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!

“It’s bad manners” for goodness sake, if you’ve almost half a million quid to spend on your manners then fabulous, but most people don’t.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-44109968#ampshare=www.bbc.com/news/business-44109968

So the BBC have said what's affecting the housing market, and OP it's buyers like you. Have a read. Before everyone success in the 3% drop they discuss is a national average, London is a different ball game

Pulling out is fine.Well, it's not fine but the vendors will get over it. Manipulating a price drop is not fine.

Do not request a price drop, that is a truly scummy thing to do to the vendor. Pull out if you must, it’s slight less scummy.

You may be able to ask agents to purge their data but you can't make them purge their brains, nor can you stop them warning other agents about your unreliability. They all know each other here and word would soon get round.

"It's bad manners"

OP it's a pretty shitty thing to do. But as some others have said, it's not worth dropping that much money just for the sake of Doing The Right Thing/being well mannered. I would pull out.

I have been in a very similar situation these past weeks. Buying a property and getting the last minute jitters. There were moments when we really felt like pulling out for a variety of legitimate reasons, all with hindsight based on fear.

We didn't, we held firm and exchanged for the asking price. Actually, the relief once exchange had gone through was palpable. It was clearly just fear which is understandable for such a huge commitment.

Why? If I had wanted to pull out I should have done it much much earlier. To do so at this stage in the game would to my mind be unforgivable. I value personal integrity highly. I couldn't have lived with putting the sellers (lovely people) in such a dreadful and stressful situation.

Yes you have every legal right to pull out. Be honest you are just scared. Don't be the asshole that does this.

You really won't be worrying about your manners if and when you're in negative equity. Do people never learn their lessons? Almost half a million for a house?..it can't possibly go higher than that. The economy in both America and the U.K is due to tank and has been coasting on it's printed currency for way too long. Basically just googling 'why the economy is about to hit another recession' would explain it all.

Op I disagree with the people saying pull out rather than gazunder. At least give the vendor the option to sell for less. The reason some people are getting so up in arms is because it probably has happened to them. We were selling last year and our buyers fulled our on exchange day. I’d have much rather sold for a bit less than go back to the drawing board having lost my dream onward house.
I also work in property and seee this a lot. If you genuinely think you’re overpaying then offer less but check first.

OP is pulling out regardless now because:
•the house isn't right -even though it was-
•she doesn't love it -even though she let it get this far-
•she only wants it for 4 years yet wants security for future children
•although renting is dead money, it's also not dead money when it suits her.

We just have to hope she did tell the current owner

It's a shitty thing to do so be sure of your facts. Property in London area will always be expensive. I personally think it's just a panic attack. I bet once you go ahead you'll feel excited. It is exciting buying your first home. Go for it. Be brave!😊

Croydon has Westfield coming, a relative in property tips it to go much higher than current prices, get in now.In long run these little blips even out.Agree agents will tip each other off and also long term you wanted to live there forever so it will go up and down.Mortgage rate is good and you may be fixed too so go for it.Agree a terrible thing to pull out how would you like it if shoe on other foot? They will then have to pull out of where they are buying.Not really a genuine reason I feel. In two years you could be sitting pretty with property worth far more than you paid and if you start process again now who is to say other prices won’t have gone up in the 4 months or so it takes? If you want to get some added value tell them you want all carpets and curtains?

I don't understand how you could have progressed so far when you say this was never the house for us. Was it your DH who wanted to offer originally?

I feel really sorry for the other people in your chain.

Equally, if you liked it enough to offer, I'm sure the vendors will find another buyer to pay as much or more - the London property market has been strong for decades - and someone else will enjoy it as their home, and make a tidy profit from it in years to come.

It sounds as if you didn't think it through properly at the outset. Be more careful in future when the decisions you make affect other people, even if you don't know them. You don't have to believe in karma to realise that things have a way of coming back around.

