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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Buyers pulling out and sending me a Whatsapp to tell me!

125 replies

Stillnotslept · 25/03/2021 20:45

So AIBU day before exchange buyers whatsapp me to tell me they are not buying as they dont want to join the management company (its a 8 year old house on an unadopted road of 15 houses) apparently they didn’t think to read the documents until today and googled the national management agency and read horror stories - all docs signed not dated. I get that people change their minds but they have found my number through school mums and whatsapped me rather than talk to the estate agent. They are avoiding the estate agent. We have asked them if they can contribute to our costs not least as we are devastated and will loose the house of our dreams, miss the SD deadline and now cant really afford to move all the conveyancing is done hence the fees applying we paid for the management sales pack for them as a goodwill gesture (£400 as our purchase is time sensitive for personal reasons to the owners of the house we want, we offered them all our white goods as she cried about not being able to afford any and we wanted to be nice people and i felt generous as they didnt seem huge things to be getting upset about at the moment) So we have now asked them to talk to our solicitor and EA rather than send me whatspp messages and apparently we are being nasty. Am i being unreasonable asking them to offer us something...even if its £50 towards the pack which they should have purchased and is irrelevant to us unless we can sell this weekend and by asking them to stop messaging me as i feel its unprofessional. Thank you

OP posts:

ZoomHell · 25/03/2021 23:26

That's really shit OP

Just to say though, it's entirely normal procedure for the seller to pay for the management pack, I wouldn't call it a goodwill gesture personally, the seller is always expected to pay that cost in conveyancing.

CeibaTree · 25/03/2021 23:27

What a crappy thing to have happened OP, you must feel gutted. When we were selling my late parents house after 5 long months of the buyers' solicitor dragging their heels we were about to exchange and the buyers pulled out (one of them lost their job so it wasn't them being dicks like your buyers). Anyway we went back in the market straight away and got 3 offers within a couple of days, and we sold for £10k more than the original buyer had offered. So don't lose heart, things can turn around for the better quickly sometimes.

Mamanyt · 25/03/2021 23:32

Contact your solicitors NOW.

lanthanum · 25/03/2021 23:46

Good luck with getting a new buyer pronto.

We once had buyers pull out about ten days before we expected to move (they'd just decided to divorce and no longer wanted it as their "pad in town"). We were saved by our estate agents, who pointed out to them that since their offer a few months previously, prices had risen, and if they bought it and put it straight back on the market themselves, they could make a tidy profit. It worked - they got at least 10k more, and we got the house we were after. (I wouldn't mind betting the estate agents charged them very little - they already had the marketing ready, and they were dealing with the house we were buying too, so it was in their interests for the exchange to happen.)

Original poster

Stillnotslept · 26/03/2021 07:03

@ZoomHell

That's really shit OP

Agreed @ZoomHell however we stupidly paid significantly extra for the pack to be sent faster as our buyers wanted to asap (at the time to beat stamp duty) lesson learnt 😭

OP posts:

Original poster

Stillnotslept · 26/03/2021 07:10

Wanted to say thank you all for the support, u have spent another sleepless night crying (silly i know as its only a house etc)

I think its that they told me over whatsapp at 4.30 which i read whilst sat with the kids and promptly burst into tears upsetting them, and then they spent the next 2 days avoiding the estate agent and solicitor whilst messaging me so we were in limbo. They have still not called the EA back but their solicitor has sent a one line response to ours pulling out.
Our house will go back on the market today and hope we get a new buyer this weekend.
Just feel this is the final straw after a horrible year we have all had and now have run out of all emotional and physical energy. Will let you all know what happens x

OP posts:

Thisisworsethananticpated · 26/03/2021 07:24

Totally sucks
But they are legally allowed to do this

Move on , get back on market ASAP and consider reducing price for a fast sale

It’s totally gutting

They are dead to you
Forget them

Garlia · 26/03/2021 07:27

It's exhausting, I really feel for you. They have behaved awfully. If it helps, I doubt the EA will ever entertain an offer from them on any listed with them after how they've behaved. EAs also talk to others too, to 'warn' of tricky buyers.

They may very well regret pulling out...

I'm glad you're putting it straight back on the market, finger's crossed you find a much better buyer ASAP

FayleWatersWaters · 26/03/2021 07:32

This is terrible. Get back on the market today and keep your fingers crossed for a very quick sale. Block the number and phone your EA as soon as they open. There might have been someone who'd just missed out on wanting to view/potentially buy your house first time around, you just don't know.
It's rarely a good idea for buyers/sellers to swap numbers, but the fact that these people obtained your number from school mums?! Wow! I would not want to deal with them, even if it all turns out just to be a ploy to get a negligible amount knocked off the price.
Not on the same level, but I moved mid-Jan, and just before Christmas (and just before exchange), I had our buyer contact me directly to ask for a reduction. On the grounds that the process had gone on for "too long". I lost my original onward purchase, but he was kept in the loop all the way through and it was his choice to wait. Anyway, it just feels so invasive to pick up your phone and see a message like that. I felt physically sick when I read it. I definitely can imagine what you're going through and I wish you all the best with securing a new buyer.

