Page 12 | Exchanging tomorrow. Buyers just pulled out

Newhousename · 2023-08-14T20:29:58+00:00

It’s not about money apparently . They just went off the house. The night before. After five viewings and months of paperwork. &@£$**>%€ anyway. Trying to be practical. Does anyone have experience of those we buy any house type organisations? Please. Or any other thought that could help.

milveycrohn · 18/08/2023 12:34

@Wibbleswombat
"It used to be that everyone offering on a house had to do a survey, so the seller getting a Home Report was brought in to change that and it's ok."
No one, least of all a mortgage provider is going to trust a Home Buyers report. This is why it does not work (in the UK). Mortgage providers still required a valuation survey, and buyers still wanted a survey, which is done at the same time.

Twiglets1 · 18/08/2023 13:03

I don't think solicitors advise exchange and contract on the same day exactly, it's more a case that exchange sometimes gets so delayed for various reasons that the buyer/seller asks their solicitor if simultaneous exchange and completion is possible. Which is normally is though apparently harder to organise.

angela99999 · 18/08/2023 15:30

Twiglets1 · 18/08/2023 13:03

I don't think solicitors advise exchange and contract on the same day exactly, it's more a case that exchange sometimes gets so delayed for various reasons that the buyer/seller asks their solicitor if simultaneous exchange and completion is possible. Which is normally is though apparently harder to organise.

I wouldn’t normally want to risk it as the buyer can still pull out. We did it once when my daughter was buying a leasehold flat and the management company kept us waiting for a transfer certificate of some kind, so we did everything on one day when it arrived. However it was a probate sale and my daughter had nothing to sell so it was easy, no chain.

Shortish completions are OK if you can pencilled in a date with the removal company.

I always try to avoid completing on a Friday in case anything goes wrong and we are stuck in limbo over the weekend. It did happen to us once, the money didn't go through early enough for us to move everything in that evening, but as it was a Thursday they just did it the next morning.

TenderDandelions · 18/08/2023 15:55

The exchange and complete on the same day thing took on a life of its own during the pandemic. If you ended up exchanging but contracting Covid when you should be quarantining and completing at the same time, it was designed to protect you from the Covid laws.

In reality it's much more sensible to have a gap. There's no guarantees when exchange will happen, so the idea of packing an entire house up in the hope that exchange and completion will happen at the same time is ridiculous and potentially very expensive if you end up having to pay a removal company twice if it doesn't happen on time.

But yes, never complete on a Friday. I know it sounds like a good idea, to get it done before a weekend, but a particularly big chain can take hours and hours to complete, and the banks do close.

Yalta · 18/08/2023 16:18

Utereusbegone I agree the seller should face a penalty if they pull out.
Thought I had put that in the post but must have missed it

Something does need to be done as the process despite all the technology we have just keeps getting longer and longer.
My first house took 8 weeks from viewing to moving in, a few years later the timescale was 12 weeks, then 4 and then 5 months and my last place the viewer who was first through the door and we accepted their offer on the same day. They had a buyer for their place, they had a mortgage in principal and it took nearly 7 months to get it over the line and it would have taken nearly 8 months if we insisted on a 30 day completion instead of exchange and complete on the same day

In that time we missed out on 2 places that we would have loved but couldn’t commit to because we had no idea of the chain we were in was going to break with someone down the line deciding to walk away.

If we had a signed piece of paper where buyer committed to buying what they had bid on we would have jumped at the first place we seriously looked at and things for us would have worked out so much better. Not having that guarantee leaves you in purgatory for months not knowing if you should pack everything up and know where you are moving to or everything is going to collapse.

Twiglets1 · 18/08/2023 17:00

angela99999 · 18/08/2023 15:30

I wouldn’t normally want to risk it as the buyer can still pull out. We did it once when my daughter was buying a leasehold flat and the management company kept us waiting for a transfer certificate of some kind, so we did everything on one day when it arrived. However it was a probate sale and my daughter had nothing to sell so it was easy, no chain.

Shortish completions are OK if you can pencilled in a date with the removal company.

I always try to avoid completing on a Friday in case anything goes wrong and we are stuck in limbo over the weekend. It did happen to us once, the money didn't go through early enough for us to move everything in that evening, but as it was a Thursday they just did it the next morning.

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It happened to us once too so I think it’s good advice not to move on a Friday if you can help it.

angela99999 · 18/08/2023 17:16

Twiglets1 · 18/08/2023 17:00

It happened to us once too so I think it’s good advice not to move on a Friday if you can help it.

