Buyers pulled out today - can anyone make me feel any more positive about starting this process all over again??

[SadPander]

EA called today that our buyers have received the survey and are pulling out. The main issue was damp, and also highlighted as 'red' issues were the Gas and Electricity. The Electricity we know is fine as we have an electrician in the family who haschecked for us. The house had rising damp when we moved in which we had treated and have a 25 year guarantee for - company have confirmed that any issues can be resolved free of charge. The EA told all of this to the FTB's, stressed that a survey on a house over 100 years old will almost always list these things and that they could arrange experts to come and provide further reports as to whether these really were problems with the house, but they are not interested in investigating further, or negotiating price and have decided the house is not the one for them.

The EA said she thinks they have just changed their mind and are using this as an excuse. I appreciate they have to do what they feel is right for them, but it just doesn't make sence to me that they would part with money for survey and solicitors fees and then let the house go so easily.

I have arranged for our damp person to come and check the house and someone to check the gas and electrics, the house will be going straight back up. But I am just not feeling like I have it in me to start from scratch with this again. I'm feeling pretty upset that they didn't feel eough for the house to investigate further, and worried that this might just all happen again if we do get another buyer. They want us to pay £150 to see the survey, which out of priciple I don't think I am prepared to do. We had a good price from them too which I'm not sure we will get again. Can anyone make me feel better?! Or just sympathise if you have been through the same!

[Lafaminute]

Let's hope your next buyers will offer even more.....

[MadBusLady]

it just doesn't make sence to me that they would part with money for survey and solicitors fees and then let the house go so easily.

I think it indicates how much the whole thing has scared them. Some FTBs are just not cut out to buy old houses, sadly. I'm sure it's just that. Unless the estate agent has some special reason for thinking they had changed their minds anyway. "Rising damp" scares a lot of people, and they won't listen to the end of the sentence.

On the other hand, while I would be happy with a guarantee certificate over the rising damp, I wouldn't be filled with confidence by "our cousin Bob had a look over the electrics and they're fine", I'd want a certificate, so I think getting one is a good move.

It's also not unreasonable for them to charge for the survey, sorry. They were the clients of the surveyor who produced it, and they have probably paid considerably more than that to have it done.

Chin up, though. Our first house had a flooded cellar and the survey was the size of a telephone directory and we still bought it, so not all FTBs are like this.

[MistyB]

I would consider paying to see the survey and also think about sharing it with future interested buyers clearly stating that it is priced with this in mind and provide copies of the guarantees to be inspected at second viewings.

[ILikeBirds]

Presuming a homebuyers survery, red for gas and electric just mean no checks have been carried out, not that checks have been carried out and there's something wrong so seems strange on that alone.

[SadPander]

Fingers crossed Lafaminute!

Madbus - I don't really blame them for asking for money to see the survey in one respect, I'm just feeling that I don't want to give them any money - pure spite as I am in a mood I'm not sure if we should pay to see it so we know what we're dealing with or just get on with it to be honest. If its just the issues the estate agent mentioned then I suppose its not worth it, but I would hate to get these sorted and think everything was all okay only for there to be additional problems. I didn't think the say so of a family member was worth much on the electrics, which was why I didn't get them to do a cert for us. It wasn't raised as an issue when we bought, just the standard 'you should get it checked' so I really wasn't expecting it to be raised on theirs either. Hopefully we will get a buyer like you next time!

Off to find the motivation to tidy the house again........ I loved not having to do this every night whist we were sold!

[specialknickers]

I can! This happened to us last year, and after the buyer pulled out, a new downstairs neighbour moved in and started complaining about the noise from our flat (toddler + recently polished floorboards - looked amazing but hey) AND our freeholder announced that they were going to do structural work costing £8k for each flat! I was having kittens.

To cut a long story short, we ended up paying for the work, and carpeting the whole flat.. But we got a new buyer within two weeks who loved the carpets and paid more than the original offer. Even better, our purchase collapsed and we ended up buying the house next door to the house we originally wanted. A much better house that cost less and needed a lot more work. Result!

Sometimes these things do work out for the best.

[specialknickers]

Less work I mean. Much less!

[Sausagedog27]

Get your own spectate damp survey done- the homebuyer report will just say that damp meter readings were found to be high in such and such room, and recommend a separate survey. I wouldn't bother paying for it. Is there damp in the house? You might want to have a look yursf about any obvious causes- ie leaking guttering etc. Sorry for you op, its a nightmare!

