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Original poster

Vendors pulling out in the last minute

27 replies

AlmostHomeless1234 · 22/04/2024 18:37

Name changed for this as I've not told many people irl.

Had an offer accepted in December and have been working through a chain since. Due to exchange this week and the vendors informed us they have changed their mind.

How can it be legal for people to do this?

We've lost thousand of pounds, time and energy and have nothing to show for it.

Don't know why I'm posting really. Just utterly heart broken.

OP posts:
Mindymomo · 22/04/2024 18:39

I am so sorry, my old neighbour pulled out twice at the very last minute, I told her what I thought of her doing that, the final sale did go through.

Shinyeyes · 22/04/2024 18:40

I'm so sorry. That's crap.

Lochroy · 22/04/2024 18:41

I'm so sorry, OP. The English system is not fit for purpose.

Elephantswillnever · 22/04/2024 18:43

I’ve only bought under the Scottish system but the English system is something else entirely. Anyone in a chain must have nerves of steel

Movinghouseatlast · 22/04/2024 18:50

Yes, that happened to me. It was the day of exchange and 2 days before completion. We had given up our jobs and packed up our house to move 250 miles. They just changed their minds about selling. We lost £7,000.

It was without a doubt the best thing that could have happened to us! Long and complicated story but they put it back on the market a year later. The people who bought it had to have the house demolished.

Original poster
AlmostHomeless1234 · 22/04/2024 18:59

@Movinghouseatlast thanks for sharing. I'm hoping I feel the same in a few months / years time. Right now I just have a huge sense of loss and despair. And I don't know what to do 🥲

OP posts:
Anameisaname · 22/04/2024 19:02

This happened to me on the day of exchange. Was gutted

But there's a happy ending ... I then bought a different place and realised that the original place was really not great and I was just desperate. I love my current home and intend to live here for yonks ! So it was a good thing in the end

DrySherry · 22/04/2024 21:10

What was the reason given for backing out at such a late stage ?

ronswansonstache · 22/04/2024 21:15

Happened to us twice. Second time we'd completed our part of the chain and moved into ILs for what we thought was going to be 3 weeks.

Ended up there for four months with our 7 month old baby. In hindsight the place we ended up in was right for us but at the time it was heartbreaking. And we lost thousands.

It's a completely fucked broken system. So sorry you are going through this!

Saschka · 22/04/2024 21:37

This happened to us too. 16:55 on the day before exchange. I could have murdered her.

We are due to exchange on the house opposite, which went on the market two months after the sale fell through, and is in much nicer condition. I’m pleased to say that the original seller has still not sold.

isthesolution · 22/04/2024 21:42

God this terrifies me - What a horrible system!

That said, the process takes SO long I can see how buyers are tempted by new properties coming to the market. There should be a way for costs to be split if one party pulls out.

mitogoshi · 22/04/2024 21:54

We were left being strung along for 3 months, was being told tomorrow, Tuesday next week etc and after 8 weeks I played detective, found the estate agent down the chain and that there was a land registry issue that would be a minimum of 6 months to resolve, we pulled out annoying the people buying but they couldn't buy without selling.

Original poster
AlmostHomeless1234 · 22/04/2024 22:00

@DrySherry no reason given. Just an email from the solicitor saying they've decided not to proceed. It's so selfish and cruel to do this to people.

OP posts:
supercalafragilisticexpealidocious · 22/04/2024 22:04

Here for solidarity. I am nearly 8 months pregnant and we were hoping to move to a lovely village in the next few Weeks. We put our house on the market last July and are on our third set of buyers (two have already fallen through).

Found out today that our buyer's sale has fallen through so our sale has also fallen through and our purchase is about to. To make matters worse our buyer didn't even tell us- we just noticed their house was back on the market. Heartbroken and utterly exhausted by it all.

Original poster
AlmostHomeless1234 · 22/04/2024 22:09

@supercalafragilisticexpealidocious oh gosh that's awful. I'm sorry you're also in this shitty situation. I just feel so hopeless.
Now we need to decide if we will still sell our house or pull out of our sale as well. Then we will be such as bad to our buyers. It's a complete shit show.

OP posts:
something2say · 22/04/2024 22:11

So sorry to read these stories, it's such an up and down road and nothing is sorted until that exchange of contracts goes through.

