To go back to this house?

[trapped2019]

We're trying to move house.

I hate where I live.

We've sold ours and found somewhere that we thought was perfect.

Got survey done, arranged removals, almost got to exchange etc. Then we went back for another viewing to measure up.

The vendor was starting to remove fixtures and fittings, things were broken and dirty.

We pulled out.

Since then, we have found nothing else. Nothing.

The vendor of that house put it back on the market and sold it last week.

Would it be even worth our time going back to them?

We could complete in a week and I know the vendor has already bought his new place so is paying two mortgages. He could move much more quickly with us than with his new buyers. Would that count?

I can't sleep for worrying about this. I'm in tears at thought of being trapped in our current home.

Help!

You sound a bit stupid and overreacting

Don’t gazump the new buyer. It’s a shitty thing to do.

I simply don’t believe that with the kind of money you have there’s nothing else for you to buy and if there isn’t just now there soon will be. I have no sympathy for you at all.

No, not renting. Renting is shit, been there, done that.

Lady what do you want?

Because from what you have said there is no house in the market you want except for the one owned by the vendor you completely fucked about...

So options are sit “in tears at the thought of being trapped in your home”, try to recommence the sale highly unlikely to pan out given your behaviour or move into rented 🤷‍♀️

Home buying and selling is hard but honestly YABU and overreacting.

No, not renting. Renting is shit, been there, done that.

But surely not as bad as how you’re currently living, with all of the drug addicts and violence?

Can't believe someone with six figure savings and decent wages actually has the audacity to come on here and whinge that they can't find a house and are trapped I'd give my left bloody arm to be in your position op!! In the nicest way, get a grip.

”People genuinely think I should spend £1k a month on rent? Plus agency fees and all that bollox? Just so I don't upset my poor buyers?”

I don’t think that’s the reason people are suggesting you rent. It will be because of the utterly miserable living situation you describe as your current circumstances, and the fact that there is no other feasible way for you to improve it.

People genuinely think I should spend £1k a month on rent? Plus agency fees and all that bollox? Just so I don't upset my poor buyers? Other wise I'm clearly a terrible person

The advice isn’t to avoid upsetting your buyers (although in house buying/selling I prefer to treat people how I would like to be treated myself) but to stop your losing your buyers. With Brexshit on the horizon no-one knows what is going to happen in the property market & it is overdue a fall - if someone wants to buy now letting them walk away because you’re having a childish tantrum about not renting is foolhardy.

As some people have confirmed, if you rent for 6 months you could quite easily save thousands on a purchase due to being an attractive chain-free buyer, therefore the rent would be an investment, not dead money at all.

And quite frankly, I’m horrified at the idea that you would rather having six figures sitting in the bank rather than spending it on moving your DC away from that living environment.

@Devilishpyjamas

" (although in house buying/selling I prefer to treat people how I would like to be treated myself) but to stop your losing your buyers."

Just a shame the vendor of dogs shit house didn't share this view!

Anyway, residential tenancies are usually six month ASTs these days. That locks you in for six months, along with responsibility for bills, council tax etc. If you leave before it ends you continue with all of those ongoing costs PLUS the responsibility for any damage that occurs as a result of the property being left empty. Leaving a property empty may also invalidate the LL's insurance. If it attracts squatters there's a whole load of other issues as well.

Renting is not as simple as everyone thinks.

Not doing it.

If they sold the house last week how is it even an option to go back?

You could go for an AirBnB, OP.

If you don't want to rent, so be it. But you have to bear in mind that your deep unhappiness about your current position is such that yesterday you desperately wanted to take a dirty house with a collapsed floor where the chances are that there are numerous other hidden defects. That means that, next time you feel desperate about your current house, you will take something that is equally substandard, which will leave you feeling almost equally unhappy within a few months. If that means you have to move again, you will waste several thousand pounds more in legal and estate agents' fees, on top of anything you spend on the the houses themselves. Only you can tell how bad you feel about your present house, but you really do need to think carefully about whether you really want to spend several more months worrying, crying and unable to sleep.

