4 buyers have pulled out this week from 1 estate agents

budget_counsellor_shaz

I have just been chatting to my friend who had nearly completed on the sale of her house they were due to complete in the next 2 weeks. Her buyers, buyers have just pulled out. She doesn't know what to do........ this is the second time her buyers, buyers have pulled out. 2 lots of FTB getting cold feet at the last minute.

She went onto tell me that her estate agent told her that 3 other sales have fallen through this week.

She is very upset........ her family are emigrating at the end of the month, they will have to continue paying mortgage payments and the house will be empty. I suggested an auction but she is worried about the parking, it is a victorian terrace and thinks the parking will put potential purchases off if they turn up on mass. She doesn't want to rent as she has heard too many horror stories and her house is beautifully decorated.

Her buyers do still want to buy her house, they just need to get their chain sorted. I want to help, they really don't need this........

Is this happening in other estate agents?

4 house sales collapsing in 1 week with 1 estate agent!:rolleyes:

jonewer

Maybe your estate agents are in the habit of overvaluling properties?

I am dealing with an agents who valued a place at £285, then this dropped to £275 and yesterday I got a call from the EA syaing the vendor would accept £250!

In reality, EA valuations are a nonsense. Had I been silly enough to offer anything close to £285 for the place in question, I would most certainly be pulling out right now. EA valuations might work in rocketing markets but if there is doubt about the market then forget.

merlinthehappypig

We have viewed seven houses in the last week and have details of another two which we might go and see at the weekend (unfortunately my parents-in-laws house has sold again for anyone who has seen my previous posts......)

Of these nine houses, seven have come back on to the market having previously been 'sold', four having been 'sold' at least twice, in the last two months. In every instance the chains collapsed after other buyers pulled out. The EA's say this is largely down to the Northern Rock problems and the media reports on price 'crashes'.

epz_2

problem is ftb'rs stretched themselfs to the limit and beyond when all the media reports were saying that house prices were going mental.

now the media has realised they cant keep jumping up and the general perception that at best they will stay flat has killed a lot of demand. ftb'rs can be more picky or wait for a drop and i would bet there is a serious lack of btl'er who were expecting capital growth means there is a lot less propping up the bottom rung of the ladder

$$$_12

Stands to reason there will be a leveling off...er....crash.

Round my corner of London prices for even a 1 bed flat are around 8-9 times average local salary. In 2000 a 2 BR house was around 3-4 times local salary. So local salaries have gone down, prices have rocketed and you get far less home for your money - How does that work? Perhaps the huge number of To Let signs has something to do with it?

Given this recent history you would have to be insane to buy at the current prices - if there was any expectation they would reverse.

Nenen

budget_counsellor_shaz wrote: »

I suggested an auction but she is worried about the parking, it is a victorian terrace and thinks the parking will put potential purchases off if they turn up on mass. She doesn't want to rent as she has heard too many horror stories and her house is beautifully decorated.

I may be talking out of a lower orifice than usual as I've never been to a property auction, but does the auction always take place at the actual property? I thought that the auction itself took place at an auction house (potential buyers having viewed the property previously).

If I am correct then presumably viewing could be spread out prior to the auction so parking wouldn't be an issue although I'd have thought that any canny buyer could probably see that for him/herself).

seraphina

She needs to treat this as a business decision - the fact she's worried about the house's beautiful decor suggests that she's far too emotionally involved. If she's emigrating it's unlikely she'll see the house again!

It's a horrible situation as she needs a quick sale - has she thought about dropping the price for buyers who can proceed immediately?

CB1979_2

all depends how far along these "sales" had gone through.

had the surveys been carried out,etc or were these "sales" based on offers by FTB that just couldn't get the funds after thinking they could.

also with the time of year, some people may just think sod this too close to xmas now, i'll pull out and look again in the new year.

so until we find out the genuine reasons why all 4 had fallen through, we can only guess

lynzpower

On a thread in DFW yesterday I saw that one ladys EA has closed 5 branches over the last couple of weeks, thats in the south east.

merlinthehappypig

CB1979 wrote: »

all depends how far along these "sales" had gone through.

had the surveys been carried out,etc or were these "sales" based on offers by FTB that just couldn't get the funds after thinking they could.

also with the time of year, some people may just think sod this too close to xmas now, i'll pull out and look again in the new year.

so until we find out the genuine reasons why all 4 had fallen through, we can only guess

I can't give you the precise reason in every case, for the houses we have looked at, as we only get the general picture from the vendors and EA's. However, a little more background:

These are all houses with asking prices of between £465000 and £560000, so no FTB's, at that end, anyway. That said, in every case, the prospective buyer pulled out because the chain collapsed ie. their house sale fell through. It's entirely possible that it was the FTB's at the bottom end pulling out which caused the problems, but I can't say for certain.

Strangely enough, as far as I know, only one of the 'sales' had got as far as a survey, so it does seem to be a case of cold feet fairly quickly after he offer went in.

I have to say that I have been equally guilty of getting cold feet over the last few weeks. In a situation where I don't want to buy, but have little choice because of family circumstances, I have been putting in very low offers on a few houses, partly to see if someone is desperate enough to reduce that much, but partly so it looks like I'm doing something!

Fairly quickly after putting those offers in I start to worry that they might actually be accepted. None so far, luckily, though some hefty reductions offered.

I am doing this to establish price, though, in the absence of any other mechanism to find out how much the house would actually cost. I certainly wouldn't make a formal offer on a whim only to withdraw it a few weeks later, which is what happened with my in-laws house first time around.

movilogo

It's entirely possible that it was the FTB's at the bottom end pulling out which caused the problems, but I can't say for certain.

For any chain to complete, there must a BTL or FTB at one end.
Currently BTL is bleak future and FTBs are struggling. FTBs as % of buyers are currently historically low.

I foresee more & more chains fall apart. Probably only then some people realize that ludicrous house prices are such a nuisance!