Withdrawing from property purchase at late stage?

Bettycheese

My Fianc! and I are in the process of purchasing a property. Our offer was accepted in early March, and we’ve had our mortgage offer etc and are nearly at the point of exchange – pending documents and information still outstanding form the seller.

Due to various reasons, including (very briefly) issues/concerns highlighted from the survey, and opinions from a builder on the level of work required, and what we might find when we start undoing all of the terrible DIY/bodge work, we are now very seriously considering withdrawing from the sale.

We were aware that the house needed work, but not the extent of it. Our solicitor has requested documentation relating to electrical and gas safety which the sellers seem to be prevaricating on (or can’t supply), the fixtures and fittings list excludes all white goods despite us making it a condition of our offer that white good be included, and the property information document is incomplete with fairly important questions left blank (e.g ‘will the property be sold with vacant possession’!). That our solicitor has sent it on to us like this and not gone back to the vendors solicitor is frankly ridiculous – what are we paying them for?! (An issue for another post I think!) yet the estate agent is pressuring us to exchange contracts.

We’ve viewed two other properties in the last few days, both of which interest us for different reasons (and in different ways are both far less financially risky, despite one being more expensive, but not needing work).

We live in a very expensive part of the South-East so we’re not talking about insignificant sums of money.

Does anyone else have experience of withdrawing from a sale at this late stage? I keep worrying about letting the vendors down and am even worrying about the estate agents reaction(!) and I know I’ll feel terribly guilty, but as my Fianc! reminds me, we have to do what’s best for us and our long term financial future/happiness.

Opinions would be welcome please.

LoopyLoops

If you are going to withdraw do it sooner rather than later. Our buyer has just pulled out on us, it is very frustrating, but it is your choice and a big purchase, you have to be happy.

I wouldn't worry to much about the estate agent, they have no benefit being anything other than professional as you may yet buy a different house through them.

Do make your reasons clear for pulling out though. It is so frustrating when the vendor doesn't get the full story of what the problem is. Is there any chance that things can be sorted out on this property or do you prefer one of the others? If things can't be sorted make that clear, don't be indecisive or suggestive that the sale could still proceed if you no longer want it. That isn't fair on the vendor, false hope.

Good luck with whatever you do.

Surrey_EA

Don't worry about letting the sellers down, it does not seem like they have helped their own cause in this particular situation.

Also do not worry about the EAs reaction, they will be used to things like this occurring from time to time.

Sounds like you have genuine concerns about continuing with the purchase of this property, and you must do what you feel is right for you, not continue with something you are not comfortable about to please others.

hazyjo

Would have thought it was up to you to have an electrical/gas survey/report done. What is it you expect the vendors to provide?


Your solicitor sent you those incomplete documents - so it's them I would have a problem with too, not the vendor. Your solicitor should be chasing for the blanks to be filled.


Tell the EA to keep his/her beak out. They always push, but it really is not up to them. They just want their bloody commission. I would send them a stroppy email or have a stroppy phone call with them. Block their number (like I had to) and deal by email only - especially if you do pull out.


Of course the vendors will be peed off/upset - but one in three falls through and nothing's set in stone 'til exchange. They'll be aware of that.


If you have found something you prefer, fine. But don't expect it to be any smoother. If you're pulling out cos of jitters over this house, communication and incomplete forms, you're probably making a wrong decision.


Financial risk is obviously something to consider - although nothing you've mentioned would cause me to think the first one was financially risky. Every surveyor says the electrics and boiler should be checked by an expert.


Jx

Gilead

If you are unhappy withdraw the offer and make your reasons crystal clear. The EA will then be clued in about what has happened and could potentially happen again if seller does not rectify the issues on their side.

On the other hand it could give the sellers a wake up call and you may find them getting back to you with a solution.

One thing I would no do is drag it out or withdraw without an explanation.

cloo

Add my voice to say don't keep vendors in suspense, and do give reasons for pulling out - yes, I felt disappointed when our buyers pulled out a few years ago but the thing that was really upsetting to me was that they wouldn't be specific about what the problems were that put them off so that we could address them and not live in fear that the next buyers would pull out too (they didn't, luckily)

Best of luck in finding the right place next time.

Bettycheese

Thanks J.

The solicitor requested the gas/electrical documents; must say I'm not entirely sure who's responsibility that is, I'm relying on their (supposed!) expert knowledge of the process.

Incomplete forms etc are not the main issue. It's more the fact that the work is going to cost considerably more to do than first thought (around £25k we think, possibly more depending on what's uncovered), and this does pose a huge risk to us as we don't have a renovation budget (every penny being swallowed by deposit, stamp etc) and would be doing the work month by month (around £1500 per month spare for this). The risk is that if something goes wrong in our lives (eg redundancy etc) we'd be stuck with a large mortgage on a house that isn't currently rentable or sellable (we were the only people to show an interest in around 7 months).