[CuddyMum]

I sympathise. My buyers pulled out last Monday due to "personal reasons". I'm gutted. All I can say is onwards and upwards (actually I advise a good cry)!

[katrinefonsmark]

The people we're buying from pulled out today so no dream home for us. They let us go through the process knowing there's a sitting tenant in the house they plan to buy and only now have decided this means they cant sell. Back to the drawing board. At least we still have a buyer for ours.

[FlatCapAndAWhippet]

I dont think they just changed their minds, the fact that they used their time and money showed commitment to the purchase of your home. They were scared off by the survey.

The only thing I'd do is get the damp checked out by the company that did the work in the first place, get all relevant documentation in place for future buyers.

Other than that, deep breath, onwards and upwards,

[nocake]

Unfortunately some people don't understand surveys, particularly on old houses. We bought our house because the previous buyer pulled out over a survey issue. There's nothing significantly wrong with the house (it's 150 years old so not perfect) but things will always come up on a survey.

I hope you find a new buyer.

[pinkdelight]

I can - we had an older lady buyer pull out when we were selling last year. She'd never bought on her own before and got unnecessarily nervous about totally standard things on the survey. We tried to explain, but there's really no point once they've got the fear. Even if she'd recommitted, she'd have dropped out again. Some people are just flaky. But others are more robust/experienced and take it in their stride. We put it back on the market and got a good buyer (also an older lady but way more savvy) and the sale went through smoothly.

It's draining, I know, a total rollercoaster, but keep going and you'll get there.

[southnorwoodmum]

I also one pulled out on a flat as I got "unnecessarily" nervous (=old electrics, old boiler, a bit of damp etc.) after the survey and subsequently fell out of love with the flat. The vendor offered to rectify many things, but still I felt that I fell out of love and completely lost my interest no matter what.

Later, after we bought our current house, I have grown to understand the concept of old houses and that they will always have something on surveys, which I didn't know as a FTB reading my very first survey report on that unfortunate flat.

[SadPander]

It has made me feel a bit better just that all you lovely people have taken the time to respond, so thank you for that! Really sorry to Cuddymum and Katrinfonsmark for the bad time you are both going through, no other word to describe the feeling but gutting! Do either of you have other potential buyers or purchases to investigate?

I am considering buying the survey as Misty B says, so that the agent can show potential buyers, but counter that with the guarantees and certificates we have (assuming there is nothing else in the survey that the buyers haven't mentioned - it might be counter productive to show it to viewers if it is a long list?!) They have told us that if anyone asks why the house is back on the market they will have to tell them that buyers decided not to proceed after getting the survey. I really do think this will be off putting for buyers, especially as our target market is mainly FTB. Seems such a shame if its just damp which we can get fixed for free under our guarantee (damp man coming to check it out on the weekend) and Gas and Electrics which we will be getting checked next week!

ILikebirds - I agree, when we brought a couple of years ago, our survey just said that while Gas and Electrics looked fine it was beyond the scope of the surveyor to test them and we could consider getting a specialist to do so if we wanted. There is nothing to suggest that there are any issues with Gas and Electric, so I can't imagine the surveyor's comment can be much more than this. If they had asked we would happily have got these tested at our expense, and are doing so now they have pulled out anyway! I think perhaps Pinkdelight is right and they are blinded by 'the fear', and aren't interested in reasoning about this. I can appreciate FTB's are nervy and they really do have to do what they feel is right for them.

SpecialKnickers Thank you. I am hoping you are right and this will work out for the best. We hadn't found anywhere we wanted to buy, so were in the awkward position of possibly having to rent, hopefully this little hiccup will mean that things all come together a bit better and we can avoid renting.

I think I am a passionate person and I struggle to see how you can go from loving a house to not even wanting to discuss the issues raised in a survey. I know that the surveys can make things sound pretty scary, but largely they tend to generalise and advise you seek another opinion. I suppose I am just very surprised that they haven't bothered to do so, especially when the agent has explained to them that there are guarantees in place, so there would be no effort or expense for them. It does seem like your case Southnorwwodmum where it has just made them fall out of love with the house.

[CuddyMum]

We do have another potential buyer who still hasn't sold. I've also seen a house to buy too. I think buying the survey report would be a good idea.

[FlouncingMintyy]

30 - 35% of "sale agreeds" fall through.

Don't take it personally!

Onwards and upwards