Offer accepted - strange circumstances

kilby_007

We offered on a house in October - 5K over asking price, but we were gazumped by a cash buyer. We were told there were other cash buyers lined up for it and we gave it up as a bad job (we were pretty gutted though as it had so much potential). I've driven past this property frequently with the "sold" sign etching a permanent reminder into my brain. I also noticed a planning application go up in December to put in another bedroom which is exactly what we would have done. The application was accepted just a few days ago, but today the property was re-listed for sale!!! I called the EA, arranged a viewing for this afternoon to check everything was still in order, and gave them our offer again which was accepted immediately! It's not been marked as sold STC on rightmove yet but I've been assured it will be shortly.

Anyway, the whole thing is fishy - why would you back out after doing all of the hard work and spending the cash on the plans etc? The EA excuse is that the works could not be completed until August and they think the buyer got cold feet whilst waiting the last few months for planning depts. I've spoken to the neighbours and the estate agents and can't find any major reason not to proceed, so we're going for it. I almost choked on my cereal this morning when it popped up in my rightmove feed with the realisation that all the hard work (planning etc) had been completed for me!!!

One of the neighbours had objected as he wasn't happy about a couple of elements of the plans (access for materials and soil pipe placement) but this is easily resolved by tweaking the floorplan and there's alternative access without impinging on any of the neighbours land. I think it's likely the previous buyer went in all guns blazing and didn't consult the neighbours which is perhaps why he's dug his heels in a bit, but I can't say I blame him.

kinger101

Could be 1001 reasons. Original buyer found a better opportunity for their cash. Or got many objections from local residents and no longer felt welcome in the village. Or got offered new job somewhere else. Or found lots of corpses under patio.

Riggyman

Devil worshippers.

anselld

No need to "tweak" plans after planning has been approved. Indeed if you do so you could potentially be faced with enforcement action for not following the approved plans.

kilby_007

anselld wrote: »

No need to "tweak" plans after planning has been approved. Indeed if you do so you could potentially be faced with enforcement action for not following the approved plans.

Obviously they'd be resubmitted!!

glasgowdan

I wouldn't have offered the same as my original offer in your shoes! But that's not the point.

House sales fall through all the time, it's pretty normal, so I wouldn't spend more than a minute thinking about it. Once some people realise they're actually going to have to commit, rather than just win the battle to get their offer accepted, they change their minds.

AnotherJoe

Just to be pedantic, you weren't gazumped by a cash buyer, you were gazumped by the vendor.
And now, it's got planning permission that makes it more valuable. So, I would move as fast as possible regards exchange of contracts in case they stitch you up again.

kilby_007

glasgowdan wrote: »

I wouldn't have offered the same as my original offer in your shoes! But that's not the point.

House sales fall through all the time, it's pretty normal, so I wouldn't spend more than a minute thinking about it. Once some people realise they're actually going to have to commit, rather than just win the battle to get their offer accepted, they change their minds.

To be honest, the EAs were considering going down the route of arranging group viewings because there was lots of interest again. I've been looking for 15 months and never seen a property that ticks nearly all of our boxes (near to the schools we want, near to the village centre, and with both a big front garden with parking for 5 cars and a big back garden) at that kind of price, so as 5K was 2% of the purchase price I thought I'd suck it up and ask them to cancel the viewings. There's quite a bit of work to do (re-wire/new boiler/kitchen/bathroom/extension) and I'm expecting to spend a lot on it but ultimately it will be a home we won't need to move from for 20 years or more. If it's "not worth" what we've paid in terms of market value then we'll have to assess whether we can afford to make up the difference and/or re-negotiate when the valuation comes back but I don't think it will come back lower than our offer.


We've instructed solicitors and it's been taken off the market. I'm just waiting for quotes for the extension which will dictate what deposit we can put down for the mortgage and then I'll start the mortgage application rolling!