I'm a FTB and finding this whole process more stressful than I imagined!

hazyjo

pinklady2499 wrote: »

The solicitor requested the gas/electrical documents; must say I'm not entirely sure who's responsibility that is, I'm relying on their (supposed!) expert knowledge of the process.

My solicitors requested similar from the vendor - asked them to service it. I had to tell them it wasn't necessary.

pinklady2499 wrote: »

Incomplete forms etc are not the main issue. It's more the fact that the work is going to cost considerably more to do than first thought (around £25k we think, possibly more depending on what's uncovered), and this does pose a huge risk to us as we don't have a renovation budget (every penny being swallowed by deposit, stamp etc) and would be doing the work month by month (around £1500 per month spare for this). The risk is that if something goes wrong in our lives (eg redundancy etc) we'd be stuck with a large mortgage on a house that isn't currently rentable or sellable (we were the only people to show an interest in around 7 months).

First time buyers are always nervy - but in this case it sounds like you have reason. I would have pulled out once I knew about the extra work.


On the flipside, if it's something you're potentially adding value to, it would be better financially than buying something 'done' which can only drop in price if they go down. Depends if what needs doing will increase the price or desirability, or if it's potentially a money pit.

saajan_12

pinklady2499 wrote: »

My Fianc! and I are in the process of purchasing a property. Our offer was accepted in early March, and we’ve had our mortgage offer etc and are nearly at the point of exchange – pending documents and information still outstanding form the seller.

Due to various reasons, including (very briefly) issues/concerns highlighted from the survey, and opinions from a builder on the level of work required, and what we might find when we start undoing all of the terrible DIY/bodge work, we are now very seriously considering withdrawing from the sale. - fine, the purpose of surveys etc is to find this out before you purchase, so that's good.

We were aware that the house needed work, but not the extent of it. Our solicitor has requested documentation relating to electrical and gas safety which the sellers seem to be prevaricating on (or can’t supply), - find out what the solicitor is askinf for. If you're worried you can do your own surveys/checks. the fixtures and fittings list excludes all white goods despite us making it a condition of our offer that white good be included, - query this via your solicitor. State your offer included white goods, and you would need to deduct £x if they aren't. Remember they would have left second hand goods which isn't the same as shiny new ones. and the property information document is incomplete with fairly important questions left blank (e.g ‘will the property be sold with vacant possession’!). That our solicitor has sent it on to us like this and not gone back to the vendors solicitor is frankly ridiculous – what are we paying them for?! (An issue for another post I think!) - query this with your solicitor, and make it clear what you are expecting e.g. residential property not BTL so you expect vacant. yet the estate agent is pressuring us to exchange contracts. - ignore the agent. They don't care about details, they just want this one finished.

We’ve viewed two other properties in the last few days, both of which interest us for different reasons (and in different ways are both far less financially risky, despite one being more expensive, but not needing work).

We live in a very expensive part of the South-East so we’re not talking about insignificant sums of money.

Does anyone else have experience of withdrawing from a sale at this late stage? I keep worrying about letting the vendors down and am even worrying about the estate agents reaction(!) and I know I’ll feel terribly guilty, but as my Fianc! reminds me, we have to do what’s best for us and our long term financial future/happiness.

Opinions would be welcome please.

The purpose of surveys and checks is to find out any pitfalls, so if these raise issues you aren't happy with, then you have the CHOICE to go ahead or withdraw.. don't feel bad about that. Making your reasons clear will help the EA/vendor, and MAY get them to offer to resolve them (e.g. including white goods, reducing price for works, but don't think you have to agree even then. Either way, if the works is a major issue, decide this now.. no point dragging it out for sellers and spending more in further checks.

If you do go ahead, do follow up on the paperwork issues to get the clarification you need but note this is a common problem and may not be related to those vendors/that property.

Mr_da

If it really doesn't feel right pull out. I did it a couple of weeks before completing, after having a really good second look at the house there were tenants there when first looked. The work which needed doing would have taken months, not one room was right. Then thinking even when all done would it have been all that.
Horrible telling the vendor especially as I knew them personally, I beat myself up for days over it. But so glad I did now.

Cakeguts

The survey is there to show you if there are any problems that you can't see with the property. There are. Your builder thinks that they have covered up a lot of botched work. The sellers haven't filled in the property information form properly yet you would think that they would have if they had been keen to sell.

You are left with a property with botched work covered up and an incomplete property information form is there anything else they are trying to cover up?

I think withdrawing from the sale now that you know what you know would be a really sensible option especially since is appears that the sellers don't care one way or another or they would have filled out the whole form properly and with care.

Ignore the estate agents. They don't need to have any contact with you because they work for the sellers.