MzHz · 26/03/2021 08:05

Oh love, how upsetting!

I know that you’ve had your cry, you’ve been angry etc, but time to get back on the horse and carry on.

Don’t worry about crying in front of the kids, it’s ok for them to understand that adults feel sad too, as they will do.

Will cross everything for you for the weekend

Good luck!

Roselilly36 · 26/03/2021 08:18

So sorry OP, I have recently moved it is so bloody stressful.

Speak to EA and get it back on the market, properties are moving really quick so I am sure you could have another buyer within days.

I wouldn’t have much hope in the previous people to cover your costs, as they have no legal obligation to do so, and sound like complete arseholes anyway. Who on earth would whatapp news like that? I doesn’t sound to me like they are looking for a reduction, they have clearly for cold feet. Get re-marketing OP.

Handhold OP, it will be ok. We got there in the end and you will too

ZoomHell · 26/03/2021 08:36

OP if you can get a new buyer relatively quickly, most management packs are valid for at least around 6 months, even if not it would likely just be a case of buying just a couple of updated documents rather than the whole thing again so try not to worry too much about that, I very much imagine you'll be able to use it again on a new sale

Also, I'd suggest to any new buyers that their solicitor approaches the old buyers solicitor and asks to purchase their searches from them rather than re doing them. Again, these are valid for around 6 months and saves waiting times, which can be long even in non Covid times! Old buyers almost always agree to this as it means getting their money back for the searches they have done and it saves you and your buyers a couple of weeks waiting for the results.

Doesn't make this any shitter obviously but there are a couple of things you can do to make a new sale go a bit quicker

PandaFluff · 26/03/2021 08:41

Why on earth did they message you directly! Sounds a really weird thing to do.

billy1966 · 26/03/2021 09:11

So upsetting OP.

BlackCatShadow · 26/03/2021 09:16

It's so crap. I really hope you find a buyer soon

VaVaGloom · 26/03/2021 09:26

The system really needs reform. It allows people to dick about and cost other people money. Sorry this has happened to you OP. You can't ask them for money. It usually works out ok in the end (in wherever you end up) but I know that's little consolation when you were so close to this move.

VaVaGloom · 26/03/2021 09:34

@Stillnotslept

Wanted to say thank you all for the support, u have spent another sleepless night crying (silly i know as its only a house etc) I think its that they told me over whatsapp at 4.30 which i read whilst sat with the kids and promptly burst into tears upsetting them, and then they spent the next 2 days avoiding the estate agent and solicitor whilst messaging me so we were in limbo. They have still not called the EA back but their solicitor has sent a one line response to ours pulling out. Our house will go back on the market today and hope we get a new buyer this weekend. Just feel this is the final straw after a horrible year we have all had and now have run out of all emotional and physical energy. Will let you all know what happens x

Hopefully new buyers will be around the corner for you and your chain - you've got until the end of June for the stamp duty holiday so that may speed things through.

Charges on new estates are common. Slightly annoying considering the council tax we all pay but usually only amount to the equivalent of a few takeaways over a year.

Good luck OP

CeibaTree · 26/03/2021 09:54

@Garlia

They may very well regret pulling out...

I'm glad you're putting it straight back on the market, finger's crossed you find a much better buyer ASAP

EAs also talk to others too, to 'warn' of tricky buyers.

Is this actually true - surely they would be breaking all kinds of GDPR rules by doing this? Also why would you give your business rival a heads-up about something like this? I've seen people say this on other threads too, but always wondered if it was true..

Thepilotlightsgoneout · 26/03/2021 10:03

Once the dust settles, you really need to have words with the person that gave them your number. Not on.

imabusybee · 26/03/2021 13:22

Good luck OP hope you find a new buyer

Dimples13 · 26/03/2021 16:21

Gosh, we pulled out of a sale two days before exchange (private reasons) and felt terrible so paid their legal fees. They were so surprised and of course pleased.

Blockedoff · 26/03/2021 16:23

It's shitty but they're not obliged to pay costs.

Mylovelyhorsee · 26/03/2021 18:17

I’ve just sold my flat, share of freehold and I paid for the management pack? Not sure why you think sellers would pay for that?

Mylovelyhorsee · 26/03/2021 18:23

Op the only thing I can hopefully say to make you feel better is, this is just a business deal. It’s not personal, I know if feels personal as it’s your home but it’s business, these things happen. Buying and selling is the absolute worst. You still have time to find a new buyer. It can all be done in 6 weeks.

Original poster

Stillnotslept · 26/03/2021 18:30

@Mylovelyhorsee

I’ve just sold my flat, share of freehold and I paid for the management pack? Not sure why you think sellers would pay for that?

Yes but we paid extra for it to be sent faster - as they were desperate to complete asap.,its not the pack i feel annoyed about paying for its the extra to help them!

OP posts:

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