My own story is from the year before Covid - will he / won't he lasting weeks - in the end he said no, so we handed in notice (place was rented while we tried out living elsewhere) and we hot footed it back to occupy the house - then Covid came and I realised my tenant would not have been able to pay the rent so it was good that I was back there - it then sold the following summer and I was lucky I didn't come out losing loads more money.

It's a hard road and so unsure, but sometimes things happen for a reason and we just don't know it.

Kentlane · 22/04/2024 22:37

So sorry to hear this, what a horrible thing to have happen. I hope you find somewhere even better if you decide to continue. We're currently onto our third chain and hoping this one doesn't collapse.

Tupster · 23/04/2024 11:23

I've just been on the other side. We weren't at exchange, but I did just have to pull out of my house sale that I accepted an offer on mid-January. It's a brutal thing to do and I didn't do it lightly. For me I lost the house I was buying and so would have had nowhere to go if I carried on selling.

I thought long and hard and looked at every option for still selling... Other properties - nothing available that would suit me. Going into rental - prices are eyewatering compared to my mortgage, would also need to pay storage for furniture and other possessions, any interest on equity in house would be taxed, so I'd be losing a 4 figure sum every month. Add to that the risk of selling now when prices are low - what if prices start going up before I find somewhere else? It would be taking such a huge risk with my future. As the one who dropped out, I am also heartbroken about what has happened.

I don't know if it helps, but just know that it's likely not that someone evil has screwed you over, it's more likely that there are miserable people on both sides.

Diyextension · 23/04/2024 11:35

AlmostHomeless1234 · 22/04/2024 22:00

@DrySherry no reason given. Just an email from the solicitor saying they've decided not to proceed. It's so selfish and cruel to do this to people.

There may be reasons for them pulling out. Loss of jobs ? Illness in the family ? They may not want to share the reason with you but these things do happen.

DeeplyMovingExperience · 23/04/2024 11:42

That is so shit.

The buying/selling system in England & Wales is a total nightmare. We moved 3 years ago and the whole experience was utterly shocking.

PickledPurplePickle · 23/04/2024 11:44

The system is awful, I'm so sorry you are going through this - it's so expensive and stressful isn't it

fromtheshires · 23/04/2024 11:45

It's totally shit isn't it. There may be reason why though that the buyer may not want to divulge they are pulling out such as a separation or death.

I think half the problem is the time it takes for conveyancing and solicitors in general that causes the 'no reason' pull out issues. People get cold feet after waiting for months on end stewing over little things and people trawl rightmove all the time looking for the next best thing and then decide they like another house more.

AndyPandyismyhero · 23/04/2024 12:41

I feel for you OP, having had our own problem with a house purchase many years ago, I understand how it feels. However, I once had to call an estate agent the day before exchange to let them know that the relative who was the vendor had died suddenly and therefore the sale could obviously not happen. Based on the abusive phone call from the buyer to the newly bereaved widow, the estate agent had made it sound as though they had just changed their mind.

SassyRoseLemur · 04/06/2025 17:40

Diyextension · 23/04/2024 11:35

There may be reasons for them pulling out. Loss of jobs ? Illness in the family ? They may not want to share the reason with you but these things do happen.

Show quote history

If there was a genuine reason, they should state it - this happened to us - we were the ones with illness in the family (our reason for moving) - turned out the guy was a rich landlord who didn't need a mortgage to buy our house and didn't think that us mere mortals deserved a reason for him pulling out - he went radio silent with the EA. I was then left to break the news to the EA of the people who's house we were buying - unlike our first buyer, I'm not a coward and as difficult as it was to have the phonecall, we called the EA. In the end it worked out well, we got another buyer, but I feel for the OP, I really do and the English property system is not fit for purpose, causes undue stress and anxiety to the majority of us whilst the rich can just treat it as a game with no consequences and the rest of us lose thousands.

Bluevelvetsofa · 04/06/2025 20:42

I heard of someone recently, who had the removal van being packed up, with exchange and completion on the same day, when the person at the bottom of the chain didn’t have the finance in place. There’s no excuse for someone not being aware of that. Due diligence should have uncovered that at an early stage.

It really is a shocking system, with some people who are less than professional.