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Buyer pulled out...
kaflinkle
Posts: 137 Forumite
Our buyer has pulled out with only a few weeks to go to exchange/completion.
I am more angry with the estate agents at this point though;
Originally we had 3 offers:
Someone who is going to buy the house as an investment and rent it out. Trying to negotiate price but we wouldn't cave so he offered full asking price.
A retired couple in which the man was not in the best of health but they loved the house and ended up asking £5K over.
A couple who are 1st time buyers who also offered the full asking price.
I wanted to go with the retired couple as they were very keen and after they'd sold their house, they didn't need a mortgage. Less hassle I thought (the £5K over asking price didn't really bother me as they put that in later as they were very keen).
The estate agent advised to go with the investor. I didn't want to as he had tried to offer ridiculously low first of all. The estate agent said that the retired couple were selling their home in Barkingside and that could cause issues because Indians are buying it and they are unreliable and tricky with money (when someone starts a sentence with "I'm not being racist but..." you generally know what's coming). They also said that because the man is not in the best of health, he may die before exchange (a bit harsh I thought).
In the end we took their advice because they probably know what they're talking about (I really didn't know I was that naive).
Fast forward all the fees we've paid out and now they've pulled out.
Turns out that they only had a mortgage in principle and only a few searches had been completed. The survey had been done weeks ago which makes me think they didn't get the mortgage for whatever reason.
My point is that surely our estate agent should've been on top of this as the estate agent working for the people we are buying from have been all over us and our bank in regards to our mortgage offer and searches which is the correct thing to do.
Turns out that our buyer was getting his mortgage through the estate agent which is probably why they were so keen on us choosing him.
It just seems so underhand and the law really needs to change so when you make an offer on a property, if expense has been incured from solicitors fees or whatever, the person pulling out has to incur these costs plus a small percentage.
Now I'm franticaly trying to sell again so our sellers don't get cld feet and put it back on the market.
I am more angry with the estate agents at this point though;
Originally we had 3 offers:
Someone who is going to buy the house as an investment and rent it out. Trying to negotiate price but we wouldn't cave so he offered full asking price.
A retired couple in which the man was not in the best of health but they loved the house and ended up asking £5K over.
A couple who are 1st time buyers who also offered the full asking price.
I wanted to go with the retired couple as they were very keen and after they'd sold their house, they didn't need a mortgage. Less hassle I thought (the £5K over asking price didn't really bother me as they put that in later as they were very keen).
The estate agent advised to go with the investor. I didn't want to as he had tried to offer ridiculously low first of all. The estate agent said that the retired couple were selling their home in Barkingside and that could cause issues because Indians are buying it and they are unreliable and tricky with money (when someone starts a sentence with "I'm not being racist but..." you generally know what's coming). They also said that because the man is not in the best of health, he may die before exchange (a bit harsh I thought).
In the end we took their advice because they probably know what they're talking about (I really didn't know I was that naive).
Fast forward all the fees we've paid out and now they've pulled out.
Turns out that they only had a mortgage in principle and only a few searches had been completed. The survey had been done weeks ago which makes me think they didn't get the mortgage for whatever reason.
My point is that surely our estate agent should've been on top of this as the estate agent working for the people we are buying from have been all over us and our bank in regards to our mortgage offer and searches which is the correct thing to do.
Turns out that our buyer was getting his mortgage through the estate agent which is probably why they were so keen on us choosing him.
It just seems so underhand and the law really needs to change so when you make an offer on a property, if expense has been incured from solicitors fees or whatever, the person pulling out has to incur these costs plus a small percentage.
Now I'm franticaly trying to sell again so our sellers don't get cld feet and put it back on the market.
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Comments
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My point is that surely our estate agent should've been on top of this as the estate agent working for the people we are buying from have been all over us and our bank in regards to our mortgage offer and searches which is the correct thing to do.
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Yes - absolutely.
When you're 'interviewing' EAs when they come to value your house, and deciding which one to give your business to, that's the sort of thing you should be evaluating. How good will they be at progressing a sale?
As an aside, that's one reason I am dubious about cheap 'fixed-fee up-front' EAs. They have no incentive to do this vital part of the sales process.0 -
Change estate agent, this one is even more "only out for themselves" than usual
The fact is that while in a normal setup, your estate agent's interest and yours align fairly well - you want to sell the house for as much as possible, as quickly as possible - they may have other vested interests which can mean they stop acting in your best interests.
Personally I'd never take advice on price drops (they lose 1% of the reduction while I lose 99% of it) or, after reading this post, who to sell the house to.
Perhaps we need to see EAs more as purely an advertising/marketing agency, rather than someone "on our side" helping us get the best deal."You did not pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You were lucky enough to come of age at a time when housing was cheap, welfare was generous, and inflation was high enough to wipe out any debts you acquired. I’m pleased for you, but please stop being so unbearably smug about it."0 -
Never let your EA select your buyer.
Sorry to hear that OP, Get it back on with someone else sharpish and see if your other interested parties are still available before you ditch them!0 -
I could kick myself for not trusting my own instincts.
The current EA is now throwing people at us and our house is very marketable but come Tuesday, I am going to switch. To be honest I don't have faith in any of them.
My dad once said that all these companies are crap, you might as well go with the cheapest. He was refering to energy companies but I think these days it can be applied to any business.0 -
I could kick myself for not trusting my own instincts.
The current EA is now throwing people at us and our house is very marketable but come Tuesday, I am going to switch. To be honest I don't have faith in any of them.
My dad once said that all these companies are crap, you might as well go with the cheapest. He was refering to energy companies but I think these days it can be applied to any business.
Your dad is a wise man - and yes, especially this EA:mad:. Is Tuesday when your contract with them expires? Doublecheck the smallprint to make sure they haven't got fees/tie-in etc due to them.0 -
It's not the lovely Connells is it? So many shenanigans going on with that lot that it wouldn't surprise me.Father Ted: Now concentrate this time, Dougal. These
(he points to some plastic cows on the table) are very small; those (pointing at some cows out of the window) are far away...
:D:D0 -
No it's not Connell's and I won't say who it is except to say it's not one of the big chains.
They are now just throwing people at us to try and get a sale which feels like mud at a wall.
I will check the contract but I think the time is lapsed now and they know it.0 -
It's not the lovely Connells is it? So many shenanigans going on with that lot that it wouldn't surprise me.
This ^
Connells were our buyer's EA last year and they recommended our buyer accept an offer from an investor before the house hit RM etc. As the investor (a woman - not that it necessarily makes a difference, but just to prove it's not only male investors that are heartless!) was offering asking price they agreed.
Fast-forward a few weeks and we were all set to exchange. The investor - knowing how keen our buyers were to secure our house - suddenly dropped their offer by 4% and our buyers didn't like to say no......
OP, sorry this has happened to you and hope you find another buyer very soon, but as other posters have said it's definitely wise to go with your own instincts and don't choose a buyer that has some sort of connection to the EA.....Mortgage-free for fourteen years!
Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed0 -
No it's not Connell's and I won't say who it is except to say it's not one of the big chains.
They are now just throwing people at us to try and get a sale which feels like mud at a wall.
I will check the contract but I think the time is lapsed now and they know it.
Every EA contract I've ever seen has a cancellation notice period. Sometimes it's 2 weeks, but more often it's 4 weeks.0
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