Buyer withdraws at the last minute

Thrugelmir

purt said:

Thrugelmir said:

purt said:

Racky_Roo said:

Why did you agree to complete early Dec when you only had an offer accepted on a property end of October? Did your solicitor think that was going to be doable? as 6 weeks is tight normally, let alone at the minute. I may have this wrong but reading your post, you've overpromised to keep them happy and now you can't meet the timeline they want compensation in the form of a price reduction

 I agreed to complete mid-December to placate them, moving into temporary accommodation if needs be to safeguard the sale. 

Push this forward as the solution, if it's still possible. No price reduction though. 

I didn't need to. It's what they have demanded. Along with the price reduction.
 
It's hard to know how serious they are about withdrawing. They have withdrawn their original offer, we have agreed the revised offer (not much less than the original so I will take the hit) and they are demanding we complete on the date I offered mid-December.

My agent reports that they were adamant if the revised offer wasn't accepted then they'd withdraw from the purchase. Interestingly, the offer we have settled on is what they first offered when they viewed it. 

They've simply become increasingly frustrated. As time has dragged on. Even though it's no ones fault. 

Only you can make the decision. If you remarket the property how long before you find another buyer. Then your purchase might fall through. Endless uncertainties. 

lookstraightahead

Have I got this right - they were ready and you decided to put them on hold until you were ready? Could you not have rented/stayed with mates for a few weeks? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? 

lookstraightahead

GDB2222 said:

There's almost certainly a thread on a different forum:  "We are FTBs who put an offer in on a flat in March, and our seller still has not exchanged!"

This is how I'm reading it as well. 

MalMonroe

There's a big red flag for me, "My agent phones them and they mutter about having had an offer accepted on another property they'd seen."

And they are dilly-dallying about far too much. It seems to me, reading between the many lines, that they want YOU to withdraw first, not them, and that's why they are being so difficult.

I would definitely put your property back on the market but not without letting them know first.  You can cite all the messing about, delaying and demanding that they've been doing. But to put it back on the market without letting them know in advance would just be passive-aggressive.

House buying and selling can be a nightmare at any time but also now I think with the added coronavirus thing and Christmas coming up. . .  well, maybe your prospective buyers have realised they simply can't afford it right now and want you to get fed up and end their misery for them.

GDB2222

purt said:

GDB2222 said:

There's almost certainly a thread on a different forum:  "We are FTBs who put an offer in on a flat in March, and our seller still has not exchanged!"

The offer was agreed late July. 

I was exaggerating, I know. Even so, you've gone past 4 months, and it's hardly surprising that your buyers are restive.  I hope it all works out eventually.

purt

lookstraightahead said:

Have I got this right - they were ready and you decided to put them on hold until you were ready? Could you not have rented/stayed with mates for a few weeks? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? 

They wanted to complete in November and were "surprised" to learn that I had an onward purchase. I've no idea why, but it was made clear to them from the outset that I needed to find one. If you mean were they ready to exchange in November, then yes as all the legal work had been completed at that point. I obviously wasn't ready as it had only been two weeks since the offer on my onward purchase had been agreed. We told them in early November that it would be early December before we could exchange and they agreed they were happy to wait. 

comeandgo

I think you have really mucked them about, if I were them I'd be off.

numbercruncher8

Either offer a concrete date of their choice or get it back on the market. 

It does sound like they have run out of patience and your promise of January cannot be taken seriously.

You told them in November it would be early December and then this is pushed back to January. It kind of reads that you offered December out of hope rather than anything else.
You also said you could move in with friends/family - doesn't appear like you have much intention to do so, otherwise why not move to accommodate their preferred dates?

purt

MalMonroe said:

There's a big red flag for me, "My agent phones them and they mutter about having had an offer accepted on another property they'd seen."

And they are dilly-dallying about far too much. It seems to me, reading between the many lines, that they want YOU to withdraw first, not them, and that's why they are being so difficult.

I would definitely put your property back on the market but not without letting them know first.  You can cite all the messing about, delaying and demanding that they've been doing. But to put it back on the market without letting them know in advance would just be passive-aggressive.

House buying and selling can be a nightmare at any time but also now I think with the added coronavirus thing and Christmas coming up. . .  well, maybe your prospective buyers have realised they simply can't afford it right now and want you to get fed up and end their misery for them.

I'm not sure I follow? They withdrew, then agreed a small price reduction. I question if the other property was just rubbish to add to the pressure on me. 

purt

numbercruncher8 said:

Either offer a concrete date of their choice or get it back on the market. 

It does sound like they have run out of patience and your promise of January cannot be taken seriously.

You told them in November it would be early December and then this is pushed back to January. It kind of reads that you offered December out of hope rather than anything else.
You also said you could move in with friends/family - doesn't appear like you have much intention to do so, otherwise why not move to accommodate their preferred dates?

When we told them it would be early December before I could complete it was in hope, yes. My vendor's solicitor has been particularly slow in responding to queries which is obviously beyond my control. My buyer agreed in November that they were happy to wait. 

We offered early January as a definite date, even asking them to exchange this week to lock that in. It was offered on the basis of we'll definitely complete then because we'll definitely have all the work completed on my onward purchase by then. And if not, I'd make arrangements to vacate. I didn't push it and they insisted they wanted completion mid-December. I agreed the mid-December completion and we'd exchange this week to lock that in. If it meant moving somewhere temporary with friends I'd do it. When it came to exchanging they withdrew their offer the day before. When asked why, they denied that the mid-December date we'd discussed had been confirmed (even though my solicitor wrote to them to ask if they were agreeable to it).