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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:
Aridane · 13/05/2018 21:29

OP - you must absolutely do,what is right for you.

peoplearemean · 13/05/2018 21:30

Grow up. This is why people aren't buying houses until they are middle aged. You're looking for the deal that isn't there. And as for prices falling they certainly aren't by me, can't speak for Croydon, even if they were it's what it is worth to you and the reality of what it would take to find something else.

DarkRosaleen · 13/05/2018 21:31

Neighbour of mine was banned by the local estate agents because of this kind of fuckery. At one point she had her purchasers removal van outside her house and they had to return and unload. There were 9 in that chain.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 13/05/2018 21:33

a seller whose happy you followed through with the purchase, or your happiness

Happiness or actually just saving a few grand? Many people couldn't actually BE happy knowing that they'd really, really fucked people over.

And frankly, if you go through life with a 'fuck 'em' attitude, then the chances are that other people will eventually clock it and treat you accordingly.

StarUtopia · 13/05/2018 21:34

Oh and this x10000

Only a week to go til a whole chain of families move. Moving companies will be booked, boxes starting to be packed or already packed, kids getting excited and/or nervous, maybe they are moving away from friends and family and saying goodbyes, and then YOU happen.

SharronNeedles · 13/05/2018 21:34

Louise unless it's different up north, but it was 2 weeks from exchange to completion for us. When you work full time you need to be prepared so you can't spend your last two weeks organising the whole move

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 13/05/2018 21:35

Only a week to go til a whole chain of families move. Moving companies will be booked, boxes starting to be packed or already packed, kids getting excited and/or nervous, maybe they are moving away from friends and family and saying goodbyes, and then YOU happen

x10000 more. Awful behaviour.

GabsAlot · 13/05/2018 21:35

you can actually exchange and complete same day so some people could be ready to go

NotMyFinestMoment · 13/05/2018 21:37

One day you will become the seller and the shoe will be on the other foot. Being honourable might not bother you, but karma is likely to be along at some point in the future waiting to trip you up...

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 13/05/2018 21:37

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.

bollocks

Every time I have been buying or selling, we only had 1 week between exchange and completion Yes, legally you can have months between the 2 , but in practice people are trying to go as fast as possible.

Removal companies are penciled, you might not have started packing in case you do have to put the property on the market, but you are ready to go.

SusieOwl4 · 13/05/2018 21:46

People do pack before exchange . Lots of people do . And they have to plan schools sometimes as well , and put their lives on hold while the sale is going through .

It’s horrible when someone drops out at the last moment .

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 13/05/2018 21:46

I'm not going to over pay for a house just to be nice/honorable unfortunately

You're not 'overpaying.' You have made an agreement. You're now being greedy and trying it on at the last minute, at the expense of other people.

You and your H sound well suited since neither of you appear to give a shit about anyone else.

Being someone that people can count on and to have a sense of honour is so bloody important. You're either desperately immature not to get that or just fabulously mean-spirited and think that a basic code of decency doesn't apply to you.

God this sort of thing winds me up.

deste · 13/05/2018 21:49

Would risk taking a big hit & ending up in negative equity. £13000 is a drop in the ocean. We were selling a flat outside London, the day before completion, neighbour upstairs flooded it. It took ten months to be repaired to the original condition. In the meantime the property increased by £45000. Did we put it up for sale again, no because the buyer did not drop out, he waited. I felt I owed it to him to get the flat at the original agreed price, I would never have gone back on my word because decent people don’t.

Bluntness100 · 13/05/2018 21:52

The thing is, she'd have a valid point if house values in Croydon had dropped in the last four months. They have not, they are fairly static.

So she's talking shite. Either as she's confused with house values and what houses are initially marketed at or she's making it up to justify her decision.

The value of that house basically hasn't dropped. So there is no basis to pull out or renegotiate other than she just doesn't want to proceed.

Loonoon · 13/05/2018 21:52

Legally you can have infinitey between exchange and completion - I have dealt with open ended exchanges but the modern norm (in my area , which coincidentally is Croydon) is between a week and a month. I have also done same day exchange and completions when buying empty properties. Whether it's a week, a year, a month or a day the OP will be wasting the time and money of everyone else in her chain. As is her legal right.

HappyGirlNow · 13/05/2018 21:55

What a pair of arseholes you are..

