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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To pull out of house purchase so close to exchange or gazunder?

940 replies

TitaniumBev · 13/05/2018 17:24

Totally miserable - any advice/views/abuse welcome!

We're FTB's, both 30, scrimped for years to get deposit together. We both grew up dirt poor & wanted to have a bit of security before children so are keen to get going now and sick of private renting.

Offer accepted on house end of Jan, the asking price was kite flying given location (Croydon). They wanted 460k we settled on 440k, only now due to exchange next week after delays (both sides, minor errors).

Since then though all the news around the economy & housing especially around London has been terrible. Monthly drops of around 1 - 3.6%. Terrible rics reports & rightmove data etc. Similar properties in the area are coming on for less but there is not a lot coming on so hard to judge. Properties hanging around for a long time.

I now feel the agreed price is too high, a lot has changed in 4 months and I think it's best to walk away. I know this will screw over the vendors & the chain but don't like DH's suggestion of asking for a reduction so close to exchange. He thinks we should at least give them the chance. (How lucky!!!) Prices seem to be down around 6% he reckons split and ask for 3% off. (£13,000 ish)

Its such a big transaction, the market looks soooo bad and its not dream house or anything. Should I walk or offer lower? I'm not going to over pay for a house just to be nice/honorable unfortunately.

URGH!

OP posts:
sweeneytoddsrazor · 13/05/2018 20:45

*But the OP’s not doing that any more than her seller was by asking for £440k.

Markets change, buyers get nervous. In RL sellers are usually grown up about it and either take the (in this case insignificant) hit, or go back to the market.*

The seller had already dropped £20k from the asking price, yu have no idea if a further price reduction is insignificant or not. They may well be putting it all down as a deposit on their new house and have no room for manoeuvre.

viques · 13/05/2018 20:45

OP you might be FTB this time, but if you do get a property then decide to sell one day you could learn the hard way what a shitty thing you are thinking of doing.

FASH84 · 13/05/2018 20:47

b) prices are being driven up by people who buy property and rent them out- like you americanlife

^ definitely this, but @americanlife feels sorry for FTB 😂

Tinkobell · 13/05/2018 20:49

Prices can go up one month and down the next. At some point you just have to put a stake in the ground and go for it. Don't be an effing chicken at this late stage. If the house is fundamentally good, stick with the purchase. The market value only becomes a reality if you need to sell and presumably you intend to make this home for a few years.
And sorry, I don't buy the violins justification about your background, it's a ridiculous thing to say.

BrandNewHouse · 13/05/2018 20:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HeedMove · 13/05/2018 20:57

So glad we dont have to deal with this shit in Scotland.

NotTheQueen · 13/05/2018 20:57

I’m on the side of the OP - sod the vendor.

We were buying four years ago, and offered on a property in negative equity on the proviso that the vendors bank had agreed to the sale in advance. We got dicked about for five months before discovering the bank had done no such thing. In the meantime, the market had turned, and we ended up spending almost 20% more to buy a similar property in the same estate taking into account higher purchase price, extra rent, additional survey and conveyancing costs, etc The vendor didn’t care - after the shit finally hit the fan we heard through friends of friends they were using our offer as a bargaining chip in an attempt to get a write down and didn’t care about our losses as we’re not locals Angry.

In ten years time, what’s going to be more important to you, a seller whose happy you followed through with the purchase, or your happiness?

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 13/05/2018 20:57

You aren’t fucking them over. They are grown up

yes, they are grown up, but the OP is still fucking them over. How else would you describe it.
I also think the OP will come to regret pulling out, but that will be too late for the chain.

I can only hope the seller find a decent buyer for full asking price quickly, and ends up better off.

Our system should not allow people to mess around and waste everybody's time and money so late in the chain. Sells really should be legally binding much earlier in the process, our system is a joke.

FindoGask · 13/05/2018 20:58

This can absolutely happen in Scotland if missives aren't completed until close to the date of entry. Not sure why people think it doesn't happen - it very nearly did happen to us.

DistanceCall · 13/05/2018 21:01

You aren’t fucking them over. They are grown up

Because grownups can't be fucked over? What are you on?

pyramidbutterflyfish · 13/05/2018 21:02

“The seller had already dropped £20k from the asking price, yu have no idea if a further price reduction is insignificant or not. They may well be putting it all down as a deposit on their new house and have no room for manoeuvre.”

I don’t agree. First of all £13k is not a lot for someone selling for £440 and most likely buying for rather more. Secondly there is room for manoeuvre because they can ask their own seller to take or share the hit.

House prices in London are crazy and a nervous FTB like OP buying in at the bottom of the pyramid and the first to be hit by negative equity is more deserving of sympathy than the rest of the chain who’ve benefited from growth.

