To think there should be a fine for vendors pulling out of a property buy/sell process last minute?

That's really interesting - thanks! Seems pretty sensible to have the conditions as part of your offer.

So obvious how it could fail too.

The buyer basically relies on the seller completely for all the information, that that information is compiled reliably and correctly. The seller of course having a massive VI biased towards them in making sure all information presents their property in the best way possible.

I don't think the homebuyer pack is worthless. It helps reduce some of the potential for the offer to break down. But it doesn't really do away with the need for the buyer to do their own checks and all the issues associated with that.

I am sure though all sellers would be happy to compile and pay for L3 surveys on their property before selling.

Oh yeah, not saying it would be easy and I guess that's why it's not the case but I think one would be able to document redundancy or a serious medical diagnosis. Though doubtless people would find loopholes!

I really feel for you OP. It happened to me five times and took two years to finally sell.

Excuses, genuine or not; argument over bedrooms, insurance too high, cancer diagnosis, didn't like it was a private road (solicitor who knew full well when he offered) and not sure if the camper van fitted on the drive (ours did). We packed and unpacked boxes, sold furniture and felt so dispirited. Finally went back on market and had a bidding war in one weekend.

Hopefully you'll get a straightforward sale this time. Someone in rented with no chain is ideal.

I like the American system

When you make an offer, you attach a check with ernest money, its to show the seller that you are serious about your offer, usually $1000 but can be more if you want to increase the chances of your offer being accepted.

If your offer is accepted the check is cashed and held by the estate agent in an escrow account. It is applied to the sale when you complete and retained by the sellers if you withdraw.
Then you have the option to list conditions in your offer (or waive some or all of them to make your offer more attractive). Common conditions are getting a mortgage approved, surveys with less than x amount of work needed, solicitor searches. BUT the offer states that each of these conditions has to be fulfilled within a certain amount of time. So we will get our mortgage confirmed within 3 weeks and a survey within 2 weeks. The solicitors usually do the searches within 3 weeks, but we have had them done within the week. The more efficient dates in the offer, the more attractive it is to the sellers.

Then in the offer you commit to exchange on a certain date and complete of a certain date (or before) and when you exchange you commit to paying over a chunk of money, often 10% of the purchase price..but often more.

If you pull out for any reasons not covered in the offer, you loose all monies up to that point and are also liable to be sued if the sellers choose.

The system provides a decent amount of checks and balances but most importantly having all the dates listed means the systems moves forward in a professional manner and you cant gazump or gazunder. If changes are needed to dates etc, the estate agents negotiate between both parties and problems can be accomodated. One property we were buying we needed to change the date of completion to earlier. The sellers didnt want to as they didnt know they could get the house emptied in time, so we compromised that they didnt have to empty the detached garage for another 2 weeks after completion and the date change was agreed to. The solicitors just added words to the sale documents to protect both parties for that event.

I think part of the problem in the UK is the crazy amount of time the searches take. Given how much of the documentation is online now, I think it should be possible to speed it up hugely.

I'm so sorry OP. We had this happen on the day of exchange - we lost thousands. We ended up buying somewhere much nicer. The stress and misery of buying and selling is awful. I really hope you manage to find somewhere else.

You'd be less confused if you read all of OP's posts. It's good etiquette for all threads.

OP Can you contact the original buyer perhaps her circumstances have changed . You often here how people got their dream house this way.
I had the same thing happen at the last minute too. I actually vaguely knew the woman from playgroup and let her come in to measure for curtains. Two days before we moved they pulled out . Apparently they had a row and she decided she didn't want to buy with him. I did see her point but it was devastating to us. We had to move anyway as going abroad . We rented it out and rented abroad . Not ideal .

MN will amend your thread title if you want them to OP. It's your buyers who have pulled out, yes? I guess they found a house they like better, or are gambling on changes to the market. They will have lost some money too - but yes, it is hugely frustrating when property chains collapse at the last minute .

@BrokenCookies I'm confused?

Why would you be repairing and cleaning a house for them?

Do you mean 'purchasers?'

A vendor is someone selling, and surely you'd not be doing stuff to their house?

I've not heard of sellers pulling out, but buyers definitely so.

It should be legally binding beyond a certain point.

Yes, but if your lawyer is switched on (and in our scenario our vendor's legal firm was not) things are coordinated so that you are concluding missives on your sale on the same day as concluding missives on your purchase so that everyone in the chain is protected.

It’s so confusing why people let it get to this point before pulling out, in my head you have to be fully committed long before this! Should absolutely be a fine or something to stop this happening! Sorry this has happened to you but I’ve read stories like this before and things can still work out.. sometimes even for the better xx take care xx

My last purchase was mega quick as well - that was a cash buy though. My first purchase was a lot more stressful.

I feel so sorry for posters like the OP when they get totally screwed like this - irrespective of where it happens (inserted so as not to trigger any posters who might think I'm implying Scottish buying/selling is a stress-free process!).

In Scotland, we exchanged missives in under 3 weeks. Both parties are then committed. Our completion date was set for 2 months later because it suited our vendor perfectly (his mortgage term ended then).

So much easier than house sales in England.

Well, you certainly got your facts wrong when you tried to imply my position was somehow "all properties sales and purchases in Scotland complete without even the slightest hint of stress or bother." Especially when my initial comment was a qualified "Don't think..." rather than some concrete statement.

I guess that makes you wrong AND a sarcastic dick. What a pity there isn't a block button on here for posters like you.

I'd rather be a sarcastic dick than get my facts wrong.

I’ve also had babies in special care (prem twins) so I realise it’s stressful. 9 years later they had a garage of packed boxes and she’d re bought dinner plates etc rather than unpack the ones in the garage. Bonkers.

That aspect of the Scottish system is so much more logical. Seller should provide a thorough survey and searches, available to all serious prospective buyers. That would stop people playing at selling their home, as there would be a big up-front cost.

Then once sale is agreed, the exchange should be immediate.

It's so obvious how it could work.

Alternatively she might turn into a sarcastic dick on a MN thread implying things that no-one has ever suggested.

Who knows?

You can say it all you like, people won't have it.
And those people have either usually bought or sold years ago or have never even viewed a property in Scotland, let alone anything else.
I do think it is a better system in Scotland in many ways but there's this myth that persists that goes something along the lines of, as soon as you click on a property on Rightmove you've committed yourself to buying.
Or at least you can't pull out like you can in the English system.
And for those of us who have had stressful times buying and/or selling in Scotland, well it's a little bit annoying to say the least.

It is a ridiculous, shitty system.

We were mucked around three times. But then an absolute dream house came on the market which was priced low to sell quickly and it was so much better than the one that we had wasted time and money on. I hope this happens for you, too.

I assume it must be some years since you bought your house

"I was planning to give birth at a hospital five minutes from my new house and now 1.5 hours away" - that really is shit, OP. I can see why you're so upset with the buyers.

But you were ok with your first buyers mum being ill.

For example does a break up trump an illness? You could go on?

How do you prove it?

It's awful but if it was so easy to set these rules they would have a long time ago.