House buyer is refusing to full price (after completion)

NeilCr

I think there's two different things here.

The ditching of the buyer for the extra £3k. I know that's not illegal but - to be honest - it wasn't very nice

And.

Yes you were naive but it's easy to be clever in hindsight and for people to tell you how it is from behind a keyboard. I had this the other way round. When I was buying this house I had quite a lot of problems with my buyer. My best mate but he wasn't very good at handling his buyers!

So the chain dragged on. I came here once to show a couple of my friends (both attractive women) the house I was buying. When I arrived the EA was here with the vendor. Basically, they told me it was going back on the market because of the delay. After some discussion I agreed to up the purchase price by £1k. And, somewhere in the process, I paid him that by cheque.

Looking back - yes it was naive etc etc - but, in all honesty I never really thought about any other ramifications. And I really wanted this house

It still makes me laugh now. After this "negotiation" the vendor said to me "you can let your harem in now'!

davidmcn

SlopingBird wrote: »

I wish you'd stop calling it a 'bung' too. It wasn't going to be a bundle of notes!!!

Well, what was it going to be? You've only described it as a "cash" payment here. Are you saying you'd have turned it down if it ended up being a wad of tenners? After all, if they're trying to rip off the tax man / mortgage lender / anybody else (instead of just you), why would they want a traceable payment?

parkrunner

SlopingBird wrote: »

When someone rings you up to offer you £3,000 if you agree to sell to them I wouldn't describe it as a 'vague word of mouth' but I guess that's all it was really, wasn't it?

It has left a nasty taste in our mouths, especially as our home was much loved by all our family and we now know some despicable people are living in it.

That said, everyone on here thinks we were in the wrong for not insisting the new price went through the solicitor so I'll leave it at that. I think we were unlucky to encounter very canny buyers who were determined to get our house come what may.

The second buyers probably think the same.

jimbog

SlopingBird wrote: »

The husband is something senior in insurance, hence his claim today that we were seeking 'compensation' from then.

Don't get drawn into using the word 'compensation'. You are simply requesting the amount that was offered, and agreed upon, to expedite the sale without them having to re-apply for a mortgage.

SlopingBird

AdrianC wrote: »

Hold on a moment...

purchase price + time + maintenance != expected sale price

There is no expectation of "a profit" on resale. You bought at the height of the market, and have sold post-crash in an area that's taking a long time to recover.

Equally, nor have you "made a loss". You had 12 years of accommodation in that house for, what, £580/year or £48/month? That'd be bloody cheap rent, wouldn't it...?

I've quit complaining honestly but we were paying well over £900 a month in mortgage payments for years so it didn't really feel like cheap living for Wales. Plus all the maintenance costs and it was in a pretty poor state when we bought it.

We are going to put it down to experience now. We will never agree anything again without making sure our solicitor is fully aware of all the facts. We were very, very stupid. Everyone on this forum thinks that and we're coming around to thinking they are right! We are not greedy though, no matter what anyone says.

newatc

Reading through the thread, I can understand, SlopingBird, why you are annoyed (and frustrated), But really for your own sake, there is clear opinion that you should just put it behind you and get on with your life.

SlopingBird

jimbog wrote: »

Don't get drawn into using the word 'compensation'. You are simply requesting the amount that was offered, and agreed upon, to expedite the sale without them having to re-apply for a mortgage.

Thanks for the support. We should have made sure the revised offer was passed onto our solicitor, we realise that now. The trouble was the sale was due to go through in a fortnight (four months after the original completion date) and we desperately wanted that to happen without any more hold-ups. Our mistake, our loss. We will never EVER enter any such arrangement again.

Thrugelmir

parkrunner wrote: »

The second buyers probably think the same.

Would have cost them money when the transaction was aborted.

SlopingBird

newatc wrote: »

Reading through the thread, I can understand, SlopingBird, why you are annoyed (and frustrated), But really for your own sake, there is clear opinion that you should just put it behind you and get on with your life.

Yes, though some of the comments have felt a little harsh, I think they have mostly helped. We are annoyed and frustrated but that will pass. It's just the lies and venomous nature of their message this morning that really upset us.

xylophone

Offering the £3,000 extra in cash, they claimed, was so they didn't have to reapply for a mortgage with a new survey, etc. We realised their increased offer was meant solely to gazump our existing buyers who had made it clear they could not go above £215k but it was tempting, especially as we'd made nothing on the property.

Well, what can one say?

No doubt your gazumped buyers are also "annoyed and frustrated".