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Original poster

Buyer screwed us over today

362 replies

MrsBaublesDylan · 12/01/2022 13:55

Our FTB emailed the EA today to demand a £25k price reduction based on the work highlighted in the homebuyers report which they received 2 months ago.

All non-essential work, obvious to anyone viewing the house.

When they offered, it was at the very bottom of our range and we accepted without negotiation.

We were due to exchange in a couple of weeks.

They know we are moving for financial reasons, that we have a disabled child who I am a ft carer for and two other children.

They know that we either loose our home, or sell up, move area so we can buy out right and live mortgage free.

We said a flat no and unless they let the EA know today if they want to proceed at the agreed price, then we will put the house back on the market.

The money and our circs aside, how can some people feel it's ok to put people under this type of pressure?

We had some good news recently, but both dh and I agree that without it, the possibility of loosing the flat we want to buy and not being able to afford the mortgage on our current house, would have made us feel suicidal.

We'll be ok but it is depressing to know there are people with no integrity, who choose to live in a way which causes catastrophic harm to their fellow human beings.

OP posts:
anon12345anon · 12/01/2022 16:58

House buying in England seems to bring out the cuntiness of some people - they're arseholes Op....

Good luck Flowers

CardRoomGreen · 12/01/2022 17:00

@MrsBaublesDylan They are scumbags, and I am so upset for you. I think some people just have no idea that their actions have consequences like this, and can't see beyond their own nose. Very best wishes to your family. Flowers

Cakeofdoom · 12/01/2022 17:06

What cheeky bastards they are. Your sense of despair is so tangible, I have tears in my eyes just reading this. I pray you resell quickly and you are able to proceed on the new flat you have found. Xx

Rainbowqueeen · 12/01/2022 17:07

Best wishes op.

If it falls through then take the agents advice about trying to get a new buyer. Tbh I’d ask them to leave it on the market until exchange. If your buyers don’t like that, well they brought it on themselves and should exchange earlier
💐💐

MrsWinters · 12/01/2022 17:08

The other thing to consider is speaking to your onward purchase and see if you can split the £25k down the whole chain rather than see the whole thing collapse. If there’s 5 people in the chain you might be able to absorb a few grand each? Not ideal, but may keep things moving

mugoftea456 · 12/01/2022 17:08

This is horrible but sadly not uncommon. Fingers crossed they are just chancing their luck and the sale will go through

RoseSmithe · 12/01/2022 17:09

Fingers crossed for you.

HyggeTygge · 12/01/2022 17:09

Op i really feel for you.
I won't recount our experience but they were the worst buyers our EAs had experienced. The whole thing was traumatising and we weren't in your circs.

BackBackBack · 12/01/2022 17:13

OP massive and huge hugs. It's an awful and stressful process made even worse by your shitty buyers.

Get the place back on the market tomorrow. The EA should have a list of people who are interested and waiting for properties to come up. There's a massive shortage of properties to buy so hopefully you can get a new buyer in place quickly and not lose your onward purchase. We had it in reverse - buyer secured but kept getting screwed over by vendors, and fortunately managed it fifth(!) time lucky.

caringcarer · 12/01/2022 17:14

Leave house on the market until exchange. Even if they agree original price. They might pull same stunt on day on completion. Tomorrow ring building society and explain what has happened and ask for a bit more time. Tell them your EA thinks they can get another buyer quickly. Also them you have disabled child. Building society may decide to give you more time as it won't look good for them making a disabled child homeless when they could have just given you a bit more time and it is purely down to bad buyers.

Calmdown14 · 12/01/2022 17:19

Given your very specific circumstances, is there any discount you can offer.
I agree it's morally reprehensible but for the sake of moving on with life, maybe offering 5k off as a final offer and on condition they exchange quickly might just satisfy their need to feel they got a bargain.
Sorry you are going through this

Battytwatty · 12/01/2022 17:19

Got my fingers crossed for you OP

Battytwatty · 12/01/2022 17:21

I’d never sell to a FTB if I could possibly help it. They are often a nightmare and think they hold all the cards.

Charliesgotachocolatefactory · 12/01/2022 17:21

Absolute bastards. Get it back on the market now, even if you don’t have an answer from them.

ThreeLocusts · 12/01/2022 17:24

So sorry OP, will keep everything crossed that the situation sorts itself out/that you can sort it out, and soon. Being effectively punished for answering honestly is shit.

