Fuming! Buying property related

[EvilElsa]

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?

I agree. We run an estate agency and feel the same. Most of the work we do at the moment is for free. This is a topic we talk about a lot. There needs to be a huge overhaul of the system that doesn't just lock down a sale on the final day but weeks before with a penalty payable to the agent, buyer or seller from whomever has pulled out.
It's not fair that you could be boxed up ready to go without knowing with 100% certainty of whether you're leaving or not and it's not fair that an agent can work on a property for months and not know whether they're going to earn a single bean until the solicitor does their job and the keys are exchanged, despite having already paid out hundreds of ££s on marketing and travelling and time.

Too much anxiety and stress that is completely needless.

And yes it's awful that the agent hasn't even had the courtesy to ring you. This is least they can do!!

it's shit & I think it's generally considered more palatable then if you as the buyer pulled out because you found somewhere cheaper. That really pisses me off.

Take them to Small Claims court or if more than the max amount, sue them!

They've done nothing illegal, it's so shitty but it's perfectly legal.

So sorry, OP, bloody system stinks.

@EvilElsa yep, the system in the U.K. sucks. It needs an over haul for sure. The buyer shouldn't be out of pocket if the seller changes their mind & the whole thing shouldn't drag on as it does. It's a ridiculous process.

your Agents are horrible little cowards.

We has something similar a few years back we'd waited over 4 months for the vender to find a new home to move on to aswell.
They were offered 5k more and agreeded sell to new buyers instead.
We were obviously annoyed but had the last laugh when it all fell through, the EA rang and asked us if we were still interested. I said of course but if my money wasn't good enough the first time then they certainly weren't getting it now. The EA rang about 4 times during the following months. They eventually sold for 5k less than we offered.
We found another property in the same location a short time later.

The websites must be making this worse?
Years ago our offer was conditional on the seller taking it off the market....out of the estate window and sign down.
Now, even if marked as Sold STC on rightmove etc cash buyers can still browse and make silly offers

The only difference between cash buyer and no chain is that the mortgage company will insist on certain surveys and may only offer a certain value, whereas a cash buyer can pay whatever their budget is.

I have had it the other way as the seller. The day we were due to exchange the buyer pulled out as they changed their mind.

We had paid towards an additional survey they wanted but didn't want to pay for so we're left out of pocket.

Thankfully the next buyer was cash and we were able to complete in 5 weeks!

Everything happens for a reason but the system in England is flawed.

I blame the Lawyers for obfuscating any hope of reform in order to maintain their expensive monopoly closed-shop. Australia has a much better system.

I hope it falls through too! And you smugly find a house miles better!

Awful behaviour. So sorry. 3 years ago our sellers pulled out suddenly citing my “pushy” behaviour (trying to agree a move date!). The reality was the market had risen and they thought they’d accepted my offer too quickly. I was so upset. They didn’t sell the house again afterwards, and 3 years later it has been back on the market for months without selling. I am in a lovely house much nicer than the original so things do work out eventually. But it’s horrible at the time.

Name and shame an EA that allows gazumping, do it on their google reviews. Shit behaviour, even if it's allowed most EA's will steer a vendor away from this shit behaviour.

They can easily steer the vendor away from this behaviour though.

It's not up to the EA to Police vendors cunty behaviour.

This happened to me too 2.5 years ago....single mum buying a house for me and kids and my sellers pulled out because they had decided to stay together instead of splitting up...i think in the end my solicitor charged me £300 for the work she'd done on that property....it was far more stressful trying to find another house as quick as possible as i didnt want to risk losing my buyers.
All worked out ok in the end but not an experience i wish to repeat.

Yes, I agree, agents have very little control over buyer or sellers, they have to mediate between some very difficult customers. They get paid to do it, but only once the deal goes through. IME, buyers were the biggest aresholes, they’re not paying the agent but they want the moon on a stick.

I'd also like to add a note on the EA that really helped get my move over the line. I don't know what they did to twist the removal company's arm, but it worked and we managed to get the date we needed to keep it all on track.

That’s really shit, and so stressful!

My friend who was exchanging and completing on the same day had her house sale fall through after they’d already loaded their entire house onto the moving van 🤦‍♀️

I like the system in Spain where you have to pay 10% within x days. Once that’s paid, if you pull out or the sale, it all goes to the seller and you lose your deposit. There are similar penalties on the other side too. So whilst it’s still STC, you can’t just pull out without recompense to the other side!

We really need something like that here!

France has a fantastic system. Two contracts. The first is drawn up and a deposit is paid early on. You can’t back out without losing your deposit. You can add clauses into the contract such as subject to my property sale so you would t lose out if your sale fell through. Much better system and you know early on your buyers are serious .