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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

House sale fallen through and 8 months pregnant

66 replies

Pepperwand · 27/03/2019 12:26

Posting for traffic as really need some perspective.

We were in a chain of three, with us in the middle. We accepted the offer on our house within a week of it going on the market back in January and were due to exchange this week. Our buyer has just pulled out on advice from her solicitor at the eleventh hour as we can't provide the FENSA paperwork for when the windows were replaced in our current house. This is because they were done by the previous owners, about 15 years ago and we don't have any access to that paperwork. Our solicitor is hopping mad and says we wouldn't be obliged to provide it anyway and that she basically thinks our buyer's solicitors have scared our buyer off.
The house we're buying is a new build in the same area we currently live and is due to be completed next month, right when I go on maternity leave. I can't see them holding on for us to start the house selling process all over again and I'm just so upset. I'm 8 months pregnant and have just been crying all morning about this.

I suppose I'm asking what you would do in this situation or if anyone had had similar happen and can tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel? We're fortunate in that our current house isn't something that we feel forced out of, we do have a bedroom for the baby and a garden if we stay so it's lot like we're in some poky 1 bed flat but I suppose I've just been dreaming about the bigger house and better schools in the area of town we were moving to.

I'm so torn as to whether to put our house back on the market immediately as it sold so quickly originally and pray that the new build developers hold on for us or we can find something else or just forget the whole thing, concentrate on baby and think about it further down the line.

Sorry for the brain dump, I've been a bit of a mess this morning and needed to vent!

OP posts:

florence11 · 27/03/2019 14:03

Indemnity insurance would sort this. Sounds like there may be more to it. We insisted on an indemnity policy from our sellers because they had replaced windows in a conservation area without planning permission. Theoretically the council could rock up and demand they be restored to what they were before, hence the policy to cover us. They are actually lovely windows and I am sure would have been approved, they just didn't apply.

Our house sale also collapsed then magically came back together four weeks later. I would ask your solicitor to push their's for a better answer.

Haworthia · 27/03/2019 14:04

It does sound like an excuse, because no one ever seems to have the FENSA certificate (especially if the windows were installed by previous owners) and I thought paying for an insurance policy was fairly standard under those circumstances. It certainly was the case when we went though the buying/selling process in 2009 and 2013.

Eliza9917 · 27/03/2019 14:10

Or could you negotiate on the price? Not ideal but if it gets the move through

I wouldn't do this. This is probably what they are hoping for. I'd tell them to get fucked and get it back on the market asap.

diddl · 27/03/2019 14:15

How much interest did you have in the house apart from the one that offered?

It does sound like an excuse, diesn't it?

KittyMcTitty · 27/03/2019 14:20

This in a way happened to us - we part exchanged with the developer for the price we sold the house for - worked out well after all the stress - could you see if you can do that?

LIZS · 27/03/2019 14:49

Agree it is probably an excuse or game play. Can you afford to take a cheeky offer if they do decide to come back or via part exchange? Is the development selling well, most builders won't want to lose a sale unless demand is high.

anniehm · 27/03/2019 15:01

We paid for indemnity insurance instead, I don't have the paperwork for the ones I had put in even.

Noodledoodledoo · 27/03/2019 15:02

I am in the middle of selling a property, its a probabte situation and so I don't know exactly everything about it. I have all the paperwork for windows but the same company had a phase of not being FENSA registered but registered with a similar organisation so I have a certificate but persuading even my solicitor it is the same has been a challenge!

My headache is no paperwork at all relating to the small (less than 6m2) conservatory added in 2001! I am close to offering to knock it down!

GetStrongKeepFighting · 27/03/2019 16:18

This all sounds very stressful.

QuantumWeatherButterfly · 27/03/2019 16:47

My windows in my old house were fitted by a non-FENSA company*, so I never got a certificate, and couldn't have got one even if I had asked.

When I sold, I just bought the indemnity for the buyers, and it was fine. Any solicitor worth their salt would know this, so either:

They are a rubbish solicitor and frankly something else even more catastrophic would have gone wrong at some point OR
It's just an excuse and your buyers were always going to walk.

Either way, it was bound to happen. And I wouldn't assume the developer won't wait for you. You sold quickly last time, no reason you won't again. You already have all the relevant searches and finances in place, they would have to wait for these from another buyer, so if you can find another one yourself quickly, you're still a good, known prospect.

*Yeah. I was lucky they weren't cowboys. But I was young and naive and had never heard of FENSA so never asked. Thankfully they did a really good job, and I'd happily recommend them.

Gruffin · 27/03/2019 16:50

That’s exactly what happened to me. You need indemnity insurance. It solved my problem. Your solicitor should know this.

GreenTulips · 27/03/2019 16:51

If you have ha dothe roffers there may be a buyer who’s upset they missed out

Put it back in and see

HarrysOwl · 27/03/2019 16:55

Definitely sounds like an excuse, br sure it's such a non-issue and fixable with Indemnity Insurance, as you know.

Put it back on ASAP, tell the vendors of the house you're buying and hope for the best. You might be lucky and they are happy to wait - and you might get a better offer on your place and it all works out better! Or if you lose this house, a better one will come on the market.

You have to keep positive, or buying/selling will eat you up!!

Nannewnannew · 27/03/2019 18:04

I’m probably being thick here but a pp said maybe the buyer has got cold feet because of Brexit, can someone please explain the reason behind this?

Original poster

Pepperwand · 27/03/2019 18:08

Thank you for all of the advice. As many of you suspected, it was an excuse and turns out that our buyer actually couldn't get the mortgage agreed hence stalling over exchange.

We'll now explore part ex or other options with the developer of the house we were meant to be buying but resign ourselves to the fact we won't be moving before baby number 2 arrives!

OP posts:

GabsAlot · 27/03/2019 18:20

sorry to hear that hopefully they'll part ex with you-goodluck

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