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

[TitaniumBev]

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!

I'm with Spandex. You can't make decisions about your life based on a load of angry people on the internet. It's perfectly legal to pull out.

That said, Croydon is due for a new Westfield type shopping centre etc. I think long term it's a good choice. Prices may come down but equally getting a mortgage might go out of reach too. There is no safe decision (unfortunately).

Chango the most sensible, least emotive post so far.

Do what you want.
We bought and sold last year. In the4 mths between starting and finishing the zoopla values varied by up to 10k. Its pretty irrelevant really

We bought a house in the Croydon borough in November. We bought at the top of the market knowing prices were likely to go down. We are planning on staying here a few years so the house price is not an issue. Having said that I looked on Zoopla (I know not the most accurate way to gauge a house price) in February and our house price had fallen by £10k. I have looked again today, and the house price is £1k over what we paid. So what I am saying there will be fluctuations in the price but if you are going to be staying for a few years then it really doesn't matter. As others have said, there is so much development in Croydon that I think we will ride out any downturn in the housing market.

If on the other hand, you have changed your mind and don't like the house you are buying then pull out. No point buying something you don't like and that you think you have paid too much for.

"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."

This is likely because they have kids and don't want to move them in the middle of a school year. July 13th is the last day of term for some schools.

Sorry NRTFT but have had this sort of thing happen so many times when an EA tells me a FTB is interested in a property my heart sinks.

I have bought and sold many properties and yet to come across a FTB who doesn't mess around for months then walk at the last minute.

I know at some point they must buy but my mind boggles at the expense they incur only for them to walk away.

You are saying you want to reduce the price by £13000. Take on board how much you have spent, surveys, legal fees, mortgage arrangement etc and how much more you are going to spend on renting and how much more time you are going to spend on looking for the illusive dream property then compare it to the £13000 "extra" you are going to spend.

FWIW. We are north London and whilst the news looks dreadful in our area the EA cant get enough housing stock to sell and what there us for sale is flying off the shelf. New development close by went on the market and all bar 2 sold before the show house was even built.

OP: AIBU?
MN: Yes!
OP: No, I'm not, fuck all of you.

ATM I don't think the market is crashing. I think there is a bit of nervousness around Brexit. What is going to happen next. People sitting tight till the future looks more certain.
As soon as we see things set out with more certainty whatever it may be then people will get on with their lives and op might find she cannot afford the £440,000 house anymore. It is something that could happen overnight or at the very least quicker than the op can manage.

The last flat I sold I wasted 9 months on 3 different FTBs. Including the last clever clogs who pulled out on the day of the exchange who then, according to the EA came back a few weeks later to offer the same again on the flat only to be told that the flat had been sold for more. (Cash buying BTL landlord).

You need to do what is best for you. A house purchase of almost half a million is far too big a deal to undertake because you don't want to piss off some other people, much less because people on AIBU have said so. It is a crappy thing to do but nonetheless, you need to prioritise your own interests here and nobody else's.

That said, is it actually better for you not to go ahead with the current offer and purchase? I could understand it if you wanted to pull out totally because of Brexit, economic uncertainty etc. Pulling out for 13k on a 440k house seems a bit daft though, especially as you must have incurred four figures in costs already. Is it possible this is cold feet generally, ie worrying about the responsibility of being a homeowner, rather than specific to this particular price and property?

Croydon is now more desirable because it’s got one bigger transport hub (and area around it is quite shite) ? That’s got to be the silliest thing I’ve read on here! There was even a thread on here recently how croydon been touted as up and coming for decades and it’s still an area most people don’t buy in. And the regeneration project has once again been put on hold.

I was responding to posters who are confusing house market in London with Croydon. It’s not. Not even close.

Prices in these areas are often inflated and when things crash, they don’t bounce back like London.

Westfield is also coming to Croydon. That will have a positive effect on prices.

When I sold my first house 24 years ago, my FTB was advised to gazunder by his solicitor a couple of days before exchange. The agent suggested asking the rest of the chain to help facilitate the price drop and I wouldn't have it. I told my buyer he could pay the agreed price or he could fuck off. Reluctant to lose his sunk costs, he backed down. Lucky for him he did as he doubled his money on that house.

There are two kinds of people involved in property purchases - those with a moral compass and those without. Bad things inevitably happen to those without who heartlessly fuck people over.

