Withdrawing offer after survey done

petelondon

Got myself into a bit of a pickle so would appreciate any EA advice.

Briefly the timeline of my situation is:

I saw a 3 bed house (small bedrooms) that I liked back in June but was too late and it went 'under offer' quickly so missed the boat.

Saw a 2 bed house in July , similar price but smaller, and the second bedroom is very small , just room for a single bed really, but in excellent condition, brand new boiler, white goods included so have put in an offer and this was accepted.
Mortgage all agreed and solicitors started the procedure and a survey is due to be done today.

However House number 1 sale has fallen through and the EA called me to say it is back on the market, and as owners need to sell as they are keen to move, so room for a bit of bargaining.

So even at this late stage, is it ethical to pull out of House no 2 (owners of this are not in any chain) and go back to House no 1 ?

It might cost in terms of solicitors and transferring mortgage but the house has better resale value as it is 3 bed as opposed to 1 and a half.

Sorry for the length of post , i guess I am asking is it too far gone to pull out of the sale to go back to the first house?

thanks
Pete

zfrl

You can pull out at any time until contract have been exchanged.

Ethics don't come into it, get the house that suits you best.

cattie

First of all try to find out if the sale fell through because of an issue highlighted on a survey.

You can pull out of a sale anytime up to exchange as previous poster has mentioned. Leaving owner's in the lurch after having an offer accepted is not a good thing to do, but at the end of the day you have to put yourself first.

It sounds as if this second house was second best, so rather than just settle for something that isn't quite what you want you'd be best to carry on looking for something that really appeals to you, even if you don't get the house you originally fancied that is now back on the market.

Good luck anyway.

mike5678

If you would prefer house 1 and are willing to lose house 2 for it then sod the owners of house 2 and go for house 1. You must also be aware that house 1 sale could also fall apart in future and you have to start again perhaps on house 3.

Forget the vendors feelings, worry about your own and your wallet.

zzzLazyDaisy

I agree. If you have already had the survey done on house number 2, I'd explain the situation to your solicitor and ask them not to do any more work on this purchase for the moment and play for time.

Then I'd put an offer in for house number 1 - I'd go in with a lower price, because assuming they are also purchasing another house they will not want to hold the chain up or lose their purchase, by waiting ages for a new buyer to come along. You may be able to negotiate a price that means you don't lose out by dropping out of house number 2.

If your offer is accepted, then you can pull out of house number 2 (it should only take a few days to get that far).