Pulling out of my sale

TBagpuss

As others have said, as you have nt exchanges you are free to withdraw. You do not owe them anything. You are not even under any obligation to tell them why you are pulling out.

It is very unfortunate for your buyers,and if you want to make a generous gesture you can. I don't think you are morally obliged to pay them anything - we may not like the current system of house sales but anyone buying a house is facing the same risks.

You also need to look at things from a practical point of view. Presumably you ex was continuing financially - can you afford to make a gesture to the buyers, even if you want to?

If you do decide to offer them anything, speak to your solicitor first. Make sure that it is clear that you are offering it purely because you recognise that your *entirely legal* decision will, unfortunately, cause them problems and that you are giving them a gesture of good will. Offer a specific sum, not anything open ended.

As they had a survey, you could offer to buy this. They recoup some of their costs, you get a survey which could highlight any future expenses you may face on the flat.

For what it's worth, I had sellers pull out on a house purchase at a similar stage in the process. I was gutted, but knew I would get none of the money I'd spent back. It sucks, but it's how it works. What I found most stressful was not knowing why. It might be helpful for your former buyers to know that the sale has fallen through due to a change in your circumstances, not sue to anything they did or didn't do, or culd have done differently.

Audrey_Wright

I think you're free of obligation even morally (nothing to say about legally).

I mean, yes, it's kind of hurtful to your buyers, but have a chat with them, explain the situation and I'm pretty sure they will understand. If they don't, I wouldn't feel even slightly bad, about their investment and interest in the property.
We're all humans and these things happen and can happen at any given moment, so if their not humane about your loss, it only reflects on how morally dead these people are and I wouldn't care less if they spent 20 dollars and two thousand...

akuma

Audrey_Wright wrote: »

I think you're free of obligation even morally (nothing to say about legally).

I mean, yes, it's kind of hurtful to your buyers, but have a chat with them, explain the situation and I'm pretty sure they will understand. If they don't, I wouldn't feel even slightly bad, about their investment and interest in the property.
We're all humans and these things happen and can happen at any given moment, so if their not humane about your loss, it only reflects on how morally dead these people are and I wouldn't care less if they spent 20 dollars and two thousand...

I wonder if you would say the same if you were in the buyers position.

PollyOnAMission

TBagpuss wrote: »

If you do decide to offer them anything, speak to your solicitor first. Make sure that it is clear that you are offering it purely because you recognise that your *entirely legal* decision will, unfortunately, cause them problems and that you are giving them a gesture of good will. Offer a specific sum, not anything open ended.

As they had a survey, you could offer to buy this. They recoup some of their costs, you get a survey which could highlight any future expenses you may face on the flat.

I think buying the survey sounds like a great idea!

ndi149

Thank you all for your comments, I did tell the buyers my reason for pulling out, as I felt it was the least I owed them. I think the comments on buying the survey off them is a very fair thing to do, so that they can hopefully use the money towards their future purchase.

jaylee3

Sorry it went pear-shaped. Good luck with whatever you do.

Paul_the_Painter

Something to think about is that you will probably owe your estate agent their fee. Most contracts will include a term such as their fee becomes due when they introduce a proceedable buyer.
The agent have done their job, and they will will want paying.
Don't get over generous with your buyer until you have established how much you owe the agent. (They may well negotiate on the amount you owe them, if anything, as having cash in the bank now is with more than an ongoing legal action to recover it from you)