Missed out on a house - how do I get over it?!

sugarfree

Don't just give the estate agent your details and hope they'll contact you if the sale falls through.

Go round to the house in person and leave a note, asking them to contact you if it all goes t*ts up.

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago and for some reason I couldn't quite put my finger on, I just didn't trust the EA to get back to me if the sale fell through. So I left a note and hey presto, a few weeks later the vendors did in fact get in touch.
Never heard anything from that estate agent, though.

stayathomeandsave

Another vote for a note! Not quite the same situation but my parents got their current house by leaving a message for the owner so it can be very effective.

They were interested in a property nearby and when the valuer came to put a value on it for my dad to check he was offering a fair price the valuer said he couldn't find anything similar in the village to base the valuation on. This led my dad to look up details of the current house they are now in as they had seen it on the market a few years earlier and liked it very much. When dad spoke to the agents to ask what it sold for they told him it didn't actually sell.

So dad went down there on a saturday afternoon. Initially the lady said she wasn't interested but asked for dad's number. She called back on monday, having thought about it all weekend, and said that if he was serious and wasn't going to mess her around that she would sell up!

A much better property for dad and a close friend ended up buying the house that dad pulled out of so was a win-win all round :T

Skiddaw1

That's a good point and I agree it's definitely worth a note. If nothing else, it'll sow the seeds in the seller's mind that they have a properly serious potential buyer out there (and it'll be you they think of if anything starts to go south with the offer they've accepted).

iampetesmith

Keep looking to see if you find another one you like as much. However, keep an eye on the original one you wanted because if there was a bidding war and they paid over the asking price, then their mortgage lender might down-value it.

This is quite common now, the bank will send a surveyor, the surveyor will probably decide it's worth nowhere near what they paid and then they'll have to renegotiate the price with the vendor (or pay the difference in cash). The vendor may accept as they've already started the process with a buyer, or they may reject it and offer it to you if they prefer your circumstances (FTB with no chain etc.).

Or some other weird twist of fate might make the sale fall through, so you'll always be in with a chance until the contracts are exchanged.

Then again, you might find somewhere you like better and then not want that one anymore.

jen_79

Thanks everyone, your views have been most welcome. I guess I was venting a bit (no friends to vent to these days!) - it's not the end of the world really.

I like the note idea so I've written to the owner to say I'm still interested if things don't go to plan and to contact me. It's Christmas/New Year now anyway so I'm not in a rush to find somewhere else immediately and who knows what may happen. I'm trying to retrain my brain by thinking of all the little negative things instead of all the positive things about the property!

Thanks all, I really appreciate your help

lilsweetie

This happened to me a few months ago..... I missed the house of my dreams (or so I thought) by a few hours..... I was distraught, spent the whole weekend sobbing uncontrollably at how stupid I was at not going for it straight away. I had already imagined my life there and my kids playing in the local area, I never thought I would get over it. Fast forward a few months and an absolute bargain of a house came up (part exchange for a new build so developers just want rid of it) 8 years old and over £30k cheaper than the house I originally wanted and bigger!!!
I took no chances and offered asking price as soon as I could to cancel other viewings and it’s all going through now.

I honestly believe what’s meant to be won’t pass you by, your house will come by when you least expect it.

lilsweetie

Ps. And if this house is truly meant for you it will be yours. Tell them you are interested incase the buyers do pull out.