On fourth buyer - should I stay hopeful or withdraw from market?

ElsieMonkey

We have been selling our property on and off for the last year, and are now on our 4th buyer! We have had so much bad luck. Last autumn first buyer pulled out because he was going through a divorce and decided he could no longer afford it, second buyers were very young and rudely just went AWOL we never heard from them again! By then we were edging close to Christmas and the market was dead, so we withdrew from the market. April this year we came back on the market again and sold in 2 weeks, 3 months down the line, after survey done and all good, mortgage approved etc, pretty much at exchange of contracts, this buyer pulled out without any explanation, just a one liner from her solicitor to our estate agent! Now we have accepted an offer from a fourth buyer.

This current buyer put a very low offer in a few months back, then when saw that we had come back on the market due to losing our previous buyer came back to us. We've gradually pushed her offer up to something acceptable to us and then accepted this at the start of this week.

It has been a few days since we accepted the offer. So far the buyer has provided a mortgage in principle, but the max lending limit on this is 60k less than the purchase price agreed! So the EA has asked for proof of funds for the remainder (she's going to need a big deposit)!

I'm getting so tired of all this, the last year has been a rollercoaster. We were planning on taking the property off the market during this quiet summer period, and re-launch mid-september, but then this offer came along.

My question is:
How long do you think I should give the buyer to supply proof of extra funds (would this be a bank statement?) before we say forget it and just go back to our plan of withdrawing from the market?
Or is it better to withdraw anyway and re-launch when things hopefully pick up in September? (I'm aware that we can't achieve the best price when the market is so quiet in summer, we have accepted slightly lower offer from this buyer than we achieved previously).

Thanks for your thoughts...

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

Rightmove link?

LittleMax

I am assuming she does not have a property to sell. If not, and the other option is withdraw until September I don't think you've got much to lose by allowing her to proceed. However I would let her know clearly from the outset what the milestones are and that you expect exchange within 6 weeks.

I would also instruct the estate agent to remove the property from Rightmove and wherever else you have it rather than having it marked as SSTC. Then if it does fall through you appear the same to new potential buyers as if you had withdrawn it.

hazyjo

Well, I'm quite pessimistic (or a 'realistic pessimist' as I prefer), but I would still continue in your shoes. I think you've just been unlucky. Sounds like one was only really ever at offer stage.


Do you have somewhere to buy?


I'd just keep chasing the EA to see if she's provided proof of funds.


People are still being cautious when buying at the mo so there's no guarantee you'll get more in Sept.


Chances are, if you are buying, you'll get a better deal too at the mo.


Jx

ElsieMonkey

LittleMax wrote: »

I am assuming she does not have a property to sell. If not, and the other option is withdraw until September I don't think you've got much to lose by allowing her to proceed. However I would let her know clearly from the outset what the milestones are and that you expect exchange within 6 weeks.

I would also instruct the estate agent to remove the property from Rightmove and wherever else you have it rather than having it marked as SSTC. Then if it does fall through you appear the same to new potential buyers as if you had withdrawn it.

Yes you're right she's a first time buyer. All of our buyers/viewers have been.

I was wondering about removing the property from Rightmove too so as to appear new when/if we have to re-launch. I think I put off from asking as I thought the EA would want to advertise that they have sold something, but you're right I will go back to the EA and ask for this. I've been messed about so much over the last year need to start putting myself first.

ElsieMonkey

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays wrote: »

Rightmove link?

Not wanting to provide the link to the property in case our buyer is on here/stumbles across it! That would be awkward!

pinkteapot

I just think you've been exceptionally unlucky. I know people who have had time-waster buyers, but normally only one before they get a decent buyer! If the agreement in principle just shows the amount the bank are willing to lend, she may well have the rest as a deposit, family gift, etc. If it shows the total house purchase price possible including her deposit then it's a problem. The agent should be able to understand an AIP.

