buyer lied about being cash - moral question!

[Angekb52]

Hi, agreed my house sale recently and the buyer lied, said she was cash. Last week, her surveyor requested a "mortgage valuation survey" which alerted me to the fact that she is in fact getting a mortgage- also explains why proof of funds took 2 weeks to receive (she claimed she'd lost some emails). She says she needs the mortgage to pay for a new kitchen and bathroom but she knew what work was needed when we agreed the sale price and never mentioned having to borrow. I am naturally annoyed - I had a lot of stress last year when a previous sale fell through as a result of sellers hiding information from me about a right of way, so am fed up with other people's deceit. I tried to renegotiate the agreed sale price (only £2k more but that's a lot of money to me) as I would not have accepted the low offer had I known she was not cash. I don't want to lose my onward purchase and now have to continue the lie to my own vendor. No joy, she"loves the house", "understands I might feel misled (!!)" - but won't increase. I can still formally counter-offer via my selling agent's online portal. She's had her survey so is now out of pocket for that, I've not yet had my onward survey so have nothing to lose. My agent is rubbish, no help there. My moral issue is: the house comes with historic documents dating it back to 1800; also some old photographs and a lovely antique tin advertising sign that was found covering up a window during renovations in the 70s. All this stuff was passed to me and the sign really needs to stay with the house imo; but it's also worth money! These were all shown to the buyers but of course, I'm not obliged to include them in the sale. Should I just chill and let them inherit all this stuff or, out of spite, should I not? Maybe use as leverage to get some more money off them, say I'll only include for extra £? Or just not mention then try to sell to the buyer after completion. Sounds nasty but so is being lied to and I lost other interest and possibly higher offers in favour of "cash". Also - is there some way I can create a legally binding document to ensure the tine sign does stay with the house for posterity? There's no point in my leaving it if the buyer decides to sell it anyway. Thank you, Ange

Can’t you just say, it’s come to my attention you’re actually not a cash buyer. I’m going back on the market!

List all the items as available for purchase, same as you would other fixtures/fittings that you want more for.

Don't do anything out of "spite".

Re the sign, yes you're right, any future owner might not feel sentimental about it and would sell it. So you might as well be the one who profits from it.

Why not put it back on the market.
Easily done.
If the mortgage valuation hasn’t been done you’re not losing much time.

No I wouldn’t leave ‘artefacts’ unless they are fixed to the property.

Can't see the point in putting it back on the market. Could take weeks to get a new buyer - or even months - and they may not be cash buyers either.

I understand you feel lied to but keep your eyes on the prize and let this sale proceed, is my advice.

As for the other stuff, sell it if you can make money from it, otherwise may as well include it in the sale.

Ugh, people are so annoying with house sales - I don't know why it brings out the worst side of some. With your dilemma, over the signs and stuff, I'd keep them. The buyer has been mean to you, so doesn't deserve your generosity.

I wouldn't give them anything they're not paying for. They have lost the right to expect any good will from you. If they want stuff, charge them for it, otherwise keep it and see if you can profit from it yourself.

A family member of mine really wanted the house she was selling to remain a family home and made this clear to the estate agent. The eventual buyer was a buy to let LL who lied through his teeth during the entire process. She may have sold it to him anyway but simply lying to get what you want is contemptible.

Exactly this

When we sold 3-years ago our EA was gushing about an offer from a cash/FTB, sounded too good to be true!

Turns out they weren't cash buyers and actually had a property to sell, the EA was well aware of this while blatantly lying to us by throughout.
It dragged on for months with all our calls to drop the buyer and remarket poo-pooed by the EA with the promise that we were "about to exchange".

When we sold a second property a few months later (different EA of course) we were much more savey and more in control of the situation. EA was informed that any funny business, delays or attempts to renegotiate a lower price at the last minute would be met with an immediate cancellation and the property going straight back on the market.

Has the fake cash buyer asked for the antique bits?

