Second seller pulled out - just looking for positive stories

[mojiberry]

Our second seller pulled out this weekend 2 months into the process. They withdrew from their onward purchase and decided not to move for now.
The first property we tried to purchase fell through after 6 months because the seller wanted to move to a property they were renting out but wouldn't provide a timeline on when their tenant would leave (a long eviction process was needed which they hadn't even started by then).
I'm trying to keep my chin up and get on with finding something else , but just so dejected and terrified that the next seller would do this to us again. I'm losing faith in people - sellers, estate agents, they all seem to just lie. It feels like we'll never have our own home (we are renting and have been looking to buy for 18 months now).
I'd love to hear any stories where you have managed to buy a house after going back to square one multiple times. Finding it so incredibly difficult - please share your stories as I need some hope!

It's exhausting, isn't it! First we lost our buyer. Then our original buyer came back on the scene but because we'd taken so long to complete our sale we lost our onward purchase and had nowhere to move to. Then we found our current home. It's better and cost less. What's more, the sellers who dumped us had to go back on the market again when their sale fell through. It all worked out for us, but there were lots of wobbles. I wish you well!

We lost 4 properties close to exchange when trying to move last year. The first time the seller decided not to move, the second property had structural defects. Then we got gazumped and then had issues with a chain falling apart.

We ended up selling and moving in with family to preserve our sale. This worked in our favour as we secured our current house below asking price, despite higher offers on the table, as we had no chain.

My advise is hang on in there, keep your eye on properties all the time even when an offer is accepted. We ended up compromising on some other aspects to get a property with no chain, although now we are in we love it. Make sure you interrogate vendors as to their motives for selling and plans for moving on. It’s so demoralising but you will get there.

How did things turn out? My seller just pulled out 2 days before exchange having been quite demanding of everyone else in the chain when all their demands were met they suddenly announced that it was all too stressful- clearly from all else they said they had overstretched themselves financially on their onward purchase so have let the other 3 parties in the chain down at the 11th hour - our house buying system sucks as there is no penalty for them but huge amounts of money spent by use on surveys searches legal fees etc

Property prices have now shot up since I started my search and my mortgage offer expires in 3 weeks - I am upset and angry beyond words

Oh god, total solidarity with how shit and stressful the process is. We had the same thing wanting to buy somewhere and the seller messed us around and around while prices shot up. Anyway, it ultimately emerged that they were getting divorced partly because of infertility and massive sadness there, and just sometimes other people do things that are utterly maddening, but there is a reason. And - crucially from your point of view - we have found somewhere else that I think is going to work loads better for us being a) cheaper and b) much better suited to us. It will happen, just the process is diabolical.

That's so awful Jaxxxxx. The whole process is so maddening. There really should be some penalties for sellers, it's so unfair.
We are on our third attempt at purchase now (I'm the OP), and this one is mad in their own way. Really, are all sellers just mad?
After our second "aborted purchase" as per our solicitor, we scaled down our list of must haves, offered on anything that we were okay with, found one which worked well in terms of location and was chain free (but had a few big compromises compared to our initial wishlist), and offered the max we could in the best and final and hoped that it wasn't too off from the highest. It worked, the seller wanted to exchange quickly. Then 5 days later agent calls and says they have received a higher offer and unless we can demonstrate progress, it's off. So here we are, feeling very pressured. Survey done but stuck in mortgage limbo as switching our application to a new property is taking what seems like a verrrry long time. And terrified that the seller will once again back out. Hopeful but terrified is where we are!

@thewaitislong

That's so awful Jaxxxxx. The whole process is so maddening. There really should be some penalties for sellers, it's so unfair. We are on our third attempt at purchase now (I'm the OP), and this one is mad in their own way. Really, are all sellers just mad? After our second "aborted purchase" as per our solicitor, we scaled down our list of must haves, offered on anything that we were okay with, found one which worked well in terms of location and was chain free (but had a few big compromises compared to our initial wishlist), and offered the max we could in the best and final and hoped that it wasn't too off from the highest. It worked, the seller wanted to exchange quickly. Then 5 days later agent calls and says they have received a higher offer and unless we can demonstrate progress, it's off. So here we are, feeling very pressured. Survey done but stuck in mortgage limbo as switching our application to a new property is taking what seems like a verrrry long time. And terrified that the seller will once again back out. Hopeful but terrified is where we are!

We’ve also switched a mortgage offer multiple times, and for similar reasons. Has your lender commissioned a new valuation yet?

It took 9 days for Halifax to commission a valuation after switching application this time. They were doing a desktop one first, then when I chased them they said they wanted to do a physical one instead, then they couldn't get hold of seller to book it in. Excruciating wait, but apparently it's been done now.
The first time we applied out took 48 hours from application to offer. The second time it took about 8 days. And now still waiting. The mortgage application takes longer each time and I cannot understand why.