Totally stuck house sale

GDB2222

mat1964 said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

I strongly advise against proceeding with these people. Your buyers not responding now is inconvenient and will mean you're a few hundred quid down. Your buyers not responding on completion day (that is to say unable or unwilling to fulfil their contract, not necessarily unresponsive) would, for someone like yourself mid-chain, be catastrophic.

A few hundred?  More like nearly £6k.   If in the unlikely event it exchanges, I am less concerned they would walk away then given they would have paid an £86k deposit.  Latest news is the buyers solicitors have said they will be reporting to the buyers tomorrow (but they have said this before) - and the buyers have refused to communicate at all the last 6 weeks.  We have told them we are calling it off in a weeks time if nothing happens by then.  

Staffy's concern is that you could lose 10% deposit on your purchase. If your purchase is for more than £860k, you will lose more than you gain. Then you end up suing your buyer for the extra, and it gets incredibly expensive just suing. 

However, it’s rare that people walk away from a 10% deposit. Very rare.

Chief_of_Staffy

mat1964 said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

I strongly advise against proceeding with these people. Your buyers not responding now is inconvenient and will mean you're a few hundred quid down. Your buyers not responding on completion day (that is to say unable or unwilling to fulfil their contract, not necessarily unresponsive) would, for someone like yourself mid-chain, be catastrophic.

A few hundred?  More like nearly £6k.   If in the unlikely event it exchanges, I am less concerned they would walk away then given they would have paid an £86k deposit.  Latest news is the buyers solicitors have said they will be reporting to the buyers tomorrow (but they have said this before) - and the buyers have refused to communicate at all the last 6 weeks.  We have told them we are calling it off in a weeks time if nothing happens by then.  

How are you going to forfeit £6k by backing out pre-exchange?

The high value of your house doesn't actually make it less likely your buyer will back out. You could argue that people who buy expensive properties are more likely to have the spare finance to ride out such a situation over people at the lower end of the market (although that's speculation, I've no idea as to the stats). And it's not only a matter of 'backing out'. You don't know why your buyers are out of contact, just that they are. Perhaps there's a genuine reason and they're in dire straits. Maybe they have medical issues. Maybe they're involved in criminality. Maybe they're not right in the head. But it hardly matters, because whether completion fails to due bankruptcy, illness, prison or even death, you'll still be rinsed out.

mat1964

"How are you going to forfeit £6k by backing out pre-exchange" - that is the current solicitors bill, including costs such as searches etc for both the purchase and sale as well as survey cost on the purchase.

Their solicitors have now sent their report and contracts to sign.  Whether they will get them, have any interest still, we simply do not know and it seems neither does their solicitor.  They have next week to communicate and that will be that.  

Chief_of_Staffy

mat1964 said:

"How are you going to forfeit £6k by backing out pre-exchange" - that is the current solicitors bill, including costs such as searches etc for both the purchase and sale as well as survey cost on the purchase.

You don't pay for searches on your sale. Searches are about £350. A level 3 survey is £600 - £1.5k (down the drain, but that's another story). A few quid for solicitor's enquiries. I don't see how you've spent £6k pre-exchange.