Our buyers buyer has just dropped out

[Hopefulhousebuyer1]

We accepted an offer on our house in September 2024 and subsequently offered on our dream house and this was accepted, also in September.

Its a 4 person chain: first time buyer, our buyer, us and an empty probate house. The longest chain we’ve ever been in.

We were meant to complete next week but the first time buyers solicitor went quiet. On asking our estate agent to chase they have said they cant proceed as now they are getting a divorce! I know these things happen but surely they’ve known for a while, why leave it to week before exchange!!

Our buyers went back on the market same day and our seller is having a think over the weekend to see if hes happy to give them chance to resell or if he wants to relist his house. Im just in shock. Im surrounded by boxes and feel lost.

Im devastated at likely losing our dream house but the main issue is schools. Applying for my daughters primary school place deadline was 2 days before we found out they’d dropped out. So we’ve put down schools in the area we were moving to. Schools locally are very oversubscribed (and not great) so if we dont move I have no idea where she will end up going to school. I feel like ive totally let her down, her schooling was our main motivation for moving.

Any success stories for those who were in similar situations and it all worked out or any pratical advice would be greatly appreciated.

How quickly did everything sell the first time?

What address did you put on the school application?

Our buyer listed after viewing our house and sold within about 3 weeks.

On the application you had to put your current address and tick a box if moving house before Sept 2025 and supply that address also so I put both on the application form.

Our buyer’s buyer dropped out at a similar stage. It’s very disheartening. It did work out. Our buyer’s got a new buyer very quickly and everything else stayed the same. It was long and stressful and our estate agents were shit but it did work out.

That's really rubbish for you but there is a chance this could be rectified. The SDLT cut off at the end of March 24 may be a barrier though so it is possible some reductions in purchase prices may need to be passed up the chain to get the deal done. I would probably leave updating the council about the addresses until you have some clarity.

That’s very bad luck but you haven’t let your daughter down, more like the system has. The best thing is to get your own house straight back on the market. You may well still be able to move in time for the new school.

Our buyer pulled out a few weeks before completion after being in the chain for 6 months. Arseholes.

We found a new buyer within days.

It’s heartbreaking and very stressful. I can’t believe people do it to other people but it is what it is. I hope you can keep the rest of the chain together.

Pretty much the same situation (even down to school places being involved) and also chain of four. First-time buyer at the bottom of the chain pulled out a day before planned exchange. Seller re-listed - then we came in! Offered on the house within a week of the seller re-listing and then completed within six weeks. Probably could have been slightly quicker if our solicitor hadn’t been away for a few days. Searches were purchased by our solicitor from the previous solicitor which obviously helped.

Fingers crossed for a positive ending for you!

Thank you for your kind words & positive experiences.

A little update:
Our buyer had 3 viewings of their house over the weekend, one who has booked a second viewing tomorrow. 🤞🏻

Our seller has had a meeting with his estate agent this afternoon and is deciding how he wants to proceed. So we are waiting to hear.

I hate being in this limbo but trying to distract myself as much as possible.

Update for anyone who is in a similar situation and found this thread:

Our seller gave us a 2 week grace period to allow our buyer to find another buyer. Our buyer found another buyer for their property within that 2 weeks. There were in a slightly longer chain, so we had concerns about it falling through again. However, we completed within a further 6 weeks. So we were in our new home within 8 weeks of the original completion date which fell through.

So a happy ending for us, if you’re in the same situation you have hope! 😊