Hard as it is, don't let your previous experiences make you too paranoid about this buyer. When exactly did the EA ask for proof of funds? It might take her a couple of days to get statements etc. Good indicator is how promptly she instructs a solicitor, and your sense from the viewing of how on the ball she is. Your EA can keep in touch with her and ask her for updates.

At this stage, I can't see anything that would make me pull out and re-market. Give her a week and see what progress has been made.

ElsieMonkey

hazyjo wrote: »

Well, I'm quite pessimistic (or a 'realistic pessimist' as I prefer), but I would still continue in your shoes. I think you've just been unlucky. Sounds like one was only really ever at offer stage.


Do you have somewhere to buy?


I'd just keep chasing the EA to see if she's provided proof of funds.


People are still being cautious when buying at the mo so there's no guarantee you'll get more in Sept.


Chances are, if you are buying, you'll get a better deal too at the mo.


Jx

Thank you. Yes that was our thinking. We accepted slightly lower offer from her than we had before or would have ideally liked, but as the market is so dead during the summer and viewings have dried up, plus we were going to take it off the market anyway, we thought we had nothing to lose from accepting and see how things pan out. If it doesn't look like it's working out over next few weeks we haven't lost anything and can still re-launch mid-sept like we thought to anyway. And yes I also agree that come Sept no guarantee we will achieve better anyway.

We're going into rented short term to give us time to find a house to buy (moving outside of London). We have an offer accepted on a house but the woman selling, if I'm honest, isn't motivated and is playing a game in order to avoid reposession from the bank as far as I can tell (that's another story/thread)! She's a bit of a fruit-loop and I'm not confident the purchase will happen. But the purchase isn't linked to our sale so I'm not concerned about that at this stage. Anything we do buy will need some renovation anyway, whether we continue with this purchase or not, so renting for a while to buy and give us time to do the property up...

david1951

ElsieMonkey wrote: »

So far the buyer has provided a mortgage in principle, but the max lending limit on this is 60k less than the purchase price agreed! So the EA has asked for proof of funds for the remainder (she's going to need a big deposit)!

A 60K deposit isn't unusual, even for a first time buyer. Request immediate confirmation that they have instructed a solicitor and go from there.

ElsieMonkey

pinkteapot wrote: »

I just think you've been exceptionally unlucky. I know people who have had time-waster buyers, but normally only one before they get a decent buyer! If the agreement in principle just shows the amount the bank are willing to lend, she may well have the rest as a deposit, family gift, etc. If it shows the total house purchase price possible including her deposit then it's a problem. The agent should be able to understand an AIP.

Hard as it is, don't let your previous experiences make you too paranoid about this buyer. When exactly did the EA ask for proof of funds? It might take her a couple of days to get statements etc. Good indicator is how promptly she instructs a solicitor, and your sense from the viewing of how on the ball she is. Your EA can keep in touch with her and ask her for updates.

At this stage, I can't see anything that would make me pull out and re-market. Give her a week and see what progress has been made.

Thanks so much. You've made me feel better! You're right, I'm ultra sensitive and paranoid now, I don't trust anyone lol! I expect to be messed around now and it's made me a bit hard towards people (or at least want to be) in order to protect ourselves from more heartache and upset. I actually don't know how I'm still holding it together!

I didn't realise an AIP can include deposit too? This is something I will check with the EA, thank you.

The buyer was cautious and very thoughtful with her increases in offers over a course of a couple of months, which indicates to me that hopefully she has fully understood her budget and wasn't rushing into things. (Wishful thinking).

She provided her AIP yesterday and the EA then asked for proof of extra funds to cover the remainder of the purchase price. So yes let's give her the weekend, by Monday should be plenty of time to provide these docs I should think?

Clutterfree

If she only banks online, she *may* have to request a paper statement from her bank because most EA and solicitors won't accept a print out. This could take a week to arrive so allow time for that.

We emailed our EA and solicitor a copy in lieu of the original which we gave them the following week.

Good luck!