Seller backed out of sale due to requesting a survey

[Deleted User]

Nic275h said:

Hi all,

I’m a first time buyer & had my offer accepted on a property on Tuesday this week. The sellers wanted to move quickly as they’ve had 2 sales that had fallen through & their current mortgage offer expires in July. 

The estate agent told me they had offers £15k higher than mine but went with me because I was in a position to move quickly. I agreed to do everything through the estate agent - went with their recommended solicitors & with their mortgage broker even though that would cost me more all because they told me that would make communication easier & make things move faster. The estate agent had instructed my solicitor to see if they could purchase the searches from the previous buyers lawyers & I rushed to get all my documents in to start the process quickly. I found a surveyor who could complete the survey next week. They had recommended a level 3 survey as the property is over 50 years old.

I then got a call from the estate agent to tell me the Surveyor had got in touch to arrange access to do the survey. The seller doesn’t want that & feels it will delay things and have now decided to decline my offer for the house. No discussion or anything.

I’m really confused & quite upset. I found a surveyor who could do the survey quickly so I don’t see how that would be an issue as the solicitors will take longer than they will.

Opinions? Do you think there’s something wrong with the property & they’re hiding it. Surely they can’t expect me to buy without doing a survey??

There is obviously something massively wrong with the house, and they want to offload it onto someone daft enough not to get a survey done.

Forget it and move on. They are trying to scam you.

pinkteapot

Agree with others - almost certainly the previous sales fell through when the survey showed an expensive problem. 

If you view another house that has had sales fall through, ask the EA why. They'll probably lie and blame the buyers, but you might happen to catch an honest one. We rang an EA about a house that came back on the market once and asked them why the sale had fallen through, and they told us it was due to a survey showing a structural problem with the extension. We didn't want to take that on so we didn't bother viewing. 

dannim12345

Now you have some time find your own solicitor and mortgage broker (ideally recommended) so you have them ready to go when you find the next property you like.  

MultiFuelBurner

youth_leader said:

So sorry but I agree you have had a fortunate escape from 'buyer beware'. 

My joy at being 'chosen' out of the four offers received by my vendor ended when I realised she probably chose me because I was a cash buyer - and might not have chosen to have a survey. 

As it turned out the L3 surveyor didn't find that the floors here were rotten with wet/dry rot and woodworm, as well as serious mould, it was definitely buyer beware for me.  A huge amount of disruption packing my possessions again to go into storage and the floor replacement cost £15K which I could ill afford.

I think I remember you mentioning this once or twice in the past☺️

I think you need a link to your post about this or do you have it on copy and paste?

Joking aside are you pleased with your purchase despite the unexpected cost.

We always have 10k.spare when buying an older property for unexpected repairs and hidden "gems"

angela110660

Lucky escape- watch out for it going to auction next most probably! 

pinkteapot

Also, if the seller won't accept any survey being done, it should really be marketed as "cash buyers only". Anyone needing a mortgage will have, as a minimum, a valuation survey done. Sometimes these are desk surveys (no visit to the property) so the seller may not even realise it's happening, but sometimes they will make an appointment. 

Simonon77

Extremely suspicious behaviour. Sounds like the two previous buyers got surveys done and pulled out because of them. I wonder if they would expect you to buy a £100K classic car and not get an expert to check over it.

Definitely a dodged bullet. 

youth_leader

@MultiFuelBurner I've been on here for years now and have probably told my tale of woe a few times, no idea where or when.  If I move again I would have an independent damp/timber survey in addition to a normal survey, I am still so shocked the seller concealed the extent of the mould.  My beloved dog died last October and he had a fungus in his nose.

Joking and disasters apart it was a good move.   I've just had my 66th birthday and I'm relieved to be here rather than my magnificent listed pile - which I miss terribly - but would be costing me an arm and a leg now.  I'm in a nice location, nice neighbours, easier to clean, cheaper bills.  

Skiddaw1

youth_leader said:

@MultiFuelBurner I've been on here for years now and have probably told my tale of woe a few times, no idea where or when.  If I move again I would have an independent damp/timber survey in addition to a normal survey, I am still so shocked the seller concealed the extent of the mould.  My beloved dog died last October and he had a fungus in his nose.

Joking and disasters apart it was a good move.   I've just had my 66th birthday and I'm relieved to be here rather than my magnificent listed pile - which I miss terribly - but would be costing me an arm and a leg now.  I'm in a nice location, nice neighbours, easier to clean, cheaper bills.  

I'm really glad you don't have any serious regrets @youth_leader . Your previous house was fabulous but I'm sure in the long run it was absolutely the right decision.

OP, another congratulatory thumbs up for dodging what I bet would prove to be an extremely expensive bullet....

peterhjohnson

OK, here's a contrary view:

• The sellers, having had sales fall through are running out of time on their onward purchase. Perhaps that have been given a deadline?
• They may believe that a survey will introduce further delay. It's not just the survey appointment, it's time to write the report and any horse-trading thereafter.
• People frequently don't realise how long it takes to reject an accepted offer and re-market.

If these sellers back down and allow a survey, I would consider going ahead and getting the survey  if the property was sufficiently attractive. I might be quite picky on price given their desperation and incompetence. Might turn out to be a bargain.