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It's funny isn't it, both sets of solicitor laughed at me and said it never happened to anyone and the estate agent thought I was barmy. Then it did!
I think they like to have all their completions on a Friday, it's easier to do all the payments at the same time.

angela99999 · 18/08/2023 17:19

Yalta · 18/08/2023 16:18

Utereusbegone I agree the seller should face a penalty if they pull out.
Thought I had put that in the post but must have missed it

Something does need to be done as the process despite all the technology we have just keeps getting longer and longer.
My first house took 8 weeks from viewing to moving in, a few years later the timescale was 12 weeks, then 4 and then 5 months and my last place the viewer who was first through the door and we accepted their offer on the same day. They had a buyer for their place, they had a mortgage in principal and it took nearly 7 months to get it over the line and it would have taken nearly 8 months if we insisted on a 30 day completion instead of exchange and complete on the same day

In that time we missed out on 2 places that we would have loved but couldn’t commit to because we had no idea of the chain we were in was going to break with someone down the line deciding to walk away.

If we had a signed piece of paper where buyer committed to buying what they had bid on we would have jumped at the first place we seriously looked at and things for us would have worked out so much better. Not having that guarantee leaves you in purgatory for months not knowing if you should pack everything up and know where you are moving to or everything is going to collapse.

When we bought our first house, eons ago, the agent liked people to place deposits before they took the property off the market. I think that this isn't a bad idea, at least unreliable buyers would have a financial cost. We lost two buyers on one sale, one of them after three months, so stressful.

Pinkrinse · 19/08/2023 15:40

Happened to us on the morning of exchange! We did go on to find a much nicer house, and our buy hung on so we were lucky.! Good luck! It’s so wrong that people can do this with no penalty.

BlueMongoose · 19/08/2023 20:33

TenderDandelions · 18/08/2023 15:55

The exchange and complete on the same day thing took on a life of its own during the pandemic. If you ended up exchanging but contracting Covid when you should be quarantining and completing at the same time, it was designed to protect you from the Covid laws.

In reality it's much more sensible to have a gap. There's no guarantees when exchange will happen, so the idea of packing an entire house up in the hope that exchange and completion will happen at the same time is ridiculous and potentially very expensive if you end up having to pay a removal company twice if it doesn't happen on time.

But yes, never complete on a Friday. I know it sounds like a good idea, to get it done before a weekend, but a particularly big chain can take hours and hours to complete, and the banks do close.

In Ye Olde Days you used to have, usually, about 4 weeks between contract and completion. (A sensible time frame to arrange removals, etc.) When, about 20 years ago (?) it became the (*idiotic) fashion to do them both on the same day, I said I'd never do that. Cut to just pre-covid, and we're moving. We split the buying and selling for other reasons, and had bought first, so in a way to us it didn't matter. When we were well on in the selling process with our buyers' buyers' still dragging their feet, we arranged movers anyway as it was getting very close to Christmas. The problem buyers had been stringing everyone along for weeks, their solicitors were not telling the truth to ours (our buyers and their buyers had the same useless solicitors). We finally exchanged days before completion, and our own buyers were going hairless trying to find removers. Completion ended up being on the last possible financial day before Christmas thanks to the buyer's buyers being (insert insulting word here) - first time buyers who I suspect may have been trying something on with our buyers.
I had less sympathy than I might have had because we had been told our buyers were 'as good as cash buyers' and had sold their house to a commercial firm before they offered, which was clearly not the case. Our conveyancer was brilliant, though, without her applying pressure in a very firm and clear way and carefully nailing the person telling untruths to the floor legally speaking it would never have happened before Christmas.

Original poster

Newhousename · 16/09/2023 15:39

UPDATE. !!! Wanted to update for those of you kind enough to offer condolence or practical help to my desperate plea a month ago when my buyers dropped out on the eve of exchange. I put the house back on the market the next day and got an offer that day . We exchanged yesterday. And here’s the golden silver lining. -for 50k more than the first buyers! I don’t even think the £ covers the amount of anxiety the last month brought but it did pay for a LOT of champagne last night. I hope this gives hope to anyone in the same situation.

OP posts:

IMustDoMoreExercise · 16/09/2023 15:45

Well done!

whyisitallsohard · 16/09/2023 15:49

This is happening a lot. It’s cheaper to pull out and offer on a new house that’s more realistic (reduced a lot) for today’s market, not months ago. Buyers are a savvy bunch right now. Another seller on MN is complaining on a different thread how awful this is when it was their own fault for accepting an offer and taking months to find their own house 🙄 The market is rapidly moving even within a couple of months. If you got a new buyer, awesome, just pray they don’t do the same and get on MN get get ideas and they get a mortgage (that’s been the other issue - people can’t get mortgages despite accepted offers). If all goes well, I would also recommend you exchange pronto.

