Vendor Pulled Out

karlm14

Mortgage accepted and approved last week after completion of survey and other reports.

Was expecting a phone call confirming a moving date 3-4 weeks down the line. No contracts in relation to the house had been signed yet.

Instead got a phone call to say she was pulling out of the deal.

I'm over £450 out of pocket and me and my girlfriend are devastated. This was to be our first bought house at the ages of 23 and 24. That's half of my GF's monthly wage just because someone who put their house up to sale in the first place decided she didn't want to proceed. There should be a law against it.

What will happen to my credit rating as I now don't need that mortgage ?
Wish I could take her to court.

anselld

That bad luck!

Nothing will happen to your credit rating.

enthusiasticsaver

I know it is disappointing and I agree that our system stinks in this country. The only thing I can say is that exactly the same thing happened to my daughter and son in law earlier on this year and they were devastated at the time but went on to find a better house. It is so annoying that you are so much out of pocket though and such a bad experience of house buying as FTBs. Had the vendor not found a house to move into?

AdrianC

Up until exchange of contracts, all you have is an agreement to work towards buying the place. Either of you can just walk away if your circumstances change or you change your mind. As you say, no contract had been signed. There is nothing to sue for.

At what stage WOULD you like the deal to be legally binding? The offer being accepted? What if, when your solicitor and surveyor do the job you're paying them for, they find something that puts you off?

Pont

How about as per France?

Offer made, offer accepted, 8 days 'cooling off' period allowed (both sides).

After 8 days 10% of agreed purchase price handed over by both sides.

If either side doesn't complete, other side get the 10%.

Ain't rocket science!

karlm14

She also had an onward purchase that she pulled the plug on.

Decided after the process has been going on since July that she was too stressed to move.

If like the process to be legally binding as soon as surveys are complete. To me that was the deal breaker. She wanted to sell and we certainly wanted to buy.

AdrianC

karlm14 wrote: »

If like the process to be legally binding as soon as surveys are complete.

And if you don't have a survey?

What if a showstopper crops up in the legals? We pulled out of a flat purchase at a late stage when it became clear the lease wouldn't allow letting, and the freeholder had no intention of changing it.

Or something external throws a spanner in the works? When we bought this house, it'd been on the market for a couple of years because of a planning battle over hunt kennels two fields away. If we'd been in the late stages when that started, you wouldn't have seen us for dust. A friend's house had the HS2 route announced to be 25m from the back fence.

davidmcn

Pont wrote: »

How about as per France?

Offer made, offer accepted, 8 days 'cooling off' period allowed (both sides).

After 8 days 10% of agreed purchase price handed over by both sides.

If either side doesn't complete, other side get the 10%.

Ain't rocket science!

How many purchasers have their mortgage offer within 8 days?

Davesnave

Let's get things into perspective.

In the field of human tragedy, this is not devastation, it's a blip....

Buying, owning and selling houses is sometimes like this. You either accept that before you get involved, or you stay renting....

....and frankly, that's no bed of roses either!

arbrighton

karlm14 wrote: »

She also had an onward purchase that she pulled the plug on.

Decided after the process has been going on since July that she was too stressed to move.

If like the process to be legally binding as soon as surveys are complete. To me that was the deal breaker. She wanted to sell and we certainly wanted to buy.

It's not much fun as a vendor when your purchaser pulls out either....

sarah_diamond

Karl, who is your mortgage with? I'm a FTB and my vendor pulled out in September and I was gutted too but Halifax have confirmed they will refund the first survey fee on completion so I've gone ahead with another house now (and had to pay the 2nd survey fee last week).

It's worked out for me as I've found a house in my preferred location now (albeit a few Ks more expensive than the first house) which is a slightly better area.

I'm still nervous though as scared this one will pull the plug too, however they were being messed about by their previous buyer apparently which is how I ended up going to see it after the vendor put it back on the market....

Good luck with the search!