Not informed buyer needed a mortgage - confused

surreyworries

Going back and forth on this one, please help me sort my head out!

My brother and I have a house and land for sale. We own the house, the land is owned by us and other family members. 

We had interest in the house and land from a cash buyer whose cash would not come through until January 2026. They were offering £620k for the house (asking £650k) and full price for the land £70k). So a good potential back-up. I was advised by the estate agent to not wait but continue to market the house, which seems sound. 

Another offer came in soon after of £615k and £50k for the land. As a wider family we rejected the land offer and my brother and I accepted the house offer as we were told this buyer was ready to go, they still wanted the house without the land, plus they needed to move quickly as they’d been gazumped and were in a chain. We were happy to accept on that knowledge.

However…it has since come to light, when the house suddenly needed a valuation that we were unaware of, that this buyer is not ‘ready to go’ and needs a mortgage of £295k, which they now have in principle. 

I’ve spoken to the estate agent and they are apologetic and say that the junior staff member who has been dealing with us (with multiple mistakes of which this one is by far the largest) needs training. 

I’m furious that we made a decision based on incorrect knowledge as not only did we accept slightly lower on the house, it also means we now have two sales to do (imagining a future where the other seller was still around in January who intended to buy the house and land, cash). 

More crucially, the house is very old, family-owned and has never been sold before - and the survey is looming. It has an EPC of F, it is unmodernised. There seems a real possibility that the sale could stall if their mortgage doesn’t come through after survey. 

Where do I/we go with this? Do I ask for a reduction in fee, stop the sale or just let it slide and …see what happens? I can’t work out if I just need to be angry or if some action should be taken. 

TadleyBaggie

Why would this be a surprise, I would suspect the vast majority of house purchases require a mortgage?

surreyworries

We were told they were ready to go and absolutely no mention of a mortgage needed. Which is a very different situation to make a decision on, when weighing up potential cash buyers who were offering more. You are right that it’s typical, I’m trying to work out why I’m so annoyed and I think it’s because I feel we were hurried into a decision. 

Myci85

To my mind, saying they're ready to go was probably referring to the fact they have a buyer for their house and so the chain would be complete immediately, rather than them offering on yours and then needing to wait to find a buyer for theirs. Unless the EA explicitly said they were cash buyers, I wonder if you misunderstood. 

tooldle

Equally, the buyer could have cash available to cover the purchase price, and has more recently decided to take a part mortgage. 

Bigphil1474

If the buyer needs a mortgage of less than half the agreed price, then they are unlikely to struggle if the survey devalues the house, unless that value is massively less. They may wish to renegotiate the price, but it's unlikely the mortgage will be the issue. Yes, ready to go doesn't necessarily mean they don't need a mortgage. The buyer in 2026 might be a non goer anyway. When we sold our house last year, we got an offer of asking price in the first week but they buyer wasn't proceedable so we said get back to us when they were. They didn't.

vic_sf49

A cash buyer might have a "are there any issues with the house" survey, and could pull out. 

A cash buyer might just pull out of the purchase anyway.

As could these buyers. 

 

Is your house likely to be "mortgage / value" surveyed far under the asking price? 

If you wait for the cash buyer, they might change their minds, between now and January. So it depends how quickly you want to sell it. 

If this buyer is applying for a mortgage, then they are likely incurring more costs in doing so (fees for things), which shows they're committed right now. 

saajan_12

surreyworries said:

Another offer came in soon after of £615k and £50k for the land. As a wider family we rejected the land offer and my brother and I accepted the house offer as we were told this buyer was ready to go, they still wanted the house without the land, plus they needed to move quickly as they’d been gazumped and were in a chain. We were happy to accept on that knowledge.

However…it has since come to light, when the house suddenly needed a valuation that we were unaware of, that this buyer is not ‘ready to go’ and needs a mortgage of £295k, which they now have in principle. 

I’ve spoken to the estate agent and they are apologetic and say that the junior staff member who has been dealing with us (with multiple mistakes of which this one is by far the largest) needs training. 

I’m furious that we made a decision based on incorrect knowledge as not only did we accept slightly lower on the house, it also means we now have two sales to do (imagining a future where the other seller was still around in January who intended to buy the house and land, cash). 

More crucially, the house is very old, family-owned and has never been sold before - and the survey is looming. It has an EPC of F, it is unmodernised. There seems a real possibility that the sale could stall if their mortgage doesn’t come through after survey. 

Where do I/we go with this? Do I ask for a reduction in fee, stop the sale or just let it slide and …see what happens? I can’t work out if I just need to be angry or if some action should be taken. 

What exactly did they say
A) No mortgage, we have proof they have 615k cash in the bank; or 
Cash buyer, ready to go; or 
C) Something else? 

Unless they explicitly said A, anything else could still mean there was a mortgage. Many people use 'cash buyer' to mean no property to sell, and 'ready' in the context of the prior offer could just mean this one wasn't waiting to start the process. 

So sounds like it was (your) misunderstanding rather than actually incorrect. They could have provided better service by being more specific, but also been factually correct at all times. Certainly not to the point of fee reduction, which is contractually due regardless of how good the service is. 

MyRealNameToo

surreyworries said:

We were told they were ready to go and absolutely no mention of a mortgage needed. Which is a very different situation to make a decision on, when weighing up potential cash buyers who were offering more. You are right that it’s typical, I’m trying to work out why I’m so annoyed and I think it’s because I feel we were hurried into a decision. 

Unless they explicitly said they are a cash buyer it just sounds like you made an assumption that was wrong. In normal estate agent language a buyer who has a mortgage agreement in principle is "proceedable" or "ready to go"

Albermarle

I’m furious that we made a decision based on incorrect knowledge as not only did we accept slightly lower on the house, it also means we now have two sales to do (imagining a future where the other seller was still around in January who intended to buy the house and land, cash). 

The other seller may have had trouble getting the cash when it came to the crunch. It is quite common for buyers to exaggerate their position. Did they provider prove to the EA that they had the money, or would have in future? The fact they did not have it available now is a bit of a red flag.

ryanm8655

I’d take ready to go as their house is sold, they had a mortgage and won’t have any issues getting another for your house as long as the valuation is fine. Cash buyer and ready to go would be no mortgage.

Whoever bought it would need the legal stuff done anyway, which is the time consuming part. My mortgage took a few days.