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Original poster

Buyers pulled out today

159 replies

Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 09:14

Our buyers have pulled out today, the day we were due to exchange. My house is in boxes ready to relocate across the country. My child is due to start school in September and we both have jobs lined up. We have spent so much money (more than we have) on this. I’m in total disbelief. Not sure what I want from this thread really Sad

OP posts:
canyon2000 · 30/07/2025 09:15

Omg that's awful. What was their reason for pulling out at the last minute?

BuffaloCauliflower · 30/07/2025 09:15

I’m so sorry, that’s crushing. Have they given a reason?

DrySherry · 30/07/2025 09:16

You certainly have my sympathy. That's awful 😖. Did you have any other potential buyers before accepting this one that your agent could go back to ?

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 09:19

They have split up apparently. Understandable… I don’t expect them to continue their relationship for my sake but I just can’t believe it. The EA says she’s got back in touch with people who were interested at the time, but we had no other offers Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 09:22

Worst part is yesterday I spoke to my solicitor in the morning who said all parties have confirmed they are ready to exchange. 9am this morning I had a phone call from the EA to say they were pulling out of the sale

OP posts:
shellyleppard · 30/07/2025 09:24

@Thefaceofboe that's absolutely shitty of them pulling out last minute!!!! They must have known they were going to break up..... sorry for the problem

Tootsiroll · 30/07/2025 09:31

Any chance this is an argument that's blown up out of all proportion and the buyers are engaging in a bit of drama???

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 09:36

Tootsiroll · 30/07/2025 09:31

Any chance this is an argument that's blown up out of all proportion and the buyers are engaging in a bit of drama???

Well the EA said he’s left her completely out of the blue and she’s devestated

OP posts:
solando · 30/07/2025 09:39

It does happen that people leave suddenly, there have been threads on here about it. Sorry to hear this OP, particularly as it affects so many things like schools and jobs.

CJ168 · 30/07/2025 09:41

This smells OFF, if they are breaking up them the house selling should be a bonus, they pull out of what they were buying and splitting the proceeds. They are going to have to sell anyway. make sure you KEEP their deposit you are entitled to it

Pancakeflipper · 30/07/2025 09:42

I am so sorry.
We once had the seller of the house wecwere buying pull.out on us 2 weeks before the move date. And that was tough enough - and we didn't have schools/jobs lined up like you.

Tootsiroll · 30/07/2025 09:43

I don't like false hope but it does seem a bit odd, lots of stress, change, chaos all round...emotions run high and things happen. There might have been a knee jerk reaction that's gone to the extreme.

Marmite27 · 30/07/2025 09:45

CJ168 · 30/07/2025 09:41

This smells OFF, if they are breaking up them the house selling should be a bonus, they pull out of what they were buying and splitting the proceeds. They are going to have to sell anyway. make sure you KEEP their deposit you are entitled to it

The bank gets the deposit, not the vendor! They have no way of keeping the deposit.

user9064385631 · 30/07/2025 09:56

This happened to us - fortunately not a house we were living in but a relatives house that was being sold to fund a care home. We had no way of paying the fees without the house sale, it was awful with the threat of them being “evicted’ from the care home.
Something needs to change, it’s an awful system!

Having said that OP, I really do believe things happen for a reason. Perhaps you will be able to look back at this as a good thing one day, 10 years or so!
We fortunately had lots of under bidders so within a couple of months we had sold again.

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 10:03

CJ168 · 30/07/2025 09:41

This smells OFF, if they are breaking up them the house selling should be a bonus, they pull out of what they were buying and splitting the proceeds. They are going to have to sell anyway. make sure you KEEP their deposit you are entitled to it

They are FTB, currently in rented

OP posts:
FrenchandSaunders · 30/07/2025 10:05

This is why there needs to be some sort of legal agreement that you can't do this at the last minute when so much money and time has been spent. It's appalling.

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 10:05

user9064385631 · 30/07/2025 09:56

This happened to us - fortunately not a house we were living in but a relatives house that was being sold to fund a care home. We had no way of paying the fees without the house sale, it was awful with the threat of them being “evicted’ from the care home.
Something needs to change, it’s an awful system!

