Cautionary tale - chain falls apart on exchange day

mjfusent

After agreeing our sale about 6 weeks ago we found a property shortly afterwards, the chain was checked out by all parties and we gradually came to all agree an exchange date of last Friday for completion a week later.

Driving to our Solicitors for a noon appointment to sign all the contracts we got a call from our buyer, their buyer (who had been pressing to be in and had been thouroghly checked out, had builders round for quotes etc) pulled out due to "personal reasons". No further reason has been forthcoming and they can't be reached by our buyers agents (not that it matters, the deal is off & that's that).

In the past I've done exchange & completion on the same day, I would never, ever, do this again as if we had done so this time we would have had our life packed in a removal van and be waiting outside the new house before we found out it was all off. As it is we're packed ready to move and will be loosing all our survey, search and Solicitors fees. To say I'm not happy with the legal side of property buying/selling in this country would be an understatement.

As far as I can tell we've been as careful as possbile and done nothing wrong, it just goes to show that the deal can fall apart at any time before exchange, something I always knew but until its happened to you, you don't fully appreciate.

Jorgan_2

Sorry to hear your news, its is very frustrating & annoying when it happens, I've been their myself & know exactly how you feel. As an agent I have to be the bearer of bad news on a regular basis, its not easy.

manhattan

there should be something changed in the law to stop this sort of thing.

but im not sure what could be done,to change this?

Poppy9

It's unfortunate but I don't think a change in law would be helpful. If the buyers circumstances change through redundancy, illness or death of a family member then a law forcing them to buy a property they can no longer afford would not be helpful and would probably have a big impact on the property market.

It's maddening when it happens but I have pulled out of a purchase once. We had wasted money on surveys etc when the sellers and agents knew full well that 3 other buyers had pulled out due to the surveys uncovering serious building problems. I think the sellers and agents should have paid our survey fee as they had lied to us when we asked if there were any problems with the house we should know about.

manhattan

i was just thinking about other peoples lost fees being paid by the person who doesnt go through with the sale,i wouldnt expect them to be forced to buy the house.

just cover other peoples lost fees.

mjfusent

Poppy9 wrote:

It's unfortunate but I don't think a change in law would be helpful. If the buyers circumstances change through redundancy, illness or death of a family member then a law forcing them to buy a property they can no longer afford would not be helpful and would probably have a big impact on the property market.

It's maddening when it happens but I have pulled out of a purchase once. We had wasted money on surveys etc when the sellers and agents knew full well that 3 other buyers had pulled out due to the surveys uncovering serious building problems. I think the sellers and agents should have paid our survey fee as they had lied to us when we asked if there were any problems with the house we should know about.

I understand people pulling out due to survey problems, and at least that usually happens early on in the process, this was different and much later, the surveys where all fine and everything was in place.

IF the first link pulled out due to genuine personal problems they of course have my sympathy but surely there could be some form of deposit on agreeing a sale (subject to or even after survey) or insurance to cover circumstances like this - through no fault of our own we're about £2k out of pocket and I think the rest of the chain is simiarly affecred...

BTW I think if you specifically ask an agent if a previous sale failed due to survey they are legally obliged to tell you.

Poppy9

I think insurance is the way to go otherwise if buyer 1 in a chain pulls out he would have to pay buyer 2 costs for buying property 3 who would have to pull out and meet buyer 3 costs and so on up the chain. If you are in a chain you wouldn't end up any better off as each person would have to meet the next level in the chain costs.

Re the survey. It was over 15 years ago but they were very slow in getting the survey to us and we had already instructed our solicitor who had started preparing paperwork, searches etc. I haven't moved for 10 years so don't know if they have speeded up in the time they take to do survey and issue report.

mystic_trev

another reason for HIP's

seven-day-weekend

Here in Spain, when you agree to buy a house, you pay the vendor a deposit. You then have six months to complete the sale. If by any chance you don't complete, you lose your deposit.

Seems fair enought to me.

EdInvestor

These days many people sell their property first and then rent while finding a property to buy. At least it cuts down the likelihood of breakdown if there's no chain in the first place.

Ems*Honie

We just lost a house because the vendor changed their mind about who to sell to and went back to a buyer who had pulled out previousley, this is after the vendors insisted we complete in three weeks and pressured me to push through 2 mortgages, luckily it hasnt cost us too much, but the amount of time and stress is making me livid.

I really sympathise with you OP, and agree that something should be done to prevent people pulling out and leaving people financially stuffed. I hope you find somewhere soon.