Buyer pulled out, devastated

[TulipsinSpring444]

Buyer pulled out, day before exchange. Multiple reasons but in the end it came down to they 'found a property better suited to them'.

Felt like someone had ripped out my insides. Might sound like an exaggeration but we are trying to buy our dream house. We've been looking for a house for 3 years.

What do we do now. Do we have to tell the vendor's agent straight away? We have dropped our price by 20K and have said priced for a quick sale. We are willing to take a financial hit. We just desperately don't want to lose our dream house.

Could we wait a week before saying anything to our vendor's agent? Would we end up losing their trust and they pull out? I'm so scared we will lose the house if we tell them now and our agent has said before that there is an issue with major works due on our flat so our vendor's might think our flat is unsaleable - it isn't, we offered a 10K reduction but the buyer had made her mind up already and liked this other property more.

Please give me the green card to say nothing and desperately try to hold this all together, I feel terrible lying but at the same time, don't want to risk losing not only our sale but our purchase of our home we have been dreaming about too

The seller's solicitor is really unhelpful, I don't think he would even give us a few days, I know he's working for them and it's probably in their best interests to put it back on...our agent/solicitor won't say anything but the vendor's agent could see it on rightmove. If they did, it might majorly backfire but on the other hand we could get a buyer this week and then tell them what's happened and not risk losing the house to someone else...it was competitively priced. I've never done anything dishonest in my life, this is tough

Similar area but not exactly - they may well look :( It's already on Rightmove and apparently market is dead so they are getting hardly any calls so not sure if they'd have anyone lined up - we are in London

i was going to say can your agent contact previous people who viewed and liked it? this happened us, although we were nowhere near exchange and even that was devastating enough so i cant imagine how you feel. we ended up accepting lower again just to get moving (we are getting close to contract exchange now, so still in limbo).

i think you have to tell your seller agents unless you think you could sell in say a week but even then, you'll have to explain the timescale will have extended.

This happened to me last Thursday too OP. Was due to complete by 30th June having sold to these wankers people back in Jan. Ultimately I have been dicked around by these dreamers who, it turned out, couldnt get a mortgage for the amount needed to buy my house.

I got straight onto the phone of the estate agents I am buying through and have gone up for sale with them. They have not yet told the people I am buying off that my sale fell through (its a deceased estate so empty). I had 4 viewings booked in yesterday with one no show, only 1 looks hopeful. Agents are talking to the vendor on Monday and are going to try and persuade them to give me 2 weeks to find another buyer. Fortunately the market here is pretty buoyant so I am hopeful of getting another offer soon.

I could literally punch the other people, I have such rage at them and my crappy online agents for wasting 4 months of time when they were just dreamers all along. I feel anxious and sick all the time and have had a guts full of the entire process. You have my upmost sympathy op!

Ah, that's really tough I think you have to tell them, though, before the find out through other means?

Do the agents not have anyone from last time who might be keen? We recently missed out on our dream home (also London) and have said to the agents to keep us posted if the sale falls through for any reason. Which area of London are you in where the markets dead? I've not been hearing that at all, but obviously it's a big place!

Such a poor reason for pulling out so late, sounds to me like they might have had another property on the go at the same time. Why else would someone delay themselves by starting the process again elsewhere?

I'd tell your sellers. It will look worse if the info doesn't come from you. As much as they might not be understanding at least you've not caused anymore ill feeling by hiding the facts.

It's really hard when you find a house you love so much. Someone said to me, 'if it isn't meant to be, it won't be, especially with houses' and they were so right. Took us losing out on two properties to get or current house, and the dream house we are now going to very nearly all fell through too. It's only now we are so far down the line I say it's my dream house, was so scared of jinxing it before! You'll be moved into a lovely place eventually

When this happened to us, the people above went straight to the "reserve" buyers who had also offered on their house, but after us. We lost the dream house ;(

I have to say that the buying and selling system in this country is a nightmare. It's just such a protracted, complicated, long winded system which leaves you wanting to tear your hair out. If I had any choice I'd withdraw and never move again, sadly I've separated from h and have no choice but to sell 😖

I'm sitting waiting for an exchange which I fully expect not to happen. My buyer is a BTL landlord who offered and was accepted back in November as a cash buyer. We are divorcing and wanted a quick sale. We have had excuse after excuse; his father died, he needed a mortgage for capital gains reasons, etc. My first purchase fell through because of him dragging his feet and now it looks like my second purchase will go the same way. After the first purchase fell through his solicitors closed the file and despite all my messages to the estate agents it wasn't reopened until my purchase was ready to exchange contracts. We have been dicking around with searches having to be redone and now they want indemnity insurance because of a subsidence risk in the area! Not the house, the area!! My seller is understandably fed up and threatening to pull out. My ex is hopping up and down as well because he is paying mortgage on two properties and I'm constantly in tears. God knows how it will end. OP you have my sympathy.

I should point out that if the "death of father" was genuine, I have every sympathy, but the range of excuses since make me wonder...
Boredboredbored, I feel exactly the same!

Were you not exchanging simultaneously on both properties? Wouldn't your vendors realise?

When were you due to exchange on your purchase?

Dramalady52 Sounds awful, we had varied excuses too - realised the freeholder was council but didn't realise it was built by the council and therefore not interested, works that take 6 weeks would be too long-term and disruptive etc etc

Tutti We were planning to exchange at the same time but luckily our vendor is going on a cruise for three weeks next week so everything got delayed. There is no scheduled exchange date on our purchase at the moment and our vendor has said the 'earliest she can complete by is 21st July.

Thanks for all the messages everyone, it really helps me feel better, we went to a garden centre today and planted loads of flowers at the front patch we have by our door - it looks lovely, I'm feeling more positive, at least if no-one else wants to buy it I'll enjoy looking at my flowers grow!

The system here is ridiculous. In Australia you sell and then stipulate when exchange happens 1, 2, 3 months etc and it's not the buyers concern where the seller moves to (i. e. there's no chain, I buy your house and you feck off out of my life once the agreed exchange date has arrived. None of this now I have to find somewhere to live by the seller )