Bottom of chain Pulled out - When to Re-list

Jaynorth_2

We are a chain of 5 and I am in the middle. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from my sellers estate agent that he had heard a rumour that the bottom of the chain had pulled out and that my buyers had re-listed their property. I called my estate agent  and they said they were still trying to clarify the facts and would call me back. When they did they said that they had spoken to the female half of my buyers who was in tears and explained that their buyer who is an investor and at the bottom of the chain had been continuously asking for money off and that they had already agreed £10k off the originally agreed price but now he wanted a further £20k off. We were all due to exchange on Monday and complete the following week.

While I sympathise with my buyers - they are an old couple and moving to be near their kids and grandchildren so this will most likely be their last ever move, I can't help but feel that the signs of this happening must have been there for them or at least their estate agent to see and if they had called their buyers bluff sooner maybe we would not all be in this situation now.

Anyway, they have re-listed their property and we are all waiting to see what happens over the next few days but even if they find a new buyer I think we are unlikely to make the stamp duty deadline which I think will change everything for everyone in the chain so my question is at what point do I re-list my property.

lookstraightahead

You you can relist whenever you want.

How would your buyers have known, and how do you know your buyers wouldn't want to move again - how old is old 😳

lots of assumptions and anyone can pull out prior to exchange for absolutely no reason whatsoever. 

I would relist now and if they sell before you have, great. 

Yes i I think it's probably too late for stamp duty deadline. 

cattie

It's becoming quite common for property investors to pull this reduce the price further or I walk away stunt at the very last moment & it's not anything anybody can really forsee as these guys know how to play it.

Im fortunate enough to have never been in a chain situation with any of my sales & purchases, so can't advise as to when is best to relist. I think I'd be guided by my ea over this.

UnderOffer

Oh how disappointing for you all, yes I think you are right that it may be difficult to complete before end of March. A similar situation happened to us, of course pre COVID so I understand the stress, as we didn’t have any deadlines looming, just the dread that we’d lose our purchase. Our chain was: 
FTB> Our Buyers> Us> Our sellers> New build. 

FTB pulled out mid week, our Buyers had viewings lined up for Saturday, we were happy to wait 2 weeks, but our sellers listed straight away🙁. That forced us to list too. Our buyers received new offer after 10 days, reinstated their offer to us, we reinstated our offer to Sellers, new build was still available for them. Happy days😀. Took an additional 10 weeks to complete but we all got there. 

Don’t give up just yet, it could work out, perhaps the investor will reinstate offer after weekend? 
  

Jaynorth_2

UnderOffer said:

Don’t give up just yet, it could work out, perhaps the investor will reinstate offer after weekend? 
  

That is what my EA is hoping for but I just do not understand why he would put them in an impossible situation with a request for £20k reduction knowing full well that it would make it impossible for them to complete their onward purchase, unless he had no intention of proceeding at all.

lookstraightahead

Jaynorth_2 said:

UnderOffer said:

Don’t give up just yet, it could work out, perhaps the investor will reinstate offer after weekend? 
  

That is what my EA is hoping for but I just do not understand why he would put them in an impossible situation with a request for £20k reduction knowing full well that it would make it impossible for them to complete their onward purchase, unless he had no intention of proceeding at all.

Maybe the investor doesn't know your buyers' financial situation?
Are your buyers needing a mortgage or are they downsizing? Maybe the investor thinks they've built up loads of equity?

Jaynorth_2

lookstraightahead said:

Maybe the investor doesn't know your buyers' financial situation?
Are your buyers needing a mortgage or are they downsizing? Maybe the investor thinks they've built up loads of equity?

They are downsizing so do not need a mortgage.

lookstraightahead

Jaynorth_2 said:

lookstraightahead said:

Maybe the investor doesn't know your buyers' financial situation?
Are your buyers needing a mortgage or are they downsizing? Maybe the investor thinks they've built up loads of equity?

They are downsizing so do not need a mortgage.

So it's possible the investor just thinks they have an extra £20,000 as it's not tied up with a mortgage. 

Sounds to me like your buyers had no idea, and the investor are trying their luck - hoping that at this late stage your buyers will succumb. Truly awful morally but perfectly but legal.

homersimpson246

Personally I would relist immediatly, we lost our buyer a couple of days before Christmas, we relisted, had several viewings on Christmas eve, several offers, accepted one from the most proceedable person and exchanged at the start of February.

Our previous buyers on the other hand took several weeks to resell.

At the end of the days its a business transaction not personal and you have to do what is best for you because that is what everyone else will be doing.

Jaynorth_2

homersimpson246 said:

At the end of the days its a business transaction not personal and you have to do what is best for you because that is what everyone else will be doing.

This is exactly what I have been thinking all day but I just wondered if I was being a bit heartless by thinking of re-listing immediately leaving my buyers in a worse position. Even if I find a buyer after a week that still gives them another 2 weeks to find someone and they will always have an advantage in terms of buying my property and at worst if they could not find another buyer quickly they could always sell their survey and local search report to any prospective buyer of my property.

Crashy_Time

cattie said:

It's becoming quite common for property investors to pull this reduce the price further or I walk away stunt at the very last moment & it's not anything anybody can really forsee as these guys know how to play it.

Im fortunate enough to have never been in a chain situation with any of my sales & purchases, so can't advise as to when is best to relist. I think I'd be guided by my ea over this.

Why shouldn`t an investor, or any buyer for that matter try to get a property as cheaply as possible? Full marks to this investor for saying 20-30k off or no sale.