Withdrawing offer after putting one in

d0nkeyk0ng

We went to see a house at the weekend. I was happy with it. Fianc! wasn't 100%. We agreed to put an offer in and it will be put to the vendor.

If it gets accepted, and we decide to say no, are there any problems or ramifications? We low-balled it so I suspect it won't get accepted anyway.

Dan-Dan

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

We went to see a house at the weekend. I was happy with it. Fianc! wasn't 100%. We agreed to put an offer in and it will be put to the vendor.

If it gets accepted, and we decide to say no, are there any problems or ramifications? We low-balled it so I suspect it won't get accepted anyway.

You sound like a couple of chancers , i wish anyone you try to buy a house from , good luck

rosie383

Don't worry. It happens a lot. As a vendor though, I would say that if the offer is accepted and your gut says not to proceed, do the decent thing and speak up sooner rather than later. You have nothing to lose and it's only fair on the vendor.
I don't really understand why you did put in an offer though if you didn't really want it. It's frustrating for the vendor.

d0nkeyk0ng

Not chancers but FTBs and it's hard to find a place that we're both 100% happy with. I think i tend to happy with most places and fiance will find something she's not happy with.

It was £5k under asking.

Dan-Dan

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

Not chancers but FTBs and it's hard to find a place that we're both 100% happy with. I think i tend to happy with most places and fiance will find something she's not happy with.

It was £5k under asking.

Then you should keep looking , instead of making half hearted offers that will only cause stress and heartache all round

BlaEm

Dan-Dan wrote: »

You sound like a couple of chancers , i wish anyone you try to buy a house from , good luck

I'd say chancers is a bit harsh! It's not like these guys have offered on multiple places to see which one bites. Depending on the market it may not be possible to have 2nd, 3rd, 4th viewings and weeks to mull it over, so you need to go with your gut.

To answer your question OP, there are no legal ramifications of pulling out at any stage before exchange, you'll only lose financially if you've instructed solicitors, surveys etc.

However, if your offer is accepted and you then withdraw, expect that the particular EA is likely to consider you to not be serious buyers and as a result I would consider anything else on their books to be effectively off limits.
I don't believe there is such a thing as 'black listing' a buyer, so you should be okay with other agents!

rosie383 wrote: »

... do the decent thing and speak up sooner rather than later.

^ This. The vendor shouldn't have to lose out on viewings etc, or start spending money on their upward chain thinking that their's is now complete.

rosie383 wrote: »

I don't really understand why you did put in an offer though if you didn't really want it. It's frustrating for the vendor.

Also this. Have you and your fianc!e agreed on your list of deal breakers and nice-to-have's? Have you been viewing a lot of properties?
It's difficult trying to compromise just on one set of wants, let alone two - do make absolutely sure you're both happy or it'll cause disagreements down the line.

d0nkeyk0ng

I think the way we both see it is that our first home is where we will live for 4-5 years before moving on to a larger property. So we're both making compromises already. Mostly this boils down to location, and need for garage (even if just storage type). Also downstairs WC.

Some properties we liked have gone way above asking. Others just dont feel right. This one has a smallish open plan kitchen. Another we saw was perfect but every room seemed to be smaller eg couldnt get a 3 piece suite in easily.

jimbog

The local estate agents will very quickly ignore you - so there'll be no further ramifications on any vendors and agents in the locality

rosie383

I agree with an earlier poster that the EA will probably say to other vendors that you aren't serious buyers, we have heard that from ours about various viewers, but it's really none of their business. If your offer is accepted, pull out as soon as you get the acceptance call. Easier for all concerned and it will be a weight off your shoulders too if you don't really want to go ahead.
Actually, thinking about it as a vendor, if you aren't going to buy the house, withdraw your offer now before your vendor spends time and emotion deciding whether to accept only for you to pull out.

Mickygg

Why put an offer in if not sure? There will be no issues withdrawing your offer, unfortunately.

d0nkeyk0ng

Keeping it short - I'm happy with it. Fiance is ~80% happy with it so we put the offer in. Fiance then texted that she wasnt sure which is when i posted the thread. That's where I wasn't sure what should happen. I've put in offers twice before and it's only ever been on properties that I definitely wanted (and each time the other offers were way above my maximum).

We've since talked it over and we are still happy with the offer and we aren't going to withdraw.