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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To hate flaky house buyers?

70 replies

HackedOffSeller · 24/01/2018 12:49

13 weeks down the line on a house sale and onward purchase. Last week my buyers pulled out and I'm back in the nightmare that is first time buyers. So far I've had 10+ viewings and two/three offers but the problem I have is with the flaky buyers who are putting in offers and then pulling out a couple of days later with rather ridiculous excuses. As a result I'm likely to lose the house I want to buy. It's so frustrating.

When I was a first time buyer it was always the case that you only put in offers when you were certain you want to actually buy the place. Is this a situation that other people are experiencing or am I just incredibly unlucky to be attracting the indecisive?

OP posts:
Allaboutthatcake · 24/01/2018 12:52

It’s fairly common here, it makes me very glad that I’m in Scotland where an accepted offer is binding.

Are there any hidden issues that buyers may be discovering?

WaggyMama · 24/01/2018 12:53

I didn't know flaky buyers was a thing. What are they doing.

We need some kind of system that when you make an offer you are a serious buyer/seller.

Original poster
HackedOffSeller · 24/01/2018 12:58

No hidden issues as I've redone the whole house (including getting a new roof as it's a flat roofed house, which does reduce my market a bit). The estate agent is not even managing to get proper answers out of these buyers about why they are withdrawing their offers (my original buyers pulled out because they couldn't get a mortgage so nothing about the searches etc).

I suppose I just wanted to find out whether other people are having similar experiences when they are trying to sell their houses to first time buyers.

OP posts:
Chienrouge · 24/01/2018 13:02

We’ve just bought a house as first time buyers.
We looked at 5 houses, made an offer on one, had it accepted, and bought it. Our sellers were a pain in the arse and took ages over everything.
It’s not a ‘first time buyer’ problem.

Original poster
HackedOffSeller · 24/01/2018 13:13

Good to hear that there are some non-flaky ones about. Hopefully my bad luck is over and I can find a committed buyer soon. I still think there should be a change to the system so that if you put offers in you are committed in some way (and definitely lose money if you pull out after 12 weeks!).

OP posts:
SemolinaSilkpaws · 24/01/2018 13:19

I was a first time buyer last year and put an offer in on one place after seeing about 13. Offer accepted and the people who brought ours were FTBs too. Sale and purchase fairly smooth. Sorry you are having this hassle OP, hope all turns out OK for you.

reallyanotherone · 24/01/2018 13:22

I was a first time buyer last year and put an offer in on one place after seeing about 13. Offer accepted and the people who brought ours were FTBs too. Sale and purchase fairly smooth. Sorry you are having this hassle OP, hope all turns out OK for you

How can you be a ftb and also the people who are buying yours be ftb?

Coloursthatweremyjoy · 24/01/2018 13:26

A lot of houses here go incredibly quickly. If you even vaguely think you want it you have to offer or it will be gone. I guess this produces some rash decisions and second thoughts.

I have to say though. We didn't do this, it took ages for us to find this house and then we were the only people interested. The people who bought ours weren't the highest offer but were in rented and prepared to wait. It was all quite stressful.

SemolinaSilkpaws · 24/01/2018 13:27

reallynotherone bequesthed the property that was being sold.

Piffle11 · 24/01/2018 13:27

When I and my then DP bought our first house we viewed about 4 houses and offered on the 4th. We then stopped looking and the purchase went quickly and smoothly (we were first time buyers). I am amazed at the attitude of buyers on programmes such as Location Location Location who seem to want everything just so and at an unrealistic price! Then they have an offer accepted, and everyone's happy ... then Phil or Kirsty does a voiceover stating that the buyer decided it wasn't for them and pulled out. No-one ever seems to consider the messing around the seller has endured!

Fuckyourhobnobs · 24/01/2018 13:27

We are first time buyers and have been on the ball from day one as we very much want this particular house as our options are quite limited and it's perfect for us. Our sellers were allegedly eager to sell. Six months down the line and the catalogue of nonsense we've had to put up with from them has been unbelievable. Hopefully it'll all be finalised in the next few weeks but I never intend on doing this again. I think house buying is just a shit show in this country. I have an aunt who loves moving house and does so every three to four years. After the past few months I now think she's utterly bonkers

SemolinaSilkpaws · 24/01/2018 13:27

bequeathed

Coloursthatweremyjoy · 24/01/2018 13:28

I should also say if your own house isn't under offer the EA often won't even let you look round a house for sale.

