Would you pull out of this sale?

[Trainfromredhill]

House ‘sold’ in early June- went to closed bids. 4 offers, lowest and highest chain free. We went for the highest. Was considerably over guide price (3 of the 4 were over guide price). Was assured they wanted a quick purchase- they were in rented. Mortgage and searches all done within 6 weeks. As far as we were concerned we were ready to exchange, and by this time we had moved out. 2 weeks later they announced they were booking their structural survey!!! I’d presumed they weren’t having one as it hadn’t been mentioned before. 10 weeks on from the offer the survey gets done, then they want a full heating and electrics survey. All done, few issues raised, conversation with EA along the lines of ‘you might need to accept a reduced offer’, but nothing official. Multiple emails from us begging for an exchange date……there is no reason to hold up any longer……but then there is. The buyers have equity in another property, they need this money to buy ours. The equity transfer hasn’t been completed. It’s going to be ‘a few weeks’. So they aren’t and never were chain free. The purchasers have also written to our EA telling them not to contact them for the next 10 days as they are ‘very stressed and on a holiday we really need’ and don’t want bothered with the purchase over this time. Im stunned with the breathtaking arrogance. DH thinks they are going to reduce their offer at the 11th hour and wants to pull out of the sale now and restart the process with a different EA. I think we should hang on for a month with the deadline to exchange in 3rd week of sept with completion within a week and inform the EA that if reduction in offer is mentioned we’ll pull out. I think both the EA and purchaser have behaved appallingly but pulling out now is potentially more stress and hassle for us than hanging in there. Thoughts?

I would tell them it's going back on the market unless they come back with an exchange date by Tuesday.

I wouldn’t hang about.

On the basis of what you’ve said your buyers lied about being chain free. Are they sorry? No, they’re on holiday refusing to be contacted. And you don’t know the detail of the equity needed from the other property. Will that take 4 weeks, 4 months?

Your EA sounds poor but I agree with pp to instruct him to go back to the other bidders and see if they’re still interested. Yes, of course he wants a sale but this one may not happen frankly so he may be keen to see if any of those other offers are proceedable.

@Endlesslypatient82 the boiler needs replacing. That’s all. And it was pretty obvious when they looked around as there is a bowl that sits underneath it collecting the drips from a leak.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen There was no contract tie.

@ChateauMargaux . Love it!

So the structural issues didn’t raise a “few issues” just that boiler needs replacing?

A new boiler costs about £2.5K, shouldn't need to wait for equity release from another property to fund that.
Your estate agent isn't much good, doesn't deserve the enormous fee you (not the buyer) will be paying them.

This

Pull out. Your DP is right. Change estate agents.

I think if they really wanted your house they wouldn't have lied and prevaricated on so many occasions. I don't trust them. Go with your DP's gut instinct.

I also think that them being on holiday and not wanting to deal with it is quite frankly ridiculous. That’s not how it works.
regardless I would be telling the estate agent to phone them and say ur pulling out.

Your estate agent is at fault. At this stage they should've seen financials in terms of moving forward and knew their housing position. They don't sound like motivated buyers. Having recently sold and bought I know how stressful it is but I totally would've accepted communication even if on holiday of it meant it would move the sale forward.

@sundayvibeswig22 our EA have repeatedly said they’ve seen the funds- they were clearly lying. We have also recently bought (fortunately not dependent on this sale). We spent 1/2 day whilst on holiday printing/scanning and sending documents to our solicitor to ensure the sale went through.

I'm disgusted at the EA. They are meant to field this sort of thing from happening! I'm disgusted at the purchasers for lying and being general dickheads. I'd actually get great satisfaction from knowing that when they came back from this holiday, they got the news that everything had fallen through and you pulled out because they lied and appeared to have no conscience.

I think they are the kind of people who breeze through life causing shit for other people but no one calls them out on it because they have so much gaul. The audacity to say don't contact us for ten days.

Have you called out the EA for this?

We are in the process of buying a house as cash buyers, and had to send proof of funds to the EA before we were definitely accepted. We were up against someone else who had offered more, but had a property to sell. Your EA should've checked this out at the start.

Just seen your most recent post. Your EA's are a joke. You should demand a discount on the fees if the sale does go through

I would be putting it back on the market after all they don't even have the funds or MIP in place so they are nowhere near exchange.

Go back to the people that offered previously and just explain that you've found out they are lying and have delayed the sale and won't commit to exchange.

You're being played.

I'd pull out and contact your second-best offer bid and ask if they are still interested.

Does your contract with your EA refer to how they will check buyer's suitability? If it does and you can prove they're in breach of contract I'd be inclined to pull out and fire the EA. As you say, your purchase isn't contingent on this sale and frankly I really don't like when EAs and buyers lie to get ahead. I also think as others have said and your DH's gut is saying I don't think you can trust the buyers. They've lied about their position (which presumably gave them an advantage over other offers in your mind and they knew it). Then you say there have been whispers about them maybe looking to reduce the offer... So then they wouldn't be chain-free or the highest offerers!! As I say, I'd personally be pulling out now given what you've described. But should you decide to go ahead my only advice would be set some very firm boundaries - eg any reduced offer at this stage will be rejected, exchange date to be agreed by X (although as has been pointed out, until their equity is released they realistically can't commit to any exchange date). Finally as someone else has said - if the house meant that much to them they'd be begging to still be contacted if any issues arose. They've said the opposite and frankly this smacks of arrogance. (I don't like them! 🤣)

As I posted earlier, your problem is your EA who has failed to do its job

Thanks everyone. DH did ask EA to put house back on RM yesterday, but it’s not there yet.
plan is to send an email on Tuesday asking 1.EA to contact 3 other bidders to see if they are still interested.2. telling buyers they have til 16th sept to exchange 3. Advising EA that there will be no renegotiation of price and any hint of this will result in immediate pulling of the sale.
if none of the 3 other bidders are interested we will move EA.

Does your estate agent not open on Saturdays?

Why wait until Tuesday.

email today and then call a couple hours later

And is that not just giving your buyers three weeks to ponder it and then pull out on the 15th?

I reckon they are unenthused following the SS.

and the “issues” in SS were only the replacement of boiler? If really just that then reasonable to ask to Perhaps go halves on that (and why would they have realised it needed replacing on a viewing as you say?)