Been gazumped - tell me it will all work out for the best?

[Iwannabelessfat]

Just found out we’ve been gazumped. We’ve spent thousands on the survey, searches and solicitors fees. Offer accepted 3 months ago and just working through the last of the enquiries on both sides. They’ve got a higher offer from a buyer with nothing to sell who reckons they’ll be exchanging in record time. We should have been exchanging in the next couple of weeks.

keep thinking it will be OK, it wasn’t meant to be etc. please tell me about when this happened to you and all was OK?

That's awful.

From my rather sorry experience I pushed and pushed to get the house I wanted and I really should have let it go. I had a miserable time there and sold at a loss.

If you really have your heart set on this house, I hope it all falls through and they come back to you.

Thanks all for your kind words

sunk in a bit more now and until the other party exchange it’s not really over. Just need to wait and see, and something better might come along in the meantime!

Just hope the house buying karma comes back to help us. We’ve always played by a straight bat and it’s just really hard when you’re dealing with people that just don’t care.

Thee months after offer and still no exchange? Feels like a long time for the seller to wait.

Not really. I think three weeks is pretty standard?

I guess 6-8 weeks would be the norm outside of a chain.

That would very much at the faster end of the spectrum.

@Papricat in the UK? Yeah right. 12-16 weeks is the average timeframe for conveyancing at the moment.

I would go back to the EA and re-iterate that you are almost ready to exchange and could do so in the next couple of weeks, and that your offer still stands.
The cash buyers will only drop their offer nearer to exchange date because they know the sellers have already OKd the lower amount, so I'd ask the sellers EA if they think this is likely what will happen. Then wait and see.

I’d also offer less than agreed if they do come crawling back, to recoup the costs you almost lost and as payback for them being a*holes.

On what planet?! Anything faster than 4 months is speedy.

They need to get a mortgage but have nothing to sell? How long do mortgage approvals take these days? Still going to be slower. Feeling really down about it all today, it’s like grief it comes in waves!

The vendor also complained we were taking too long, when our offer was only accepted three months ago, and we were waiting for her to provide documentation on our queries. All of our sale enquiries are done as of today!

I’m with those hoping that the sellers come back to you after realising their mistake, but failing that, might they be willing to buy the survey from you, to sell to the new buyers? It speeds things up for them (which may serve to speed up the denouement if there is one!) but will also recoup some of your outlay?

I’ve moved a LOT and missed out at the last moment ( for all sorts of reasons) on properties I really loved and wanted. It is the most stressful and all absorbing thing. I’m girding my loins for another move this year.
But - years later I can hardly remember a single house I lusted after. It will all come out in the wash and you will find a lovely house.

Not gazumped but the sellers pulled out on the day of exchange, 3 days before completion. We had given up our jobs and packed up our house. It was horrendous. We lost about £7k and a lot of sleep

It was the best thing that could have happened to us. The people who eventually bought the house discovered huge structural issues that could not have been seen in a survey, only when the roof was removed. They have had to knock it down and rebuild it...

We sold chain free last year to first time buyers, sold end of March- moved 21st July. The process was just slow in general, we were moving into rented and had signed a 12 month contract- we didn’t exchange till day before the move. The whole process in England is rubbish and there should be better protection for people.
3 months sounds pretty average to
me.
in response to @Iwannabelessfat it
took us 36 hours to have our mortgage approved through a broker, it was a new build. We were in rented and had a large deposit in the bank from our sale

Oh my word! Definitely for the best then!

I try and think with houses what is meant to be is meant to be, but hard to feel like that at this point.

The seller didn’t have any certificates for the extension on the property and we were trying to get that sorted. So perhaps it would all be a disaster and a total money pit.

Sorry to hear you've been put in such a horrible situation. The UK system is broken - to be 3 months in to a sale or purchase and with no one actually contractually tied-in is so stressful.

FYI - our recent (very straighforward) mortgage approval came through in 3 days, but the mortgage at the bottom of the chain took more that 6 weeks.

I forgot to add - we sold in the middle of September 2023 and will hopefully exchange next week. I am so done with this whole process!

Years ago I was newly divorced and found a wonderful cottage I loved. I had to have specialist surveys done - electrical / damp etc and after all of these they pulled out and put the house back on the market £20k more (think 24 years ago) which I just couldn’t afford. I rang and begged them etc and lost nearly a grand back then which I couldn’t afford to do.

In the end I bought another cottage in a different village which was cheaper and straightforward. I had the best time ever in it and had the most wonderful neighbours who looked after my dog whilst I was at work and used to bring my washing in if it rained. I’m friends for life with them all.

At the time I cried and cried over the first cottage, but in the end I most certainly found a better place with great neighbours.

It’s very tough OP. I feel for you. I agree with other posters that the English system is just broken. However, I wanted to tell you how it all worked out for me in the end.

I hope it also works out for you OP too, even if it’s not the original house you want.

I think I’m sort of hoping their mortgage takes ages or there is a problem and they come back.

I also really can’t face trying to find another house and start the process all over again! Market is very quiet too.

Just had a call from my DDs new school and whether we are coming and it’s set me off again! Wahhh!

Thanks for all your stories - it’s making me feel a bit better!

So sorry to hear this OP. One of the reasons I've stayed put in the same house (which I happen to love) for the past 20 years.

This happened to me the first time I went to buy a house as a FTB and the vendors were dragging their feet so it was several months into the process when they accepted a higher offer (when it used to take about 8 weeks when there was no chain, now seems to take much longer especially with LA searches etc) and in a rising market. By the time I could find somewhere else I just couldn't afford to buy where I wanted to so had to buy elsewhere and then at first opportunity bought back in the area I really wanted so it cost me even more with a move I wouldn't have done if I had got the first house, I seethed for a full 18 months.

OP big hugs. Not what you need with school. You heart won’t be in another house yet. It’s understandable. It’s such an emotional toll.

We are in a different position. Having to sell my beautiful equestrian property due to cost of living and redundancy in Covid times, resulting in less money.

I keep looking out at my horses in the paddocks knowing I’ll never be able to afford this again.

I’m dreading the house buying process and won’t even like the downsize at any rate.

Sorry, no idea why I blurted that out on your thread. Apologies.

Keep the faith.

It's awful and I send my sympathy. Happened to me 20 years ago. The house was occupied by a rental tenant so we had to wait for them to move out. Sold our house and had to move in with my parents for six months with a toddler. When tenant moved out, vendor told us that they wanted 20k more, so a lot of money. We had no choice but to pay it as there was no where else similar available. It's a dreadful system that offers accepted are not legally binding. I'm selling and buying atm and it's all just so stressful. I've had buyers pull out just before exchange so I lost the one I was buying as they wanted a quick sale and lost all of the solicitor and survey fees etc.
I hope you do find your happy home.