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Original poster

6 months - WTF

49 replies

sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 07:52

Hi All,

Our house has been on the market since March.

Since then, we've had 5 offers - 3 accepted and 3 close to completing. Then they fall out.

2 fell out because of their chain and they are still trying to sell now and the last fell out because they didn't feel like buying it anymore. Pretty bad considering they knew we had 2 fall out before.

We get an offer every 6-8 weeks. The two others that we had - are no longer on the table, they came at the same time we accepted our last offer. We didn't accept the highest price either - we went with the safest people! No chain etc.

Really deflated with this whole process. How can things just fall out?

Back on the market and a few viewings. Any words of wisdom?

OP posts:
GoBrookeYourself · 07/08/2019 08:50

No advice but so much sympathy OP- we’re in the exact same position. We’re currently on our third buyers and looks like this isn’t going to work out either so just gone back on the market again. It’s so soul destroying! We’ve done the mortgage for the house we want to buy too and it’s our dream home so the thought of this not working out is so depressing- I hope yours works out soon for you!

Sallycinammonbangsthedruminthe · 07/08/2019 08:56

Could you maybe sell at auction with a very fixed reserve? Thant might be quicker but riskier.Or rent it out? a lot depends on your finances and how quickly you need or want to move.I sympathise with you,it can be soul destroying all the watching and waiting and not being able to plan for yourself.Would it be worth holding open viewings maybe once a week and not accepting weekday viewings unless they are in a position to proceed? Just my thinking on that would be it may free up some of your time?

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 08:58

@GoBrookeYourself Ah, I am so sorry to hear this. It is soul destroying. We had a house we were buying, but they ended up pulling out on us to due to tax reasons and I don't want to even look for something until we've sold now. Happy to rent...

Feels like I am going insane... I am still so angry at the last people pulling out. It's hard not to take it personally. Why did yours fall out?

OP posts:
kidsdoingmyheadin · 07/08/2019 08:59

Herat1986 is right where I am. Some people haven't realised their property is not worth as much as they hoped & I know some friends who were looking to move but have been surprised at the tighter lending or the higher repayments.

We looked at moving (didn’t offer though) approx 2 yrs ago but I thought the prices looked a bit toppy & it would only have been a short term move. I’m glad I didn’t as the prices have either stagnated or dropped slightly & when you add in stamp duty, work, hassle, fees we would have made a loss. I don’t want to move now unless it’s long term.

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 08:59

@Sallycinammonbangsthedruminthe No, we definitely can't rent it out - we spent £10,000 getting it ready to sell and 6 months invested, it would feel like a failure to call it all off and rent it out. We have a baby on the way too, so need to sell to buy something else closer to home!

OP posts:
kidsdoingmyheadin · 07/08/2019 09:02

What about a bridging loan so you can at least buy a place nearer home? Not done it myself though.

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 09:05

No, no not that desperate - we had a house we were going to buy and it was £4,650 a month for the bridging loan. No thanks! Lol.

Its not about desperation to sell, its about desperation with offers falling through. Fed up with the system and just want a committed buyer! :( Our lady previously was very committed and she keeps saying she will buy it once hers sells... but that could take months. Meh...

OP posts:
HorridHenrysNits · 07/08/2019 09:07

You need to stop taking it so personally otherwise the stress and bitterness is going to have a detrimental effect on you. The last couple had every right to change their minds, weren't doing anything wrong and the two previous fallen through offers aren't a reason why they should make a 6 figure purchase. It's not a snub to you, it's a financial decision. Unfortunately, this isn't a very good time to sell a house.

Nearlyalmost50 · 07/08/2019 09:08

What my mum did was continue to show the house, even under offer as she’d had some people pull out, that way she wasn’t losing any time

I would only proceed with a house sale if the house came off the market and no new buyers were shown the house. Otherwise a) you get gazumped which happened to me when two agents were both involved and one continued to show after the other took it off the market and b) you have to pay (or I did) search fees up front, so a week in I'd paid several hundred pounds. I'm not prepared to pay several hundred pounds in fees for a property which is still on the market effectively and which someone else can make an offer on.

It is frustrating, OP and the house-buying process in England is crap, but you have just been unlucky and you need to keep going. There isn't a magic formula for making offers stick, except take people without a chain. You can't guarantee they will buy in the end though, people do pull out at the very last min.

kidsdoingmyheadin · 07/08/2019 09:14

Good luck it will happen but try & stay chill.