Having said that OP, I really do believe things happen for a reason. Perhaps you will be able to look back at this as a good thing one day, 10 years or so!
We fortunately had lots of under bidders so within a couple of months we had sold again.

We had a nightmare at the start of our house selling/buying journey too… so I thought THIS was our silver lining 😂 but you’re right. It will be fine, just praying our current buy can hold on for us.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 10:06

FrenchandSaunders · 30/07/2025 10:05

This is why there needs to be some sort of legal agreement that you can't do this at the last minute when so much money and time has been spent. It's appalling.

It is appalling. The same thing happened to a good friend 2 weeks ago, but it was the vendor pulling out. It’s obviously not uncommon but it can ruin lives

OP posts:
FrenchandSaunders · 30/07/2025 10:08

We're in the process of selling a house and it's been going on for a year with people making offers then pulling out, but for it to get to this stage OP ... awful.

We're due to exchange this week so I'm hoping it will go through. We're also not living in it (in laws), so it's a lot easier, but still a stressful business.

Anon1029 · 30/07/2025 10:09

Oh, you have my deepest sympathies! The house buying process is absolutely awful here. A similar thing happened to us and it was heartbreaking. You think everything is set up and it's pulled out from underneath you in an instant, with nothing you can do. It's crushing. I'm really sorry. I hope you can find new buyers soon. Will the people you're buying from pull out or will they hold on until you find new buyers?

Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 10:18

FrenchandSaunders · 30/07/2025 10:08

We're in the process of selling a house and it's been going on for a year with people making offers then pulling out, but for it to get to this stage OP ... awful.

We're due to exchange this week so I'm hoping it will go through. We're also not living in it (in laws), so it's a lot easier, but still a stressful business.

Ah it’s so stressful isn’t it. I’ll cross my fingers it all goes smoothly for you 🤞🏻

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefaceofboe · 30/07/2025 10:22

Anon1029 · 30/07/2025 10:09

Oh, you have my deepest sympathies! The house buying process is absolutely awful here. A similar thing happened to us and it was heartbreaking. You think everything is set up and it's pulled out from underneath you in an instant, with nothing you can do. It's crushing. I'm really sorry. I hope you can find new buyers soon. Will the people you're buying from pull out or will they hold on until you find new buyers?

They are buying a new build which makes it a bit more complicated as I know they won’t wait around for us. However that means they will also lose their plot too if they dont find a new buyer asap. So I’m feeling so upset for us but also incredibly guilty to do this to someone else.

OP posts:
SecondClassmyass · 30/07/2025 10:25

It’s so unbelievably shambolic that the English system allows this. I have no words, it must be soul crushing for you OP. People who pull out on the day of exchange are so incredibly selfish. I cannot believe for one second they/one of them didn’t know weeks ago.
I had buyers pull out right before deciding on exchange date, after all paperwork was done and a mountain of money spent and that was extremely depressing but obviously nowhere near as terrible as what happened here.
I cried for a few hours and then went into power mode, we immediately booked in more viewings, made the house as perfect as possible and we sold again within 4 weeks. It’s important not to give up at this stage. Big hugs

Toddytoddyrumskin · 30/07/2025 10:29

Sorry to read this, it’s really upsetting. Our buyers pulled out three weeks ago, after we jumped through hoops for them. They insisted on us paying for electrical work and some quite serious work on the hedges and trees in the garden. We did what they asked because we didn’t want to lose the sale.

It’s rubbish @Thefaceofboe especially in your shoes.

SnowflakeSmasher86 · 30/07/2025 10:37

Ugh! I’m so sorry, what a nightmare.

This happened to us too, the night before exchange our buyers saw something on TV about how (10 years previously!) there had been an application for a nuclear waste dump in a nearby village. It had been ruled out as a suitable site.

They were furious with us for not disclosing this non-news (we’d never heard anything about it as we’d only lived there 3/4 years) and jumped ship. We’d already signed a rental agreement for our next house, DC3 was due within a month so we had to move out anyway and pay rent plus mortgage for 6 months until it sold again. In the grand scheme of house prices, the extra £6k on rent wasn’t the end of the world.

I really hope you get another buyer soon. Whatever happens, you’ll end up somewhere lovely and be able to settle into your new lives. This will all be a blip.