Who is lying: 'cash' buyer or EA?

Surrey_EA

It sounds like the prospective buyer misrepresented their position, and the EA didn't bother investigating the situation properly.

getmore4less

everyone is a cash buyer,

you don't accept anything other than cash when you sell.

Where that money comes from is the key question to be asking and getting answers too,

money in the bank
house sale
mortgage/loan
gifts
sale of other assets(eg shares)
or combination.

6am

OP here. Thank you for your replies. I will raise my hand and say that it is probably all my fault for not asking the precise questions. I have spoken to EA. It appears that they knew that the buyer needs to sell their house. However we somehow got an impression that the buyer has cash in the bank and was ready to proceed. I will assume misunderstanding.

EA suggests to remarket the house. However I do not understand their reason. Apart from the fact that we now know that the buyer does not have cash in the bank nothing has changed.

How do people deal with long delays? We ourselves are struggling to find the house to buy. We were looking for a new house for several weeks now and results do not look rosy. What if we will not be able to find the house in next 6 months. What if at some point we will be so disappointed with our inability to find the next house that we will want to stop the search process. I want to be honest with our buyer that it might happen. I know that according to law anybody can walk out at any point before exchange however it leaves a bad impression. And for some reason I care about that (I should probably develop thicker skin).

Would somebody clarify what does "ready to proceed" mean? This is a term that is used a lot and it probably has several meanings as well.

pinkteapot

6am wrote: »

How do people deal with long delays? We ourselves are struggling to find the house to buy. We were looking for a new house for several weeks now and results do not look rosy. What if we will not be able to find the house in next 6 months. What if at some point we will be so disappointed with our inability to find the next house that we will want to stop the search process. I want to be honest with our buyer that it might happen. I know that according to law anybody can walk out at any point before exchange however it leaves a bad impression. And for some reason I care about that (I should probably develop thicker skin).

It took us a few months to find something, as we wanted a specific estate and houses come up rarely. We were honest with our buyer when they viewed, and our EA contacted them every week or two to keep them happy and emphasise that we were still looking/waiting.

Our buyer hung on because they were getting our house at a good price. I would have totally understood if they'd pulled out to buy something else, and they knew that.

Just be honest. Beyond that, it's up to your buyer. Don't worry about their feelings - they're free to walk away.

If you'd said "You can definitely have the house by Christmas." then yes, you should feel bad. But you didn't - by the sounds of it you have been honest and that's all you can do.

Keep telling them you're looking while you're looking. If you decide not to sell after all, tell them ASAP.

AnotherJoe

6am wrote: »

OP here. Thank you for your replies. I will raise my hand and say that it is probably all my fault for not asking the precise questions. I have spoken to EA. It appears that they knew that the buyer needs to sell their house. However we somehow got an impression that the buyer has cash in the bank and was ready to proceed. I will assume misunderstanding.

EA suggests to remarket the house. However I do not understand their reason. Apart from the fact that we now know that the buyer does not have cash in the bank nothing has changed.

How do people deal with long delays? They eventually walk away. We ourselves are struggling to find the house to buy. We were looking for a new house for several weeks now and results do not look rosy. What if we will not be able to find the house in next 6 months. What if at some point we will be so disappointed with our inability to find the next house that we will want to stop the search process. Then you cancel the whole thing. I want to be honest with our buyer that it might happen. I'm sure they know that. I know that according to law anybody can walk out at any point before exchange however it leaves a bad impression. And for some reason I care about that (I should probably develop thicker skin). Yes you absolutely should.

Would somebody clarify what does "ready to proceed" mean? This is a term that is used a lot and it probably has several meanings as well.

It means the buyer has a confirmed offer (or has cash or a mortgage offer and nothing to sell).

Your buyer, in essence, is not ready to proceed.

I think you should put it back on the market because suppose you find your dream house this weekend? You wont be ready to proceed because your buyer isn't, so what incentive does your prospective vendor have to accept an offer from you, as its all theoretical? It could be of course they cant find anywhere either and are happy to accept an offer as long as you wait. And so the problem is pushed up the chain.

There's no reason you cant tell your buyer that your acceptance remains open until the point that your vendors want a firm chain in place. Because someone that can buy from you may not be happy to wait indefinitely.

This is one of the many reasons why 30% of chains fall through.