Pull out of property purchase

[ChampagneLassie]

We’re in process of buying the house we rent. And now our ideal house has come to market. The main difference is cost. The house we’re currently buying is 5 bed huge garden. And is 20% more expensive. Whilst we can afford it that obviously comes at a cost to other lifestyle choices. I posted before as it’s more than we wanted to spend but we’ve been looking for 2 years and not seen anything we really wanted. Until now. It’s ideal, it’s 4 bed, a decent sized garden. I actually prefer the look of it, wooden floors throughout, nice period features. And it’s 20% cheaper. That saving would make such a difference to our lives.

But the dilemma if we pull out our current landlords will obviously be very disappointed. I’d offer to cover their legal costs and be hugely apologetic. Do you think that would be sufficent recompense?

we’re about 1-2 weeks away from exchange.

i worry about bad karma. I worry that if we switch and the new property perhaps the sellers pull out / change their mind (they’re looking to downsize), it would serve us right. Thoughts

I think you should pull out of the current purchase. Stretching yourself in the current financial climate is far too risky when you have a family to support.

Also, Karma doesn’t exist, it’s just life. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This and remember there will be other people to purchase from your ll.
If you don't go ahead with the other house, you are likely to always regret it
Also remember that your current house is your home and you must like it to have put an offer in to buy it.

Putting aside neighbourly relations should you buy the newer house, including those of your landlords, there's no guarantee you'll get the newest house, the sellers could pull out, they might get a higher offer etc. Then you're stuck in your landlords house when you pulled out of buying theirs at the last minute. You should probably just stick with the one you're currently buying.

Go for the one you love! You'll never feel happy in the house you're in, you'll always feel like you settled.

I know it's not ideal for your landlord, but they'll likely be annoyed about it for a very short period of time. And it sounds like they'll get more on the open market for it, so I'm hindsight they'll be grateful you pulled out!

We were, like you, supposed to be buying the house that we were renting, and then we pulled out. Mainly for survey reasons, but it got quite unpleasant. The landlord served us noticed almost the next day, on the grounds of wanting to sell. The law requires them to give four months notice now. Would that give you enough time to buy and move into the next house?

Make a list of the costs you have already incurred with the current property

searches
Property inspection/ survey valuations
Any costs incurred with a mortgage valuation

These are sunk costs, you won’t get them back.

now make a list of the similar costs you will incur if you go ahead with the new property.

Add the two together. Deduct a sum for ( not) moving expenses.

This is how much changing your mind will cost.

Add that to the price of the second property. Remember it is a smaller property with work needed.

Head not heart.

You'll never feel happy in the house you're in, you'll always feel like you settled.

Just as a counter to this, we very much settled for our current house, but have been very happy here and love it now. Homes are what you make them.

Your landlord will have made plenty of money from you through rent, and will be able to sell the house to somebody else. Don't worry about it, but let them know as soon as possible.

I understand that you are behaving far better than many people do who withdraw or plan to withdraw from a house sale. Some is such (not this) that I wish there was a register of unreasonable house sale behaviour akin to an offenders register.

I think you should consider long and hard before doing so, and the point about sunk costs is well made.

You have to love the house. Can you see the other one quickly?

I would be in the camp of pulling out... If it was your dream house would you still be looking?

Good luck. It is the really stressful time

My concern would be if you’ve been looking for a house that meets your requirements how many other people have been looking also, and would this mean you might end up with a bidding war for this new house? At least the house you’re buying if a safer bet.
Do you know the sellers from the new house? Might be worth speaking to them?

Absolutely not ..the hassle of not moving is worth the money xtra ,but maybe you don't have as much crap as me
If you have kids ,maybe they are already settled and happy in their bedroom
Maybe you need to put your personal touch on the house your in
What about hidden extra costs
My son just got a survey done on a house to find out the roof need twenty thousand pounds of work doing ,the looks immaculate from the outside.
And it took a few weeks to get to the point of getting the survey..by that point you could end up with the house your in being sold under you ,and a huge bill on the other and having to move out with no where to go
It's a risk
But everything in life is a risk

Not sure where you are, but in England it's a two month minimum notice period. Presuming this is where the OP is based (which I was), two months is not long enough for a sale to be agreed and completed, even if all the stars aligned and by some miracle everything went as smoothly as possible (which it never does).

