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?

No do not turn up at their house.

Phone ahead and tell them to roll out the red carpet.

YANBU but better go Reindeer here on MN then take your 'reasonable' outrage to the doorstep and get arrested. Your budget is irrelevant, mine will be about £150k next year when I hope to sell and buy much smaller for cash (probably non-traditional/unmortgageable property or a boat), I'm oldish.

And I would be mightily pissed off if someone did this so late in the game and would probably need 'holding back'.

You say they’ve already bought and moved into a new property.
I’m assuming they realise that they’ll now be liable to pay CGT on the sale of the house.
Assuming higher rate tax payers, that’ll be 28% -about £250,000.
Perhaps they’ve withdrawn so that they can figure out how to minimise their tax exposure? 🤷‍♀️

A tip for your next purchase though, don't start asking for people to go round measure up. Just wait until you actually own it.

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

That’s not seriously a real question is it?!

You absolutely cannot do that. How intimidating. It's very frustrating but also what you sign up for when you enter the (admittedly flawed) housing market in the UK. For all you know the sellers could be experiencing bereavement, illness, another crisis of their own. Or they could just be jerks - either way you don't have any right to 'confront' them. You are part of a legal process and they haven't breached it.

I would, however, be extremely pissed off with the estate agent for not telling you about it. They absolutely have a responsibility to do that and I can't understand what they hoped to achieve by not.

Go round, put their head in a headlock and shout "nah then mate - this is ma aaase!"
Celebrate the occasion with a new tattoo.

If they don’t answer the door, remember to clatter the letterbox and shout “I know you’re in there….. FACE ME!!!!”.

To begin this I thought this thread was going to be about your partner.

It's annoying but they don't have to tell you why they have pulled out and even if you knew it wouldn't make any difference to your situation

Perhaps they were sick of me turning their house into 60 Minute Makeover...lesson learnt! I will just collate all the flooring samples and carpet cutouts into a big quilt-of-sorts until I finally exchange on a house, if ever.

@MyPeachLion The EA may not have known until today and I can imagine is not happy with the sale no longer proceeding in addition to how you are feeling, it is very difficult not to get emtionally involved in a new house.

What I would do, is write an email or letter to the solicitor, maybe sending a copy to the EA, thanking them for the info, saying how you are of course disappointed, but hoping all is well with the vendors and should they change their minds, you would be very happy to continue with the purchase.

Irrespective of how you are feeling, you do not know why they are withdrawn from the sale, you could ask your solicitor to speak to their solicitor to see if any further info is available.

Sometimes it is worth taking a deep breath and rising above how annoyed you feel just in case the situation can be retrieved.

That’s awful OP. I had that happen to me years ago and had done surveys, searches, damp surveys and electrical etc. I was newly divorced and it was my dream house, but I did find another cottage and I absolutely loved it. I wish we had a different system in England.

No.

I'd be pissed off in your place but much as I'd want to confront them it would be pointless. They probably still won't tell you and you'll end up more frustrated

Hopefully you'll find something better soon.

I thought this was a thread about the rhythm method 😳

Doesn’t make it right. The very least you can do is offer an explanation.

The OP doesn’t want to buy the house. Just to ask for an explanation as to why they pulled out and felt entitled to waste thousands of pounds of the OP’s money.

I was replying to a different poster and a different point entirely

Why not go round with your massive bundle of cash and slap them round the face with it?

I know you weren’t replying to me. I didn’t realise you were in private dialogue on a public forum. Cheerio

Bless you OP for taking the criticism on the chin! Good luck with your next purchase.

So did I, what filthy minds we have

Yeah go over there and ask. Make sure you let us all know how it goes popcorn

How do you imagine this would help? The most likely scenario is that they tell you to fuck off. If their explanation is that they just changed their minds, or took a higher offer, it won't make you feel better. If the explanation is that their own circumstances changed, e.g. they have a serious illness and need to stay near sources of support, you'll just feel bad about intruding on them. But one certainty is that, whatever the answer is, it won't change the situation one iota.