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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:
Buglife · 13/05/2018 17:59

Yes, first time buyers who know nothing and treat it like a game and absolutely ruin everyone’s lives further down the chain. 4 months is perfectly normal time to go through a sale/purchase but you seem to think you are in some super difficult situation whereas everyone else in the country buying right now is in the same bot and it’s not even a problem most people would consider. Aside from the fact it’s a stupid thing to do (the money spent on solicitors etc and buying somewhere else and renting while you look means you won’t save shit) it’s really a disgusting way to act.

villageshop · 13/05/2018 17:59

I hope you're not our buyers. The timing is scarily familiar.

MikeUniformMike · 13/05/2018 17:59

Check if you would lose your deposit. I think you would.

Zampa · 13/05/2018 18:00

£440K is a lot of money. If you no longer like the house and will be miserable in it, walk away. It's selfish but vital.

However, if you still like the house and are just getting cold feet, that's a different matter. Prices in the outer London commuter belt are still fairly stable and the redevelopment of Croydon will mean the area is less susceptible to falls.

Do remember that the London dips are primarily in the prime resi areas of Westminster, K&C etc.

Also, if you take into account the time it will take to find another house and complete on that, you'll probably pay another £4-£6K in rent. Combined with the abortive sale costs (£3K?), pulling out really won't save you any money.

Original poster
TitaniumBev · 13/05/2018 18:00

Ok. So a little more info, didn't think relevant but might be...because prices are going down our preferred area we were previously priced out of is now in range. If we walked from this sale we wouldn't look at buying again until spring next year, give market a while to show true colours. We'll lose almost nothing pulling out (I know that's not what a lot of you want to hear !) Conveyancer is family, freebie & survey was about £400.

OP posts:
Boulty · 13/05/2018 18:00

A number of years ago we had a vender do the opposite to us - just about to exchange and they upped the price... we refused to pay more since it had been agreed for months, they sold to someone else.

So, venders and buyers can all be rather annoying!

NoToast · 13/05/2018 18:00

What a pity that sellers can't randomly increase the price in a buoyant market.

They can and they do. Our seller asked for an additional 10% on the day of exchange, put the house back on the market and were showing people around.

Not nice, but they could get more money for it in a rising market and they did.

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 13/05/2018 18:01

Check if you would lose your deposit. I think you would
No deposit paid until the day of exchange in England, the reminder paid on completion.

Anyone can legally change their mind until the very last second, it's a ridiculously expensive system.

Foxysoxy10 · 13/05/2018 18:01

Have you worked out how much you have spent so far (and are going to loose) with surveys etc then put that against the ‘loss’ of equity?

If you pull out you are going to loose a lot of money, you will have to pay that all out again with the next purchase.

Honestly I think you and your DH are in cloud cuckoo. I cannot for a second believe you would be financially better off by dropping out of this house waiting for however long to find another then paying out for all the reports etc all over again.

I think it’s a really shitty thing to do and would worry about you and your DH ethics to even contemplate doing this, you’re not nice people.

JennyHolzersGhost · 13/05/2018 18:01

Ignorant. Oh well some people can’t be helped.

GreenTulips · 13/05/2018 18:01

I'm going to go against the grain because the estate agents can and will split the difference in the chain

The only losers are the banks who effectively lend less money.

I'd say ask - show some prof of a lowering market and see what they say. If they say sod off, you can walk

Have a scout round for another property and go view one.

helterskelter99 · 13/05/2018 18:01

Are you sure prices have fallen in Croydon ?
There is so much investment and rejeneration going on I think buying now would be a great thing to do as the transport links are improving and the new shopping centre is opening etc

boilerhouse2007 · 13/05/2018 18:03

i think you should go through with it, you are in london so prime location and yes prices will fall and rise over the years but you can be guaranteed that whatever happens the likelihood is that this house price will rise again and the economy will recover. That's economics, buy it is my advice.

Quartz2208 · 13/05/2018 18:03

One article I looked at had a -0.1 drop in Croydon and London a 1% drop

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 13/05/2018 18:04

Oh well £400 is better than nothing.

larrygrylls · 13/05/2018 18:04

Seller asking for more in a rising market is common (gazumping is just this with the added fact that the house has been remarketed and s buyer found at the higher price).

