December / January / February were notoriously quiet months for the property market, so even if we were to settle and move into a new home before December, we would have trouble selling St Leonards any time before March.

As I said, the more we talked about the settlement date, the more contentious this issue has become.

Jonathan and I are now convinced that we need to push our solicitor to push the vendors to commit to an earlier settlement date. The settlement date has now become a deal breaker, even though it wasn't only 2 days ago. And if the vendors pull the plug because they feel our demand is too great, then so be it. First thing tomorrow, we'll be calling our solicitor with new instructions, and to hold off on all inspections until we can reach an agreement on the new date.

We are a little sad that it has come to this for now. But we are hopeful that the vendors will understand our situation and be willing to help. Stay tuned for further updates!