What a nasty piece of work doing that so close to exchange! Be careful as karma has a funny way of creeping up on you

Croydon has Westfield coming, a relative in property tips it to go much higher than current prices

I thought shopping centres were dying a slow and painful death? I can’t see that that would make anyone pay more for a house. I just can’t understand why anyone would pay over 400k for a house in Croydon. It’s probably one of the most depressing places I’ve been to. But I admit I say that as a complete country bumpkin who would probably melt like the wicked witch if I had to live in London.

I just can’t understand why anyone would pay over 400k for a house in Croydon. It’s probably one of the most depressing places I’ve been to

You realise it’s not all like the town Centre?

Some parts even have trees!

Westfield malls are the exception to the rule Grandmaswagsbag. They only build them in places they're likely to end up heaving. Have you been to the other two in London? They only seem to get busier and busier.

Do they have trees? That’s news to me! Well that changes everything

Seriously though I don’t think the op is unreasonable in her fears, although their actions might be, especially if it’s not somewhere they can see themselves staying long term. A friend has just had to sell for a loss her really lovely 3 bed flat in the upper end of Croydon, south norwood direction. I think she’s been there about 4 years and it’s been a bit of an unexpected shock as everyone in London just assumes they will always make money from property. Luckily for her she’s coming back down S where It’s cheaper, but if it wasn’t for that she’d have been stuck at a very inconvenient time in her life.

I grew up in Croydon and it really annoys me when people judge it by one place they have seen in the whole borough. There are gorgeous places in Croydon and at one time the CR8 postcode was one of the wealthiest and still is a very good area to live . Don’t judge the whole of Croydon on one view please!

I think op will have difficulty being taken seriously if she offers again on anything in the area. EA will probably warn others about them and if a different EA finds them anything which has competition to buy they will lose out or the vendors will probably not take the property off the market until contracts have been signed.

During the 90s recession we were living in the Cotswolds. Dp had just got a job back in London. The commute was killing him.

We put the house up for sale because the commute was unsustainable.

The house was up for £150,000. A couple came to see it and bid us £25,000. Apparently according to them everyone who had their homes up for sale was in negative equity and was about to have their homes repossessed.
The agent thought it was strange and did a little digging.

Apparently they had been banned from all EA in a close by town. No one would show them any property.

They had been bidding £25,000 on properties worth a damn site more than ours.

The word went about and the EA warned others in the town and they warned others in other towns.

Apparently they had read an article in a paper and couldn't be convinced that people had other reasons for moving.

I've bought and sold 4 houses in 9 years - we have been in position once before ourselves and I gave some money off, the people buying ours were also first time buyers so didn't have the benefit of others buyers in the chain where you are buying and selling at a same period, therefore taking the pain and gain on sale and purchase.
If may not be the most honorable thing to do, but you don't know these people - how much equity have they gained since they purchased the house? They're not thinking of your financial position or security, that's your responsibility.
I'd ask for a discount (2-3% is totally reasonable), if there serious and want to proceed they'll split the difference up the chain - I've seen this happen a lot.

I'd also say ignore people scare mongering that EA won't deal with you - estate agents work on commission and will deal with anyone with funds in place. Unless you lived in a town with 1 estate agent that had a complete monopoly, (obviously not the case in Croydon!).
It ridiculous to say they screen people, nowadays most are self employed - they are not sharing information or have a 'wanted' board behind their desks. That's ridiculous!

If the Op goes ahead and pulls out, I have no doubt she will regret it for all the reasons given in previous posts, well, the financial reasons as she does not concern herself with the traumatic outfall.

I have lived there for many years in a lovely location* and seen many changes but now things are really moving for the better.
waves to Soup Dragon*

I guess by now, it’s a done or not done deed anyway.

Oliversmumsarmy duh! What nutters. If anyone had a mortgage they wouldn't even contemplate such a ridiculous offer. All that would mean is that they would carry a huge debt around and be unable to buy anything else. I may be missing something but I'm totally missing the logic..