Never buy a house you don't love.

You'll be stuck paying for the bastard thing for 25yrs.

Life is too short.

You need to see the other house. Then you can make an informed decision. It could look great on paper but you need to get inside it. If you like it better, then yes, go for it. Sounds like you've fallen out of love with the house you are currently in. Why would you buy something just to avoid 'bad karma'?! Are you going to be sitting in your current house this time next year with no spare cash and a grotty kitchen and think 'oh well, at least we didn't piss the landlord off.'

No its 2 months notice from the Tennant but Landlord has to give 4 months I think.

I't feels bad and It's not ideal to pull out, but it is business. Renting out property is a business, the LL understands that.
Pulling out of existing deal
The landlord says its under the market rate... but have you checked that? It sounds like you don't really know.
The reason the landlord was happy to sell to you was because they could avoid estate agents fees.. which where we live is between 1 and 2 per cent of the purchase price.
How desperate is your LL to sell? It's not like you would be bankrupting them. They would still have a well maintained house to sell. If the landlord thinks you are underpaying, they can market it again and get more money. ? Presumably the house is in good order.

If you switch to the other house,
and that falls through, you would still have done much of the paperwork, searches etc for the 1st house you are in and the fact that the LL would save the estate agents fees, may still tempt them.
You've been good tennents, providing a reliable income for the landlord to date. Yes. It may be an annoyance that you've pulled out but once they've got over that they would just remarket the house anyway.

Research.
20 per cent of a house price is a lot of money. Before you jump one way or another, get more cold hard facts to base your decision on.
Get as much information on the other house as possible. Talk to their estate agent.
Is it a bit dated? Does the roof need replacing. Ask the agent why its 20 per cent less ( you may not get a straight answer) even a chat gtp search might turn up something .. Planning permission refused? Or quick sale needed ( that would suit you) Are they in a long chain, wanting to wait until school holidays? etc.

Then you can weigh up the risk of switching purchases and whether its worth it and what back up plan do you have if it all falls through.

As for worrying that the neighbours will think you are sketchy??? Sorry but that is just a nonsense reason. Who will care in six months time. Most people would understand if you were saving tens of thousands of pounds.
People have made offers to us over the years and then pulled out. Its an unfortunate aspect of buying and selling houses.

Maybe view the other house as it may give you ideas as to the potential of the one you currently live in.

Is there a way you can say to LL... No6 has come on market... This would suit us better re price and size.... We don't want to let you down...

Would it be possible to agree a lower price?

If they don't agree... You walk away to new one...and they can sell for higher price to someone else.

If they do agree then all is OK.

I get that this sounds like they're being honest and upfront, but a pissed off LL could go straight to No6 and say 'they're using your house as a bargaining chip to stiff me. if you've got other offers, take them because OP will screw you over.' Might not, but it's a risk - one of many, giving up a dead cert for an unknown.

When will your rental end? I would anticipate the LL could ask you to leave so they can prepare it for sale. If you don’t get the other house you may need to move away as you won’t have either house.

We were messed around with someone earlier this year, for months and months, finally pulled out just before exchange. We just completed with someone else but the failed sale cost us thousands and meant we had to start paying council tax (following a death you only get 6 months without paying council tax after probate and the council would not relent even though there was proof it was under offer, thousands had been paid on legal fees and the first buyers pulled out).

No we’ve got a tenancy for a good 6 months and we’ve not yet exchanged. If we pull out of buying the landlord can’t legally get us out till end of tenancy. They’re also decent people so I don’t think they’d try to do anything underhand, and I don’t want to do anything underhand either.

Not yet viewed! But given timeframes and the likely interest in this house I’m assuming if I want it I’ll make a high offer there and then to secure it.

The price difference is so large…and to be honest I really want the other property. It’s not about a discount on this one

It’s literally just come to market. It will go in first weekend. They’ve priced it to get multiple offers. They’re very different house, different period. The house we rent is much bigger…but it isn’t space we actually need (and obviously costs more to heat/clean do you etc). The house we rent is more unusual and harder to guess value…and as it’s not on open market I don’t know if we’re getting a bargain or paying too much!