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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be ABSOLUTELY FUMING

161 replies

NYC23 · 30/08/2017 10:54

Due to exchange contracts on a house sale and purchase on Friday and our buyer, in the last 10 mins, has pulled out!

I know they are within their rights to do so, but my god I am disappointed!!!!!

OP posts:

ikeadyounot · 30/08/2017 17:28

FFS, I hate people like that, so utterly selfish.

CathyTrask · 30/08/2017 17:39

That is really shocking! I was thinking they must've had some serious life event that meant they couldn't go ahead! Fingers crossed for you OP

runwalkrun · 30/08/2017 17:46

I feel for you OP
It's horrible when things are so far down the road and you are days from having everything signed, only to have them pull out at the very last minute

However people are within their rights to pull out earlier on, especially if sellers are messing them about and not taking things seriously.

We are guilty of pulling out, but we did it early on.
We put in an offer on a house but pulled out fairly early on because the sellers kept dithering about finding a place and even went on holiday twice instead of giving the selling of the house priority.
They kept us hanging constantly and there was a complete lack of communication. It was as if we were very low down on their list of priorities.
We got fed up of hanging around.
When you have somebody willing to buy your house and they don't have a property to sell, You Don't Mess Them About and keep them waiting for months on end.

If you do, you will lose the sale.

Fluffyears · 30/08/2017 17:48

In Scotland people can still pull out until the missives are completed. Much rarer but happened to keep friend. Sold the house and after two days the buyer retracted her offer.

Funnyface1 · 30/08/2017 18:01

Feeling sorry for you op. I'm just about to put my house on the market and this is already my biggest fear. I hope you get a new buyer very soon.

MaryShelley1818 · 30/08/2017 18:21

Awful thing to happen. It happened to me 2yrs ago - 4 days before moving and we got the call while we were on holiday. I was absolutely devastated and it also ruined our holiday.
The buyer claimed it was due to the survey results but refused point blank to tell us what was on there, just saying she legally didn't have to! We luckily sold it again just a week later despite it originally being up for a year before the first offer...not surprisingly there was absolutely nothing showed up on the survey.

Storminateapot · 30/08/2017 18:33

This happened to us on the day of exchange when it turned out buyer husband was having an affair & walked out on wife/kids. I hope he went on to be fucking miserable.
We were buying new build & developers wouldn't wait for us so we lost it and a few grand in deposits.
However - we did sell again very quickly for about £10k more and found a house in a much better location that hadn't been on the market when we were first looking. We're still here 15 years on.

TroelsLovesSquinkies · 30/08/2017 19:01

You can apparently buy insurance cheaply to protect you from someone dropping out once you are spending money on surveys and solicitors.
Dh said we'll be looking for that once we sell.
Hope you get another buyer quickly and for more money too.

pudcat · 30/08/2017 19:23

The reverse happened to us. Our sellers took house off the market the day before contracts were due to be exchanged. We found another house and moved 3 months later. Then we found the other house up for sale again at a much higher price but we were happy with the house bought.

TronaldDumpy · 30/08/2017 19:47

Fluffyyears - your friend didn't "sell" the house and then someone pulled out!

I've bought and sold in Scotland several times and bought in England once. I can tell you that the Scottish system is a walk in the park compared to England. In Scotland once you sign that you are going to buy then it's a done deal. Very simple and stressfree.

happypoobum · 30/08/2017 19:53

We had this - bloke we were buying from turned up on our doorstep the day before exchange and asked for loads more money (which we didn't have) so sale fell through.

Apologies if this has already been said and it sounds like a platitude but I honestly think all these things happen for a reason and you will get a better house. Good luck. Oh, and

MuchasSmoochas · 30/08/2017 19:55

The Scottish way is still good but used to be better. 20 years ago you would conclude missives two or three weeks after the offer but now there's a lot more dilly dallying and not concluding until a few weeks before the sale. But my goodness the English way is asking for trouble!

MuchasSmoochas · 30/08/2017 20:05

And sorry this rotten thing has happened to you OP. X

jellyandsoup · 30/08/2017 20:07

This has happened to us to, was literally in the car with signed contracts when out arsehole buyer pulled out! You have my total sympathy, it sucks

The house we were buying went straight back on the market, as did ours, luckily we sold quickly and for more money and still for the house we wanted.

HaggisMuncher · 30/08/2017 21:51

This happened to a young colleague of mine. She took the seller to the small claims court to recoup some the cash she had lost on surveys, buying furniture that she then had to get rid of due to lack of storage Tec. Found in her favour...

Craigie · 31/08/2017 17:31

The English system for buying and selling houses is absolutely SHIT. Thank god for our separate system in Scotland. YANBU by the way.

MuvaWifey77 · 31/08/2017 17:36

YNBU OP. But it's one of those thing aye...
it's within their right... I pulled out last min on selling my house last month , literally the week before as I did not want to sell it to start with , but had court order against the house. Managed to get a loan last minute ... things like that happen. It's not easy though.... totally understand your rage .

Ceto · 31/08/2017 17:41

She was selling a bungalow at the same time as buying and did not think about how much stress it would be....

But how completely irrational. Apart from the fact that it's the normal stress that housebuyers deal with all the time, why does she think it would be less stressful to separate the process out? If she sells first and buys later, that will mean two house moves, to say nothing of possibly having to find somewhere to rent between moves etc.

user1496121365 · 31/08/2017 17:42

Yes - goodasgoldilox - that happened to me too. V frustrating. It's not a very good system is it.

thatmakesmehappy · 31/08/2017 17:44

We had the same thing OP 😞 It's absolutely devastating, not to mention the money you've put into it. Our seller pulled out on us and we lost close to £1000 plus were homeless as we had moved out of our flat because the lease had ended and the owner wouldn't extend it for just a few weeks.
It's gutting, but we just kept telling ourselves there is something better out there for us. We're still looking and have had to move my family in with my parents until that happens.

Supermagicsmile · 31/08/2017 17:49

Fingers crossed your sale on the one you want can still go ahead.

BengalGal · 31/08/2017 17:51

It is true that in the states you give a deposit with your offer, 1% of the purchase price in California and Washington states, that is held by the realtor. If your offer is accepted this remains and goes towards the purchase. If you back out for any reason other than the house not being as advertised, you lose the deposit. This leads to sellers having all the surveys done ahead of time and extensive disclosures so the buyer can make a realistic offer and there are fewer surprises. So few back out.

careroftwins · 31/08/2017 17:52

So sorry. It happened to us four times. We were all packed up and ready to go over a period of two years. We eventually had it go through with buyers that we thought would be the last people to want to buy our house. The disappointment is crushing. The law in England needs to be changed. Offer accepted should be a binding contract.

MsHarry · 31/08/2017 17:59

That's awful for you. My DM always used to say when these things happen that it's because there's something better out there. She was always right and I hope the same for you.

whatkatiedidnext31 · 31/08/2017 17:59

From someone who is getting close to exchanging, I hugely feel for you :( xxx

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