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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Fuming! Buying property related

45 replies

EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 21:45

Seller has just pulled out of property sale which is nearly complete. Surveys (specialist) paid for, legal fees paid...have spent so much money and now the estate agent has emailed (didn't even have the courtesy to ring!) and said they are pulling out as they've had a "better offer". That's it. AIBU to think the property market needs an overhaul (I know it is a better system in Scotland) and this shouldn't be allowed without some sort of refund for money paid out? If you've shaken hands and agreed a sale to the point of near completion with the buyer having completed all of their side with no issues you shouldn't be allowed to just pull out?

OP posts:
NEmama · 17/08/2023 21:47

Arse holes 💐

Didimum · 17/08/2023 21:47

How shit. I’d be mad with rage. Did the agent show it??

Original poster
EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 21:51

Didimum · 17/08/2023 21:47

How shit. I’d be mad with rage. Did the agent show it??

I have no idea...we've tried to contact the agent but they have been surprisingly "unavailable" all day. The email just said they offer was cash and that they had decided to go with that. Our offer is not complicated at all, no chain or complications at all. Was all going smoothly. There's nothing I can do but secretly hope it all falls through for them at the point of their completion so they know what it's like.

OP posts:
VinEtFromage · 17/08/2023 21:51

@EvilElsa O think the seller should be able to pull out, for any reason, until the deal is finalised.

However, they should have to pay the buyer for a certain set of reports (not just anything the buyer decides to do) which they'd then own.

im sorry you're in this position, it sucks, but hopefully an even more perfect house will come along soon 🤞🏼

Original poster
EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 21:55

VinEtFromage · 17/08/2023 21:51

@EvilElsa O think the seller should be able to pull out, for any reason, until the deal is finalised.

However, they should have to pay the buyer for a certain set of reports (not just anything the buyer decides to do) which they'd then own.

im sorry you're in this position, it sucks, but hopefully an even more perfect house will come along soon 🤞🏼

Thank you. It's not so much the pulling out, it's the pulling out knowing we have spent so much money that we won't get back. It seems so unfair that they just shrug and say "oh well" and we have to absorb the bills. Money chucked at nothing. Oh, and the email...having spoken to these agents for weeks they can't even ring and tell us!!

OP posts:
makemineanaperol · 17/08/2023 21:59

That sucks. I'm sorry. This is the heartache of home ownership. Maybe a different, more perfect home is around the corner for you OP

FoodFann · 17/08/2023 22:03

You are right, it should be the Scottish system.

CherryMaDeara · 17/08/2023 22:25

Be really, really nice to them and then on Halloween, throw eggs on their house.

But make sure it’s still their house before you throw the eggs.

Highfivemum · 17/08/2023 22:28

Awful. I am sorry. Some people have no morals. I have had this done to me a few times and it stinks.
beat wishes.

Boysnme · 17/08/2023 22:30

The Scottish system can be flawed too. We were packed and ready to move without actually knowing if our sale and purchase were going through.

Missives only concluded at lunchtime the day we were moving. We had packers in who had no option but to still pack and our van was filled siting waiting on a side street to be told whether they were going to the new house or unpacking back in the old one. Worst time of my life!

LookingWest · 17/08/2023 22:30

If it makes you feel any better this happened to my parents, a month or so later the better offer fell through. The estate agent came back to them. In the meantime a few more issues had come to light through the survey report (which wasn’t back when they got gazumped, but obvs had been paid for) so parents offered 20k less than original offer and got it. I’m sorry this happened to you, good luck!

Original poster
EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 22:31

Thanks all, and sympathies for all those who have been through similar!!! What a day. Onwards and upwards 🥴

OP posts:
Solonge · 17/08/2023 22:37

EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 21:55

Thank you. It's not so much the pulling out, it's the pulling out knowing we have spent so much money that we won't get back. It seems so unfair that they just shrug and say "oh well" and we have to absorb the bills. Money chucked at nothing. Oh, and the email...having spoken to these agents for weeks they can't even ring and tell us!!

Show quote history

I would tweet whats happened, name the agent and copy them in. Nothing they can do about it as you are just stating facts, but wont be good for their business.

drinkuptheezider · 17/08/2023 22:41

That happened to DS and DIL, money they couldn't afford to lose either. They are staying put for now after that experience.