Croydon is London borough of Croydon.

Many many people including FTBs and key workers are priced out of central London. So they’re forced to buy in areas such as Croydon or Kenton etc. There are many people in the OP’s boat - that in itself puts pressure on these affordable properties.

East Croydon is 18 mins to Victoria and trains go every 4 mins.

OK, the story is really that she has potentially purchased on the 'wrong' side of Croydon in a nice road and has cold feet because she could now buy something on the better side of Croydon in a crap road. Croydon is a hub of two halves, the south and the rest. Soon there will be a third dimension with the influx of (overpriced) micro-apartments in the central area hoping to lure those who can't afford anything else. They will never make you money, too overpriced to start with. Buy South or regret it forever.

Thank god I live in a place where this sort of thing is illegal. It certainly cuts out the morally bankrupt scum who might try something so despicable.

Buy South or regret it forever

Really? East Croydon examples:

51, Selwood Road, Croydon, Greater London CR0 7JU
£620,000 Terraced, Freehold, Residential 16 Mar 2018 5 bedrooms
£330,000 Terraced, Freehold, Residential 13 Jan 2012

95, Addiscombe Court Road, Croydon, Greater London CR0 6TX
£463,500 Semi-Detached, Freehold, Residential 14 Mar 2018 3 bed
£172,000 Semi-Detached, Freehold, Residential 11 May 2001

50 Sherwood Road, Croydon, Greater London CR0 7DH
23 Feb 2018 Terraced, Freehold £485,000 Land Registry
26 Jul 2010 Terraced, Freehold £296,000 Land Registry

It’s difficult. I’d definitely reduce your offer rather than walk away.

I’m not sure I could do it from a moral point of view. We got a fair price for our house- the buyers put in an over asking price offer, and despite it being entirely their choice (there was competiton for the house) I felt guilty that we’d done so well from the sale. I had a couple of weeks of sleepless nights and kept wondering if there were happy with the house and hadn’t regretted it. We’ve heard since that they are doing really well and love the area so that helps.
I just don’t think I could cause so much pain and disruption and not suffer dreadfully with guilt myself.

Well this thread certainly kept me up on commute home. Impossible to catch everything & reply to all. To address main points. In 4 years I'll have finished my current training post so free to move abroad which we've always wanted to do.

The more I think about it, price aside this was never the house for us. A lot of posters seem obsessed with money and "profit" here. I would never buy for those reasons as I don't see housing as an investment. Renting it out is also not an option as we're both higher rate tax payers & wouldn't want to be landlords anyway. Given our solicitor has our best interests at heart and deals with property sales in the local area I think her warnings over the last few weeks are not to be ignored.

I sense a lot of fear on this thread, maybe because my decision is indicative of faith in the market. If FTB's can't or won't buy in London/SE in the numbers required the market locks up.

I'm under no illusions (quite clear from my first post) that this is a terrible situation for our vendors. There is just no scenario where we buy a house we no longer want or think is good value to avoid upsetting someone.

We obviously don't feel good about this decision, I'm sure some posters imagine us skipping off into the sunset laughing leaving a trail of destruction behind us. That is not the case I assure you.

It’s not fear it’s annoyance.

Because people up the chain will more likely have families and people pulling out affects big decisions like school places

It’s much easier when you’re a FTB with no ties. But maybe you’ll feel the frustration one day when you’re in a chain and there’s a lot that is impacted by someone else’s lack of commitment and integrity

Also you say this is not about money but your view of the house has changed purely because of the value

TitaniumBev "The more I think about it, price aside this was never the house for us"

as I thought, you were never serious about buying.

OP! Thanks for coming back! You're absolutely making the right decision for you. Lots of older people here not understanding how different the market is now for the younger generation.

@Dragonade that's crap. We just bought in SW17 because prices have come down so much there we didn't need to buy in Croydon anymore!

Oh dear.

I don’t imagine things are going to turn out how to expect them to OP.

Good Luck, I think you may be in for a house buying education.

@MarshaBradyo I think the OP has clearly said they are not interested in profit but if they are stuck in negative equity then the money is an issue.

WHY are people so stubborn! Markets can and do change. Negative equity is a thing! Prices don't always go up!

Have you at least let them know yet op?