Fundays12 · 13/05/2018 21:57

Wow no just no that awful. I live in Scotland and you cannot pull out once missives are signed end off and if you pull out before you are entitled to claim back your loses such as legal fees believe me I would be doing that seen as I am now a few thousand down. I would hope the England system allows at least that as if it did as a seller they deserve to be financially compensated.

americanlife · 13/05/2018 21:57

We did not plan on becoming landlords- we moved overseas and did not have time to sell up and it was actually my dh's place so technically nothing to do with me. I am not the one saying the OP is being selfish as I am suggesting that it is naive to think people operate on some sort of universal altruistic principle when buying property- they don't. For that same reason we won't be selling our rental for less than it is worth when it becomes possible to sell. We do actually rent it below the market value against the advice of the agent because we have been tenants for a long time also and understand how much rising rents affect tenants. But if our property becomes worth 30% less overnight we will not be surprised because we think it absurd that the rises have just carried on and can see that it cannot continue. However if I was in the UK I would sell up asap if I felt that that loss was going to happen and I would pull out on a house that I started to feel was overpriced and I did not actually love that much anyway.
In the final analysis- buying a home is selfish. We do it to provide a roof for our immediate family usually, not a bunch of strangers on the internet who we have never met and have no connection to.

OhWotIsItThisTime · 13/05/2018 21:58

I had this happen to me. I can’t believe my buyer did this. The amount of stress it put me, dh and dcs through is awful. Plus those up the chain.

incywincey · 13/05/2018 22:00

I haven't read the whole thread but this was 10 months ago. First time buyers in Croydon, similar property price (probably similar area), entire deposit saved out of personal earning over 10 years. There was a LOT in the news about a housing market crash at the time and we were feeling very nervous. I do think we over paid by £5-10k because we offered the asking price of a "offers in excess of" price. However, We went ahead and no regrets at all, plus I think it was a financially sound decision.

What I've realised is that as long as you're not at risk of selling at a point where you have insufficient funds to raise a deposit on another property, actually you are fine even if prices drop by 10-20% kv unlikely in Croydon). In fact, if you want to size up you're actually better off as you need less to make the jump.

For us, even if we end up selling after 2 years, we'll have spent in excess of £20k on the property and will have paid off an additional circa £20k of the capital meaning we'll have around £40k more in the property than we started off with. That plus our deposit gives us a very comfortable margin in case there are price drops and I assume you would be in a similar position.

And I'm not sure we would have found a property that met our priorities in the same way so it was probably worth potentially paying a bit over the market, for us.

Rudi44 · 13/05/2018 22:00

You could have done this so much sooner. You have waited until the point of exchange in the hope you can screw the seller over as they will be desperate for it to go through.

If it’s not the house for you then of course you should pull out but speaking from experience it’s a really crappy thing to do. It sounds as though you have been thinking of pulling out for a while, why on earth have you left it until now? One day something like this will happen to you and you will realise what you have put your entire chain through.

Original poster
TitaniumBev · 13/05/2018 22:00

On a quick break at work so not read every response, but look forward to doing so! I knew it would be an emotive thread for some. Will try to answer some points I've seen come up.

Family member helping is DH 's foster aunt works locally and has been voicing caution as the months have gone on. She say's many sales are falling through at the moment.

DH is a secondary school teacher, I'm a doctor.

Vendor's vendor has requested a completion date of 13th July. Everyone wanted to go sooner when first discussed but they won't budge due to holidays.

We are sick of renting and would prefer not to but not at the expense of being locked into a property in neg equity when we need to move. After skimming it does seem like people in/around London seem to be more cautious. I also think there are a lot of unrealistic posters who don't really believe property crashes can happen or don't understand what it's like to be buying at these prices in this era.

Whatever happens I will come back and update for anyone who is interested.

I don't believe in Karma.

OP posts:
flowerpott · 13/05/2018 22:00

Haven't RTFT, but reminded me of when I was younger, the buyers for my parents' house pulled out on the morning of the exchange.

Word got round fast, all (and I mean all) the parents at school shunned them, local shopkeepers refused to serve them and they were unable to buy another house nearby, the EA wouldn't deal with them and everyone in the area knew them as "the couple who pulled out of the day of exchange."

Admittedly this was quite some time ago and in a small local community, but that's an example of how unpopular this kind of behaviour is. I'd suggest you think very carefully about whether it's worth walking away over £13k at this stage.

Original poster
TitaniumBev · 13/05/2018 22:02

Oh, and we were not expecting to make a "profit" when we offered but can't afford a loss.

OP posts:
incywincey · 13/05/2018 22:04

Also bear in mind the general London market is totally different to the Croydon market, which is still one of the cheapest and most "affordable" parts of London to buy in which means people will continue to come here to get on the property ladder or get more for their money. I would be very surprised to see any kind of significant or sustained price drop in Croydon.