To forcibly ask why you pulled out?

[MyPeachLion]

I am (was!) a cash buyer of a 900k property. We were due to exchange next week. And complete after 2 weeks. We went 30k above asking and 20k above another bidder. No other bidder was a cash buyer. We are about 10 weeks into the sale.

My solicitor informs me this afternoon that the seller pulled out with NO reason given.

Can I turn up to the seller's house and ask the seller face to face why they pulled out? AIBU?

The estage agent did not even bother to inform me, despite the seller telling them last weekend that he was cancelling.

No chain on the seller's end - they have a new build they have already moved into! Seller moved out of their property early last week. We know because we visited the house for kitchen measurements last week!

I rang the EA this morning to get dates so I can get carpet quotes for next week and the EA was on board! Not once did he mention that the seller pulled out.

I am pissed off for not knowing why he pulled out, and for the EA to not inform me of it, and then proceed to play me like a fool by humouring my requests for carpet tradesmen to enter next week.
Were they meant to enter through the cat flap?

Again, is it unreasonable to just face this time-wasting seller and ask them why?

And now you're complaining about rudeness and childishness? Seriously? After that revolting comment?

The platitude was in the "look around, look around" stuff. I've also experienced violent abuse at home (and I wasn't responsible for yours, so while I'm sorry it happened, it isn't something you can guilt me with) and I still accept that someone can be pissed off and have a rant when a house sale falls through.

The idea that I was implying you had an easy life was your own invention. I was simply making the point that, like OP, you too have definitely been upset about something that isn't that big a deal in the Grand Scheme of Things, because we all have. Right now you're pissed off over an Internet comment you misinterpreted; there you go.

Oh, I'm perfectly aware that there are plenty of Cheeky Fuckers out there who do this. I'd never do this to anyone. It's intrusive and impatient, and unfair on the sellers.

But why would a cash or mortgaged buyer make any difference?, the cash buyer is of use if the seller needs to money quickly and reliably for an onward purchase, as they seem to have already gone, they don't need the money that quickly, therefore whether it comes from a mortgage company or the buyers bank account is irrelevant.

I'm guessing there was bidding over the asking price, maybe they are thinking to re-list higher, or to do some works and put it back higher still - or they have had a private offer you don't know about.

Cash buyers are in a position to proceed immediately and don't have to worry about chains etc. They're also probably less likely to pull out because they're not relying on mortgage offers; there's just more security. When we sold our house, several people who made offers let us know they were cash buyers. It did make them more appealing as buyers.

Total rubbish. This is not how property sales work at all in England. Deposits are paid upon exchange of contract.

If i changed my mind about selling and the would be buyer with their massive sense of entitlement and over inflated ego appeared at my door id be swiftly telling you to f*ck right off.

On what planet is this acceptable behaviour?! Yes its frustrating but you cant force someone to sell, no matter how much cash you have 🙄

I appreciate that, but in this case the owners have moved out, a mortgaged buyer might not have a chain either.

I've sold 29 houses, so far!, chains, yep they can be a concern, where the buyer has sourced their money is not a worry to me!, whether it came out of their home safe of Nat Wests mortgage department, not my worry!

I don't think its unreasonable to be pissed off with the EA & the seller but I do think you'd be unwise to try to force answers from them!
Hopefully you'll find another property very soon though and it'll definitely help that you're able to pay in cash with no chain etc.
Good luck!

Well fair enough. I've not sold that many houses! But for many people, cash buyers definitely have an edge. I remember thinking that they were less likely to try to gazunder us since they were already assured of the money; possibly that was false security but it's definitely something that occurs to people.

The OP may, in actual fact have been gazumped by the under bidder and just doesn't know - whilst she's been faffing around with this viewing and that viewing, doing colour charts and getting kitchen quotes, the seller might have been getting pissed off. Then the under bidder re-approaches with a better offer, or even the same one, they are good to go.

The EA doesn't have to tell the OP that, she has no right to know, if the seller is fed up and wants rid she will just get the line its been withdrawn.

My daughter is selling her house for just over half a million pounds. The amount of people who come to view and say they are cash buyers is unreal. They are usually in their 20’s and 30’s.

If you want to know the difference between a cash buyer and one getting a mortgage, I would say the difference currently stands at 8 months of your life.

If my last buyers had been a cash buyers we would have been able to go and buy what we wanted when we saw it come up for sale instead of having to sit around waiting for a bank’s mortgage department to rubber stamp paperwork that they were asking for 1 piece at a time

A lot of buyers (in my experience) don't know what the term cash buyer actually means and use it interchangeably.

It actually means someone who has the cash on deposit in a bank ready to go, no loans, no mortgages, nothing to sell etc..

I've often been told "they are cash buyers" and it turns out they have a mortgage offer in principle, not the same thing!

Perhaps your entitled attitude riled them so much they just didn't want you to have their house. Everyone is a cash buyer these days it means nothing

Fair enough, but as a developer I never sell to buy, so waiting isn't an issue - which seems to be the OPs scenario, in that the seller had already moved out.

Oh don’t be such a dick!

If you can do it and be pleasant, I'd say go for it. I lost both my parents in my 20s and was incredibly disorganised sorting and selling the house. The buyers came to my door and pleasantly asked why the delay - their school application was in limbo and the woman in the family was heavily pregnant - they weren't rude just wanted to know what was going on. Before then those people were just email addresses to me and I was wrapped up in grief. Until people see your face and speak to you - do they really know or care who you are? MN is the perfect example - people are frigging rude when they're hiding behind a username/think of you as a username - they would never say a lot of the things that are said on here to someone's face. The same probably applies to the sellers here.

With houses priced at the high end (700k+), if you're a cash buyer and you offer over what the house is worth - no one will stop you buying it for that. If you're a mortgage buyer and you offer over what it's worth the mortgage provider may chose to send a surveyor of their own and calibrate the loans size to the house's true value, so they're not out of pocket in the case of a foreclosure. This means mortgage buyers cannot win out to cash buyers paying over market value - unless they are willing to find the cash to make up the difference.

I think you’re conflating two different issues…

1. that you weren’t informed in a timely manner THAT the seller had changed their mind and…
2. that you weren’t WHY they had done so

The first would have elicit a YANBU and the second a YABU.

As for the £900k in cash, this is clearly not relevant to the issue and thus comes across as badly disguised bragging. You must know that most of us will never be in such a fortunate position and therefore unlikely to garner a huge amount of sympathy - either due to envy or just annoyance at your disingenuousness.

Not so. The deposit is paid (usually 10%) when contracts are exchanged. This is often a week or two before completion, but can be earlier or later, sometimes at the same time as completion. It is not refundable. However, you cannot demand that the would be buyer has to repay double.

I think morally and out of politeness the owners should offer an explanation - but you cannot force them to give one.

Didn’t we all?!

Nonsense, the anti money laundering checks would have been done early on in the process not just before Exchange and done by OPs own solicitor.

@MyPeachLion you’ll never know the reason why the sellers pulled out unfortunately. Sorry this happened to you. But I did enjoy the imagery of someone coming in to measure up via the cat flap.

A definite ‘no’ to turning up at their front door. In your position Id be frustrated and upset but you can’t harass people on their doorstep.
Id be asking the EA again, on the basis of understanding if there is anything further which you can do to turn this around. If you hit a brick wall with the EA, I might send a short, well meaning letter to the owner saying the same and if they change their mind to contact you on your mobile etc.
Other than that, I just think you have to accept there is nothing further to be done and move on.

Good to see I’m not the only dirty minded mare on here then.🤣🤣