Withdrawing an offer

fairy_lights

Hi All,
How common is it for a buyer to withdraw an offer that has been accepted?
Me and my OH are first time buyers and last week put an offer on a house which was accepted. Which was fantastic, until we looked at the recently approved planning application for an area of fields directly opposite the property. The development that's going to be built there in the next few years is much, much, bigger than we had thought and while it won't overlook the house, there will be a lot of traffic noise which I'm not sure I can live with, plus we're concerned how it will affect the value of the property.
We're not 100% certain yet but will likely be withdrawing our offer.
I feel terrible for messing the vendors round and in hindsight should have taken a look at the plans before we put our offer in.
What concerns me is that the estate agents the property is advertised though will not take us seriously if we want to view any of their other properties, will they mark us down as timewasters?

Mojisola

You've got a good reason for withdrawing so explain why rather than just pulling out.

The sooner you do it, the faster the house can be back on the market.

Snakey

Well given that your alternative is to buy a property you don't want, you don't have much choice! Make sure you explain your reasons as this will be useful feedback, and by all means apologise for the inconvenience to the agent and the seller because that's only polite, but you aren't doing anything wrong and they will just have to think what they like. Nobody's paid out any actual money at this point.

I don't think it's uncommon. I was about the eighth person to make an offer on this flat, two of the previous offers had been accepted but in both cases the buyer dropped out. Nothing's binding until exchange of contracts and only a fool would assume that an offer and acceptance is as good as money in the bank (or a house in the pocket). My deal nearly fell through with only a week to go, and the one before that really did fall through with only a week to go. C'est la vie.

cloo

It's not uncommon... people get cold feet, find out new information, realise their finances aren't up to it or whatever. You have a sound reason you can give.

fairy_lights

Thanks all.
We're going to have a final going over of the plans tonight and make our final decision but it's highly likely we'll withdraw. Shame because we absolutely love the house but I don't think it would be wise to buy something we're already having doubts about.
I'll call the agent tomorrow and explain why we're pulling out, though to be honest I don't think they'll be surprised. The vendors told us they were selling because they were getting itchy feet and wanted a new challenge, but in hindsight the fact that major works are being started in the next few months has probably had something to do with their decision to jump ship.

Hedgehog99

Assume your offer was "subject to contract"?
This is the time you would have asked your solicitor to do the searches etc & something such as the field opposite being due to be built on would come up. That's a justified reason to withdraw your offer.

phoebe1989seb

When buying our previous house we pulled out of two purchases relatively early on in the process, one because we discovered some new builds were about to be erected on land immediately behind *our* garden completely obscuring the view of open farmland that was one of our reasons for offering in the first place......

Both the vendor and EA were less than honest - in fact the EA told outright lies regarding what was being built - so we had no scruples about withdrawing

Far better to pull out now than buy somewhere you'll live to regret (done that too, lol!).......

TheCyclingProgrammer

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

Assume your offer was "subject to contract"?

Who explicitly states this? Surely all offers are subject to contract (in England and Wales)?

Hedgehog99

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Who explicitly states this? Surely all offers are subject to contract (in England and Wales)?

"Sold" signs usually have a tiny "S.T.C" if you look closely, unless contracts have been exchanged. Looks good for the EA is "For Sale" is quickly replaced with "Sold". It is wise to make it clear that your offer is STC, just in case the searches show up something that means you want to pull out.

Herbalus

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

"Sold" signs usually have a tiny "S.T.C" if you look closely, unless contracts have been exchanged. Looks good for the EA is "For Sale" is quickly replaced with "Sold". It is wise to make it clear that your offer is STC, just in case the searches show up something that means you want to pull out.

Not quite sure what you mean. If you exchange then you're legally bound to buy the house, but the OP only put the offer in last week so there's no chance of that. The 'Sold STC' actually means not sold, but offer accepted. All offers are STC. After exchange of contracts the sale is legally binding, and it's not like it's an offer any more, but a legally binding purchase price.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

"Sold" signs usually have a tiny "S.T.C" if you look closely, unless contracts have been exchanged. Looks good for the EA is "For Sale" is quickly replaced with "Sold". It is wise to make it clear that your offer is STC, just in case the searches show up something that means you want to pull out.

Irrelevant. If you make an offer, you don't have to say "subject to contract". It's implicit. Without an exchanged contract, you can pull out at any time, for any reason.