im worried our buyer will pull out

[Littlepond]

We have a buyer for our house and an offer accepted in the house we want. Both properties “sold subject to contract”.
Yesterday estate agents rang me and said our buyer wants to drop their offer by 10%?! I said no. An hour later estate agent called again and said buyer happy to proceed with original offer.

I am convinced now they are likely to pull out. They obviously think it is worth less than their offer. They have got mortgage in place for full amount of original offer, so nothing major come up on valuations. Survey will have highlighted a fair amount of work needs doing, our house was priced to reflect that. Another house in my road identical to mine but recently decorated throughout went for nearly 20% more than the offer we have accepted, recently.

I hate this limbo! If the buyers are going to pull out I hope they do it soon so at least we know where we stand.

Trying to move is stressful!

The buyer was trying it on - they've agreed to stick with original offer so try not to stress too much. Have you a date to exchange yet?

No date yet. I guess I’m worried they will think about it and decide not to go ahead, they obviously thought it needs a lot of expensive work done. Why would they want such a big reduction and then just shrug and say oh ok, let’s proceed anyway?
I just want to know if I’m moving!

You could ask your agent to keep showing people round if you're not sure your prospective buyer is really committed. And push push push for progression of your sale. Don't let things stagnate. Try to have another buyer lined up. House buying brings out the worst in some people and the nice ones get screwed over

Our buyer did this. We said no and she carried on to the end. She was just chancing her arm.

There is a risk of any buyer pulling out. Yours is no more likely than anyone else. Its always a risk. I've had 2 buyers pull out and I;m onto my 3rd and praying this one goes through.

Hooliodancer that makes me feel a bit better thanks! I agree house buying brings out the worst in people. So much greed. I just want Tom move, I’ve got no interest screwing anyone’s over.

Will talk to estate agent today to see if they think it’s worth doing more viewings in case buyer pulls out

Thanks everyone

I would be concerned that your buyer will wait until you are even more tied in (eg a few days before exchange of contracts) and try her luck again. How long is the upward chain? I'd definitely be doing viewings until the contract is signed.

There’s three of us in the chain. I had the same thoughts about them trying it on again further down the line...

Or even try it on exchange day... that happened to us, we held firm and they paid the agreed amount.