Unconditional sale agreed

[fjweaver]

our boat is in a South Coast Used boat sale & last weekend had an unconditional offer which we accepted.
I've just had a call to say that the purchaser now wants a survey. I don't know why he didn't want one before but I guess it's the insurance company that requires it now.
So now they want a conditional sale based on the survey - which means that the buyer could now pull out and get his deposit back.
So now we've lost potential buyers during the last busy week of the season & might end up having to pay storage till next year when it picks up again.
Has anyone else had similar experiences & what did you do about it?
thanks
Frank

 

[tcm]

Yup, i had the same. You have to agree beforehand how much of the deposit is non-returnable against your costs of advertising and storage. I would say 500 quid is the right figure for a 10-30 grand boat, but mebbe too late for this now. You could raise this with the buyer even now. And, if there was an "unconditional offer" (was there a piece of paper signed with receipt of money?), then the "deposit" could be seen as an "initial payment" which certainly isn't returnable.

 

[Guest]

You have a contract, the terms of which were agreed during discussions (assuming nothing was written down).
If you wish to renegotiate the terms fine,if not say so and demand 'specific performance' ie that the deal proceed.