Vendors pull out AFTER exchange of contract

maninthestreet

As others have said - they should find themselves rented accomodation ASAP, which will then allow them to complete on the contract they have with you.

pinkshoes

Lady_Hamilton wrote: »

1. Rent in this village for 2 years.
2. During this time another house will come on the market, house prices are not going to be going up, rather DOWN in the next 2 years.... so just be patient.

Firstly, you don't have a crystal ball, so there is no way you can claim what house prices are going to do, and house prices are location specific, and given this is small village and few suitable houses coming onto the market, then I doubt they will go down...

Also, why should the OP put their life on hold for 2 years by renting, when they should now be installed in their family lifetime home?? Renting can be very unsettling to some people.

WW, I think you should pursue this all the way. You are in no way responsible for their financial idiocy. Write a letter stating that you are not investment buyers, and although you understand their family needs, by refusing to complete they are also putting another family's life in turmoil and uncertainty.

Let them know that when it goes to court, they will lose a lot more than the deposit on a new build; they will lose the house, and have to pay all costs, and that as exchange of contracts is legally binding, there is no way they will win in court.

Tell them that they should move into rented accommodation and continue with the house sale, otherwise they might end up bankrupt.

satchmeister

The seller have made stupid decision and got themselves into a hole - and have continued to dig deeper. They are trying the 'poor me' 'homeless kids' routine. The solution is simple they need to cut their losses and move to a smaller place, kids might have to share a bedroom - so what, I did when I was growing up. They may have to rent - tough. If they had anything about them (just putting the lack of openess with WW to one side) no decent parent would put their kids in this situation (homeless) just because they wanted a shiny new house.

I have no sympathy for them, they are underhand and not to be trusted (OK that is stating the obvious) and I personally would not give them an inch. They signed a contract and it needs to be fulfilled - they had plenty of time to pull out prior to exchange.

tek-monkey

I'm frankly amazed at their attitude, hope you clean them out.

space_rider

I think if you can put up with the stress of court, I would go all the way. They put themselves in this situation not you. Courts make people homeless with children so why should they be any different. Seems to me they should have known that banks won`t lend as much for new builds. They obviously not taking any notice of all the financial doom and gloom that we`ve been listening to for the past 18 months. At least you know they not on MSE!

peachyprice

THEY put their house on the market
THEY accepted your offer
THEY exchanged contacts
THEY pulled out of the sale
THEY are making their children 'homeless'

Why on earth are they under the impression you owe it to them to give up on this house, the situation is all of their own making. Damn fools, as it their solicitor by the sounds of it.

Romani_Ite_Domum

pinkshoes wrote: »

Firstly, you don't have a crystal ball, so there is no way you can claim what house prices are going to do, and house prices are location specific, and given this is small village and few suitable houses coming onto the market, then I doubt they will go down...

pinkshoes you are hilarious.

2+ years ago when we were allowed to debate the forthcoming crash in house prices on here you used to say exactly the same thing.

Have you not learned yet that people don't need crytsal balls, they just need to be well informed.

Welshwoofs

Lady_Hamilton wrote: »

1. Rent in this village for 2 years.
2. During this time another house will come on the market, house prices are not going to be going up, rather DOWN in the next 2 years.... so just be patient.

I'm afraid renting really isn't an option in this instance. The location is in a very picturesque location and consequently most rentals are holiday lets - there are very few AST properties in the area and what there is hideously expensive (like 4x the mortgage repayments on my current property). The added complication is that we have an enormous dog and my other half runs his business from home....it's quite hard to find an LL that would agree to either of this issues separately, let alone both.

As you say, you could take them to court and have no guarantee that you will get much out of them financially and add on top of that all the associated stress involved with 2 years of solicitor letters etc etc..... nightmare, although you might get the house, but the pressure could add to their family breakup etc.

In all honesty, and perhaps this makes me a bad person, but I don't give a tinker's cuss whether this situation causes a breakdown of their relationship or their finances - it's not doing a lot of good for mine either! The situation is entirely of their own making and choosing and if they can't afford the mortgage repayments on the house of their dreams, they could certainly afford a cheaper property of the same size (or indeed, rental). For some reason however, they're expecting us to either buy a totally unsuitable property in terms of size/price or rent...when we're the ones who've not only fulfilled all our obligations, but bent over backwards to accommodate their ever-changing demands regarding original completion dates.

As I think Clutton said, we are too angry today to give level-headed instruction so we'll be simmering down and planning.

misskool

not got any more advice but echo clutton on here, sleep on it for a day or two and then make your mind up.

good luck and keep us updated, it's been a gripping saga

picardygirl

The vendors have got themselves in such a mess i cant believe it . They are 100% in the wrong!

WW if you can persue it all the way, do it, thats certainly what i would do. People think they are above the law .......

The best advise they should be given now, is vacate and follow through with completion, therefore not having to pay you back your deposit and costs etc - rent another property til they find another suitable property for them.

If they risk this going to court, they could end up thousands and thousands of pounds out of pocket, whereas vacate now and they could get away quite lightly!