When would you tell your seller?

ccskitten

Good evening all

I've been lurking on this forum for a few months now and thought it was about time to say hello.

I accepted an offer on my house at the end of May and had my offer accepted on a 5 bed doer upper on 1 June. There were 6 people in the chain. I was number 4. Everything has been going very smoothly and we were due to exchange this week and complete next week. Last week disaster struck and buyer number one pulled out. Buyer 2, 3 and myself are back on the market to desperately complete the chain. I have a 3 bed semi so am likely to attract a FTB. My buyer has a 4 bed semi detached bungalow so is likely to attract another chain.

I had 4 viewings over the weekend and a FTB did put an offer in. Unfortunately they also had an offer accepted on a slightly larger property and therefore withdrew their offer on mine.

My question is regarding my seller. When I spoke to my solicitors last week they said that as I am likely to find a buyer quite quickly it might be an idea to put off telling my seller in case they want to put their house on the market. I'm beginning to feel incredibly guilty about this. I don't think they are in a rush to exchange as they haven't chased the sale once through the whole process. They were on the market for a year before my offer. It was my buyer who was wanting to complete next week. My seller has always been very laid back. What would you do in my situation? I don't want to lose the house but I also don't like this feeling of guilt.

DebtFree2012

Go with your gut and after the weekend I would update them.

ccskitten

I'm thinking about changing my pricing format to help with the sale. I'm currently on for £180k. I'm thinking of changing it to offers in excess of £173k. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? £173k is the minimum I could accept.

Davesnave

Don't go OIEO as it may put some people off, especially at the odd figure of £173k .

Far better to go at £177k without any caveats or indications of your bottom line.

ccskitten

Thank you Davesnave.

silvercar

The minute they see your advert changed they will know something is up. They may have their own reasons for not pushing it. I would at least wait until Monday morning before saying anything.

Prothet_of_Doom

Just LIE and use smoke and mirrors, and hope that Karma is made up.

Angry today, but when did being open and honest become so unfashionable.

Tell them as soon as you can, explain, exactly what you are doing, and how you are open to suggestions.

Jon_B_2

Ask yourself this. How would you feel if your buyer didn't tell you?

DandelionPatrol

Ccskitten wrote: »

we were due to exchange this week and complete next week. Last week disaster struck and buyer number one pulled out.

As you were so close, there is going to be a considerable delay and there is no hiding it. You need to deliver the news ASAP after it becomes a certainty.

Yes, you may lose your onward purchase. If you do, the quicker you can start on your new plans. But you are more likely to retain the onward purchase if you declare a problem before they get suspicious and start asking about it.

Melaniep101

This exact same issue happened to us last week on the day of exchange. I contacted our vendors EA immediately to make him aware of it, and to say that we were still very much committed to the sale, but that we were going back on the market. I don't see any point in keeping this from your vendors, I'd tell them sooner rather than later.

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...once distrust sets in then it will only multiply.

Tell it like it is and then keep fingers crossed.