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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU house sale saga

38 replies

00kitty · 26/10/2022 23:56

AIBU is am I being unreasonable asking my buyer to pay a very small inconvenience fee now?

I’ll try and be brief

sold house in May 2% over asking price. Took us ages to find our ‘cash buyer’ told us not to worry.

July we had offer accepted..we then discover our cash buyer is not a cash buyer (hid this from EA too)

8 weeks later our buyer pulls out to buy something cheaper in a different area of town

Cue a call…the property he was buying has pulled out and he now wants our again. Negotiated 6% discount off price he was paying (I don’t think he could ever affford original price and I accept market has changed since we first marketed)

We have to move out in 2 weeks if we agree to go forward with this as lower down the chain mortgage offers expire then

my concerns/ facts:

  • by his own admission our house was not first he pulled out of
  • we have lost our onward purchase
  • our home is not big enough to make staying an option
  • we are happy (though it’s far from ideal) to move in to a spare bedroom at our families home until we find
  • happy to take a gamble with exiting property ladder
Alas I will incur costs to re instruct our solicitor if he again later aborts and storage fees/will have sold half our furniture.

so am I being unreasonable to ask him to pay something now to show his sincerity?

There just seem red flags and without a token amount transferred now which I can use as deposit on storage costs I’m not sure I’m willing to give him another chance particularly as we will then be homeless/and or could ask for another reduction on exchange day. We would only refund it in the event we dropped out

what would you do?

OP posts:
Ladyofthelake53 · 27/10/2022 08:17

I'd have said no second time round.timewaster, unreliable. I say this as someone who's lost 4 buyers since May. I've now come off the market

Roselilly36 · 27/10/2022 08:18

@00kitty I can see the dilemma, given the lack of viewings etc, but I just can’t see this buyer coming good. I wonder why the purchase fell through? I can probably guess. Totally your call OP, and whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you. Good Luck.

Aqwertyone · 27/10/2022 08:21

But if he does you just say no, surely? You don’t need to exchange as you’ve already lost your onward purchase and would be moving in with family. You hold the cards here, not him.

If he asks for a discount and you say no, one of two things will happen:

  1. he’ll pay the full agreed price, or

  2. he’ll pull out and your loss is your legal costs which you’ve already mainly incurred anyway. What happens further down the chain is his doing.

Whether you decide to take a chance on him or not, in my mind depends on what other interest and offers you had in your property, and if you’ve found something else you want to buy.

Aqwertyone · 27/10/2022 08:22

(Sorry, that should have quoted the post about the risk of him asking for a discount at exchange)

ReneBumsWombats · 27/10/2022 08:23

Why would you do business with a guy like this?

londonrach · 27/10/2022 08:26

No way would I sell to this buyer....he shown before how unreliable he is. Remarket the property.

Original poster
00kitty · 27/10/2022 09:34

Roselilly36 · 27/10/2022 08:18

@00kitty I can see the dilemma, given the lack of viewings etc, but I just can’t see this buyer coming good. I wonder why the purchase fell through? I can probably guess. Totally your call OP, and whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you. Good Luck.

Thank you 😊
we’ve been told that the other place he was buying has now decided not to sell - they had no inward purchase so I can only imagine they planned to move in with a partner or something and have had a change of heart

OP posts:
CrampMcBastard · 27/10/2022 10:12

Sorry, I’ve just re-read a realised it’s your BUYER’S chain, not your chain, that has to be completed in 2 weeks!

i don’t think you’d have time to complete some sort of indemnity. BUT you’d also think that if he’s the one under time pressure you can ask for what you like 😜

Roselilly36 · 27/10/2022 10:15

Just be wary of what you are told by EA often not a reliable source of info, we were given 3 different stories of why the previous purchaser pulled out of the purchase we made. Take it with a huge pinch of salt, they aren’t going to say he wanted to knock off x the day before exchange are they? All they are interested in is getting their commission. I really do hope it works out for you.

Wisteriaroundthedoor · 27/10/2022 10:17

He does sound a risk but no way I’d be paying an inconvenience fee, I don’t know anyone who would do that, what an odd concept.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 27/10/2022 10:24

we had this earlier this year. Sold to a cash buyer who was chain free, so accepted a lower offer. Turns out he was neither a cash buyer or chain free, he was trying to sell his house and lied to everyone. He had proof of funds, but he hadn't told anyone that the funds were actually committed to.another investment.

We only discovered all of this on the week we thought we were exchanging. We had spent thousands by this time.

If he came back on his knees begging to buy our house at twice the price, I wouldn't give him.the time of day. He consistently lied through the whole process, leopards don't change their spots

Original poster
00kitty · 27/10/2022 15:41

EmmaGrundyForPM · 27/10/2022 10:24

we had this earlier this year. Sold to a cash buyer who was chain free, so accepted a lower offer. Turns out he was neither a cash buyer or chain free, he was trying to sell his house and lied to everyone. He had proof of funds, but he hadn't told anyone that the funds were actually committed to.another investment.

We only discovered all of this on the week we thought we were exchanging. We had spent thousands by this time.

If he came back on his knees begging to buy our house at twice the price, I wouldn't give him.the time of day. He consistently lied through the whole process, leopards don't change their spots

Sounds like our buyer! I’m sorry you experienced this too it is so frustrating isn’t it

OP posts:
Original poster
00kitty · 27/10/2022 15:51

Update, our buyer has agreed to pay us a small ‘fee to cover our costs’ so we at last seem at agreement.

the only circumstances this will be returned to him is if we pull out

If he tries to pull anything else before exchange I won’t even bother responding to him

And key for us I suppose is taking little or no action until exchange has taken place

.
we were going to look at storage for our belongings but this would be a minimum of £100 a week so we are now thinking of selling everything bar personal items and re buying once we find somewhere

OP posts:
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