GizmosEveningBath · 12/01/2022 17:24

Well done for not giving them thier way OP, the English system really is rubbish and needs a complete overhaul. I had this issue but as a buyer, first of all they accepted our offer, then a week later the agents told us they had a higher offer so we upped ours. We waited weeks for the sellers to find a suitable property for themselves. Once they had found somewhere, they told us they wanted more for thier property. We said no and pulled out of the sale because of thier bullshit. The the next week a house we were outbid on came back on the market and we absolutely love our home so everything worked out for us. We have mutual friends with one of the agents, the crappy sellers ended up selling for less than what we offered originally.

I hope everything works out for you OP, sadly money does turn people into twats. If they had wanted to reduce thier offer due to the survey they should have done it weeks ago. Definately put it back on the market until exchange.

Leftbutcameback · 12/01/2022 17:25

I would agree with @MrsWinters - if you can negotiate them down a bit say to £12k then take the hit in the chain. When we were ftb we reduced our offer by £5k the day after we got our survey report (nothing wrong we didn't know but the mortgage surveyor said it wasn't worth close to the price, we disagreed but agreed to split the difference). I asked the EA to get it agreed up the chain and everyone took a small hit.

Maverick197 · 12/01/2022 17:27

This happened to us too, buyer asked for 5k off a couple of weeks before exchanging because the house only came with 1 parking space whereas many similar properties in the area had 2 dedicated parking spots. In the end we accepted the lower offer as I was heavily pregnant and we were worried about losing the house we were hoping to buy. But never would I have accepted 25k off, that is just outrageous.

FreedomFaith · 12/01/2022 17:27

People that do this are just scum. They only care about themselves. If you've agreed a price, you stick to it. If you didn't like it, you shouldn't agreed to it. Would you be happy if after agreeing to a work contract, your employer lowered your few just because it was better in their pocket? No you wouldn't.

If anyone dares do this to me, they'd better be not actually wanting the house, because they won't get it without incurring a fucking massive amount more than they tried to lower it. Plus I'll leave fish behind under the floorboards. Grin

chaosrabbitland · 12/01/2022 17:28

very sorry , this type of wankerish behaviour should be against the law , its so shit and low its unbelivable .
im the sort of person who would cut their nose off to spite their face as everyone that knows me would say , so they would have been getting told to fuck right off if i was in your shoes as well

im glad you said no , people like this shouldnt be allowed to get away with it
but i agree with others who have said you revealed your circumstances to them and they have used it as a weakness against you , i wish you all the best though

Cattenberg · 12/01/2022 17:30

The market is so crazy right now that your house may have increased in value since you put it on the market. I hope so. There’s such a shortage of houses where I live that most are snapped up within a week of going on sale. Flats aren’t as in-demand at the moment, so fingers crossed this works in your favour.

Pinkypenguin · 12/01/2022 17:31

@MrsBaublesDylan

The buyers know our personal circs because they asked why we were moving and we were honest.

We are selling because since we bought the house, I have become unable to work because I have a disabled child.

The flat is one of 27, most of which are owned by investors or the HA. It could be years before another comes up. It is 100k cheaper than any other flat on the market within a 30m radius and has 3/4 bedrooms.

If we loose it we are fucked. I wasn't asking them to be extra nice to us. Just to be a decent human being.

Of course anyone can screw you over for cash. But the house is worth it's value, as confirmed by their mortgage lenders and we are two weeks from exchange.

We will probably loose the flat now unless we can get some kind of loan.

I am sick of trying. I just want to go to bed and sleep until it's all over.

I'm so sorry OP, I hope it works out for you. But I would NEVER tell buyers or estate agents about my personal circumstances. They are likely to use it against you by trying to knock down the price (which suits the EA too as they either get a quick sale or sell it to a mate). Estate agents are notoriously gossipy and will tell you all kinds of things about why houses are on the market, what houses went for in the area, who got a good deal etc. I really hope this gets sorted.
diddl · 12/01/2022 17:32

Have you had much interest Op?

Any chance that someone else who has looked is still interested?

RoaringtoLangClegintheDark · 12/01/2022 17:33

@2022IamHavingYa

What an absolute shitty situation OP. I really feel for you and I hope it gets resolved for you x
Same here. Really sorry to hear you’re going through this, OP, it sounds so very, very hard, and I really hope things will come good one way or another, asap. Flowers
notapizzaeater · 12/01/2022 17:33

I'd be remarketing the house now - houses round us are flying and selling within a few days each time.