SellFridges · 24/01/2018 13:31

I don’t think it’s just First time buyers. I equate it with voting Tory (slightly light hearted). People who do it only really give a shit about themselves. They don’t care about the finances and health of the other people in the chain.

Hopefully karma bites them eventually.

Mymycherrypie · 24/01/2018 13:32

We had problems with first time buyers. Putting in offers, seeming really keen... then,

“Can I come and view it with my mum?”
“Can I come and view it with my friend?”
“Can my cousin just come and see it?”
“Where is the nearest station/shop/bus stop again?”
“What’s a lease?”
“How do I turn the boiler on?”
“Would you accept 63% of the asking price?”

Then dropping out under the guise of buying something else 10 miles away. They don’t know what they want, they don’t research anything, they don’t ask any questions, it’s exhausting.

Mymycherrypie · 24/01/2018 13:34

Relevant questions I should add... they do however, ask lots of the same pointless ones over and over 😂

Chienrouge · 24/01/2018 13:35

They don’t know what they want, they don’t research anything, they don’t ask any questions, it’s exhausting

They? What, all first time buyers? We were a damn sight more on the ball than our sellers were. We just happened to be buying our first house.

juliesaway · 24/01/2018 13:36

Buyers are only serious when they’ve signed a contract of sale and paid a deposit. The UK (English!)way of being easily able to pull out at last minute after weeks or months of pissing about and making every excuse under the sun without penalty is ludicrous and makes the whole thing so so stressful. Why is it still like this? Utter madness. Glad it’s not like that where I live.

Mymycherrypie · 24/01/2018 13:43

We had 25 first time buyers come to view our house. It’s in the grounds of a well known historic park. Some of them didn’t even know what the park was called (it’s been on TV) never mind that they were looking to buy a house there! Our nearest train station is one bus stop away and they’d never heard of it. We had one woman suggest that 15 minutes was too far to walk to a mainline station in to central London. We sold to investors who knew what they were looking at and snapped it up.

Micah · 24/01/2018 13:44

Buyers are only serious when they’ve signed a contract of sale and paid a deposit

I actually had someone, on the day we exchanged contracts, at 5pm decided to mention that they were £50k short on the deposit, and only had 15k. Was 15k deposit ok?

Fuckers.

Original poster
HackedOffSeller · 24/01/2018 13:45

It appears that in all sales there seems to be one set of people who are on the ball and committed and their opposite number who are flaky and unorganised. We need to change the system and force the two groups into separate chains. I propose that some sort of psychometric testing has to be completed before selling or buying a house. If you fall into the organised committed group everything gets sorted within 2 weeks (solicitors and estate agents also have to be tested under this system) and for the other group they just go round and round in circles pulling out of multiple sales and asking ridiculous questions. I think this is a perfect solution.

Either that or the second group are just banned from buying houses until they become more "group 1" in attitude.

OP posts:
quilpie · 24/01/2018 13:48

I don't think it is just with buyers. The seller of the house I wanted to buy led me a merry dance. Basically she was buying a new bungalow but it wasn't to be finished until February. She didn't admit this however, she told me that she would definitely be able to complete in October, then November, then before Christmas. She had no intention, she was just stringing me along.

I pulled out at Christmas. Cue a wailing crying telephone call (her solicitor had given her my number, that's another story) because she had signed a contract for the bungalow and couldn't get out of it. I had signed nothing.

Silly woman.

Iworrytoomuchh · 24/01/2018 13:48

I’ve worked as an estate agent and this is the most frustrating thing! So many people do it and I just don’t understand it, most excuses they use are utter crap as well. The system needs to change! I think the stats are 1 in 4 pull out.

dancingqueen345 · 24/01/2018 13:49

I've offered on numerous houses over the last few months, had sellers 'accept' but then refuse to take off the market, at which point I've withdrawn my offer on the basis that I don't want to be gazumped!

I think this is an issue with the English house buying system rather than FTB!

Titsywoo · 24/01/2018 13:50

Happens the other way around though. When we were ftbs we were very clear what we wanted. Found something that worked and offer was accepted. The seller was a bit of a pain (saying he was taking all plants from the back garden and the gates from the driveway Confused). Then on the day of exchange he turned off his phone and refused to answer his front door to the agents. Left a message that night saying sorry I've changed my mind. We lost over 1k which we couldn't afford to lose. Still we ended up with something better so it all worked out in the end!