To pull out of house purchase

I hope you find something suitable and the school places work out. I’m worried about timings too, we’ve a baby due imminently and if we had to start from scratch it’d be difficult in our current tiny house.

We've had to start house hunting all over again, with the risk the school places for our kids will be gone by the time we manage to find and exchange on another house (we're moving mid-year and it's been difficult even finding an area that has school spaces). It's made me lose faith in the system, that it can fail at any moment up until you get the keys.

The whole system of conveyancing in England is broken, it's a mess and it's inefficient. But as long as it stays as it is Buyers and Sellers need to always remember that there's no sale until exchange. Until that point everything is up in the air and neither party should be overcommitted to the agreement.

Buyers will keep looking, they can't help it - they've probably still got search several alerts running on RightMove. Sellers shouldn't be putting up "STC" notices online or out-front, don't actively market but don't take it off the market completely. Trying to play the system as "fair" doesn't win you any prizes. It's a transaction. Be level-headed.

As someone whos bottom of the chain has fallen through 8 (yes, 8!) times over the past nearly 2 years...I understand it's a big financial decision but I wish people would keep their commitments. I've spent thousands at this point trying to move house and there's nothing I can do about it, because it's the first/second buyers in the chain pulling out - most likely for similar reasons as you.

I don't think the law on house sale and purchase in England and Wales should be as it is, but given the current law, you can withdraw.

If you decide to, do it tomorrow morning, and it must be final, no new offer if it is not sold a few months later and the other places have come to nothing.

I’m so sorry, what will your plans be going forward?

You have to live in a home a long time and spend a lot of money. Make sure you pick the right one. If you’ve not concluded and can make an offer on the right house I would. I would withdraw from other house first though. Only fair to give them as much opportunity to sell again as possible and if it’s not the house you’re dreaming of now then it never will be right. Don’t buy it. Go and see the other homes and make a decision asap.

@Bluewhoglue 1 in 3 agreed offers don’t make it to completion. Property buying is a transaction just like any other purchase but with much higher financial stakes . You have to keep emotion out of it, yes it will impact others personally but that’s the risk everyone enters in to when when buying/selling property.

You will get people on here telling you it’s awful and they were screwed over by a buyer pulling out but the fact is you’ve not signed a contract and a house can’t be considered sold until exchange of contracts at the earliest. Ultimately it’s a purchase and you have every right to change your mind, you have to be sure as it’s an expensive mistake to undo. You shouldn’t let the emotions of strangers or societal pressure to be polite influence such a decision.

Obviously you run the risk of ending up with neither property to purchase but that is a risk you have to be willing to take.

We just had this happen to us, it's absolute pants 🫤

I'd pull out. It's obviously not the best fit for you, why would you spend all that money on a house you'll probably end up resenting?

Go for the bigger house.

I know it’s awful for the seller, but absolutely do not buy a house that isn’t as good or as suited to your needs, out of guilt. You will be living in it and paying it off for decades. It is madness to continue with a purchase because you are worried what some strangers might think of you.

I’m so scared this is going to happen with mine just as things are inching towards exchange :( I don’t know why just it’s quite common

Don't buy it, pull out now.

This is the biggest purchase you'll make. If its not 100% what you want then you could end up spending thousands trying to get out of a wrong decision.

Take emotion out of it and do what is right for you. People who say they'll have a low opinion of you are only sore because they aren't getting what they want. You need to do what's right for your family.

Its purely a financial decision at the end of the day. Take emotion out of it.

You’re absolutely right ofcourse but I’m allowed to feel aggrieved I think? 🤣

What if you do and then a better one than this next one comes up

I agree with others that its way too big and expensive a commitment to have doubts over. You should view the other house and if you love it more then pull out. You've no guarantee you'll get it so you need to love it enough to be prepared to risk losing both over.

If you decide to go ahead with either house you need to stop looking at properties online and commit to what you're buying. Otherwise you're just torturing yourself.

I'm sure your low opinion of them keeps them up at night...

Would your buyers wait for you?

Someone did this to us when we sold our last house. We accepted their offer but they continued to view other houses. We then had to pull out of our purchase and our vendor had to do the same. It fucked things up for a lot of people in the chain. It's a stressful time and it was a real dick move by them. I honestly don't think I could have that on my conscience.

Meh it’s not a £10 jumper is a bloody house. You buy the one you want you don’t stick it out because you might feel bad that they need to find a new seller.

Guarantee they don’t feel bad for making a nice profit out of you for the difference between their purchase price and what they where about to charge you

Are you saying the OP should martyr herself and spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a house just to keep a stranger happy? Come on.

Of course she should pull out if she's having doubts. She owes them nothing.

You don't owe your sellers anything. They will need to revise their price anyway as the market has changed. Life is too short to go through with it, if it's not right, just because you don't want to upset someone. Such is life. Sellers should know there are no guarantees in the English conveyancing system.

I am concerned about the affect my decision will have on the seller.

You're buying a house, not making a friend. Do what's right for you.

Its not uncommon for offers to be withdrawn after they've been accepted, and in England the system put no penalty on it - it accepted as a risk in the process. Often it happens once the survey is seen by the prospective Buyer, sometimes it's because there's a change in circumstance affecting either party.

You may have incurred costs with conveyancing or even survey, but just because you're down a couple of hundred quid isn't a reason to proceed with a purchases worth a couple of hundred thousand quid that will make you unhappy.

If the offer was only accepted last month you're not that far along. Gutting for the seller, but hardly the day of exchange.

Go view them. The last thing you want to do is buy a house you may regret.