vendor won' grant lim extension

[makanlah]

Hi guys; am buying a property in a blue-chip area in chch. due to go unconditional next week after signing agreement two weeks ago.
3 conditions: i have satisfied 2 of them (including finance); the last one that is outstanding is satisfactory LIM.
However, due to various hitches with vendor's solicitors and mine, LIM application only went in last week, and LIM won't be available till near month-end. (council inundated).
Vendor insists the delay is all my side's fault; more importantly, he refuses to grant an extension for the LIM condition, on the grounds that it "prolongs the uncertainty of whether the sale is to go through or not".
(!)
Any advice please on how to handle this. I do want the house, but having been burnt in the past, I place a high value on due diligence.

[Dean@Massiveaction]

Get someone to go into council and inspect the property file and talk to a town planner. You can still cancel the deal if anything on the title is dodgy, but file inspection should pick anything that would be on a LIM.

[xris]

Hi guys; am buying a property in a blue-chip area in chch. due to go unconditional next week after signing agreement two weeks ago.
3 conditions: i have satisfied 2 of them (including finance); the last one that is outstanding is satisfactory LIM.
However, due to various hitches with vendor's solicitors and mine, LIM application only went in last week, and LIM won't be available till near month-end. (council inundated).
Vendor insists the delay is all my side's fault; more importantly, he refuses to grant an extension for the LIM condition, on the grounds that it "prolongs the uncertainty of whether the sale is to go through or not".
(!)
Any advice please on how to handle this. I do want the house, but having been burnt in the past, I place a high value on due diligence.

Hello makanlah,

Your fault I'm afraid. You had plenty of time to inspect the LIM.

Also, not having read it and so not being able to ascertain if it has any faults on it, is not a reason for not confirming.

You could always do what pooombah suggests but by doing that you are partly removing responsibilty from your lawyer, which you should not really do.

See what transpires. If you are out of pocket because of this then look to your lawyer, not the vendor.

xris

[makanlah]

Hi guys; thanks for reply. Just to clarify: I live overseas...I effectively lose a day in the time difference. Also it is Chinese New Year here and hard to get time to attend to personal matters. As well, my lawyers are in Auckland. Compounding matters, chch city council does not have an online payment facility for ordering LIMs; it is cash, eftpos or cheque. So my lawyers had to post them a cheque to get the LIM. Also, there is no 'express' facility for paying more and getting it faster.
Anyway, after several calls and emails, the vendor has granted an extension. Apparently the vendor got the heeby-geebies cos I am a purchaser from overseas and am buying sight unseen and he did not trust I was bona fide. He worried he was wasting marketing time.
Ah, property! Always some interesting twist.
Thanks for your time.

[xris]

Hello makanlah,

Glad it seems to have worked out well.

However, just for the benefit of others in this situation, we should bear the following in mind.

If we assume that the vendor or the vendor's agent got the contract to your solicitor on time, then this fiasco is entirely the fault of your lawyer.

They may be a little backward in Christchurch but the council is not that slow. Two weeks is ample time to get a LIM, even if your lawyer was in Auckland. Don't accept such bland excuses as "we had to post a cheque". If this was a genuine excuse, which it isn't, the lawyer should have couriered down cash dirct to the dept responsible.

Being overseas can provide intersting issues in itself, such as the acceptability or otherwise of email and fax but that does not really come into this particular debate.

Again, it is simple - you engage a lawyer to do the conveyancing, of which ordering a LIM is utterly basic. The only real excuse I can think for not doing it immediately is if you gave the lawyer very clear instructions to hold off. And even if you did that then the lawyer should have given you very clear advice as to the possible consequences, one being that the LIM would not be ready in time.

(I realise there may be more to this than you have written here, but I believe what I have just written is basically true.)

xris

[makanlah]

Thanks xris; always appreciate your replies.
One last point - the vendor's solicitor faxed the contract to the wrong branch of my solicitors, despite me providing correct details. That lost a day, a Friday, and then there was the weekend, and...etc.

[xris]

Thanks xris; always appreciate your replies.
One last point - the vendor's solicitor faxed the contract to the wrong branch of my solicitors, despite me providing correct details. That lost a day, a Friday, and then there was the weekend, and...etc.

Whoever was it who said that real estate was boring?

[charlotte30]

Dear Makanlah
The devil is always in the detail. In my experience following up on "experts" is essential to the point of being a pain. It is just another job in thier workload but the impact of their mistakes is all yours.

Charlotte 30