Help me feel less guilty re-buyers 🙈

[Bol87]

Bit of a silly thread but please help me feel less awful 😭

A family looked round round our house and within an hour of leaving submitted a near ask bid. Grandparents live over the road. No second viewing or anything. Hadn’t sold their house. So we said we were happy with the value of the offer but couldn’t accept until they’d sold & the house remained on the market.

We had loadsa interest over the last week & ended up with two further bidders who scrapped it out slightly above ask. In the meantime, we found a house we loved on an estate that houses rarely come up for sale. It was us v an investor & the family wanted it to go to us but we had to have accepted a proceedable offer by Saturday. So we accepted the over ask offer & explained to the original bidder that sadly we’d sold.

But they are devastated. They sold their house today. They’ve literally come to the door begging us to consider them. It was awful. They were in tears & looked heartbroken when we said it wouldn’t be fair to those we’ve accepted.

I’m such a softie that I can’t bear to think I’ve made someone feel so sad 😭 I’m someone who tends to go out my way & do too much to make people happy 🙈 I know we’ve done nothing wrong but ughhhh!

Why don't you take the difference in what you've sold the house for and the price the crying family were going to pay and give it to them in cash...

Then they won't be so upset and heartbroken.

I think you should honour the accepted offer. Just because the new buyers haven't (and presumably wouldn't) come crying on your doorstep doesn't mean they wouldn't be equally devastated. They might just see it as an unfair and entitled thing to do to you - which it was.
I don't believe in rewarding the people who shout the loudest.

I wouldn't give them any money! Is that a joke?

Tell them they can have first refusal. It's pretty manipulative to cry on your doorstep. They'll learn not to house hunt until they're up for sale next time. V harsh but true.

Not a joke as such but that's pretty much what the OP would be doing if she sold to the criers.

Giving strangers some of the profit from her house sale because they are sad they didn't sell their house and sad they can't afford OPs house

So the crying couple were fine about it when they were told that you had a deadline of Saturday which they didn't meet, but already knowing that they'd missed the deadline they turned up on your doorstep a couple of days later trying to get you to dump the buyers you'd accepted because they'd managed to sell theirs?

Perhaps they were particularly convincing on the doorstep but I'd be quite cross about that - them turning up and turning on the waterworks trying to manipulate you. They wouldn't be my first choice if the current buyers drop out either tbh, unless you want them on your doorstep sobbing when things don't run smoothly during the purchase process (and let's face it, it's a stressful time and things do go awry!)

They may feel hard done to at the moment, but I think they'll look back and cringe on this in a few years!

Honestly op you are doing the right thing, it’s your asset you have every right to do the best you can with it for your family

The crying couple were way out of order to turn up on your doorstep and try and emotionally blackmail you. I'd stick with the people who you have accepted, they were in the right circumstances at the right time for you. You haven't done anything wrong at all.

It's a shame for them, especially being across the road from Grandparents, but sadly this just hasn't worked out for them.

I understand people house hunting while on the market themselves, & in this case I understand that they might not have even been house hunting but just saw the 'for sale' sign on the GP's road & decided to go for it & got their house on the market within the week...

It's unfortunate (for them) that you didn't take yours off the market while they sold theirs, but that's a HUGE ask of strangers.

But you told them you wouldn't & someone else was ready to progress the sale before they were.

You had no obligation to turn that offer down AND they were offering more, so why would you?!

Feel sad for them, but don't feel bad 🌷

This is why I don't like people who haven't sold viewing and I don't view until I've sold. If you do and someone comes along in a better position you lose. I couldn't take this away from the second viewers now they've booked and paid for a survey.

Don't feel bad. It's a business decision. They will find another house 🤷🏻‍♀️

None of these potential buyers have even exchanged - having accepted an offer is very different from actually having ‘sold’.