TerfTalking · 16/09/2023 15:50

Newhousename · 16/09/2023 15:39

UPDATE. !!! Wanted to update for those of you kind enough to offer condolence or practical help to my desperate plea a month ago when my buyers dropped out on the eve of exchange. I put the house back on the market the next day and got an offer that day . We exchanged yesterday. And here’s the golden silver lining. -for 50k more than the first buyers! I don’t even think the £ covers the amount of anxiety the last month brought but it did pay for a LOT of champagne last night. I hope this gives hope to anyone in the same situation.

OMG! I remember your thread OP, how absolutely wonderful for you and what a quick turnaround! - the fact you got £50k more is amazing. Good luck in your new home 👏

TerfTalking · 16/09/2023 15:54

whyisitallsohard · 16/09/2023 15:49

This is happening a lot. It’s cheaper to pull out and offer on a new house that’s more realistic (reduced a lot) for today’s market, not months ago. Buyers are a savvy bunch right now. Another seller on MN is complaining on a different thread how awful this is when it was their own fault for accepting an offer and taking months to find their own house 🙄 The market is rapidly moving even within a couple of months. If you got a new buyer, awesome, just pray they don’t do the same and get on MN get get ideas and they get a mortgage (that’s been the other issue - people can’t get mortgages despite accepted offers). If all goes well, I would also recommend you exchange pronto.

Edited

What? the OP lost her buyer at the last minute, she relisted and sold straight away and has exchanged with the new buyers in around a month for 50k more.

I saw your posts on the other thread and they are very negative. This lovely poster had a rough ride and it came up trumps for her. Despite the other buyer dropping out, she still sold again and for MORE MONEY not less.

whyisitallsohard · 16/09/2023 15:57

TerfTalking · 16/09/2023 15:54

What? the OP lost her buyer at the last minute, she relisted and sold straight away and has exchanged with the new buyers in around a month for 50k more.

I saw your posts on the other thread and they are very negative. This lovely poster had a rough ride and it came up trumps for her. Despite the other buyer dropping out, she still sold again and for MORE MONEY not less.

Edited

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So, what is your point?? They got lucky. Good for them though. This is not what will happen with all sellers. This is an anomaly right now.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 16/09/2023 15:58

I lost a house when the vendor pulled out while I was in my solicitors office signing the contracts. He went to his solicitor to exchange and said he’d changed his mind!!

I lost my house, my job and had to move my life to a different place, but it all worked out in the end and I truly believe it was fate. At the time I was so distressed, but it was meant to be.

whyisitallsohard · 16/09/2023 15:59

I’m “negative” because you’re a seller who wants to hear only one thing and I refuse to tell you a lie. Dont call me negative just because i have a different opinion or perspective to you.

TerfTalking · 16/09/2023 16:06

whyisitallsohard · 16/09/2023 15:57

So, what is your point?? They got lucky. Good for them though. This is not what will happen with all sellers. This is an anomaly right now.

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My point is, you came into a happy thread, where there was clear evidence of a house chain break coming good with a bigger profit for the seller, and tried to put a dampener on it with your housing market generalisations.

Clearly it isn't an anomaly where the OP lives, nor it is round my area in Yorkshire. Sorry it sucks for you.

NoWordForFluffy · 16/09/2023 16:09

TerfTalking · 16/09/2023 16:06

My point is, you came into a happy thread, where there was clear evidence of a house chain break coming good with a bigger profit for the seller, and tried to put a dampener on it with your housing market generalisations.

Clearly it isn't an anomaly where the OP lives, nor it is round my area in Yorkshire. Sorry it sucks for you.

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They're like this every time they post. God knows why they're so angry all the time, but they do love a rant on this board (to the point of having personal attacks deleted).

YukoandHiro · 16/09/2023 16:13

Brilliant news! Congrats OP

Jacquel666 · 16/09/2023 16:18

Hurray!!!! That’s brilliant news! Congratulations and well done.
We listed again on Tuesday with a reduction. In brief our buyer suddenly pulled out late July - 7 weeks after they made their cash offer at asking price, and the week we were due to exchange :(
I hope we have as much luck as you x wishing you well with your move.

Twiglets1 · 16/09/2023 16:28

Congratulations @Newhousename !

Excellent that you were able to find another Buyer so soon and have now Exchanged. Hope you love your new home.

Silvers11 · 16/09/2023 16:31

Really pleased to read your news @Newhousename A big relief for you. Enjoy your new home when you get into it too

CrapBucket · 16/09/2023 16:37

That’s fantastic news! Fingers crossed for a smooth move, congratulations 🎉