GoBrookeYourself · 07/08/2019 09:15

sarah2903 we’ve had a mixed bag of reasons- the first people just stopped responding to the estate agents and not a word since. The next offer was a day we had 3 offers in one day- one of the men who made an offer said he wanted it cash, nothing to sell, wanted it completed ASAP- perfect or so we thought. He seemed SO keen, begged us to take it off the market which we did. A week later it transpired that it wasn’t him, it was his sister buying the house and she was trying to buy it without her husband knowing. He told us this wasn’t an issue when we found out and that she had final say as it was an inheritance she had received- we should’ve known better because a couple of weeks after we got a call to say sorry but she couldn’t do it behind her husbands back. We called the other people who had made an offer that day and they’d bought another house and so we called the final person- she’s the one we’re currently going through but we’ve had to accept £10k less than our already reduced price and her mortgage has gone through but now the people buying her house have pulled out so she’s trying to find another buyer. We made the mistake of falling in love with the house we’re buying though and now it’s all looking so uncertain- so sick of all this!

I had a good cry the other day at how frustrating this is- I understand when people say that you can’t force someone to buy your house but I wouldn’t dream of messing someone around like this! Hopefully house karma for us both soon.. the viewings in themselves are exhausting, trying to keep everything clean. We have a first time buyer viewing tonight so we’ll see what happens..

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 09:17

Thanks guys... will try to stay calm, being 8 months pregnant doesn't help! YIKES!

OP posts:
Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 09:19

GoBrookeYourself Oh god, thats so full on. I am so sorry to hear that.

I would never ever gazump or gazunder, but people do what they like it seems. Good luck tonight - let us know how you get on?

OP posts:
Nearlyalmost50 · 07/08/2019 09:28

I think the difficulty at the moment is that Brexit is making everyone nervous and so people are pulling out of chains more than usual. It is hard work.

Aworldofmyown · 07/08/2019 09:46

I'm afraid that you should also be careful of people without chains, we had two of those try to negotiate a better price on the day of exchange and then pull put!! They were obviously planning it all along Sad

Chocolatedeficitdisorder · 07/08/2019 09:46

Even before brexit, the English house-buying system sucked.

In Scotland, after we make an offer we sign missives and we're committed to the purchase. Missives are usually signed weeks/months before exchange so it's highly unlikely that buyers will pull out at there are stiff financial penalties if they do.

I can't even imagine the stress that you go through if your buyer can still back out up to the last minute. There's no need for your system, it achieves nothing and our system works perfectly well.

Skittlesss · 07/08/2019 09:52

Our EA are making us take it off the market and even took it off without asking us last time - as we had accepted an offer and solicitors engaged. I wanted to keep it on the market till money had crossed paths - is that usual?

We were FTB, but when we were negotiating the price I said that one of the conditions would have to be that the house came off the market/no more viewings would be done. The estate agent said that was normal.

Justaboy · 07/08/2019 10:00

Even before brexit, the English house-buying system sucked

This^^^

Its one of the stresses of life and not a nice one to have near the birth of a child. How are you priced relative to other properties locally competivly or asking a bit too much?

Did the estate agent come recommedned or not?

Yes the market in most areas is a bit flat but as per the bit above the system does need overhaul, but its not going to happen any time soon as its not a vote winner is it?.

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 11:15

@Justaboy - we are priced really well, hence all the full asking price offers. We dropped out price too to secure more buyers and ended up with 2 full price offers again. Plenty of viewings, no-one mentions price.

The agents are good.

Spoke to one of those companies today that buys your house for cash. 20% less than the asking!! Jesus!

OP posts:
Watsername · 07/08/2019 13:45

Keep hanging in there - it will happen eventually! We have just moved, but only eventually sold after 10 months on the market. It's so demoralising, nothing wrong with the house at all. I think it's just how the market is at the moment.

cheeseandbiscuitss · 07/08/2019 13:54

Our sellers took theirs off the market after accepting our offer and waiting for it all to go through. We were left with a £600 bill. Now that was frustrating!

Original poster
sarah2903 · 07/08/2019 14:08

What happened @cheeseandbiscuitss ?

OP posts:
cheeseandbiscuitss · 07/08/2019 14:24

@sarah2903 everything progressed as normal; few hold ups along the way. Then the seller decides after 6 months (admittedly there were delays but not from us) that she no longer wants to sell. Takes it off the market and we have to pay solicitors for the searches carried out and other solicitor costs.
Fuming would be an understatement. False advertising I call it

GoBrookeYourself · 07/08/2019 17:30

Thank you sarah2903 we considered those instant sell companies too but what really put me off was reading reviews- we thought maybe the 20% less than asking was something we could live with but from reviews it seems there’s a pattern of just before exchange, the company will ‘find’ a reason to knock another 20% off- at that point you’re so close to completing that most people just accept it. We weren’t willing to take that risk or be treated that way.

I do agree that the way houses are sold in England aren’t a great system- I’m not saying nobody ever changes their mind but this thread gives you an idea of how frequently it happens and it shouldn’t!

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