Vendor pulled out on day of exchange

ec9wrr

I was in the process of buying a my first house when the vendor pulled out. They decided not to sell on the day of exchange (before the exchange was made).
I have incurred costs due to this and understand that I am not entitled to claim these from the vendor. Is this correct? Does anyone have experience of getting fees such as searches and surveys refunded by vendor who pulled out?

inmypocketnottheirs

Sorry to hear of your problem and evident disappointment. However it is one of those things that just have to be put down to experience. Until contracts are exchanged, either party is at liberty to change their mind, make a lower offer, increase the asking price or whatever they want. Until there is a contract signed and exchanged there is no obligation on either side. May be worth speaking to your estate agent to see what has happened, may be a better offer, the property they were purchasing may have fell through.

You are not entitled to anything from the vendor I am sorry to say.

Hope this helps.

totalguitar

I think we have all heard stories of this happening. As already said there could be a multitude of reasons why the vendor has pulled out. Out of interest will the vendor still incur EA fees and solicitors fees ?

silvercar

EA fess are usually sobject to a sale going through; solicitors fees are usually related to costs having been incurred.

distilled

The sooner we do it like the Scots the better. This wouldn't happen

goldentouch

My buyer decided to renegotiate the price on exchange day. Had us over a barrel and we had to concede to meet them halfway. That was the £4000 for carpets and curtains. Snakes!!! :mad:

mummytofour

I hate this system soooo much, currently in the middle of selling/buying and its heart ache and very stressful.

Ian_W

distilled wrote: The sooner we do it like the Scots the better.

No, under their system you'd have the survey done before you offer, not have your offer accepted and lose money that way!! :rolleyes: One of their complaints is you can end up having quite a few surveys done before you are winning bidder on a property. Now when HIPS come in, with the vendor paying for an independent inspection, then binding bids, like Scotland, might be a better option.

Sorry to digress ec9wrr and sorry to hear about what's happened. :mad: Your costs have gone I'm afraid as the others have said, but if their seller has pulled out it may be they're looking for somewhere else and it could still happen if you're prepared to wait. Do contact the EA. BoL.

BobProperty

I think it should be in illuminated letters pinned at the top of this section:
"Nothing counts for anything in housebuying in England until contracts are signed and exchanged"

I'll start a HIPS thread in a bit. I think it'll be a farce.

scooterpig

Ian_W wrote:

No, under their system you'd have the survey done before you offer, not have your offer accepted and lose money that way!! :rolleyes: One of their complaints is you can end up having quite a few surveys done before you are winning bidder on a property. Now when HIPS come in, with the vendor paying for an independent inspection, then binding bids, like Scotland, might be a better option.

Sorry to digress ec9wrr and sorry to hear about what's happened. :mad: Your costs have gone I'm afraid as the others have said, but if their seller has pulled out it may be they're looking for somewhere else and it could still happen if you're prepared to wait. Do contact the EA. BoL.

.............................................

Not strictly true - in Scotland you can make an offer 'subject to survey' This gives the buyer to the option to pull out after making the bid if they're not satisfied with the survey. It's actually very common now to offer subject to survey - it means you're not spending a fortune on surveys unnecessarily.

Also, contrary to popular belief, making a bid in Scotland (even after survey) is NOT legally binding. Until the contracts (known as missives) are completed, in reality, either side can do what they like. When I sold my last place, our 'buyer' turned out to be bankrupt and unable to proceed. We had no right of redress as the missives hadn't been signed.

What is different is that in Scotland, there's not the same concept of a chain - each transaction is unique. And missives are normally completed several weeks before moving day.

Ian_W

Hi scooterpig,
Thanks for the info, I stand corrected but I based my comments on a couple of posts I'd seen in the not too recent past. One from a Scots buyer bemoaning the fact they'd had several [3 I think] surveys done on props where their bid hadn't been chosen and another from an English buyer of a Scotish property worried about their bid not being chosen having paid for a survey, though I believe they did get the property.

Interesting point about the chain. Always wondered how it worked in Scotland. So I sell my house to a FTBer and haven't found one to go to by the time of completion on my transaction. What happens next?