‘Renting is dead money’

Yes I see how living somewhere you want to live, with a roof over your head and not coming into Mumsnet to complain about your shitty house is dead money

grenadezombie, OP means they found a buyer - the vendor presumably is unlikely to have exchanged contracts yet.

You can try going back to the ‘dog shit’ house to see if they’ll ditch their new buyers for you but be prepared for the vendor to laugh in your face! However keen I was for a quick sale I would never ‘take back’ previous buyers who had messed me around. And if they did take you back be prepared for the house to be left in a terrible condition!

You sound very over dramatic and a bit unstable, making very rash decisions.

OP. You’ve been offered a ton of helpful advice here and you’ve also been told you’re being deeply unreaonsable.
So why don’t you keep on cutting your nose off to spite your face and continue to live somewhere you hate despite having money and options that most people would be insanely grateful to have.
Not sure what else you want from us, to be honest.

"People genuinely think I should spend £1k a month on rent? Plus agency fees and all that bollox? Just so I don't upset my poor buyers? Other wise I'm clearly a terrible person.."

Have you pulled out of the sale of your current home?

Why not post a separate thread asking help to find a house with your criteria... maybe the MN magic can find you something.. Good luck with your move, I hope you manage to pull something together.

Have you told your buyers that the sale is off?

And please quantify the dog shit

Just so I don't upset my poor buyers?

Oh, the irony 🤦🏼‍♀️

Presumably dog shit owner was replacing the appliances & light fittings with cheaper ones (light fittings were replaced in the house my son just bought - no big deal). It’s a bit cheeky but presumably the fixtures and fittings list was constructed in such a way as to allow that. If any of the fixtures or fittings are particularly important to you it is worth checking when you offer that they will be included (or how much extra to buy them).

The fact you feel he has treated you terribly (when he sounds as if he was more in the cheeky fucker territory) makes it even more bizarre that you would risk losing purchasers and would be happy to shaft the new buyers.

I don’t see the problem with 6 months rental - it will take that long to find somewhere and complete anyway. You would prob be able to tie in the completion with your rental term finishing if you get a move on. Better than losing buyers.

How would I be shafting the new buyers? That's down to the vendor, not me.

OP you have a problem. You don’t like where you live and want to move.
Part of this jigsaw has been solved - you have someone who wants to buy your house, but you can’t find anywhere you like to buy.

There are several solutions.

You tell your buyer that there is no where suitable for you to move to so will they wait. They may or may not. We don’t know how saleable your house is and how easy it would be to find another buyer. Whether they accept or not, you’re still stuck where you are for a while.

You try again for the ‘dog shit’ house. If it was as you have described it for me it would always be tainted, but only you know if you could live with that. The owners may or may not accept.

You sell to your current buyers and go into rented. This gives you time and also an advantage when buying against others in a chain. Also renting short term like this is nothing like renting because it’s your only option. We did this last time we moved and ended up buying the house we rented. This will get you into a better and safer area.

Finally, you stay put.

There really are no other options.

Moving is a nightmare at the best of times. You have to find someone who is willing to buy your house, and at the same time hope that someone is selling your ideal house. In this situation renting really isn’t dead money, it’s moving you forward to the next step.

By gazumping them?

I would maybe think twice though. We had a similar situation - purchaser pulled out the day before exchange for a ridiculous reason (she’d also been over the measure up and get quotes and fuck knows what - I take it as a sign of a flakey buyer now). She did eventually come back in when we shared knocking cash off for her with our vendors.

I made sure all the neighbours knew what she had done (& we moved to a house in the same street)

You said the kitchen was removed and the floor collapsed then he gaslighted you by denying it.
If that were actually the case he couldn't deny it as anyone with eyes would see what he had done.

Tbh no idea what is going on except it sounds like you freaked out jumped the gun and pulled out for things that could easily have been sorted now you're regretting it.

You don't want to rent so then don't. Lose your buyer stay in a house and area that you hate.

Hopefully when you eventually find a house you actually have a buyer for your own.

We're going to wait and see if anything comes on the market in the next couple of months. We're not forcing our buyers to wait. They can walk.

Renting is not happening. We're not going back to dog shit house either.