Same day house sale and completion that failed.... What next?

Rictoven

Hi, 
Sorry a bit of a long story but here goes. 
My wife and I are both 60 years young and we sold our house to our buyer in 1st May this year.
After many problems with our buyer getting a mortgage, a chain that we were not informed about by our estate agents, we was told told recently by our estate agent that we would have to exchange and complete quickly as our buyers mortgage offer was due to expire 3rd December and for some reason or another could not be renewed. 
We have always made it clear during this sale that my wife and I did not want a same day exchange and completion and especially on a Friday as banks close early. 
Our estate agent told us this is the only way we would complete this sale or the chain would collapse so under pressure we agreed. 
We was told by our estate agents that everyone in the chain was ready to exchange and complete so we informed our solicitor to get ready for Friday 3rd December. 
The removal company collected all of our furniture and left us in our empty house waiting for the time to leave and collect the keys to our next house. 
Later on at 5pm we was told by our solicitor that someone in the chain (our buyers buyer) did not have their funds so the sale could not take place. 
We then had to get the removal company to return and unload our furniture back into our house. 
We are both shell shocked at how poorly our sale had failed let alone the cost in cured. 
As I understand it as we did not exchange we are liable for the cost of moving etc........ Is there any thing I can do to try to get my money back? 

Thank you for you replies in advance. 

user1977

No, because you didn't have a contract. Your solicitor can explain that to you. Is there going to be another attempt? 

PadreM

How distressing: sorry.  My guess is you have no claim for this eventuality.  Maybe some insurance exists against costs incurred when this happens as you can't be the first.

Thrugelmir

Unfortunately you've encountered the very real downsides of same day exchange and completion. 

PS. Banks don't close early on Fridays. It's the most popular day for exchanges. As people have the weekend to get sorted. 

GoogleMeNow

Rictoven said:

Hi, 
Sorry a bit of a long story but here goes. 
My wife and I are both 60 years young and we sold our house to our buyer in 1st May this year.
After many problems with our buyer getting a mortgage, a chain that we were not informed about by our estate agents, we was told told recently by our estate agent that we would have to exchange and complete quickly as our buyers mortgage offer was due to expire 3rd December and for some reason or another could not be renewed. 
We have always made it clear during this sale that my wife and I did not want a same day exchange and completion and especially on a Friday as banks close early. 
Our estate agent told us this is the only way we would complete this sale or the chain would collapse so under pressure we agreed. 
We was told by our estate agents that everyone in the chain was ready to exchange and complete so we informed our solicitor to get ready for Friday 3rd December. 
The removal company collected all of our furniture and left us in our empty house waiting for the time to leave and collect the keys to our next house. 
Later on at 5pm we was told by our solicitor that someone in the chain (our buyers buyer) did not have their funds so the sale could not take place. 
We then had to get the removal company to return and unload our furniture back into our house. 
We are both shell shocked at how poorly our sale had failed let alone the cost in cured. 
As I understand it as we did not exchange we are liable for the cost of moving etc........ Is there any thing I can do to try to get my money back? 

Thank you for you replies in advance. 

Unfortunately as there was no exchange, there was no breach of contract so you are not entitled to claim your money back.

Will the solicitors attempt to exchange and complete any time this coming week, as that's what would normally happen, providing of course the lender had extended the offer?

I have highlighted a section of your post - the estate agent doesn't have the authority to decide when the chain is ready to exchange and complete, nor can you "inform" your solicitor to get ready.  This part of the process is organised by the solicitors liaising with each other to exchange when each solicitor in the chain has everything they need and they are ready to proceed.  If you didn't want to have a simultaneous exchange and completion, you should have mentioned this to your solicitor, not the estate agent.

I am sorry this has happened to you and hope that you receive good news this week.

deannagone

I wonder if exchange took place but completion didn't?  Is that possible?

74jax

How did the EA know you were ready to exchange and complete if the solicitor didn't tell you? Was the EA just relaying what the chain said, and not relaying what the solicitors said? 

eddddy

Rictoven said:

Later on at 5pm we was told by our solicitor that someone in the chain (our buyers buyer) did not have their funds so the sale could not take place. 

So it sounds like everyone was lined-up and hoping to exchange and complete - but one person couldn't get their finances sorted out in time.

And somebody's mortgage offer expired on 3rd Dec - so the future of the chain is now uncertain.


Unfortunately, exchanging and completing on the same day is risky - for the reasons you've found. And everyone in the chain has to cover their own losses (like removal expenses).

Once the chain is ready again, maybe insist on having one or two weeks between exchange and completion, to avoid this happening again.

penners324

Banks don't close early on Fridays. Maybe your local branch does but these CHAPS payments are handled by a centralised team in the banks offices.

UnderOffer

Did your solicitors confirm that they were ready to exchange? Very unusual for the EA to be telling you when this would happen, you’d normally only follow instructions from solicitor. 

So as it’s now passed the 3rd Dec, have your buyers completely pulled out or can their mortgage offer be extended? What has the EA or Sol said? 

Hope you get some positive news today. 

saajan_12

Rictoven said:

Hi, 
Sorry a bit of a long story but here goes. 
My wife and I are both 60 years young and we sold our house to our buyer in 1st May this year. - you accepted an offer. The 'subject to contract' is a significant caveat there. 
After many problems with our buyer getting a mortgage, a chain that we were not informed about by our estate agents, we was told told recently by our estate agent that we would have to exchange and complete quickly as our buyers mortgage offer was due to expire 3rd December and for some reason or another could not be renewed. 
We have always made it clear during this sale that my wife and I did not want a same day exchange and completion and especially on a Friday as banks close early. - no, individual branches have nothing to do with it, and they have large volumes any day, so Friday doesn't make much difference. Sols may be busier on a Fri as lots of people want to move before the weekend, and if anything goes wrong then you have an extra 2 days of stress / storage / hotel if something goes wrong before anyone can even start fixing on Monday morning. 
Our estate agent told us this is the only way we would complete this sale or the chain would collapse so under pressure we agreed. - okay, so you decided that on balance the risk of losing your moving costs etc was worth keeping the chain in tact. 
We was told by our estate agents that everyone in the chain was ready to exchange and complete so we informed our solicitor to get ready for Friday 3rd December. - The EA just gets chinese whispers from all the other buyers.  Your solicitor would know definitively by contacting the solicitors on either side. 
The removal company collected all of our furniture and left us in our empty house waiting for the time to leave and collect the keys to our next house. - so you booked removals before any confirmation from the sols even? Again, your choice. 
Later on at 5pm we was told by our solicitor that someone in the chain (our buyers buyer) did not have their funds so the sale could not take place. 
We then had to get the removal company to return and unload our furniture back into our house. 
We are both shell shocked at how poorly our sale had failed let alone the cost in cured. 
As I understand it as we did not exchange we are liable for the cost of moving etc........ Is there any thing I can do to try to get my money back? - no, you don't have any right to get back money you willingly spent without the protections of an exchanged contract. 

Thank you for you replies in advance. 

No right to any money back, as it was your choice to
1) Decide the risk of same day was worth it to avoid losing the house (could have held out to a x day gap between exchange and completion)
2) Assume the chain is ready and book removals based on the EA's word, not solicitors confirmation let alone actual exchange.

Not only do you have no right to monies back, but also don't think its the fair thing.. other parties may have taken the EA's statement with an appropriately sized pinch of salt, and not made themselves liable for other costs. They may have tried for this date but if they couldn't get there, they couldn't. .