CallumDansTransitVan · 17/08/2023 22:42

Boysnme · 17/08/2023 22:30

The Scottish system can be flawed too. We were packed and ready to move without actually knowing if our sale and purchase were going through.

Missives only concluded at lunchtime the day we were moving. We had packers in who had no option but to still pack and our van was filled siting waiting on a side street to be told whether they were going to the new house or unpacking back in the old one. Worst time of my life!

I thought under Scottish law you had to prove the finance/cash was in place before you could enter an offer?

PostageAndPackaging · 17/08/2023 22:45

You should have had legal insurance which will recover your survey etc costs - I'm not 100% sure how ot all works but this happened to us in march/ april this year, and by going through the insurance legal people, they can recover costs because its not your fault.

Bad form of the agents to go quiet on you - they might be embarrassed but you're still entitled to their support with this.

Boysnme · 17/08/2023 22:54

CallumDansTransitVan · 17/08/2023 22:42

I thought under Scottish law you had to prove the finance/cash was in place before you could enter an offer?

Show quote history

You have to have a mortgage in principle before you can put an offer in, or at least that’s all it was when we moved. But you get that online.

In our case funds were in place and ours had been drawn down on but the first in the chain were just playing silly buggers and not concluding for what I heard were stupid things.

Saying that it is still better than the English system.

Changeychang · 17/08/2023 22:56

@EvilElsa
Saying it's a cash offer as a reason when you are not chain dependent and near completion makes no Sense.

Which county are you in?

Fiekcjdiwldnfjri · 17/08/2023 23:01

So sorry to hear this!

We lost a house just a couple of weeks before we were meant to move in and it was utterly heartbreaking. People try to be kind and say the next house will be better but it doesn’t really help!

Estate agents are complete knobs btw.

justasoul · 17/08/2023 23:08

Happened to us too, the week before exchange. Seller decided we were taking too long (it was our buyers actually) and her mortgage was ending, she decided to take another mortgage instead of just going on to the normal rate for a single month (we even offered to pay…) and pulled out. We were really upset but later found out from the neighbours that it was not the first time she did it and in the 7 years since she put the house on the market every single year. She’s yet to sell it - I’m not sure she wants to, really.

MStarG · 17/08/2023 23:09

I had no idea the systems were so different between countries before I read horror stories on mn. We're in Scotland and while yes missives are generally not 'signed' until the day of the key exchange, all finances have to have been proved weeks before and you are legally tied into the contract. There's none of this crazy gazumping nonsense either, it's in the solicitors terms and conditions that they will no longer represent you if you try to do it.
Sorry this has happened to you, hopefully it will be something you look back on and be glad of eventually. And hopefully the sellers have horrible luck and lose money somehow!

mondaytosunday · 17/08/2023 23:16

This has happened to me, and I met the sellers twice! They didn't sell to someone else, they just changed their minds.
A year later the house was back on the market and finally sold for less than my offer.
I've also been gazumped by a cash buyer. It fell through so agent came back to me. I was committed elsewhere snd unlike the sellers, was honouring my agreement to buy.
I'm not convinced about the Scottish system, but making the offer contract legally binding with penalties would help!

Longagonow96 · 17/08/2023 23:20

EvilElsa · 17/08/2023 21:45

Seller has just pulled out of property sale which is nearly complete. Surveys (specialist) paid for, legal fees paid...have spent so much money and now the estate agent has emailed (didn't even have the courtesy to ring!) and said they are pulling out as they've had a "better offer". That's it. AIBU to think the property market needs an overhaul (I know it is a better system in Scotland) and this shouldn't be allowed without some sort of refund for money paid out? If you've shaken hands and agreed a sale to the point of near completion with the buyer having completed all of their side with no issues you shouldn't be allowed to just pull out?

It is not always better in Scotland. We're being mucked about big time over a sale there

BrawnWild · 17/08/2023 23:25

Solonge · 17/08/2023 22:37

I would tweet whats happened, name the agent and copy them in. Nothing they can do about it as you are just stating facts, but wont be good for their business.

Show quote history

Why would you name the agent for complying with the law?

If the agent has received an offer they need to put it forward to the seller.

PrimarilyParented · 17/08/2023 23:30

It’s really crap, but as an FYI homebuyers insurance exists, costs about £50 and would cover these expenses in this sort of instance. I definitely recommend getting it in future.

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