To forcibly ask why you pulled out?

I would t worry about pissing off the EA though, they don’t act for you and they’re wankers anyway.

What is the relevance of you being a £900k cash buyer?

YABU anyway although I get it’s frustrating

It's understandable you're really disappointed.

But the seller has a right.

Who knows what's happened.

Perhaps one of them has just been given 6 months to live!

Given they have pulled out of the ideal sale to a cash buyer - something must have significantly changed for them.

You don't know this. I can think of multiple scenarios that aren't them accepting a higher offer. If they're having financial problems and have moved to a more expensive property they can no longer afford it could make sense to now put the new property up for sale and move back into the older home. The relationship could have broken down and now one of them is going to stay in the old house. Or maybe a parent has died leaving a parent alone who they want to move into their old home to have them nearer to them.
Maybe a child has been diagnosed with something awful and they've decided that the child dealing with moving schools at this time is unfair so they're moving back in - or their old house is closer to the hospital where someone is receiving treatment.

There are a hundred possible different reasons.

It definitely sucks for you - though I do think anyone is silly to assume a sale is going through before the contracts have been exchanged, these things happen so often.

And the EA was definitely a shit not to let you know asap.

But you'd be far and away the most unreasonable to turn up on the sellers doorstep. No matter what the actual reason was.

Wow, what if something awful has happened to them or a loved one. Your sense of entitlement is shocking.

Sadly they don't owe you an explanation - might have been nice if they'd given one though.

We pulled out of a purchase once, property was hard to get a mortgage on due to construction, then literally the day before exchange last minute paperwork came from seller's solicitor which revealed more problems which we couldn't risk long term. We went back to property over weekend, but I knew I just didn't want it to be mine any longer, so DH phoned buyer direct that evening.

I'd find this unhinged behaviour. It definitely wouldn't change my mind.

I can understand your disappointment and initial reaction. I'd feel similar. Glad you have calmed a bit now and decided not to try and face the seller.

I think mentioning the price was a bit relevant since if you live in a average price area, houses for that price are actually quite rare and often very unique, so it isn't as simple as going out finding another one the same, it is a long process.

I understand that’s it’s disappointing, but you really do need not to be a baby about it.

Of course you cannot just turn up (foot stamping optional) and demand an explanation. Buying a house is a contractual process and you had not yet entered into any contract.

You are very likely to need the services of the estate agent in future. So, whatever you think of them, stay on their side.

DMIL had to pull out of the sale of her 3.2 million pound house a fortnight before contracts were due to be exchanged. She had a significant medical diagnosis and needed to be in her home while she was being treated. We obviously didn’t share that with the buyers, just cited a change of circumstance.

The buyers (also cash) accepted the disappointment with good grace, and now live three doors away. All very dignified for everyone.

You don't care the reason, you just want to intimate them

Incredibly frustrating and upsetting, OP.

Fantasise about karma catching up with the vendors but keep it in your head.

We were buying a house off a friend. They ended up pulling out 12 weeks or so into the process. It was frustrating but we didn’t question or confront them. Unfortunately it’s shit but these things are rarely personal and everyone has their reasons. It was the best thing to happen in hindsight as the house we have now is what I dreamt off forever.

Years ago we pulled out of a sale cos my mum died, it could be something like that. We weren’t at exchange but still we had to let buyers down. You gain nothing by going round, just get the EA on the case to find you something else pronto.

They might be in the dark about this too! It’s in their interest to get the sale through and they don’t get paid for the work they’ve done now. The sellers probably haven’t told the EA their reasons, just gone through their solicitors.

You’re in a great position as a cash buyer, OP - people are weird, move on.

Would have to be a significantly better offer though because most EA contracts hold the seller responsible for paying the fees if they pull out after the EA has introduced a buyer willing and able to proceed. Not to mention solicitors fees for work undertaken on the original sale. Our EA fees were 2% of the purchase price - that would be £18,000 + VAT on a £900,000 sale.

It would only be harassment if it happened more than once.

I feel too ur pain op having had someone pull out 20 minutes before exchange for no reason.

but what will confronting them actually achieve. You’ll feel worse after and you’ll still not have a house. So honestly, there’s zero point.

You can push the EA. Show up to their office
Call call call until you get an answer. You can't show up to the sellers house.

How do you know the estate agent knew when you called about the carpets?
Have you been bothering the agent and seller for the whole 10 weeks to measure and get in for this and that? Maybe the seller just decided they had enough of you.

No of course you can't just turn up on someone's doorstep and demand they explain themselves. A seller can pull out for any number of reasons, although it's frustrating for you, it might be personal.

Turning up at their house would be a very intimidating thing to do and it's not fair.

If you are desperate to know then a more appropriate way might be to email them - but don't expect a response - they don't owe you anything.

^^ This. England has gone to shit. Most people are entitled, unpleasant, self-centred, greedy and rude.

^Ha ha, love this 😂

I don’t think how much the house cost has anything to do with the stress involved in buying and selling houses, and I understand how @MyPeachLion feels. We were vendors, quite a number of years ago. We had several offers, and accepted one (not the highest) from an older couple who were cash buyers. We found a house we wanted, and were well into the process when they simply changed their minds.

They’d visited a couple of times, loved the property, then the estate agent said they’d pulled out. I was so angry, I know in retrospect it was a waste of emotion, but I also know if I behaved like that I’d have had the decency to say why. We couldn’t go ahead, had to put our house back on the market etc, etc. The good news was that we sold fairly easily, and ended up with a better house where we’ve lived ever since.

YABU to bang on their door and to request an explanation.

However, there is an issue in the UK whereby sellers can pull out without good reason and face no consequences. If one offers, there are usually sunk costs: structural survey, mortgage related fees, etc., often buzzing through a chain in which others lose funds too. This happened to us many years ago.

There does need to be a mechanism and people who pull out with no good reason (they could insure for good reason) should be culpable for the costs of others.

You can't go and confront the sellers. But I would think your estate agent could and should have been a bit more proactive in giving some sort of explanation. I would imagine you have lashed out on a survey, removal van, even bits for the prospective new house at this point. And started to think about organising your life around your new address if there are kids schools involved. It's not as simple as the op has just lost an expensive house purchase, but it's fine as she is wealthy so it won't affect her, and I don't understand why so many posters are pretending it is.

Dh's ex wife did this to the buyers of their former marital home, the actual day before they were due to exchange (and two weeks before prospective completion). The buyers were moving from far away and had enrolled their small kids in schools etc. They had had the survey done which costs a grand or so and completed long stressful wrangles about works that needed doing etc. The ex wife just decided she wasn't moving as she hadn't bothered to find anywhere else she wanted to move to and was going to move back in with her mum until she did-and then they had a falling out and she decided mums house was too small for her anyway and that was that (it wasn't obvs and back to court it eventually went and she did end up having to move as she was essentially squatting in dh's 'half' of the house at that point). The buyers were devastated. They gave the estate agent a letter for the ex wife and a copy for dh in which they explained this-and how stressful it had all been. Dh's ex didn't bother to respond, but dh (whose fault it wasn't in any way at all) did, and just explained and apologised profusely. It probably didn't help them, or recoup they money they had spent to date but at least knowing what had happened might have made them feel better (even if it was bloody inexplicable in the first place). It doesn't matter the price of the house does it? It's the stress of it and the emotional investment.