So, you’re currently lying to the vendors of the house you want then? They still think you have a cash buyer so will move quickly?

Your estate agent should have checked out her finances early on.

When I bought my house last year I had to show the agents that I had:

• a mortgage in principle
• bank statement that could show my deposit/savings.

Get a decent agent if you put your house on the market again and make it clear to them they need to screen the time wasters.

It's annoying but I wouldn't fret too much. The mortgage may not hold it up at all. I had mine approved within ten days when I moved house at the end of last year so it was all in place before they'd even had all the searches back.

If you showed them to the buyer it may be reasonable for them to assume they come 26th the house.

If you start playing games, they might too. Is it really worth it.

I would go back and say you only accepted their offer because they were a cash buyer. So you want that £2k or its going back on the market. Call their bluff!

I would put my house back on the market. There is no legal obligation to take your house off the market if you've accepted an offer. I'd tell her I was continuing to market and that if I got a higher offer than hers I'd be accepting it.

She's not a cash buyer and wasn't ready to proceed like she claimed.

Did she negotiate 2k off?

If she can afford a mortgage for a new kitchen and bathroom, she can afford to pay you the full asking price. I would make it non negotiable ‘given her cash status has now changed.’

You are over thinking the small stuff because you are anxious. Leave it til nearer the time and see how you feel about it then.

Regardless of everything else, not everyone would want an antique sign. I wouldn't. If it was left in the house, I'd sell it. I certainly wouldn't be giving the owner any money for it.

Don’t get worked up about this — it’s not worth it. Pushing the sale along so that your own purchase goes ahead is more important.

Push everything back on to the EA. It’s their job to make the sale happen. And their job to admit to the buyer’s real circumstances if and when that becomes relevant. You made your offer in good faith, and most people are just so pleased to be moving ahead with a sale that as long as the EA keeps pushing ahead it will be fine.

Personally I wouldn’t bother selling the items that come with the house. Their value divorced from the house will be considerably diminished, if it ever translated into a high enough price to make it worth the trouble of organising a sale anyway. If the buyers won’t pay and you can’t get a sale independently you’ll just feel worse.

Focus on what you need to do to move everything along as quickly as possible and let everything else go.

Sometimes it is described as a cash buyer if the buyer doesn't have another property to sell. The reason being that cash (+mortgage) is less risky than another sale that might potentially fail.

(Not saying that is right, but at least there is no sale to fall through!)

@IlonaRN but that would be first time buyer or chain free buyer, not cash buyer. With mortgages being more expensive and difficult to obtain, cash buyer is a big plus.

Thanks for the feedback folks! I don't want to re-market, I didn't get any other serious interest and would lose my onward sale plus viewings are tricky when you've got a lot of rescue dogs that have to be ferried elsewhere for viewings. I think I'll probably leave the photos and documents in the sale, no value outside the house itself; but keep the tin sign and at least get £200 towards my loss, maybe offer it to her for its value - as some of you say, a future owner would probably flog it anyway, more's the shame - I'm a real history buff. Just annoying when you take a lower offer than you'd have considered otherwise based on a lie and as one of you said, I am now also effectively lying to my own seller but guess not much else we can do. It should still be speedy, she's in rented so no chain and no chain at my buying end either. I appreciate I probably sound quite petty and worse things happen at sea! I just hope now she gets her survey results before my surveyor attends my purchase so if there are any issues, at least I can cancel and not be out of pocket. Thanks again!

If they try and negotiate on the price now tell them to do one. I have no time for liars or time wasters in this game.

Perhaps I'm still bitter at my buyer pulling out on a whim this week at point of exchange but fuck dishonourable people and may they have piles that itch all throughout the night keeping them awake!

It’s not petty at all.
Many people will take lower, or accept offers from cash buyers as it cuts out the chain or mortgage process. It’s not something to lie about!
If you had had other people interested, it could have changed this situation entirely.