SusieOwl4 · 13/05/2018 21:03

Unfortunately this happens a lot and it’s not very nice being on the receiving end of it . It happened to us and we were not in a position to tell the buyer where to go so we negotiated the reduction . If you are going to do it you should be honest and produce evidence of prices dropping , but if you love the house don’t do it because the seller may tell you where to go. Then you have to start all over again .

SharronNeedles · 13/05/2018 21:07

We've just bought out first house and tbh I think what you're doing is ridiculous. Do your research before you even start looking! All you've done is possibly ruin things for other people and made yourself look like a twat

Mincepies76 · 13/05/2018 21:11

We had someone pull out of a purchase (messing up the whole chain) the day before exchange. We were packed and ready. We were devastated. Ended up selling our house for 10k less than original price as everyone could see we were desperate!
Totally shit thing to do!

mizu · 13/05/2018 21:12

I've posted on another thread about leasehold property and being a bit nervous about signing stuff tomorrow. Also FTB and am 45 Grin.

Thb wouldn't dream of now asking to buy for less, yes it's nerve racking, I've never done this before. Like tinko says, sometimes you just have to go for it otherwise you'll be renting forever.

sockunicorn · 13/05/2018 21:15

i was selling my parents house last year and had the person below us in the chain try to reduce the price by 15k 2 weeks before deadline. They even had the cheek to inform us they were "looking at other houses" after all surveys and paperwork was done (was just waiting for completion). Told them to fuck off. Luckily house sold again within 3 days and chain was fine.

Loonoon · 13/05/2018 21:17

I totally agree with sharonneedles. You've just messed about, playing at buying a house and have wasted a lot of people's time and money - including a family member who could have been doing the conveyancing for a paying customer rather than doing boring donkey work at no cost to you. Serious vendors and purchasers who have made and accepted offers in good faith will lose both money (because they won't be lucky enough to have free conveyancing) and the homes they have set their hearts on because of you. They might also lose jobs and school places. But you will only lose £400 so it's all fine.

What you are doing is perfectly legal but it is also immature, ill thought through and unkind. It's a shame the UK house buying system allows it.

OyO · 13/05/2018 21:19

I can’t believe this is legal. What’s to stop all buyers threatening to pull out an hour before exchange unless the price is reduced, knowing full well the sellers will be sitting there all packed up and ready to go. Crazy!

LouiseCheese123 · 13/05/2018 21:22

The seller had already dropped £20k from the asking price

That doesn't mean the house was ever worth 240k. No doubt the sellers would not have accepted an offer if they could get the asking price, which means they probably agreed the value of the house was closer to 220k

The OP has only 'saved' the money if she was prepared to pay the 240.

I'd say the valuation of the property is highly relevant here. Can you have it valued, again, OP?

Tiredspice2 · 13/05/2018 21:25

WOW!! What a shity, shity thing to do.

opinionatedfreak · 13/05/2018 21:25

You need to think of the long game. I bought 2 years ago at the peak of the market in my second choice location (zone 1 London)

The brexit referendum happened pretty quickly after I moved in and prices started dropping.

Property in my preferred location has now come into my budget and I've been slightly regretful about my decision to buy.... However I have now worked out that since I bought I've saved almost 40k in rent and paid off 35k of the mortgage capital.... this more than compensates for the fact my flat is now worth 25k less.

ChaChaChaCh4nges · 13/05/2018 21:26

Honestly, I think people who do what you’re contemplating are absolute scum.

And, yes, I have in the past sold my property when my purchase fell through, in order to do right by my purchaser, so fuck anyone who suggests that it’s easy to be moral in writing but no-one follows through in real life.

StarUtopia · 13/05/2018 21:26

You're arsing over £13k on a £400k + property??!

Seriously. Don't be a dick. ('I'm being polite).

It's the most shitty thing you can do now to either walk away or demand a reduction.

Someone did this to us. Cost us a lot lot more than £400. Did some serious damage. Nasty nasty behaviour. Hope karma bites you on the bum on the way out!

LouiseCheese123 · 13/05/2018 21:26

I can’t believe this is legal. What’s to stop all buyers threatening to pull out an hour before exchange unless the price is reduced, knowing full well the sellers will be sitting there all packed up and ready to go. Crazy!

No one is moving next week! We are talking about exchanging contracts, not completing. There is usually several weeks to a month between the two dates, and it's unlikely people would have started packing, considering how often the exchange does not happen.

OyO · 13/05/2018 21:28

Thank you, Louise, but I was referring to this:

We had someone pull out of a purchase (messing up the whole chain) the day before exchange. We were packed and ready. We were devastated. Ended up selling our house for 10k less than original price as everyone could see we were desperate!