The system has to change!

fbrj

virgo149 wrote:

Having just returned from a lovely early skiing holiday yesterday, we open a letter from our solicitor informing us that our buyers have pulled out of their purchase 2 days before exchange. You can imagine how we are feeling at the moment.

:mad:

I agree - your situation is extremely frustrating. I think the real reason for your anger is that your buyers did not make matters any easier for you as they were not courteous enough to provide some sort of explanation....unfortunately the world is made up of such people!

You may never know the real reason - but if you had been told that the husband had just been made redundant, or his wife had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness....you would I'm sure have been far more understanding about their withdrawal.

One thing I thought slightly surprising.....was your solicitor informing you by post - why on earth didn't he pick up the phone and call you straight away with this important news - in this day and age (apart from the cost of the call being recharged to you!) - there isn't much difference between calling you at home and calling you while you are overseas!

ukbondraider

Sure the system is not ideal but like a buyer can pull out of the sale at the the last minute, a seller can equally gazump a buyer. I agree a better system would therefore be to make any offer legally binding but it doesnt look like that is going to happen any time soon.

However in the mean time surely the best way of buying a new house if you currently have a house is to sell your house first and then to rent if neccesary or camp at a relative's place for a short while. If everyone did this problems with buying a house would not be as common. In my opinion it is the chain thing that is the real crux of the buying and selling a house because it is essentially tailoring conditions to meet potentially many people. House buying should only involve two and only two parties. Its not like you would only sell your car the exact minute you buy a new one. Why should buying a house be different?

I think part of the solution to the house buying problem is that people need to change their approach to it.

magyar

ukbondraider wrote:

Sure the system is not ideal but like a buyer can pull out of the sale at the the last minute, a seller can equally gazump a buyer. I agree a better system would therefore be to make any offer legally binding but it doesnt look like that is going to happen any time soon.

Out of interest, can any of our Scottish friends comment on the practicality of this? I've always thought it must be nightmare: do you have to get a survey etc. before even making an offer on a house? Or can you pull out if the survey shows problems?

magyar

ukbondraider wrote:

However in the mean time surely the best way of buying a new house if you currently have a house is to sell your house first and then to rent if neccesary or camp at a relative's place for a short while. If everyone did this problems with buying a house would not be as common. In my opinion it is the chain thing that is the real crux of the buying and selling a house because it is essentially tailoring conditions to meet potentially many people. House buying should only involve two and only two parties. Its not like you would only sell your car the exact minute you buy a new one. Why should buying a house be different?

Not a bad idea in theory, but in practice it means stuff into storage, find somewhere to rent. It would cost quite a lot more.

I had a few weeks "in between houses" when we last moved and it was a nightmare... Imagine if you didn't know when you were going to get all your stuff back!

Mrs_pbradley936

I hope you get another buyer soon but can I just say that people used to buying and selling property are not surprised by this sort of thing, they are the ones telling you about the exchange being binding It is called experience and nobody else can give it to you. I am honestly heartbroken at some of the threads on here from usually young people who have done silly things and got themselves into trouble. They are naive and lack exposure to interest rates, insurance cancellations and lots of other perfectly lawful procedures which are costly unless handled properly. Those traps are obvious to those of us who have lived a bit longer, bought and sold a few properties, had a few insurance claims, mortgages and loans in short have encountered pitfalls in the past. So cheer up, every cloud has a silver lining and you have just had a bit of experience.

magyar

pbradley936 wrote:

I hope you get another buyer soon but can I just say that people used to buying and selling property are not surprised by this sort of thing, they are the ones telling you about the exchange being binding It is called experience and nobody else can give it to you. I am honestly heartbroken at some of the threads on here from usually young people who have done silly things and got themselves into trouble. They are naive and lack exposure to interest rates, insurance cancellations and lots of other perfectly lawful procedures which are costly unless handled properly. Those traps are obvious to those of us who have lived a bit longer, bought and sold a few properties, had a few insurance claims, mortgages and loans in short have encountered pitfalls in the past. So cheer up, every cloud has a silver lining and you have just had a bit of experience.

Well said. (I presume you're not implying the OP was 'naive' or 'silly'!)

ozskin

while i do feel sorry for your situation i have been through the scottish system too and wasted even more money than in england. Its v frustrating but that is the free market and allows people freedom of chioce, the hip packs are a joke and while the system is far from perfect i dont really see how it can be changed without seriously restricting us all for a situation much worse than the current status quo. maybee a 1% non refundable deposit is the answer. unfortunately its buyer beware

magyar

ozskin wrote:

unfortunately its buyer beware

A meaningless statement since you have no control over what you can beware of. The "free market" answer is rolled out all the time; we don't have a free market, we have a regulated market, and where you have regulations you can adapt them to make them appropriate.

BobProperty

magyar wrote:

I have to admit I didn't realise the Home Condition Report wasn't a mandatory part of the pack - merely "authorised".

That was the big "backdown" or whatever people want to call it. Anyone know if Kirsty has got compensation for the people who spent £1000's on training to be Home Inspectors? (thought not )

Hereward

ukbondraider wrote:

Sure the system is not ideal but like a buyer can pull out of the sale at the the last minute, a seller can equally gazump a buyer. I agree a better system would therefore be to make any offer legally binding but it doesnt look like that is going to happen any time soon.

However in the mean time surely the best way of buying a new house if you currently have a house is to sell your house first and then to rent if neccesary or camp at a relative's place for a short while. If everyone did this problems with buying a house would not be as common. In my opinion it is the chain thing that is the real crux of the buying and selling a house because it is essentially tailoring conditions to meet potentially many people. House buying should only involve two and only two parties. Its not like you would only sell your car the exact minute you buy a new one. Why should buying a house be different?

I think part of the solution to the house buying problem is that people need to change their approach to it.

When most people buy a car, and have one to get rid of, they sell it to the dealer they are making their purchase from as this saves them the time and hassle of having to sell it privately: they may not get the best price for it, but it is off their hands. A similar situation could be done with property with Estate Agents buying it, following their valuations, allowing the seller to move fairly quickly into their new home. This method would have the advantage of only ever having two people in the chain, and would make EA valuations close to the market value of the home (income for the EA would be the profit that they could generate from selling the property).