Having bought and sold many times I think that you have to play by the rules of the game. The game has crappy rules but that is not your fault.

If you genuinely believe that the propert is worth materially less lower your offer or pull out. Who would agree to pay £5.00 for a share and continue to agree to this if the share was now trading at £4.50?! I suspect no one.

The fact that houses are less liquid and transparent does not make a property transaction any different. It is annoying for all but you would not donate £15k to a stranger so why do it just because you are buying a house?

NoSquirrels · 13/05/2018 18:05

I honestly think this is FTB nerves. Unless you are buying a 1-bed you’ll be stuck in (but for £440K I can’t see this is likely in Croydon, where it should buy you a family size home even if a smallish one) then you should go ahead.

Unless you’ve found another house you LOVE at £40K cheaper you’d be giving in to nerves to pull out now. I highly highly doubt your house had fallen 6% in 4 months.

Zampa · 13/05/2018 18:05

we wouldn't look at buying again until spring next year, give market a while to show true colours

But then Brexit and the whole market will shift again and you will be in no different a position ...

Bratsandtwats · 13/05/2018 18:05

Sounds as though a lot of posters here have only ever seen a rising property market OP.

You're the one taking the hit, either pay for another valuation, offer lower, take the potential hit or walk away. Your call.

AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight · 13/05/2018 18:05

'You will reap what you sow.'

This.

I truly think this is the sort of act that will come back to bite you, in one way or another.

If you were my friend and I heard you had done this, I would reconsider the friendship.

SoupDragon · 13/05/2018 18:05

If we walked from this sale we wouldn't look at buying again until spring next year

Well, if you do walk away I hope you get totally screwed when you come to buy.

Loonoon · 13/05/2018 18:06

Legally you can do either thing, you might be able to finagle the poor vendors into accepting your lower offer. If they don't you will be still have to pay your solicitors and carry on paying rent.

It is a risky game betting on economic trends. It might be worth it as a property developer but not when it is your home and security at stake. A friend of mine did something similar at the start of the last recession (also in Croydon). He sold his house at what he thought was top of the market and moved into rented accommodation waiting for the price crash when he would be able to buy somewhere bigger and better. Sadly for him it didn't happen here on the scales predicted and paying rent ate into his capital. He held on and held on, during which time his income dropped and he had priced himself out of ever buying again. He has been homeless a few times (sofa surfing) when his preivate rental contracts have not been renewed and as a single man will never reach the top of the social housing list. He is retired now and bitterly regrets his choices.

BitOutOfPractice · 13/05/2018 18:06

I'm really not sure where you're getting your stats from.

I think you are just using it as an excuse to pull the ultimate shit trick on someone with a clear conscience.

Never mind whether they might have scrimped and saved. Never mind if they (and potentially many others) could lose the houses they are buying.

Never mind any of that because your dp fancies himself as some property magnate by the sounds of it.

However you dress it up op, it's a very shitty low thing to do.

villageshop · 13/05/2018 18:07

Years ago we had a buyer who pulled out on the day of exchange. It was horrendously stressful and I wouldn't want anyone to have to deal with that.

OP, you will waste thousands of £ on rent between now and next Spring, and in Spring all house prices go up routinely (estate agents just put them up regardless each new season). I think pulling out would be a bad decision all round, not least for you in the long run.

Fi1982 · 13/05/2018 18:07

What a terrible thing to do to someone. You disgust me. You seem to care little for our opinions on your character though, so, as you’ve cheerfully decided that you are definitely not buying it at the agreed price, I think you should offer lower rather than pull out completely. It will at least give your poor vendor a chance to cobble the extra cash together or possibly renegotiate with their vendor for a lower price to take your awful antics in to account. I’m selling at the moment and almost at exchange, and would prefer the chance to renegotiate the price rather than start from scratch. The thought of that happening is almost giving me a panic attack to be honest.

You should be ashamed of yourself and I hope you end up making absolutely no profit on any houses you buy in the future.